Badian Under Development

As often is the case in areas of great beauty around the world, Badian is now beginning to boom with development for nice tourist accommodations and resorts. With a number of tourist attractions in the area and many land owners putting their lands up for sale, there are some great locations available with great potential for the coming years.

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Badian Tourist Attractions

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Activities from Badian

Some Facts About Badian

Geography and Climate in Badian

The Municipality of Badian is located 97.6 km’s. southwest of Cebu City in the Central Visayas (Region VII). The Mayor is the governor for Badian which has a total population of 35,876 according to the 2007 census and is a 4th class municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. The town is subdivided into 29 barangays and the capital barangay of Badian town is Poblacion. It has a total land area of 107 square kilometers and is bounded by the Municipality of Moalboal on the north; Municipality of Alegria on the south; Dalaguete and Argao on the east; and on the west by Tañon Strait. The topography of the Badian area is mountainous and hilly where dry seasons come on the months of February to September and the heaviest rains come on the month of October.

Schools in Badian

Badian has a total of 18 elementary schools and 3 high schools namely; Saint James Academy (a catholic school run by the Daughters of Saint Theresa), Badian National High School located at the center of the town and the extension located in Barangay Basak.

Roads and Transport in Badian

The transportation modes in the town are jeepneys, buses, tricycles, multi cabs, bicycle, and trisicads. Badian is connected with a network of roads with one main road traversing centrally. The minor roads that intersect will lead you to the 29 barangays or to any of the resorts, beaches in the town and to other point of interest.

Trading

The peso (code: PHP) is the currency of the Philippines and is the currency used in the town like the rest of the country. Financial and lending institution, cooperatives are the towns financial intermediaries and the commercial establishment includes restaurant, bakeshops, meat and fish retailer, sari-sari stores, general merchandise, service and repair shops, tailoring and dress shops, pawnshops and lending investment, lumber and hardware, drugstores, gasoline station, photo shops and parlors. Money remittances are also available in Badian from local pawn shops and money dealers

Badian Fiesta

Badian’s patron saint is Saint James the Apostle. The town’s annual fiesta is every 24th and 25th of July every year. The colorful Banig Festival is held during the town fiesta which showcases the talent and creativity of the town in waiving mat using Pandan (Pandanus tectorius or Fragrant Screw Fine). The craftswomen collects Pandan leaves and uses it to create “Banig”, mat. Poblician is the where the town church is located, the church of Santiago Apostle, which is celebrated its Fest on the 25th of July every year.

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A bit of Badian History

Why is the island named Badian?

This southern town got its name from a plant called, “badyang”, which was once abundant in the area. However, the Spaniards found it difficult to pronounce the name so eventually the “g” was dropped and the “y” was changed to “i” and the town came to be known as Badian, a generally mountainous and hilly area where locals and tourists go around in jeepneys and tricycles.

Badian was separated as a parish from Barili in 1825 under the advocacy of Santiago de Apostle. Its church is unique compared to the others in the island province with its squat and unusual porticoes facade with four quadrilateral columns supporting a triangular pediment. Simple floral bas relief»s decorate these and four jar shaped finials are found at each corner.

The original belfry, now built at its side, used to sit atop the pediment but was taken down in 1990 upon the advice of NHI to ease pressure on the two free columns. The church still has its original and beautiful wooden retablo.

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Essential Information

Money in Badian

There are no International ATM machines in the town of Badian although the one ATM machine claims to be but doesn’t work for foreign cards. It does work however for Philippine bank cards at a fee of 55 pesos.

The nearest International ATM is in Moalboal (inside of the 360 pharmacy) which is only about 15 minutes away in a multi cab. It’s better if you stock up enough cash before leaving Cebu City, but there are more options in Moalboal now with some bank branches now offering international ATM’s

Some resorts offer money change but the exchange rate may differ so it’s better if you change your currency while in Cebu City. Traveler’s cheques, credit cards, debit cards are only available in some resorts who have payment systems etc. Small resorts prefer receiving payment in cash (peso).

The smartest way to bring cash in the country is in the form of a credit card or a debit card. You can use your cards to get advances from banks and ATM’s if you have your PIN. Mastercard, Visa, Cirrus and Plus is the most widely accepted in the country so check with your bank or credit card company to see which network your card is connected to.

There is also a currency exchange in the Gaisano shopping mall located in Moalboal.

The currency used in the town is the Philippine peso. Banknote denominations are in 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 peso. Coins are in 10c, 25c, P1, P5 and P10. It’s better if you have cash back-up in cases you are running out, it will save you from dealing with some local moneychangers who have reputation in ripping off tourist. The currency exchange in local moneychangers may also differ or lower than in banks, moneychangers in big cities. There are lots of banks and moneychangers in the cities that can be trusted. There are also global banks like HSBC, CitiBank who provides banking services in the Philippines so look around before deciding which one to use.

