Barangay Gibato
The story goes that in a certain town of Pueblo, near a curate, there was a Spanish friar who was abused by the tulisanes or bandits because of his atrocities in dealing with the people in his parish (paroquia). The bandits had him hogged tied and threw stones at him until they reached the Sitio of San Sebastian. When they reached the edge of the river, the bandits got the priest drowned in the deep river basin by tying the big stone over his body.
As the priest slowly sank he uttered the word; “ginbato ako, ginbato ako!” until he sank and drowned.
From the word “ginbato ako” came the name Gibato, a word that made the people believe to have brought them a bad omen in their livelihood because the priest condemned them as he sank and lost his breath.
Gibato is a rural barangay, and one of the upland barangays in the municipality of Dumarao, province of Capiz. It has a total land area of 18.785 square kilometers. Its population as determined by the 2020 Census was 2,627. This represented 5.31% of the total population of Dumarao.
The barangay has an agricultural area of 1,572.08 hectares, 83.69% of its total land area. Sugarcane and Calamansi plantations are abundant in the barangay. Other agricultural produce are palay, corn, and coconut. Part of their agricultural diversification activities are livestock and backyard native chicken farming.
Geo- physical Hazards
Gibato is exposed to 2 types of hazards: rain-induced flooding with low susceptibility level and rain-induced landslides with 3 susceptibility levels: high, moderate and low.
Susceptible to low-level flooding is 195.55 hectares or 10.41% of the total barangay land area.
An area of 65.05 hectares or 3.46% of the total land area has a high susceptibility level for rain-induced landslide. Moderately susceptible have an area of 440.59 hectares or 23.45%, while 1,372.86 hectares or 73.08% have low-level susceptibility.
Demographics
Household
The household population of Gibato in the 2020 Census was 2,627 broken down into 671 households or an average of 3.92 members per household.
Population by age group
According to the 2020 Census, the age group with the highest population in Gibato is 5 to 9, with 298 individuals. On the other hand, the age group with the lowest population is 80 and over, with 30 individuals.
Combining age groups, those aged 14 and below, consisting of the young dependent population which includes infants/babies, children, and young adolescents/teenagers, make up an aggregate of 30.57% (803). Those aged 15 up to 64, roughly, the economically active population and actual or potential members of the workforce, constitute a total of 62.73% (1,648). Finally, the old dependent population consisting of the senior citizens, those aged 65 and over, total 6.70% (176) in all.
Historical population
The population of Gibato grew from 1,901 in 1990 to 2,627 in 2020, an increase of 726 people over the course of 30 years. The latest census figures in 2020 denote a positive growth rate of 1.82%, or an increase of 216 people, from the previous population of 2,411 in 2015.
Adjacent barangays
Gibato shares a common border with the following barangay(s):
- Dacuton, Dumarao, Capiz
- Sibariwan, Dumarao, Capiz
- Aglanot, Dumarao, Capiz
- Gemumua-agahon, Passi, Iloilo
- Sagrada Familia, Dumarao, Capiz