Buhi, Camarines Sur

Lake Buhi

Buhi is located in the south-eastern part of the province of Camarines Sur. It is bound on the east by Mount Malinao, on the west by Mount Asog and Iriga City, on the north by Sagñay-Buhi mountain ranges and on the south by the low-lying ranges of Polangui, Albay, with the following coordinates: 13 degrees 25’ 32.4" north latitude and 123 degrees 30’ 49.1" east longitude. It is 75 kilometres (47 mi) north-east of Legaspi City and 53 kilometres (33 mi) and south of Naga City.

The municipality has been divided into five sectors, namely:

• The Poblacion
• The Lake/Mt. Asog sector
• the Road/cross road sector
• The Mountain sector
• The Malangkaw Sector

Land use

Rice field at the foot of Mount Asog

A total area of 24,665 hectares (60,950 acres) is occupied by the municipality, about 13,000 hectares of which are part of the watershed in Rinconada. 18,378 hectares (45,410 acres) of its land area are within the watershed declared as protected area by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 573 and Executive Order no. 224. All other areas are cultivated for agriculture, quarry and human settlement. Higher slopes east and north of Lake Buhi are predominantly forests and secondary brushland. Total area utilized as built-up areas is 448 hectares (1,110 acres).

Farmlands make up about 7,500 hectares (19,000 acres) of which about 2,375 hectares (5,870 acres) have access to irrigation, while 600 hectares (1,500 acres) are non-irrigated. About 2,811 hectares (6,950 acres) are open water spaces of Lake Buhi, and other lakes and streams.

The town known today as Buhi began as a small settlement by refugees fleeing the outrage of Mayon Volcano hundreds of years ago. These people founded a permanent settlement in an area close to the lake and flourished as time passed.

The general exodus of people fleeing and being able to escape grave calamities such as Mayon's eruption was known in local vernacular as "naka-buhi". Local lore takes this as the most probable explanation as to how the town acquired its present name – Buhi. One version of local legend attributes the town being accorded the name to the time when the first Spaniards came and asked local settlers the name of the area. The local settlers misunderstood the question as how they came to be there and so gave the response "Naka-Buhi".

There were two patron saints with whom the town directed their devotion. The first was St. Francis of Assisi placed in the church made of wooden materials. Unfortunately, in 1730 the church was razed down by fire. It was, however, replaced by a stone structure built under the supervision of Rev. Fray Jose de Cerda. Another saint was installed, St. Anthony of Padua.

In the 2015 census, the population of Buhi, Camarines Sur, was 77,143 people, [3] with a density of 310 inhabitants per square kilometre or 800 inhabitants per square mile.

The total population was 70,756 in 2007, with a growth rate of about 2.1%. The total number of households was 13,238 and with an average household size of 5 persons. At the 2010 census, the population has increased to 73,809 persons. The local language is Buhinon, a dialect of Bikolano.

Literacy rate of Buhi is about 99%. The labor force is about 24,000 people strong, or 63% of economically productive people age 15 to 64 years old.

8 out of 10 persons are Roman Catholics; Iglesia ni Cristo makes up about 2% of the total population which is the largest minority religion in the municipality.

Language

A signage in the local language (Do not throw scaled fishes and their organs in the lake.)

Buhinon is the mother tongue of the majority of the population especially those residing around the lake area with Rinconada Bikol as its first language especially the folks residing on the eastern part of the municipality near Iriga City. Buhinon is classified as a lone language, and the only one used in the province of Camarines Sur. Buhinon, the Albay Bikol languages, and Rinconada Bikol are members of Inland Bikol group of languages and share common vocabulary.

• Two thirds of the population depends on agriculture
• More than one-fifth of the total land area is devoted to agriculture primary crops are rice, corn, coconut, and abaca
• Rice grows in the vast field of Road sector while corn and abaca are being grown at Mountain sector

CSPC Buhi campus

Buhi Lyceum

St. Bridget School

• No. of pre-schools: 33 public and 4 private schools
• No. of elementary schools: 33 public and 4 private schools
• No. of high schools: 3 private and 6 public schools
• No. of colleges: 1 state college
• No. of universities: 1 state university

State Colleges:

• Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges

Public high schools:

• Santa Justina National High School
• Tambo Barangay National High School
• San Vicente Barangay National High School
• Lourdes High School(New Open Public High school)
• Iraya High School (New Open Public High School)
• Salvacion High School (New Open Public High School)
• Santa Isabel High School(Soon to Operate)
• John Mark Memorial High School

Private high schools:

• Buhi St. Joseph's Academy Inc. (formerly St. Joseph's Academy)
• Buhi Lyceum
• St. Bridget School

Private elementary schools:

• Buhi Institute Foundation
• Holy Child Educational Center (Buhi Branch)
• Buhi Lyceum

Social Media:

• Buhi Online: www.buhi.com[9]
• Buhi Forum : @buhiforum
• Banwaang Mauyay : @BanwaangMauyay

FM Station

• 88.5 DWLF-FM Barita 88.5 (relay of Barita 97/7 FM Goa - Rural Airwaves Media Service (RAMS)- Inactive
• 97.7 DWEA FM – Buhi (Radyo Buhi, Numero Uno) Celebrates its 7th anniversary (September 11, 2010)
• 100.1 Radyo Natin-Buhi (Sa Buhi Ika Sana)
• 102.9 DWLR – Lauyay Radio (closed)

• 
  Lake Buhi
• 
  St. Francis of Assisi Parish Church
• 
  Patio
• 
  Parish Pastoral Center
• 
  Baked "Sinarapan"

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Buhi, Camarines Sur.

• Buhi Profile at PhilAtlas.com
• Buhi Online/BOL (www.buhi.com) – The 1st Online Community of Buhi (est. 1998)
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Philippine Census Information