San Miguel, Catanduanes

San Miguel, which was formerly part of the Municipality of Bato, was first inhabited by the early mountaineers and the part of the Malayan race that were pushed to the open valley with the coming of the Spanish Colonizers.

San Miguel became a separate municipality through then President Elpidio Quirino's Executive Order No. 803 dated August 23, 1952, comprising twelve barangays at that time. The first town mayor was Torribio Taopa who was chosen through a plebiscite in 1952 until the first local elections in 1953, which he won.^{[citation needed]}

The present mayor is SP Francisco Camano Jr.^{[citation needed]}

San Miguel is located at the mid-south part of the province of Catanduanes, the only inland municipality of the island. It is bounded on the north by the municipality of Caramoran, on the east by the municipality of Baras and Gigmoto, on the west by the municipality of Virac and on the south by the municipality of Bato. San Miguel is 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) from Virac.

San Miguel is politically subdivided into 24 barangays. ^[6] Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

In the 2024 census, the population of San Miguel was 14,578 people,^[13] with a density of 110 inhabitants per square kilometre or 280 inhabitants per square mile.

Poverty incidence of San Miguel

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority^{[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]}

• San Miguel River Park - is the largest fresh-water stream in the entire Catanduanes island, stretching from the middle of the island all the way to the south. It's best explored while on an inflatable tube or a kayak for a refreshing ride. The jump off station is located at Bgy. Kilikilihan, San Miguel.
• Solong Falls - is a waterfall that is surrounded by trees. Located in Brgy. Solong, San Miguel.
• Bontahiya Falls - is another waterfall in San Miguel.

There are two schools district offices which govern all educational institutions within the municipality. They oversee the management and operations of all private and public, from primary to secondary schools.^[22] These are the:

• San Miguel North Schools District
• San Miguel West Schools District