Guimaras Province, Philippines Genealogy

Philippines Guimaras Province

Guide to  ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

History
HISTORY OF THE PROVINCE

For chroniclers who have intimate knowledge of its past, notably prominent Ilonggos who made written accounts of the Province, Guimaras is known to have had a unique history.

According to Luhan, the island was formerly known as HIMAL-US. A prevailing legend has it that two of its inhabitants called Guima and Aras, who were lovers, went swimming and never returned. Thus, in their honor, Himal-us was changed to Guimaras by the pre-Spanish Ilonggos.

The beauty of the island attracted the attention of the colonizers. As related by Sonza and Gonzales:

The Spaniards headed by Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñalosa who established the first Spanish settlement in Arevalo were struck by the beautiful sceneries in the island. They noticed that its verdant mountains abounded with forest timbers, limestone for building purposes, and excellent hunting and fishing grounds.

During the 19th century, two outstanding foreigners visiting Iloilo made favorable comments about Guimaras. One was Sir John Bowring, the British Governor of Hong Kong, scholar, and author of the famous book, “A Visit To The Philippines.” Bowring came in 1859 and noted that Guimaras was a blessing to the newly opened port of Iloilo by making it safe to navigation.

The second foreign visitor was Dean C. Worcester who later became a member of the Philippine Commission during the American Regime. Worcester came in 1887 while a zoology professor at the University of Michigan to collect specimens of Philippine fauna. He wrote, “Guimaras is extremely beautiful. During the month we remained in Salag Dako, we not only regained our health but also gathered much valuable materials.”

The Christianization of the people of Guimaras was started almost simultaneously with those of Iloilo. For this purpose, the Spaniards organized pueblocitos (villages) of Nayup, with San Pedro Apostol as patron saint; Nabilhan with San Juan Bautista as patron saint; and Igang whose patron saint was Santa Ana. For a long time these small villages formed a “visita” of Oton. Governor General Dasmariñas reported to the King of Spain on June 20, 1591 that Oton had two friars, one of whom was assigned to visit Guimaras from time to time. In the 18th century, it was annexed to the parish of Iloilo. During this period, the island was frequently raided by pirates and the growth of population was slow.

In 1742, the island fell under the jurisdiction of Dumangas up to 1751 when the Augustinian Order gave way to the Jesuits. In 1768, the Dominicans took over from the Jesuits the spiritual jurisdiction over Guimaras. Then in 1775, it was organized into the regular parish with Iloilo. Still later, the three villages mentioned earlier were formed into a single parish. Finally, when the population had increased considerably, the island was given its municipal status with seat of government in Tilad, now, Buenavista, and the old town site was in what is now called Old Poblacion.

When Guimaras became a municipality before the turn of the century, the first captain del pueblo was Eugenio Tarrazona. Those who succeeded him as chief executive of Buenavista, the mother town of the three municipalities in the Sub-province were Manuel Garganera, Pedro Zaldivar, Marcelino Gabiazon, Jacinto Gabinete, Mariano Martir and Sergio Consing.

The American Regime brought faster progress to the island. In 1908, the Guimarasnons were given the right to elect their municipal president and Manuel Garganera was the first elected president. One great American military genius, General Douglas MacArthur left an indelible mark in Guimaras. Fresh from West Point as a 2nd Lieutenant at the age of 23, he came to Iloilo as the head of the company of the Corps of Engineers. In Iloilo, he constructed roads and the wharf along Muelle Loney from Arroyo Street to the place of the Compania Maritima Building. He had his headquarters in Guimaras at Camp Jossman in Barrio Supang Buenavista. The monuments of his stay in the island are the Sto. Rosario wharf and the road from Sto. Rosario to Supang. In constructing these public works, MacArthur utilized the labor of native laborers in addition to that of army engineers. The wharf is still in use after more than seventy years. Last December 29, 1992, a resolution was passed by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan changing the name Sto. Rosario Wharf to Gen. MacArthur’s Wharf in memory of Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

The development of Guimaras and the steady growth of its population necessitated the splitting of the island town into municipalities in 1918.

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