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.
Maasin
One of the oldest towns of the province in the southwestern part is the town of Maasin. Little is known about its Pre-Spanish existence. However, when the Spanish missionaries were active in their missions in the southern part of the province, with their main station at Hilongos, the place was already inhabited. This was during the later part of the 17th century. In fact, when the first missionary visited the place, it was already an organized community. The missionaries found out that the people were friendly and were interested in embracing the faith. They were inspired so they often visited the place and taught the natives the fundamentals of the Catholic faith. The community grew and was formally established as a parish by the missionaries of the Society of Jesus in 1700. It was called "nipa" in the place. This is confirmed by a piece of stone from a long destroyed convent which bears the following inscription: "Pa. De Tagnipa - ano 1776."
The renaming of the town of Maasin is related by the following incident: Some Spaniards who needed drinking water anchored their ship near this growing community. They scanned the seashore and saw a river, at present called "Canturing River." Going upstream, they saw some natives taking a bath and in Castillian, asked them, "Que pueblo es este?" Without hesitation they answered "Maasin," meaning salty, thinking that the Spaniards asked them how the water tasted, for when the question was asked, the Spaniards gestured in the direction of the river. The sailors reported to their captain about the name of the place. From that time on, the place has been called Maasin.
The town grew rapidly from its establishment in 1700, by the Jesuits. They built the first church and the ruins of this church still exist today. It is found between the two districts of Abagao and Mantahan. The Jesuits administered the parish from 1700 to 1768. The Augustinian fathers took over the parish from 1768 to 1843. During this period the townspeople with the guidance of the Spanish ecclesiastical authorities built the town's second concrete church, about a kilometer from the ruins of the first one. The church stands to this day, although it has undergone several repairs on account of the damage wrought by the forces of nature as time passed. In 1843, the Franciscan missionaries took over the parish and managed it until 1896 when they were forced to abandon it due to the revolution. After the missionaries left the town, the native clergy took over.
The current Catholic cathedral bears a plaque telling of its history, it reads (as translated into English) "This place was established by Jesuit missionaries in 1700. A temporary church was built because this was destroyed by an attack of the moors in 1754. Maasin became a town the next year. IN 1768 the order of the church was changed to Augustine Priests. The church was again built in 1771, but was again destroyed by the moors in 1784. In the administration of Father Serapio Gonzales a stone church was built. In 1839 Father Jose Paco built a new church that burned in 1882. It was built again to become a cathedral thereby becoming the headquarters for the new diocese of Maasin on Aug. 14, 1968. The Patron Saint of this is 'Nuestra Lady of the Assumption'."
The oldest house in Maasin, the property of the municipal government, stood at the corner of McKinley and Allen streets. It was made a garrison by the Japanese and was razed to the ground when the Americans and the guerrillas under Col. Ruperto Kangleon attacked the Japanese. According to an estimate based on some markings inside the house, it was one hundred fifty years old when destroyed during the campaign for the liberation of Leyte.
During the Spanish regime, Maasin was already an organized town. It was already a busy seaport through which the people in southwestern Leyte traded with the city of Cebu. In fact, there is a record of "gobernadorcillos" in this municipality from 1880 to 1894 when, by virtue of the Maura Code passed by the Spanish Cortez, the first chosen local executive was changed from gobernadorcillo to capitan municipal. The last gobernadorcillo was Alejo Alcantara who served from 1892 to 1894. There were only two capitanes municipal: Julio Raagas (1894-1896), and Flaviano Aguilar (1897-1898).
The short-lived Philippine revolution against Spain brought about a change in the local government. During the early part of 1898, General Lukban came to Maasin to install the municipal government under the short-lived Philippine Republic. This government was reorganized by General Mojica in 1899. The arrival of the Americans at the beginning of the twentieth century and the subsequent suppression of all resistance to the American rule stopped all dreams of Philippine independence. But the epoch-making announcement of President McKinley that the Philippines was not theirs to exploit but to train in the art of self-government and to prepare for independence injected new hope for the Filipinos. True to their word, the Americans instituted in this country their democratic institutions. Maasin was one of the beneficiaries of this enlightened American policy. Schools were established. Maasin became the most progressive town in southwestern Leyte and it still is. Maasin was enjoying the blessings of democracy when World War II erupted.
The Japanese occupied Maasin on June 3, 1942. Martial law was instituted. Business was at a standstill. The immediate task was to live, to scrape a living from the earth. The people therefore took to the hills and the valleys. Many of them fought the Japanese invaders making the record of the Maasin guerrillas in one glorious chapter in the history of the municipality.
Maasin resumed its path to prosperity when the Americans returned in late 1944. It became once again a bustling seacoast town trading with Cebu City through the several inter-island boats that ply between it and this city. Through the initiative of its leaders, Maasin continues to move forward in its role as the center of commerce and industry in southwestern Leyte.
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