Location within the Philippines
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Geography | |
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Coordinates | 11°29′N 123°13′E / 11.483°N 123.217°ECoordinates: 11°29′N 123°13′E / 11.483°N 123.217°E |
Adjacent bodies of water | |
Highest elevation | 1,112 ft (338.9 m) |
Administration | |
Region | Western Visayas |
Province | Iloilo |
Municipality | Carles |
Barangays |
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Demographics | |
Population | 890 (2014) |
Calagnaan (variously spelled Calagna-an) is an island in northeastern Iloilo, Philippines. It is one of fourteen islands politically administered by the municipality of Carles. The population is 890, spread out among 208 households.
Calagnaan is a wooded island northeast of the Panay Island coast in the Visayan Sea. It is southeast of Binuluangan Island and separated from that island by the Nilidlaran Pass.The west coast of the island is surrounded by reefs. Calagnaan is part of barangays Manlot, Tinigban, Bito-on (Proper, Bung-Indong Dako and Bung Indong Gamay), Talingting and Barangoalan (variously spelled Barangkalan). The island is home to Brachymeles talinis.
The name Calagnaan comes from dagna or lagna, which is the Visayan word for water springs. Several water springs can be found all over the island. There are mining operations on the island, administered by the Calagnaan Agro-Industry Corporation.
I didn’t expect to see any concrete buildings but there were a couple. The church was still standing even though everything else around it had been blown down. When we arrived, the locals had already tidied up as best they could. Around 70 per cent of the fishing boats were destroyed. They have just enough boats and nets left to fish for their own survival but nothing to sell on to buy new nets.
Typhoon Haiyan (locally known as Yolanda) passed over Calagnaan, along with the rest of Panay, on November 8, 2013. Once the storm passed, several relief organizations reached out with aid to the island. On 27 November 2013, Dan Rivers tweeted a picture of the HMS Illustrious delivering emergency supplies to Calagnaan. British ships HMS Illustrious and HMS Daring both stopped on Calagnaan as part of their broader Philippine relief effort. When the HMS Illustrious made their initial assessment, they discovered that 177 houses, 60-70 boats, and the island school had been damaged. When the HMS Daring landed in the area on 23 November, they discovered that one remote village of Calagnaan had not yer been reached by relief efforts, and the villagers had not eaten for several days. The Illustrious returned to the area on 28 November. Illustrious crews dropped a 10.5 tonnes (11.6 tons) food pack and enough tarp to repair 250 homes. Other organizations involved in the relief efforts on Calagnaan include Save the Children and UNICEF.