Sogod is Visayan term for “start”, and locals said the town is so named because it is a place of beginnings.
It is in Sogod that fine white sand stretching farther north begins, ending the string of dark sand beaches in preceding municipalities.
This meeting in contrast of white and dark can be seen only during low tide, at a spot where a sign marks a cave that once served as hiding place of Japanese soldiers during the war.
In this same area are markings resembling hoofs that religious Sogoranons believe were made by the horse of St. James The Apostle, the town’s patron saint, as he makes his way on horseback to the Sogod church through the cave.
Another possible reason for the name “Sogod”, residents say, is because the shift to Catholicism in the north during the Spanish period started in the town.
It’s not therefore surprising that Sogod celebrates beginnings through the “Panagsogod Festival” – which will have its culminating activities on Friday.
Vice Mayor Liza Marie Durano, who is acting mayor, said she sees the potential of the town to become a destination and invites tourists – both local and foreign – to visit and sample the many things that the town has to offer.
About Sogod
Sogod, approximately 60 kilometers from central Cebu City, shares boundaries with Borbon on the north, Catmon on the south, Tuburan and Tabuelan on the west, and Camotes Sea on the east.
It has 18 barangays with a total land area of 12,413.35 hectares, a large part of which is made up mostly of broad alluvial plain (75.85%) while the remaining portions are mountains (25.15%).
The town recorded an annual income of P34 million in 2007, and it had a population of 30,308 or 5,000 households as of the 2005 census.
Unpublished written accounts say Sogod existed as a civil government in 1764 under the authority of the Spanish provincial government known as “Tribunal de Mestizos.”
It was headed by a teniente in the person of Juan Daligdig.
In 1903, Sogod was merged with the town of Catmon but an act of the defunct Philippine Assembly separated them again on January 1, 1921.
Attractions
A landmark destination in the town is the popular Alegre Beach Resort, with its premium on privacy, breathtaking view of the sea, fine sand, cool waters, cabanas taking inspiration from Spanish and Filipino architecture, and lush greens.
Other beach resorts are Calumboyan Public Beach, Tabunok Garden View Resort, and Northsky Beach Resort in Barangay Bawo.
Aside from white sand beaches, Sogod also a number of caves, springs, falls, and rivers.
A spring in the village of Bagatayam supplies water to the town through the Sogod Waterworks System. The spring has attracted tourists because its water has been reputed to have healing powers. A grotto of the Virgin Mary has been constructed in the place.
The St. James the Apostle Parish Church, built in 1842, is 170 years old and is a town cultural destination. Sogod also has a host of old school buildings, houses, and other structures.
At Sogod Central School in Bagatayam are astronomical platforms that served as the International Astronomical Observatory Post of the 1929 total solar eclipse. The town was then the center of the eclipse.
In Nahus-an Hills, 70 percent of farmers produce “kabog” or millet, a kind of cereal under the corn variety. The product is made in the famous Sogod delicacy “budbud kabog.”
