Loon, officially the Municipality of Loon (; ), is a municipality in the province of Bohol, Philippines which was established in 1753. According to the 2024 census, it had a population of 43,857 people.

History

Loon was among the hardest hit towns in the 2013 Bohol earthquake. About a third of all casualties occurred in this town, and its church, dating from the 1850s, was completely leveled to the ground.

Geography

250px|thumb|right|Map of Loon showing barangays and islands

The town proper of Loon is located about north of Tagbilaran and is the westernmost municipality of Bohol. The Cabilao and Sandingan islands are part of the municipality. Lanao Lake on Cabilao island (also known as Cabilao Island Lake) is the only natural lake in Bohol.

Loon lies halfway between Tagbilaran and Tubigon, Bohol's major ports of entry, each of which is only 40 minutes away by public utility buses, jeepneys and vans-for-hire that frequently ply the north–south route. Loon has one provincial secondary port and six fishing ports. The secondary port is being converted into the Loon Bohol International Cruise Ship Port. Currently it serves the Loon—Argao (Cebu) route.

| date = 9 May 2020

Barangays

Loon is politically subdivided into 67 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

<td style="text-align:left;"> soso a freshwater shellfish species</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2 >badba-an a local shrub or tree</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" rowspan=3 >bagakay or bamboo abundant in the area

:katipuhan a place where "tipolo" trees grew in abundance

:kawayan a bamboo thicket beside a small pool of mud where carabaos wallow

:saong a tree species whose sap thought similar to paste used in the making of Noah's Ark</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > bahi the hard portion of the trunk of a "pugahan" palm</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > basac from the visayan word "basa", which means "wet" and many years passed by, turned into "basac"</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2 > baas means sand

:daku means big; wide shoreline of the barangay

:diyo means small; a patch of sand on its shoreline</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > biasong: a variety of orange grown near the Moalong River</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > trabongko: a legendary shining ball that giant snakes amused at night</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > bugho or hole, references to the ravines and gorges of the barangay</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > after the plant bakong</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > land purportedly belonging (Ca) to the first inhabitant named Badug</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > kabug bats hanging from the branches of "tipolo" trees</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2 > after the swaying coconut trees which looked like fighting (galayug)</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > bas nga nag-ekis-ekis or sand that crosses from one side to other depending on the waves. (A popular yet wrong tale means "come back and kiss".)</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > patud a spring in a thick forest where hunters go</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > legendary ever-burning stump of dead tree to kindle (daig) lamps</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2 > kanhangdon root word is "hangad" or to look up from the Moalong River</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > nigaran a legendary place where big niga trees grew</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > mamag or tarsier, which were plentiful</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > manok where wild chickens abound</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > after a spring of the same name</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > subayon the act of walking the banks of creeks</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2 > tam-is means sweet

: bago is a vegetable

: baslay the name of a spring</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > taongon tree was abundant</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > sondo a creek where one needs to take a leap (tukad)</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" rowspan=3 > tagbak means to barter or exchange goods

: katagbacan is a location where barter takes place

: handig a location on slopes that rise from the plain</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2 > kogon grass</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > "Kawasi!", an order to disembark or jump overboard (to save the cargo)</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > the legend says an ill farmer called out because his carabao was hinomolan (wallowing in the river)</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > tuwang-tuwang, the changing movement of sand blown by south and north winds</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > the curved shape of its coastline na lo-ok</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2 > pok-pok, the warning drum hung from a mangrove tree (pagatpat) when Moros pirate kumpits were coming</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2 > moto or hill, located above the original settlement, the coastal barangay of Napo</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > nagatuwang whereby flow of water from a spring is absorbed higher</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > napolo or napoo means place formed from sand</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > Spanish for 'new life'; the new settlement built when Catagbacan became too big</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > panankilon, a medicinal herb</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > from tulod-tulod the thrusting action of the waves shifting sand by the wind blow</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > pi-ot the narrow stretch of road which widened by blasting, resulting in the fleeing of the monkeys from their habitat</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > pundo-pundo or pondol juts into the sea or pools of water</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > kinubkoban holes dug looking for sources of water.</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > sondol or donsol, a sea slug species abundant in its seashore</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > so-ongon, an arch-like rock formation along the shoreline; where one has to stoop (so-ong) to pass</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > talisay trees which growing on cliffs over the shoreline</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > tan-awan means a place where one gets a good view of the villages below it</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > tangnan is cave that contains fresh water</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > taytay a bridge, narrow hilltop-located pathway that leads to the center of the village</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > tikog plant whose leaf strips can be woven into mats</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > tiwi the trees that once grew on the eastern part

<td style="text-align:left;" > tontonan means to use a rope (tonton) to scale a high mountain

<td style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2 > tubod means spring

:daku means big

:diyo means small</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > tuburan is a spring</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > nag-ubay sa baybayon means straddling the shoreline</td>

<td style="text-align:left;" > ulbohan a well where water gushed in spurts (ga ulbo-ulbo)</td>

Demographics

thumb|right|Municipal Building

Economy

Gross Annual Income (2014): ₱63.2 million

  • Loon Macaques: a mainstream tourist destination featuring the crab-eating mangrove monkeys (Cantomocad)
  • Cabilao Island
  • Dive sites
  • Cabilao Island Lake
  • Green Footprint Lagoon
  • Cabacungan Fish Sanctuary
  • Tubig-Loon Spring Park
  • White beaches and sand bars (Cabilao and Sandingan Islands)
  • Mangrove gardens (Tangnan, Pig-ot, Basdacu, Napo, Cogon Norte, Basac, Tajang Causeway, Sandingan)
  • Caves (Cantam-is Baslay and many upland barangays)
  • Mount Canmanoc
  • Mount Tan-awan: highest point of Loon
  • Moalong River and Antaeg Spring and Lagoon
  • Piong and Kabantian Falls
  • Danicop Ticugan Springs
  • Endemic animals: hammerhead shark, pygmy seahorse, monkeys, exotic birds, "mamag" (tarsier), "kagwang" (a lemur-like gliding mammal), "tinggawong" (bearcat)

Infrastructure

Transportation

Road network:

  • [ Philippine Standard Geographic Code]
  • Municipality of Loon