Sapian started as a settlement in the 17th Century called Katadman. It was located in the site where the cemetery is now located.In one of the folktales, Spanish colonizers from Iloilo, where Miguel Lopez de Legaspi established a supply base for Cebu, stopped by one day. When they met children playing with coins, they asked what is the name of the place. The confused children, thinking that the Spaniards were asking what are they holding, said that it is Salapi. They Spaniards thought the name of the place was Salapi, but later records and map have been inadvertently corrupted to refer to the area as “Sapian”. Sapi-an or Sapian is a 4th class municipality in the province of Capiz, Phillipines. It belongs to the Second Congressional District of the Province of Capiz. The town’s zip code is 5806.On last count, Sapian has a total population of 25,316 people and 23,854 of the Sapianons are Catholics.
Sapian Bay which is situated in the northern part of the municipality is geographically joined with Capiz Bay. The 30 km² Sapian and Capiz shallow sea bays has extensive intertidal mudflats, sandy beaches, mangrove swamps, estuaries of several small rivers, and associated coastal lagoons and marshes.Sapian Bay which opens up to the sea is a source of livelihood for many Sapianons. Marine produce from Sapian Bay include green mussels “tahong”, oyster “talaba”, lobster and different species of fish,and clams. Many lands near sea water were developed into fishponds that produce milkfish (bangus), prawns and crabs.Another source of livelihood is agriculture. Carpets of rice fields, trees and flowers can be seen as one travels through Sapian along the national road which connect Roxas City to Iloilo and Aklan. The ricefield along the national road are slowly disappearing to give way to housing developments. Sapian’s main agricultural produce are rice and coconuts while Sigma is one of the 16th municipalities in the provice of capiz.
People of Sapian show lavish cultural and religious celebrations from July 22 to 26 each year in honor of their patron saint Santa Ana.Few meters away from the plaza is the municipal hall which holds local government offices. Next to it is the barangay hall and health clinic. Nearby is Sapian Elementary School, two big churches: the Catholic Church and the Aglipayan Church, and the public market.About one kilometer from the town center is Sapian National High School and Capiz State University (CAPSU) Sapian Branch.Sapian is politically subdivided into 10 barangays the Agsilab, Agtatacay Norte,Agtatacay Sur, Bilao ,Damayan, Dapdapan, Lonoy, Majanlud ,Maninang ,Poblacion.Like Sapian,Pilar,Capiz has 24 barangays and its is the 4th class municipality in the province of Capiz. One of the beautiful sights seeing there is the island named A-tub. It is located in Bang-O-gay Pilar, Capiz. Many people went there to see that captivating island. There is one option that you can reach.
Capiz shells are much sought after by international exporters. The shells are turned into flowers and souvenir items. Other best buys are handicrafts, ceramics, lime processing, garments, farm tools fabrication, furniture and boat making. The province is also famous for its seafood cuisines and delectable dishes. The main economy of Capiz comes from agriculture and fishing. Major agri-based crops are palay, corn, sugar cane and coconut. The province also has farms that are into growing orchids, various ornamental plants and flowers. The coastal areas abound with “kapis” shells are used in manufacturing novelty items for export. Other manufacturing industries are also into garments, furniture-making, bakery and processed foods, handicrafts and shellcrafts, and processing activities such as food, oysters, mussels, fish and prawn processing.
CAPIZ is also equally known as the “Seafood Capital of the Philippines”, due to its rich fishing grounds in the Western Visayas. Fishponds covers 7,000 hectares in the province, thus, it is the major producer and supplier of milkfish, crabs, shrimps and prawns in the whole country. Other agro-industrial harvests include blue marlin, squid, oysters, shrimp, seaweed, squid and angel wings. Investors venture into prawn culture, prawn feed manufacture, seaweed farming and the distribution and processing of other marine products. Currently the province has numerous establishments, telecommunication companies and banking institutions. The farm has a thousand bamboo stilts arrayed 6 feet apart and each bamboo pole stuck through the sea floor 6 to 7 feet deep. One gets to this sea farm by means of pump boats, dugouts or rafts from Sitio Angkin.