Villaba (IPA: ɪ'ʎabɐ, officially the Municipality of Villaba ( ceb, Lungsod sa Villaba; war, Bungto han Villaba; tl, Bayan ng Villaba), is a 3rd 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 ...

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

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 ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 42,859 people.

History

Pre-Spanish History

The existence of the place now known as Villaba was discovered in about the last quarter of the sixteenth century by Boholano traders. These traders landed on the western coast and found fertile plains along the river and forest. The sea coast also proved to be good fishing ground. The settlers built their houses along the banks of the river and banded into groups to protect themselves from the ''moro'' pirates and wild animals. Along the banks of the river were "''

Hindang Hindang (IPA: ɪn'daŋ, officially the Municipality of Hindang ( ceb, Lungsod sa Hindang; war, Bungto han Hindang; tl, Bayan ng Hindang), is a 5th class municipality in the province of Leyte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a ...

''" trees which grew in abundance so they called the new settlement ''Hamindangon'' (full of ''

hindang Hindang (IPA: ɪn'daŋ, officially the Municipality of Hindang ( ceb, Lungsod sa Hindang; war, Bungto han Hindang; tl, Bayan ng Hindang), is a 5th class municipality in the province of Leyte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a ...

'' trees). As the years passed, more settlers migrated from

Bohol Bohol (), officially the Province of Bohol ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Bohol; tl, Lalawigan ng Bohol), is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region, consisting of the island itself and 75 m ...

and

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 ...

. These new inhabitants likewise settled on the plains along the ''Hamindangon'' River.

Spanish Period

During the expedition of the entire

Eastern Visayas Eastern Visayas ( war, Sinirangan Kabisay-an; ceb, Sidlakang Kabisay-an; tl, Silangang Kabisayaan or ''Silangang Visayas'') is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region VIII. It consists of three main islands, Samar, ...

by Spanish ''

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...

'' in 1593, a group of Spaniards, led by the General-Governor's son,

Luis Pérez Dasmariñas Luis Pérez Dasmariñas y Páez de Sotomayor was a Spanish soldier and governor of the Philippines from December 3, 1593 to July 14, 1596. In 1596, he sent unsuccessful expeditions to conquer Cambodia and Mindanao. Pérez Dasmariñas was a knight ...

landed on the shores of ''Hamindangon'' and the named the place ''Nueva Galicia'' in honor of his father, the

Governor-General of the Philippines The Governor-General of the Philippines (Spanish: ''Gobernador y Capitán General de Filipinas''; Filipino: ''Gobernador-Heneral ng Pilipinas/Kapitan Heneral ng Pilipinas''; Japanese: ) was the title of the government executive during the colon ...

, Gomez Perez Dasmariñas who is from Galicia,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. The governor set sail from

Cavite Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite ( tl, Lalawigan ng Kabite; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Located on the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest ...

for Pintado province in October 1593, to join the part of the fleet under Luis Pérez who is already at the Visayas. Before he proceeded to

Moluccas The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located eas ...

, Luis Pérez introduced the ''

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residenti ...

'' of ''Nueva Galicia'' to the whole fleet. But the Governor-General renamed the place to

Vilalba Vilalba is a municipality in Galicia (Spain), Galicia (Spain), in the province of Lugo, on the left bank of the river Ladra, one of the headstreams of the Minho (river), Miño. Pilgrim route Vilalba is located on the old Way of St. James, pilgr ...

(from the Spanish town in Galicia region) in order not to confused with other

Nueva Galicia Nuevo Reino de Galicia (''New Kingdom of Galicia'', gl, Reino de Nova Galicia) or simply Nueva Galicia (''New Galicia'', ''Nova Galicia'') was an autonomous kingdom of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It was named after Galicia in Spain. Nueva ...

town that is located in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Over the years, the natives of the ''barrio'' had problem of Spanish unaccented digraphs, mispronouncing Vilalba (Spanish pronunciation: iˈʎalβa with Villaba (IPA: ɪ'ʎabɐ, and perhaps, it is easier to pronounce the later name and thus retained it when the town was officially established in June 1910.

