Kalibo, officially the Municipality of Kalibo (Aklanon: Banwa it Kalibo; Hiligaynon: Banwa sang Kalibo; Tagalog: Bayan ng Kalibo), is a first-class municipality and capital of the Province of Aklan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 89,127 people.[3]
The term Kalibo comes from the Aklanon word sangkâ líbo, ("one thousand"), reputedly the number of native Ati who attended the first Catholic Mass celebrated there. Kalibo was originally spelled as Calivo.
The town of Kalibo was originally called Akean by the inhabitants, similar to the name of the river nearby. The word akean itself connotes the warbling of running waters, from the root word akae, meaning "to boil". Akae-akae means "to bubble" or "to boil" or "to make the sound of bubbling or boiling" in the Aklanon language.
The Spaniards interchanged the names Aklan and Calivo to refer to the town. Aside from these two, other names such as Calibo, Daclan, Adan, and Calibog have been used.
When Miguel López de Legazpi arrived in 1569, he discovered that the town had around 2,000 inhabitants, so he recruited 500 of them to help conquer the rest of the Philippines. On November 3, 1571, it became an encomienda and on April 22, 1581, the town became a parish under the Augustinians. During the Spanish era, Kalibo was part of Capiz.
On March 17, 1897, Filipino revolutionaries march to Kalibo but lost the battle against the Spaniards. Some of them escaped to the jungle.
The town was affected by World War II being under Japanese occupation from 1941 through 1945.[further explanation needed] On November 8, 1956, the province of Aklan was officially inaugurated, and Kalibo became its capital.
During the early 21st century, Aklan congressman Florencio Miraflores filed a bill seeking to convert Kalibo into a city but this has yet to succeed.
In the 19th Congress of the Philippines, house bills were filed by various representatives which seeks Kalibo including other capital towns of provinces with no current component cities, independent component cities or highly urbanized cities to automatically convert into cities.[6][7][8]
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the municipality has a land area of 50.75 square kilometres (19.59 sq mi)[9] constituting 2.79% of the 1,821.42-square-kilometre- (703.25 sq mi) total area of Aklan.
Kalibo's main industry is agriculture, based on rice, coconuts, piña and abaca. Handbags made of buri leaves are also some of Kalibo's exports. Piña fiber in particular is rising in popularity as overseas brands look for alternatives to traditional leather.[24]
Kalibo serves as the commercial and industrial center for Aklan province, owing to its status as the provincial capital. In 2021, the municipality hosted 28 banks and held 19 million pesos in total deposits, the largest among 17 municipalities of Aklan and equivalent to 75% of all deposits in the province.[25] The Kalibo Public Market, Gaisano Grand, Gaisano Capital, CityMall and SM Cherry further cement Kalibo's position as a retail hub.
Kalibo also has a meat-processing industry that produces chorizo, tocino and other similar products.
Tourism in Kalibo peaks during the Ati-Atihan Festival, celebrated every second week of January and culminating on the third Sunday. The town also benefits from good road connections to Boracay, allowing it to become a jump-off point for tourists headed to the island. This is all underpinned by the presence of the Kalibo International Airport which was the fourth busiest airport in the country as of 2022.[26]
The Ati-Atihan Festival is a festival celebrated in Kalibo every second week of January and culminating on the third Sunday of the month. Revelers smear themselves with soot or any blackening substance in order to look like an Ati.
The Ati-Atihan Festival is believed to have started in the year 1212 when Borneans, led by the ten datus, traveled on balangays and crossed the Sulu Sea to land in Panay, making it the oldest festival in the Philippines.
Ati-atihan Festival was included as one of the "World's Best Festivals" by Fest300,[27] dubbed as the "Grand Daddy of Philippine Festivals" by the Largest Travel Guide Book Publisher in the World - Lonely Planet and recognized, as well as, holds the title of "Mother of All Philippine Festivals".[28]
Attractions
Kalibo Museum (Museo It Akean)Tigayon Hills
Landmarks of the town include Aklan River, the main river that flows through the town and the origin of the name of the province. Within the town proper lies Freedom Shrine which commemorates World War II veterans and the Museo it Akean, a museum of Aklan's history. Outside the town lies Bakhawan Eco-Park, a 220-hectare (540-acre) mangrovereforestation project that began in 1990 in barangay New Buswang. Tigayon Hill and Caves in Barangay Tigayon, Kalibo which were burial sites during the pre-Hispanic era and a pit for Chinese artifacts which were excavated in the recent past.
Air travel to Kalibo from Manila is about 45 minutes under four airlines: the Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, AirAsia Zest and PAL Express. These airlines increase their flights during the Kalibo Ati-Atihan Festival every January each year.
Kalibo is the major hub for/to Boracay. The Kalibo International Airport is about ten minutes away from Poblacion Kalibo main plaza (Pastrana Park).
Sea
Kalibo has four ports near the town. The New Washington port and the Dumaguit port are 20 minutes away from Kalibo. Batan port is accessible via Dumaguit and Altavas while the Malay port is approximately two hours. Travel time from Manila to Aklan is 14 to 18 hours through sea travel.
The Caticlan Jetty Port is part of the Roll-on Roll-off (RORO) Strong Republic Nautical Highway that connects Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, and it passes through Kalibo to Capiz or Romblon. There is a jetty port in barangay Pook of Kalibo.
Public transportation around the town is by tricycle, taxi, multicab and jeepneys.
Kalibo is 158 kilometres (98 mi) from Iloilo City, 86 kilometres (53 mi) from Roxas City, and 182 kilometres (113 mi) from San Jose, Antique. Land travel from Iloilo City to Kalibo takes approximately three hours, one and a half hours from Roxas City, and four hours from San Jose, Antique. All are accessible by bus and minivans. Trips to Caticlan range from 70 minutes to 90 minutes depending on the mode of transportation.
Public transport
The tricycle dominates the streets in Kalibo and is the main form of public transport. The town has its own version of the design of its tricycle that can accommodate up to 8 passengers. The design was also adopted in the rest of Aklan and some parts of northern Antique. There are about 3,000 tricycles-for-hire that are registered with Sangguniang Bayan-issued franchises operating within the 16 barangays of the Municipality of Kalibo and are distributed in accordance with their following approved routes or zones of operation:
Route No.
Color code
Coverage
Terminal
1
Green
Osmena Avenue
Estancia
Tinigao
Mobo
Tigayon
Linabuan Norte
Kalibo Public Market
2
Blue
New Buswang
Old Buswang
Bakhaw Sur
Bakhaw Norte
Bakawan Eco-Park
RC Supermart; Gaisano (to Andagao)
3
Orange
Cardinal Sin Avenue
Andagao
Caano
Pook
Kalibo International Airport
Nalook
Mabilo (Kalibo)
Briones
Allen's Mart / Our Own Little Ways Bakeshop (for Andagao Drivers).
4
White &
Purple
Poblacion Kalibo
Capitol Site
BLISS Site
ASU
Roxas Ave. Extension
None
Note: All the terminals are along Toting Reyes Street (except those bound for Andagao). The Municipality currently has plans of issuing Night-Tricycle franchises for evening public commuters
^Lizares, Luci (January 20, 2014). "History of Santo Niño Festivals". Sun.Star Bacolod. Archived from the original on January 29, 2016. Retrieved October 20, 2016. The Ati-Atihan festival is called the Mother of all Filipino festivals.
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