ARPILI

Arpili is a barangay that is located along the southwest coast of Balamban. It is seven (7) kilometers away from the town proper. It is bounded on the north by Buanoy, another coastal barangay; on the east by Gaas, a mountain barangay; on the west by Tañon Strait; and on the south by Toledo City. It has a total land area of 1,316 hectares with a present population of 7,425 people.

It is politically subdivided into twenty (20) sitios namely: Centro, Segra, Acacia, Lomboy, Miagang I, Cabal-asan, Damsite, Miagang II, Gaang, Luas Tapon, Luas Tunga, Guinabinhan, Gimbuangan, Goc-ong, Lower Riverside, Upper Riverside, Abellana Village, Cotcoton, Inamay, & Pundok Gamay. 

NAME-ORIGIN OF THE BARANGAY

According to legend, it is said that Arpili was then a vast land of fertile soil and a kind of edible nuts called “pili”. Those pili trees were said to be planted by early settlers coming from Sumatra, Malaysia, and Borneo during the pre-Spanish era. The name “Arpili” could be a coined word from the Spanish “arbol pili” which means “pili tree”. Yet local legend tells that it was derived from a Boholano phrase “ara pili” which means “Here are some pili.” Accordingly it was the phrase stated by a Boholano migrant to the Spaniards who first arrived in the place.¹

The Pili nut (Canarium ovatum), is one of 600 species in the family Burseraceae, native to Malesia. The genus name Canarium comes from the vernacular name ‘kenari’ in the Molucca Isles of Indonesia. Pili is a tropical tree preferring deep, fertile, well drained soil, warm temperatures, and well distributed rainfall. Although, it is grown as an ornamental tree in many areas of the Old World tropics of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, only the Philippines produces and processes pili nuts commercially. Production centers are located in the Bicol region, provinces of Sorsogon, Albay, and Camarines Sur, southern Tagalog, and eastern Visayas. There is no commercial planting of this crop; fruits are collected from natural stands in the mountains near these provinces. In 1977, the Philippines exported approximately 3.8 t of pili preparation to Guam and Australia.

The most important product from pili is the kernel. When raw, it resembles the flavor of roasted pumpkin seed, and when roasted, its mild, nutty flavor and tender-crispy texture is superior to that of the almond. In Indonesia, especially in Minahasa and Moluccas islands, the kernels are used for making cake, bobengka in Minahasan or bubengka in Maluku (similar to a rice cake called bingka or bibingka in the Philippines). Pili kernel is also used in chocolate, ice cream, and baked goods. The largest buyers of pili nuts are in Hong Kong and Taiwan, the kernel is one of the major ingredients in one type of the famous Chinese festive desserts known as the "moon cake".²

BRIEF HISTORY

During the latter part of the 19^th century, a group of people led by a certain Fermin Ricafort coming from Mindanao settled in Arpili. Fermin Ricafort was a youngster from Loon, Bohol who was taken captive by the Moro pirates and sold as a slave in Mindanao. Together with other Christian slaves, he buried bamboo tubes in the ground and slowly deposited rice there. When they had a chance to escape, they dug out the bamboo tubes filled with rice and exchanged the rice with boats which they used to travel in their escape. They rowed until they decided to go ashore in the spot now called Cotcoton in Arpili. The area then was still almost a virgin forest of pili trees and only few households scattered around. They decided to settle there and invited their relatives from Bohol to migrate. They were engaged in farming and fishing thus they had decided to make Saint Isidore the Laborer of Spain (San Isidro Labrador) as their patron saint whose fiesta is celebrated every 15^th day of May. The theory that the early migrants to the area were from Bohol is supported by the fact that until now the inhabitants from Arpili up to Pondol have retained the Boholano intonation.³

LIST OF RECALLED POLITICAL LEADERS¹

1. Teodoro Prietos (Doro)
2. Eusebio Madaraga (Sebio)
3. Lucio Ponteras (Lucio)
4. Rafael Logroño (Pael)
5. Marcelino Bascar (Titing)
6. Frunctuoso Rondez (Proktos)
7. Iluminada Logroño (Luming)
8. Rodolfo Paulin (Roding)
9. Edgar Rondez (Egie)
10. Primo Buenaventura Paulin (Emong)

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

The people of Arpili basically lived only in fishing and farming in the past but today as the barangay progress into an industrialized urban area, due to its assimilation to West Cebu Industrial Park Special Economic Zone pursuant to Republic Act No. 7916 as amended by Republic Act No. 8748, most of them are now working in ship recycling (K&A Metal Industries Inc.), bulk carriers (Tsuneishi Heavy Industries Cebu, Inc.), and steel fabrication (FBM-Aboitiz Marine, Inc; Metaphil International; and Southern Industrial Gses Phils.).⁴

Arpili is also known as a source of marble. In fact, the Cebu Marble Hinatuan Mining Corporation, with its administrative office in Arpili, has operated there particularly in Sitio Ga-ang since April 10, 1986. The mining operations were then supervised by a Japanese duo, Joshida and Moroto. The products are intended for wall, floor tiles, jars, stools, ashtrays, and many decorative products.⁵

Arpili is the location chosen by one of two universities that have decided to establish a branch in Balamban. The University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) has chosen Arpili to be its permanent location, intending to serve the industrial community, anticipating the possibility, too, that the municipality would eventually become a city, and Arpili would develop into a progressive industrial hub. USJ-R is complete with pre-school, elementary, secondary, and ultimately, tertiary levels of educational offerings. Its campus is just a short distance from the national highway, with a chapel and a swimming pool.

Arpili too has already a hotel to serve domestic and foreign visitors to the ship-building firms who would choose to stay in it like the “Arpili Residences”. Service and convenience stores have sprouted in the once small village to serve the needs of its steadily increasing population, many of whom are migrants to the barangay, while its upland sitios have also risen to the challenge of supplying the agricultural needs of the lowland industrial sitios. Cattle, poultry, piggery and goat-raising projects have sprouted to meet the rising demand of the new residents, instead of them just going to the poblacion to buy their other needs. But the accessibility of Cebu City through either Toledo City or Cebu Trans-Central Highway has made life in the developing industrial center even easier.

At present, as the FBM Babcock Marine which fabricated fast craft 50-meter catamaran is on its shut down mode, the Austal Corporation from Australia is now on the process of taking over and carrying out what FBMA had started.

SCENIC SPOTS

There is a number of scenic spots within the barangay but seldom visited by the local people since those were believed to be inhabited by elemental spirits aside from being far and need a long distance walking to reach them. Among these scenic spots are the Locob Cave with a crystal-clear pool inside, Rugged Stone Thrill at Pandong Bato and Cave Sitio Gaang, Freshwater along shorelines at Sitio Cotcoton, Talisay Beach, the Landmarks, and most of all the famous natural spring in sitio Kasile known as Casili Spring which water is coming from an underground river.¹