General Profile
The municipality of Salcedo is located along the eastern seaboard of the province of Eastern Samar in Region VIII, or the Eastern Visayas Region. Salcedo, a fifth class municipality, covers a total land area of 113.68 square kilometers (sq km). It is bounded on the north by Matarina Bay; on the south by the municipality of Mercedes, Eastern Samar; on the east by the Pacific Ocean; and on the West by the Leyte Gulf. It is composed of 41 barangays, with 26 coastal barangays and two (2) island barangays.
Residents of Salcedo dominantly speak Waray-Waray and Bisaya dialects. Tagalog and English are also widely spoken languages. The Roman Catholics have the biggest population at more than 90 percent of the total population of Salcedo. The other two groups are the Seventh Day Adventists and the Iglesia ni Cristo.
Pursuant to the Local Government code, the municipal mayor exercises general supervision and control over twelve (12) local executive offices. These are the staff and line offices that deliver basic services to the people of Salcedo. These offices include the Municipal Planning and Development Office, Municipal Budget Office, Municipal Accountant Office, Human Resource Management Office, Municipal Assessor’s Office, Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office, Municipal Health Office, Municipal Civil Registrar’s Office, Office of the Municipal Agricultural Services, Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office, Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and the Office of the Municipal Engineer.
The local Sangguniang Bayan assists the municipal mayor in terms of enacting local ordinances and approving local resolutions and appropriating funds for the general welfare of the municipality and its inhabitants.
Brief Historical Background
According to some local sources, Salcedo was originally named “Naga” because of the abundance of Narra trees known to the people as Naga. Salcedo was situated in the midst of a wide fertile plain suited for agriculture with a forest area in the north-western hills which was then and presently an excellent source of sparkling cold water brought down by a river that bisects the town. Other local sources said the place was originally called “Sudao”. “Sudao” or Salcedo was said to be once a part of Guiuan.
However, it became an independent municipality by virtue of a religious decree handed down by then Bishop of Cebu on December 8, 1862 which changed the Visita of San Isidro de Sudao into a town and it was renamed Salcedo in honor of the Spanish Conquestador, Juan de Salcedo. The decree had the following content:
“On this date, I decree the following: In view of the expedient responsibility of erecting the Visita of San Isidro De Sudao into a town with an independent Parish separated from its mother Parish of Guiuan, District of Samar, Visayas Island,as a result of the favorable conditions in the expedients as well as the authorities, the Bishop of Cebu, the Central Economic Administration of the Military and Political Governor of Samar, being in favor of the newly created town with 783 tributes and other government buildings wherein to celebrate the liturgy and the administration of justice, this Supreme Civil Government in conformity with the public assessor hereby erects the “Visita of San Isidro de Sudao” into a town “Salcedo” by name, independent from the civil and spiritual administration from the Parish of Guiuan in Samar. Notify all concerned and record this in the archives”.
On December 8, 1999, during the 137th Foundation Day Celebration, Msgr. Lope C. Robredillo, SThD, in his talk, pointed out that the correct date of the foundation day, based on his research on reliable historical records, was December 5, 1862 instead of December 8, 1862.
The correction was validated when the Sangguniang Bayan enacted and approved Municipal Ordinance No. 01-04, Series of 2001 declaring December 5 of every year as the Foundation Day of Salcedo. The Ordinance further declared that the Foundation Day is an official local holiday for all government offices including schools within the municipality’s jurisdiction. Since then, Salcedo celebrates its foundation day on the 5th of December.