Lezo, officially the Municipality of Lezo ( Aklanon: ''Banwa it Lezo''; Hiligaynon: ''Banwa sang Lezo''; tl, Bayan ng Lezo), is a 5th class

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Aklan Aklan, officially the Province of Aklan ( Akeanon: ''Probinsya it Akean'' k'ɣan hil, Kapuoran sang Aklan; tl, Lalawigan ng Aklan), is a province in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines. Its capital is Kalibo. The province is situated ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It is the smallest municipality in the province both by population and by land area, and even by revenue. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 15,639 people.

History

Before its creation into an independent municipality, Lezo was a ''barrio'' in

Kalibo Kalibo, officially the Municipality of Kalibo ( Aklanon: ''Banwa it Kalibo''; Hiligaynon: ''Banwa sang Kalibo''; tgl, Bayan ng Kalibo), is a 1st class municipality and capital of the Province of Aklan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, ...

called ''Guicod'' derived from the word "Guicab" which means "a cavern in a creek where eels were in abundance", and was also known as ''Tierra Alta'' meaning a "high land" because the town center was not inundated during the great flood of the early 19th century. When the Americans came in 1899, the military government appointed Felix Kimpo as head of the Calivo (covering the present territory of

, Numancia and Lezo). During the election in 1901 he was elected as the president from 1901 to 1903. At that time there were 34 towns in the province of Capiz, but these were reduced to 24 towns by a law passed by the civil Commission when it was found out that some towns were incapable of meeting their financial obligations and maintenance. So on April 4, 1903, through Act No. 720 of the Philippine Commission, Lezo, along with Numancia, and Banga was annexed to Kalibo for decreased of revenue collections. On July 31, 1909, the civil commission issued Executive Order No. 58https://quod.lib.umich.edu/p/philamer/atf7298.0007.001/150?page=root;rgn=full+text;size=100;view=image;q1=lezo separating Lezo (that includes Numancia) from Kalibo and making Lezo as the seat of government. Numancia then, became a ''barrio'' of Lezo. On December 31, 1916, through ''Act No. 2657'', Lezo was part of the second district of the province of

Capiz Capiz, officially the Province of Capiz ( Capiznon/ Hiligaynon: ''Kapuoran sang Capiz''; tl, Lalawigan ng Capiz), is a province in the Philippines located in the central section of Western Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Roxas. It is ...

. On March 10, 1917, through ''Act No. 2711'' Lezo was part of the third district of Capiz. In 1920 the situation was reversed with regards to the status of Lezo and Numancia. By ''Executive Order No. 17'', series of 1920, the seat of government was transferred to Numancia and Lezo became a ''barrio'' of Numancia. With several petitions by the residents over the years to separate from Numancia, President

Manuel Quezon Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina, (; 19 August 1878 – 1 August 1944), also known by his initials MLQ, was a Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier and politician who served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 until his dea ...

signed ''Executive Order No. 364'' dated August 28, 1941 converting Lezo into an independent municipality. The inauguration of Lezo as a separate municipality was scheduled in 1942, but due to the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

it was deferred to January 1, 1945.

Geography

Lezo is located at . It is from the provincial capital

According to the

Philippine Statistics Authority The Philippine Statistics Authority (Filipino: ''Pangasiwaan ng Estadistika ng Pilipinas''), abbreviated as PSA, is the central statistical authority of the Philippine government that ''collects, compiles, analyzes and publishes statistical inf ...

, the municipality has a land area of constituting of the total area of Aklan.

Climate

Barangays

Lezo is politically subdivided into 12

barangay A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...

Demographics

In the 2020 census, Lezo had a population of 15,639. The population density was .

Economy

Image gallery

File:Lezo Aklan Plaza Statue.jpg, Town plaza in front of the Church File:Lezo, Aklan Church 2.jpg, Church in Lezo

References

External links

Philippine Standard Geographic Code The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Official Municipal Website
{{Authority control Municipalities of Aklan