| ANTIQUE TOWNS: LAUA-AN |
| MUNICIPALITY OF LAUA-AN (Reprinted from the Binirayan 2000 Souvenir Magazine) There
is no written record or history of the origin as well as the name given to this
municipality of Lauaan, but the data supplied herein were gathered from
reliable sources. They were handed down from generation to generation in
the form of traditional stories from forefathers who pioneered in this part of
Antique. Here's how the legendary settlement of Laua-an took place. Alejo
Baldestamon, the last Capitan del Pueblo of the Spanish regime has revealed this
history of Lauaan. He said that in the early days of man, there were already
inhabitants in what is now the Laua-an Poblacion. From the source of a deep
brook, found in the northern part of the poblacion, is the giant tree called
LAWA-AN. This deep brook was navigable by sailboats at that time. Seafarers, who
wanted to take shelter from the strong winds and storms that usually hit the province
during the rainy season, always sail up the river to In
those early days, a strong-intensity earthquake struck this place. The resulting
tremors caused the church bells to ring and the household furnitures to move
from side to side. When the rainy season began that year, the people were
greatly amazed at the sight of a waist-deep silt that gradually covered the
river basin until the once famous inland harbor could not even be passable by a
banca (native canoe). From that time on, the brook could no longer be used for
navigation but the name of the brook stuck in the minds of the people up to this
day. Likewise,
in those early days, this settlement was frequently raided by moro pirates. To
defend themselves the people constructed stone towers they called “KOTA”
from which a lookout could watch for oncoming raids. The “RONDAS” also used
trenches to defend themselves. Most of the stone-tower trenches were built near
the shore which offered a commanding view of the sea lanes. During
the early days of the Spanish colonization of the islands, the first recorded
local executives were called Teniente Encargados. Records of the Teniente
Encargado started from the year 1702 up to 1855. Later on, the Local Chief
Executive was called Capitanes del Pueblo. These were likewise recorded from the
year 1865 until the year 1898 when the Spanish Regime ended. Unfortunately,
however, at the close of the Spanish era, another Western colonizer took over
and the Philippines, once again, became a colony of a western power. Before
the Spanish-American war, Laua-an was already a Pueblo. Barbaza, like Laua-an, had
also an independent seat of government but when the Filipino-American war
ensued, the American Army burned the Municipal Building (Casa) and Barbaza lost
its identity as a municipality. Therefore, when the first Census was taken,
Barbaza, accidentally, became an integral part of Laua-an. TAN
LUIS SARMIENTO became the first Municipal President of Laua-an. When he sought
reelection, he was defeated by TAN JUSTIANO BARRIENTOS of Barbaza. The majority
of winning officials also came from Barbaza. The winning officials then passed a
resolution to transfer the seat of municipal government from the poblacion of
Laua-an to the arrabal of Barbaza. It was agreed among the winning and losing
participants in the election that the seat of government would be transferred
back to Laua-an should a candidate from Laua-an win the next election. Consequently,
during that period the famous Gabaldon Law was approved by the U.S. Congress and
the U.S. aid in the form of building materials intended for the municipality of
Lauaan were instead constructed in Barbaza rather than in Laua-an. This was
due to the passage of the Municipal Council of a resolution to construct the
building in the arrabal of Barbaza. This tyranny of numbers was disliked by the
residents of Guisijan and Laua-an. They filed a petition before the Governor
General Wood to separate Barbaza from Laua-an to avoid further political
turmoil. Upon proper representation by TAN LUIS SARMIENTO before the Governor General, Barbaza was separated immediately from Laua-an when he returned from Manila. During the same year, TAN LUIS SARMIENTO was elected again as Municipal President and assumed office in 1912 for the second time.
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