Take note that getting cash advances from ATM»s in local currency may subject to withdrawal limit. HSBC is said to have no withdrawal limits but your own bank may have daily withdrawal limit so check it out. ATM’s are operational 24 hours daily in the cities. You can find ATM machines inside shopping malls, in additional to the banks and in other places like department stores etc. It’s better if you stock up few notes smaller than P100 so you will have no problems in paying small bills.

Badian Hospital

One more very important institution that is located in Poblacion is the Town Hospital where everyone from every other barangay goes to in the time of sickness. The facility is better now than under the past management, they have now made more improvements to the hospitals which is the best thing they could have done because this is where most Badian people run to in the time of need. If you need further medical assistance the hospital have facilities like ambulance to transfer you to good hospitals in the city like Cebu. There are also a number of health centers that can provide basic medical care and some privately owned medical clinics to serve you.

Visa

Visitors from most countries will be granted 21 – 30 days on entry if they have an onward or return flight. You can also enter on a 2 month visa obtained from outside the Philippines. The 21 -30 day transit can be upgraded to a 2 month visa from any immigration office. Most visitors can stay in the Philippines for up to one year as a tourist but will need to extend their stay every 2 months and pay the required fees. For information on visas and the required fees please visit the bureau of immigration website. The nearest immigration office to Badian is either in Cebu City or Dumaguete.

Post Office

The Municipality of Badian has one post office located at the Municipal Building in the capitol Barangay of Poblacion.

Internet

Most resorts offer internet access (fees might apply). There are also two internet cafes in town: One is located next door to the copying shop (look for the Rush ID Sign), its very cheap at 12 pesos per hour but its better to go during school hours otherwise its full of extremely annoying adolescent boys shouting and screaming like girls, at the excitement of video games. A more relaxed option would be the other cafe just opposite the market which the gamers avoid as its 15 pesos per hour (It also has air con). Mobile Broadband sticks like Globe Tattoo or Smart Buddy are a bit weak here but this will hopefully improve as things develop.

Drinking Water

The source of water is the Municipal Water System. Water in the town is not advisable to drink for tourists, but in general it is of good quality. Bottled mineral or purified water is available in most stores located in the area. Its not worth spoiling your holiday getting sick but for more longer term visitors your body gets used to it. Even so there is a water purifying shop that sells it by the gallon for 25 pesos which is the best choice for resorts.

Electricity

Cebu Electric Cooperative Inc. is the provider of electricity in the town. The electricity supply is 220 V, 60Hz. Outlets may not fit for international plugs, an addaptor would be needed. There are sometimes scheduled power cuts called “brown outs” which are announced in advance by a vehicle and loud speaker. The scheduled brown outs are surprisingly punctual but there are also unscheduled brown outs that can happen at any time. Having said that the current here is mainly reliable and the outages generally only last less than an hour.

Telephone

Cellular phones work in the area, Globe and Smart offer network roaming for most foreign companies. The SIM pack is cheaper than rooming, only about 50 pesos.

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How To Get To Badian

Flying in to Cebu

The Mactan International Airport is located in Mactan, Cebu; it is served by major airlines like Cebu Pacific Air and Philippine Airlines. You can also fly from Metro Manila to Cebu. There are lots of domestic flights and sometimes it is economical because lots of airlines offer a cheaper airfare. Check also for any available promo. If you arrived earlier in Cebu, you can leave straight to Badian providing you already arranged your accommodation there prior to your arrival or you can stay for a night in Cebu City and have your trip to Badian the next day.

By Bus

From Cebu City to Badian there are two bus companies traveling the route:

From the airport you can take a taxi to the Ceres South Bus Terminal and look for Ceres Bus Liner via Barili.

You can also take Librando Trans from their south terminal. There are buses leaving Cebu City to Badian every 30 minutes or 1 hour. It will take 2-3 hours or more bus travel to reach Badian from Cebu City depending on the number of stops.

Note: If you decided to take a bus, from the airport take a taxi ( insist on meter) to South Bus Terminal in Cebu City. The driver should take you to Cereus or Librando bus terminal.

By Taxi

You can also hire a taxi at the airport or from the city to Badian, it is more comfortable and faster. Make sure the driver knows where Badian is. The fare is about Php 1500.00 – Php 3000.00 and be prepare for some bartering.

Airport Pick up

The faster and the most comfortable way without headache and bargaining of prices with the taxi driver is to ask the resort were you were booking for a transfer. It might be a little bit more expensive as they have to send vehicles from the resort to the airport. Transfer time from the airport to Badian is about 2-3 hours or more depending on traffic.

Note: The costs of fare listed or stated above are not fixed. The list is only to give you an idea of the costs of transfer.