Rinconada Section
Bula

History

The town’s name, Bula, comes from the local dialect term meaning ‘bamboo split’. It is one of the towns with the oldest heritage in the province of Camarines Sur. It is located between the two cities of Naga and Iriga. It borders Pili, the capital town of Cam. Sur on the north, Balatan, and Nabua on the south, Baao on the east, and Minalabac, and Ragay Gulf in the west.

In 1576, Bula was one of the four villages founded by the Spaniards when they arrived in the Bicol region. The original settlements were along the Bicol river,which were formed into the barrios of Ombao, Causip, Palsong and Baao, the latter becoming a separate ‘pueblo’ from Bula in the 18th century.

In 1578, the Parish of St. Mary Magdalene was established by the Franciscan missionaries, and Christianization of the early settlers began.
A census done in 1885 mentioned there were 501 inhabitants paying tribute. The Parish archives has this to say about Bula in 1885, “the town is in the lowland so that it is always flooded come the rainy season. Its boundary reaches as far as the Mission Zone of Pili, two hours walking distance; East South East of Bula is the town of Baao a walking distance of three hours; in the South West it is bounded with a mountain range and in the North West by the town of Minalabac which is three hours walking distance. The area of this town of Bula in the Western part reaches up to the seacoast. There are plenty of hard wood trees in the mountains, coconuts, palm trees, rattan vines and in the forests abound fruit trees. Large tracts of land are planted to rice, sugar cane, maiz, camote, mongo, gabi, and other root crops. Most of the men are farmers and there are also fishermen among them. The women are occupied in weaving “guinaras” from abaca fibers and they even weave fine products like “sinamay”. Besides their chores at home the women also help the men in the field during planting and harvest season. Their produce is brought to the towns of Rinconada and to the towns of Albay Province”.
 
When the country was colonized by the Americans, public education became available to the residents of Bula. But the development of the town in the early 1900’s was not as fast-paced as the other towns of Rinconada. For the longest time, the mighty Bicol river which straddles the middle of the town acted as barrier to the socio-economic development of the inland barangays, and sitios.

Today, Bula, is a dynamic town of 62,000 people. The Don Mariano Marcos Bridge now straddles the Bicol river, and connects the poblacion to all the points of the the town. Bula offers a lot of socio-economic potential – from agriculture, fishing, to eco-tourism. All these have to be tapped, and be fully maximized for the town to attain progress.