Dao is a 4th class municipality in the province of capiz, philippine. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 30,623 people in 5,921 households.
Dao is a municipality of Capiz, one of four provinces in the western Visayan island of Panay in the Philippine archipelago. It is centrally located and lies approximately 33 kilometers south of Roxas City, the provincial capital. Close to 40% of the total land area is suitable for farming. Rice, corn, sugarcane, coconut and other root crops are among the agricultural products under cultivation. Other local industries include cutflower, balut(duck egg), rice noodles and freshwater fish farming.
History of Dao
Captivating Capiz Dao holds the distinction as one of the oldest towns of Capiz. With its old name, Divingdin, and sometimes Mandruga, it became one of the earliest visitas(mission stations) of the parish of Pan’ay, the first town to receive the Gospel in Panay island. Fray Gaspar de San Agustin, O.S.A., in his Conquistas de las Islas Filipinas 1565-1615, mentions Divingdin: “The convent of Panay has two visitas on this river. One is called Ipiong (now, Panitan), under the protection of San Lorenzo. The other isDivingdin under the protection of Saint Augustine.”
It was later named Dao, after one of the tallest trees in the Philippines, Paliurus dao of the Anacardiaceae family, which grew in abundance in the town. Fray Manuel Blanco, O.S.A., who compiled the Flora de Filipinas (first published in 1837 and 1845), gives a brief description: ‘This tree is known, and sometimes grows to forty-five brazas in height, its fruit is edible and is as large as the guinda: the taste is similar to that of Lamio. Some natives call it Dao, as described in the genus Pouparita.” Folk history during the time of Datu Bangkaya, the ruler of Aklan after the confederation of Madia-as, however, recognizes Isada and Paro, the chieftains of the two barangays, as the founders of the town. It was said that after a long search, they settled at a bank of the river near a big tree called dao.When Dumalag became a town in 1596, Dao was annexed to it as a barrio.On February 29, 1836, by decree of then Governor-General Pedro A. Salazar, it became an independent parish under the patronage of Santo Tomas de Villaneuva. The town flourished largely because of its fertile soil, irrigated by the Pan-ay and Mambusao rivers, and its humid climate.
