A journey towards the future of a paradise island. . .

DARAM: A MunicipaI ProfiIe

Daram is an island municipality with an area of 14 206 hectares, and current population
of approximately 38 000, located on Maqueda Bay, at the southwestern portion of
Samar sland. t is one of the 24 municipalities that comprise the province of Samar; it
belongs to the 2
nd
of 2 Congressional districts of the province.

t has 58 barangays (villages), 3 of which are urban (namely, Poblacion 1, 2 and 3), and
the rest, rural. Of the 58 barangays, 57 are coastal barangays, while 1 lies at the central
upland portion of Daram sland. Parasan sland, with an area of approximately 1 500
hectares, lie at the northernmost portion of the main Daram sland and hosts 5 of the 37
coastal barangays of the municipality.

Over a dozen other small islands and islets/rocks dot the northern. Western, and
eastern waters of the island; Danaodanoan sland, to the north of Barangay Cabiton-an;
scenic Candiwata and Mibaybiday Rocks, on Dumiri Bay, to the west of Barangay
Canloloy; Agotay and Bacsal slands, to the southwest of Barangays Cansaganay and
quiran; Owacon sland, to the east of Barangay Guintampilan; Southeast; Popogot Guti
and Daco slands, to the east of Barangay Astorga; and unnamed rocks and islets on
the waters to the east of the Poblacion, and to the northeast of Parasan sland.

The municipality is bounded to the north by the provincial capital city of Catbalogan
(located on mainland Samar sland) and the Samar Sea; to the southwest and
southeast, by the municipalities of Talalora and Villareal, respectively both on mainland
Samar sland; to the east, by the smaller island municipality of Zumarraga, separated
from Daram by the narrow Buad Channel; and to the west by the island province of
Biliran, separated from Daram by Carigara Bay.

Daram's topography is mixed: it has areas with very steeply sloping land, with its
highest point at 324 meters above sea level, and areas with level land with elevation of
only ten meters or less above sea level; there are gently sloping and undulating lands
with elevations of 200 meters and above, sloping down to areas of moderately
undulating and rolling lands with average elevations of 10 meters. The municipality's
coastlines, measured from all islands and islets, measure up to approximately 182
kilometers. ts territorial waters have an estimated total area of 450 sq. kilometers.

;er a dozen other small islands and islets/rocks dot the northern, western, and
eastern waters of the island".


SHORT HSTORY

The name 'Daram' originated from a flock of birds called darangsiyao, a local species of
sea birds that feast on abundant fish in the waters surrounding the island. The place
was once part of the Municipality of Zumarraga, but became an independent
municipality through Executive Order No. 262 issued on September 22, 1949 by then
Pres. Manuel Roxas. t was originally inhabited by fisher folk and sea travelers who,
during rough weather, sought shelter and eventually settled and built homes along its
resource-rich coastlines and coves. Over the years, settlers from nearby Biliran and
Leyte came and built homes on the western shore of the island.

Demographic Profile

n the official census of 2000, the population of Daram was 35, 532 (with males
numbering 18 530 and females, 17 002). With an average annual population growth of
0.83% in the last 30 years, from 1970 to 2000 (official census from 1970 up to 1996
showed Daram's population to be 28 451 in 1970, 30 821 in 1980, and 31 332 in 1990),
the current (late 2007) population is estimated at 38 000. (t must be noted, however,
that Daram's population growth fluntuated in the last 30 years: from 0.83% per annum
from 1990 to 2000. Continued up to the present, Daram's current population could be as
high as 40 000). Households numbered 6 472, and the average size was 5.5 (or there
were 11 persons for every 2 households), in the official census of 2000. At present (late
2007), the number of households is estimated at 6 678, with approximately the same
size of household as that for 2000. The majority of Daramnons are Roman Catholics
(approximately 95%) who celebrate the feast of their patron Santo Nio every 3
rd
week
of January. The rest belong to various denominations of Protestant churches, which
include the Philippine ndependent or Aglipay Church, Jehovah's Witness, and Born-
Again Christian, among others.

Up to 80% of Daramnons earn their sustenance from fishing; some 14%, from farming;
and the rest (16%), from employment with government or local private enterprises, or as
self-employed micro-entrepreneurs.

n the census of 2000, 94.4% of the local population were Samarnons (Warays); 4.7%
were Cebuano-speaking Leyteos (mostly from Southern Leyte); and 0.52% were
Tagalogs. Samarnon (Waray) is the predominant language in the whole municipality.
The literacy rate at present is roughly 85% of the population aged 10 years and over.

n 2005, 29% of children aged up to 6 years old were reported to be malnourished (with
4.4% severely malnourished). n the same year, diarrhea (from water-borne diseases)
and respiratory infections were reported to be common afflictions of many residents.
Mortality rate was 4.42 while infant mortality rate was at 13.23 in 2005.

Socio-Economic Profile

Daram has 12 health centers spread out strategically throughout the island municipality,
serving the health/medical needs of the residents. The Municipal Health Office is run by
1 doctor, 1 nurse, 1 dentist, 10 midwives, and some 40 active barangay health workers.
All 58 barangays are served by level 1 water facilities; 25 barangays have level 2 water
facilities; and almost half of the Poblacion households have metered level 3 water
connections.

