The History of Towns in Region VIII, Philippines
These histories were taken from the book Leyte Towns, Histories/Legends by Francisco S. Tantuico Jr of Tacloban City. Click on a town and view the history below the menu.
Liloan
One of the southernmost towns of the province of Leyte is Liloan located on the northern tip of Panaon Island.
A breathtakingly beautiful bay set in a circle of lush green hills, light green or blue crystal clear waters, stretches of warm white sand, coral gardens offshore where multi-colored fish swim in and out of the stony patterns - all these comprise the little-known treasures of the gown of Liloan.
The many whirlpools in the narrow strait that leads out to Cabalian is said to be the source of the town's name. "Lilu" is the vernacular word for whirlpool. The name was aptly given since no one will fail to notice the many whirling pools that embroider the sea.
Magellan is said to have passed this settlement on the way to Limasawa.
When the Portuguese tried to reach Mindanao for the first time in 1534, the Capitan of the Fort at Ternate, Tristan de Taid, heard of Liloan, as a place northeast of Mindanao, which abounded in gold. This information was told to him by Captain Antonio de Galvan. Father Andres de Urdaneta confirms this fact in his "Relaciones del Viaje a las Molucas."
Fr. Fabricio Sersali, at the order of his superior, visited Liloan for the purpose of planting the holy faith. But on arriving there he and his companions could not find a single inhabitant. He later stated to Fr. Diego Garcia in his letter dated November 24, 1602, that the natives considered them as cannibals. Suspecting that they were coming from Cabali-an, the natives fled to the mountains. Father Sersali then planted the cross after having burned the place of the Maganitos.
Liloan is situated along the maritime route during the Spanish time, so that it was converted into a regular stopping place for traveling missionaries. As a result, long before it was actually founded it already had a church in 1718 and a rectory of its own which Fr. Sendino described as being built of light materials.
Immigrants from the town of Maasin were said to have founded this town which was established in 1951. The town of San Francisco was formerly a barrio of Liloan under the name of Kanlilug. It separated from Liloan as a municipality in 1899 with Manuel Tio as the first local chief.
Today, Liloan is a third class municipality with seven barrios, namely: Calian, Anilao, Estelo, Roxas, Himayangan and Poblacion.
|
