Libon, Albay
| Libon Banwaan nyan Libon Municipality of Libon |
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| Municipality | |
| transcription(s) | |
| • English | Municipality of Libon |
| • Filipino | Bayan ng Libon |
| • Spanish | Municipio de Libon |
| • Bikol | Banwaan nin Libon |
| • Bikol-Libon | Banwaan nyan Libon |
| Libon Municipal Hall
Libon Municipal Hall
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| Nickname(s): Rice Granary Capital of Albay | |
| Motto: "Proudly Libon!" | |
 Map of Albay with Libon highlighted |
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 Libon
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| Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | |
| Country | Philippines |
| Region | Bicol (Region V) |
| Province | Albay |
| District | 3rd district |
| Founded | 1573 |
| Barangays | 47 |
| Government[1] | |
| • Mayor | Wildredo "Das" Maronilla (NPC) |
| • Vice Mayor | Marc Gregor "Mac" Sayson (Liberal Party) |
| Area[2] | |
| • Total | 222.76 km2 (86.01 sq mi) |
| Population (2010)[3] | |
| • Total | 71,527 |
| • Density | 320/km2 (830/sq mi) |
| Demonym(s) | Libongueño |
| Time zone | PST (UTC+8) |
| Zip Code | 4507 |
| Dialing code | 52 |
| Website | http://www.libon.gov.ph/ |
Libon is a municipality in the province of Albay, Philippines.Libon is a first class municipality with a land area of 222.76 square kilometers and is seated about 37 kilometers west-north-west of Legazpi City, the capital of Albay, and about 299 kilometers east-south-east of Manila. It is classified as a partly urban municipality with 47 barangays and a population of 71,527 (as of 2010). Libon’s major economic activities are agriculture and fishing. Its 4,000 hectares of ricelands produce 30.4 million kilos or 608,000 bags of palay per year. Libon is also the seat of Pantao Port, a regional port facility that links the island province of Masbate and the Visayas and Mindanao to mainland Bicol towards Southern Luzon and the National Capital Region.
Contents
Ethymology
The town of Libon, as it is presently known was originally called LIBONG. It is not known when and how the letter "g" got dropped. Some writers believe that the Spaniards must have found it difficult to pronounce the word "Libong" with the letter g, so that in due time Libong became Libon. There are conflicting and various versions regarding the origin of the name LIBONG. Some say that the word must have been derived from the Bicol term "libong" or "ribong", meaning puzzled, dizziness, losing one's sense of direction, or becoming oriented. Others believe that the word Libon must have originated from a Spanish term "libon", which means "assault". Another version is that the word is a corruption of the Bicol word "libtong", meaning difficulty, obatacle or pool of stagnant water, which when applied to a place could mean a difficult or stagnant place. The more popular and perhaps more plausible version is the claim that Libon originated from the Bicol term "libong" or "ribong", and there is a story which seems to support this view. The story goes that Captain Juan de Salcedo and his men arrived in this place, by sailing across Lake Bato and entering the river called, Quimba. Sailing upstream, they finally landed in a place called Linao; (Linao is one of the barrios of Libon today and is situated on the banks of Quimba River).
Here Salcedo and his men proceeded to find a town. However, after exploring the surrounding area and noting that Linao was at the foot of a mountain range, making it vulnerable to enemy attacks from the surrounding mountains, Salcedo and his men, with some natives as their guide, decided to move on to a more suitable place. Traveling across marshy land, they arrived at a slightly elevated area. Upon looking around and trying to determine where they were, one native guide remarked "libong aco". (I am confused). The Spaniards on hearing the word "libong" understood it to mean the name of the place. Hence, Salcedo christened it "Santiago de Libon."
Barangays
Libon is politically subdivided into 47 barangays.[2]
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Tourism & Economy
Aside from its richness in history, Libon takes pride in promoting its rural tourism not just to neighbouring towns but also abroad. Libon is known as the Rice Granary Capital of Albay. Foreign scholars from Lee Kuan Yew University of Singapore, who came from Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Australia, Botswana and Great Britain had chosen this town in promoting rural tourism such as rice planting and coconut peeling.Farmer's statue. Undeniably, Libon has a unique tourist attraction, the LIBON FLAMING WATER which makes visitors curious to discover this place.As a bloger named nightnarcissist would describe, "It was said that the flaming waters were discovered in 1962. During that year, Libon East Central School in Barangay Zone 2 Centro Poblacion was chosen as the site where a gauge that would help determine water volume will be installed. Drilling the pipes that will be utilized proved to be a difficult task due to the land's rocky underground. When they were finally able to penetrate the underground, water gushed out and the school ended up being flooded. Thus, they constructed a pond as solution to this problem.One day, Mr. Julian Villanueva, the school janitor, went to the pond and washed his hands. He lighted a cigarette and tossed the matchstick into the pond. Imagine his surprise when it suddenly burst into flames. The story of the flaming water spread like wild fire in the municipality as well as neighboring towns.