A third of all the barangays have access to electricity provided by SAMELCO (Samar
Electric Cooperative), and approximately 30% of all households at present have electric
power connections.

There are 30 daycare centers (served by 30 daycare workers), 1 preschool and 57
elementary schools (served by teachers at a ratio of 1 teacher per 40 pupils), and 4 high
schools (with a teacher-pupil ratio of 1:32) attending to the educational needs of the
children and youth. A college of fishery, which was closed down a few years ago, is
being considered for possible reopening to produce graduates who may help develop
the full fishery potentials of the municipality.

Daram has rich fishing grounds, which yield various types of marine products (which
include various species of commercial fish [sardine, grouper, herring, mackerel,
anchovy, etc.], shells, oysters, crabs, squids, shrimps, and seaweeds), and roughly 10
000 hectares of under-utilized agricultural lands (planted with coconut, corn, rice, sweet
potato, cassava, yam, vegetables, fruit, trees, bananas, pineapples, and other cash
crops; and also used as grazing grounds for livestock.)

At current productivity of only P12,000 worth of farm products per hectare per year
(compared to over P100,000 in more affluent provinces of the country), Daram's
agricultural lands have vast potentials which can be developed if only the much-needed
infrastructure (e.g. farm-to-market road which may utilize locally available gravel and
sand, and free labor by residents, to cut on cost) and farm-support facilities/services are
introduced, with support funding from the rational/provincial government.

Daram produces an estimated 6 metric tons of fishery products per year. n addition, the
municipality is already known for its dried squid and dried fish, which are sold (in urban
areas in Samar, Leyte, Bicol and Metro Manila).

There are, in addition, various farm animals poultry, swine, carabao which, if
properly assisted, can also generate sufficient income and food supply for Daramnons.
Daram has considerable wide tracks of land which can be developed as grazing
grounds for livestock (carabaos, cows and goats). n sum, Daram has two major
resources which need external assistance in order to be developed (to, among others,
raise the quality of lives of Daramnons, and contribute to regional development in the
area): land and seawaters, whose vast potentials are shown in photos on pages
preceding this. There are also potential tourism sites (for diving, swimming, spelunking,
and climbing which can be developed to attract visitors in years to come). Vital to the
agri-fishery resource development of Daram are the construction of adequate farm-to-
market roads, seaports, and farming/production and post-harvest facilities. At present,
Daram has only 500 meters one lane concrete road (extending from the Poblacion to
Barangay Sangan, and roughly 15 kms of dirty gravel road connecting only a few
barangays). Considering the facts that Daram has roughly 10,000 hectares of
agricultural land, and each hundred hectare of agricultural land needs at least a
kilometer of road for its productive potentials to be realized, Daram needs at least 80
kms more of farm-to-market roads to serve its under-utilized agricultural lands and
farming populace. Daram has two municipal ports, which needs to be expanded to
adequately serve its expanding urban populace and accommodate the increasing
movement of people and products to/from the municipality, and 56 small/short rock-
causeway barangay, which also need to be improved, to adequately and safely serve
docking/departing passenger and cargo motorboats.


The Story of Daram
;en the birds are lea;ing this barren place."

The drought was the worst ever to afflict the province since or far back as can be
remembered. No crops would grow anywhere in the parched land of Calbayog nor in
the neighboring towns. And worse, there was no sufficient water even for drinking. t
was for this reason that Angelesio Losa decided that he and his family would have to
leave their hometown if they were to survive.

His wife had reproached him for the thoughts. After all, she said they had been born and
had live for long in this town of Calbayog, they might just as well die there.

But he had argued against that. He could not bear the thought of his family dying with
open eyes. Something pricks his heart when he looks at his small emaciated children
who hankered for food and water. They would have to go to another place where there
would be food and water. But his wife had been adamant. Where, anyway, could they
go?

That forestalled any further arguments until they have a definite destination, they would
have to suffer, and perhaps, die.

Angelesio had almost lost his faith in God. They had already prayed to almost all saints
for rain or whatever miracle the heavens can afford, but all vain. But that night,
Angelesio prayed hard. "f this is our fate, he supplicated, "so be it. But let us die in
dignity-let us die fighting, not resigned.
He hurried home and ordered his bewildered wife and children to pack their belongings.
He even asked a few neighbors if they would go with him and his family. "Where? was
their query. He pointed at the flocks of birds flying overhead and answered. To where
those birds are going.

"Are you mad? his wife reproached him.

"No, 'm not. But 'm quite certain that those birds are heading to a land where trees
grow and streams flow and there we can settle and start anew. Somehow, they listened
to his prophetic words.

They sailed off in small "paraws or small sailboats, loaded with whatever possessions
and provisions they could bring with them until at last, the reached an island.

t was uninhabited. ts mountains were green and the murmur of streams rang like
music to their ears, bringing gladness to their weary and parched spirits. And upon this
very island, the birds also ended their journey. They alighted upon the trees and chirped
melodiously as if in welcome to the new settlers.

There, they settled. They created dwellings on the shores, cleared the land and tilled it.
The men set out to fish or the sea which teemed with fish and other seafood. n time,
more and more people migrated into the island until the small settlement became a very
prosperous town. And in gratitude to the birds which guided the original settlers unto the
island, the people named the whole island "Daram, the name of the birds being
"darangsiyao.