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.
San Miguel
In the middle of the 18th century, a group of farmers seeking fertile agricultural lands formed a settlement along a brook now called Libtong. These people were led by a man named Ramon Valleramos.
To the north of Libtong about 12 kilometers towards Carigara Bay was another settlement composed mostly of fishermen headed by a chief named Luverio. They settled by the mouth of the Sapiniton River and called their settlement Sabang, meaning mouth of the river. The fishing industry flourished and the settlement grew bigger and more progressive than Libtong.
However, when moro piracy and depredation spread to the Visayan Islands, Sabang was not spared. Constant fear of a moro raid gripped the people. They began to move inland. Some of the settlers reached as far as the settlement of Libtong.
When the campaign against moro piracy was intensified, the Spaniards built two watchtowers in Sabang. One of them still exists today, a mute testimony to the fearsome era brought about by our Muslim brothers.
The settlers of Sabang returned to their settlement and it again flourished. The Spanish government, recognizing the growth of the settlement, sent a missionary priest to Christianize the settlers. Later, at the turn of the century, the settlement was made into a pueblo with a town executive by the name of Ramon Valleramos. The first seat of government in San Miguel was thus set up.
The pueblo was named San Miguel in honor of St. Michael the Archangel. It is said that during one of the moro raids while the people were running for their lives, a big man dressed in purple with a shield in his left hand and a sword in his right stood at the mouth of the river daring the raiders. At the sight of this man, the moro raiders turned their vintas and sailed away. This man was said to be the great St. Michael Archangel and henceforth the town was named San Miguel in his honor. The town also made him its patron saint.
As the pueblo progressed, the people felt the need to farm as a means of livelihood aside from just fishing. Due to the topographical location of Sabang, farming was not feasible so they decided to join the people of Libtong and settle there. Subsequently, the town was moved to Libtong witch was situated in a place surrounded by vast fertile agricultural lands.
During the Spanish-American war which later turned out to be the Philippine Revolution, the town of San Miguel being the seat of Filipino forces under Capitan Umbria was burned by the American soldiers. Capitan Graciano Babula, the town executive, was captured and executed at the town plaza of Barugo.
When the Philippine Revolution was over, the people did not care to return to the place. Instead, they transferred to a place along the Sapiniton River now called Luntad. Sapiniton River provided a convenient route for commerce between Luntad and Sabang. The first town executive in the new place was Capitan Froilan Parina. The war did not favor the town so much so that in 1903, it became a barrio of Alang-alang because of its poor finances. The late Lorenzo Babula was appointed barrio lieutenant and later appointed member of the municipal council of Alang-alang representing the barrio.
Through the untiring efforts of Lorenzo Babula as councilor, Francisco Astorga, then Capitan of Alang-alang, restored San Miguel into a municipality in 1910. Lorenzo Babula was elected president for three terms.
The big typhoon and flood of 1912 caused the immediate transfer of the town to its present location. The town was completely rebuilt, the people built permanent houses and a site for a church and school was provided. In 1913, the town was made a regular parish with Rev. Fr. Pedro Aruta as the first parish priest.
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