Buga Lake which faces Lake Bato is another tourist destination in Libon where you can have a boat ride while you immerse yourselves to fishermen and even have the chance to buy big indian carps, tilapia and tabios at a cheap price fresh from the lake. You can enjoy your boat ride around the lake where you can have a perfect view of Mt.Mayon, Mt. Isarog, Mt. Iriga, Mt. Malinao and Mt. Masaraga. At the coastal area of Libon introduces its untouched beauty and preserved nature. Rawis beach which is an hour trip from Buga Lake. Aside from its warm waters and peaceful ambience, Rawis has "baura", a 232 hectare sand atoll. The best time to visit the baura is during low tide to enjoy the white sand and skin dive. Near the beach is a mangrove farm where the local government and the locals have been preserving can also be visited. along the coastline, you can see varieties of fish sold and dried at an affordable price.These are just few tourist attractions that can be visited in this municipality. Libon is rich in its culture where majority of the residents are farmers and fishermen. Libon celebrates Paroy Festival on the Feast of St.James the Great as its Patron Saint. Each year the town celebrates its festival with different themes like last 2010: Spanish Invasion and such. Different activities are made not just at the poblacion but throughout the town. Different cuisines, product, cultural presentations of every barangay are always expected at the festival so everyone really participates in their festivity. These and many more can only be found in Libon.
History
The town of Libon in the province of Albay traces its recorded history to the Second Expedition of Captain Juan de Salcedo to the Bicol Region in 1573. Salcedo first reached the Bicol Region via the northern entrance in 1571, shortly after the capture of Manila by his uncle, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. The latter had commissioned Salcedo to pacify the surrounding regions, including the native settlements around the Laguna de Bay area, when Salcedo learned from the natives that somewhere beyond the mountains of southern Luzon was a placed called Paracale with its fabulous gold mines. Wasting no time and with a force of forty men and some natives as guide, Salcedo proceeded toward the direction of the said gold mines, traveling along the Pacific Coast until they reached the Northern part of the Bicol Region and entered Paracale. Meanwhile, Legazpi wondering about the whereabouts of his nephew, dispatched a group headed by Sergeant Hurtado to locate the missing expedition. Hurtado found Salcedo in Paracale on December 28, 1571. Acting on order of Legazpi, Salcedo cut short his Bicol explorations and returned to Manila, out he bowed to return to Bicol as soon as possible. In early 1573, Salcedo undertook his second trip to the Bicol Region retracing his first route and with the wealth of information that he gathered during his first arrival in the region, he led his men beyond Paracale. Sailing the Bicol River upstream, Salcedo and his men finally reached its source, Bato Lake. Then on the banks of this lake, "on suitable terrain", according to a Bicolano historian, Salcedo set up the foundations of a "Settlement for Spaniards and christened it Santiago de Libong." A report on Salcedo's second expedition to Bicol was sent to the King of Spain by Guido de Lavesarez, then Governor General of the Islands: Existing record on Salcedo's second trip to the Bicol Region point out that he left behind in the villa he founded , Santiago de Libong, as chief law officer, Captain Pedro de Chavez, and some eighty soldiers. It seems a little strange that no mention of the founding of Santiago de Libong was made by Governor Lavesarez in his report to the King of Spain. Fr. Sanchez, in an attempt to explain his puzzling omission wrote; Captain Chavez was, however, sent back to the Bicol Region in 1579 and in honor of Don Francisco de Sande, second proprietary governor of Manila, founded a city in Camarines and named it Nueva Caceres, in memory of Don Francisco de Sande's home city in Spain, Nueva Caceres in Camarines is now Naga City.
St.James The Greater Parish
In 1573 Juan de Salcedo set up the garrison named Santiago de Libong, and a church was constructed under the patronage of St. James the Apostle. In 1578, when the Franciscans arrive, it was ceded to the province under San Gregorio Magno. A church made of red bricks was constructed in Linao in 1591. This church was destroyed in mid 17th century and a new church was constructed. . In 1847 the town was ceded to Albay from Camarines. Huerta reported that the new church was reconstructed by Vicente de Dosbarrios in 1865 and it wasmade of solid bricks, while the casa parroquial was made of stone. The church was destroyed by a strong earthquake in 1907 and it had to reconstructed with new materials.
Demographics
| Population census of Libon | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1990 | 59,910 | — |
| 1995 | 63,190 | +1.00% |
| 2000 | 66,213 | +1.01% |
| 2007 | 68,846 | +0.54% |
| 2010 | 71,527 | +1.40% |
| Source: National Statistics Office[3][4] | ||
References
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External links
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Bato, Camarines Sur | Polangui | |
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| Ragay Gulf |  |
Oas | ||
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| Burias Pass San Pascual, Masbate |
Oas |
 Province of Albay |
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Legazpi (capital)
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