American Period

The Spanish was defeated by the Americans who started their occupation of the Philippines on August 13, 1898. The following year, there was a popular revolt in the Visayas particularly in Samar and Leyte called the ''Pulahanes'' movement. One consequence of that revolution against the Americans was that the town of Villaba was reduced to a barrio and became part of the municipality of

San Isidro, Leyte San Isidro, officially the Municipality of San Isidro ( ceb, Lungsod sa San Isidro; war, Bungto han San Isidro; tl, Bayan ng San Isidro), is a 4th class municipality in the province of Leyte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a p ...

. During that period, Villaba was then ran by local executives known as ''

cabeza de barangay A ''cabeza de barangay'' (literally "head of hebarangay), also known as ''teniente del barrio'', was the leader or chief of a barangay or barrio in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period.Scott, William Henry. ''Barangay Sixteenth-Cen ...

''. For want of official records however, to provide a complete list and their specific terms of office, the following have served in the said capacity: 1. Andres Gervacio 2. Antonio Dejillo 3. Fortunato Cabilar 4. Hermogenes Tumamak 5. Casimiro Tumamak 7. Tomas Tumamak 8. Luciano Domael In June 1910, the Provincial Board of Leyte passed and approved a resolution creating the Municipality of Villaba. Since then, there was a continuous change of Chief Executives in the municipality up to the present. 1. Juan Burgos - 1910 to 1912 2. Flaviano Domael - 1913 to 1915 3. Carmelino Rubillos - 1916 to 1918 4. Flaviano Domael - 1919 to 1921 5. Paulino Dejillo - 1922 to 1924 6. Flaviano Domael - 1925 to 1927 7. Damian Perez - 1928 to 1930 8. Bartolome Esmas - 1931 to 1939 9. Vicente Veloso - 1940 to 1945 10. Eusebio Gaviola - 1945 to 1946 11. Fermin Tumamak - 1946 to 1950 12. Francisco Burgos - 1951 to 1959 13. Alberto Veloso - 1960 to 1963 14. Bartolome Esmas - Oct 1963 to Dec 1963 15. Sofronio Ramirez - 1964 to 1967 16. Aurelio Veloso - 1968 to Apr 1980 17. Antonio Villamor - May 1980 to Apr 20,1986 18. Faustino Tumamak - (OIC) Apr 21, 1986 19. Roman Omega - (OIC) Dec 4, 1987 - Feb 1988 20. Faustino Tumamak, Jr. - Feb 1988 to Mar 1992 21. Leonora Rosal - Mar 1992 to Jun 1992 22. Jorge V. Veloso - Jul 1,1992 to 1998 23. Atty. Faustino Tumamak Jr.- 1998 to 2004 24. Claudio Martin Larrazabal - 2004 to 2013 25. Jorge V. Veloso - 2013 to 2016 26. Juliet A. Larrazabal - 2016 to 2019 27. Jorge V. Veloso - 2019 to June 2022 28. Carlos G. Veloso - July 2022 to present

Barangays

Villaba is politically subdivided into 35

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 ...

s. Each barangay consists of

purok A ''purok'' ( en, district or zone) is a division within a barangay in the Philippines. While not officially considered a local government unit (LGU), a purok often serves as a unit for delivering services and administration within a barangay ...

s and some have

sitios A ''sitio'' (Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own barangay if its popul ...

. * Abijao * Balite * Bugabuga * Cabungahan * Cabunga-an * Cagnocot * Cahigan * Calbugos * Camporog * Capinyahan * Casili-on * Catagbacan * Fatima (

Poblacion ''Poblacion'' (literally "town" or "settlement" in Spanish language in the Philippines, Spanish; ) is the common term used for the administrative center, central, downtown, old town or central business district area of a Philippines, Philippi ...

) * Hibulangan * Hinabuyan * Iligay * Jalas * Jordan * Libagong * New Balanac * Payao *

Norte * Poblacion Sur * Sambulawan * San Francisco * Silad * Sulpa * Tabunok * Tagbubunga * Tinghub * Bangkal * Canquiason * San Vicente * Santa Cruz * Suba

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Villaba was 42,859 people, with a density of .

Economy

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 ...

br>Philippine Census InformationLocal Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control Municipalities of Leyte (province)