Agoncillo, Batangas: Historical Data Part I

PART I

PART I | PART II

Full transcription of the so-called “Historical Data” for the town of Agoncillo, Batangas, the original scanned documents at the National Library of the Philippines Digital Collections not having OCR or optical character recognition properties. This transcription has been edited for grammar, spelling and punctuation where possible.

[Cover page.]

[p. 1]

DIVISION OF BATANGAS
DISTRICT OF LEMERY
AGONCILLO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

April 29, 1953

The Division Superintendent of Schools
Batangas, Batangas
Through the District Supervisor, Lemery

Sir:

We, the undersigned, chairman and members of the local committee for the municipality of Agoncillo, province of Batangas, have the honor to submit the inclosed report on the historical data for the poblacion of Agoncillo and its barrios as required by and embodied in General Memorandum No. 34, s. 1952.

Very respectfully,

JOSE M. TRINIDAD
Principal and Chairman

MS. FLORENTINA MAGNAYE – Member

MISS ELISEA B. ENCARNACION – Member

MISS AUDREA F. CAROLINO – Member

MR. SIMPLICIO CATENA – Member

[p. 2]

Executive Order No. 486 by the President of the Philippines, for reasons stated therein, directs the collection and compilation of data on the history and culture of each barrio, town, city and province in the Philippines. It directs further the preparation of the manuscripts thereof, using the outline appended to said Executive Order, and the submittal of the prepared manuscripts not later than June 30, 1953, as per Memorandum No. 34, s. 1952.

In pursuance to this Executive Order and its Appendix, and in compliance with the requirements in Memorandum No. 34, s. 1952, regarding the matter, barrio and town committees were formed as early as July last year, to gather and compile necessary historical data for all the barrios and towns comprising the Lemery District, and to prepare the corresponding manuscripts for each barrio and town thereof.

No little amount of time and effort was exerted by the local committee appointed in gathering and compiling the necessary data and in preparing the manuscripts. Some difficulties were also met in so doing owing to the fact that generally old men and women of the barrios or town from whom to draw from their fund of knowledge and experiences of the history and culture of the communities were either no longer living in or residing far outside of these communities. As best as they could, however, the committees assigned secured the data herein reported from as many people as could be found presently living in the communities who could contribute even a bit of information on the historical and cultural data of their communities. Some of the data herein reported, therefore, could not be considered as reliable as might have been desired.

Finally, it is hoped that these historical and cultural data gathered and compiled for the different barrios and towns in this district would serve as further implementations in the development of our curriculum and its enrichment.

[Signature.]
CIPRIANO V. ALBERTO
District Supervisor

[p. 3]

[p. 4]

COMPILATION
of
HISTORICAL DATA
for the
POBLACION
of
AGONCILLO
PROVINCE OF BATANGAS

[p. 5]

1. Present Official Name of the Town:

About seven kilometers away from Lemery and a kilometer away from Taal is the town of Agoncillo. The inhabitants of the eleven barrios of Balangon, Coral na Munti, Bangin, Pook, Pamiga, Guitna, Pansipit, Panhulan, Subic, Bilibinwang, and Banyaga filed a petition to the municipal government of Lemery, endorsed to the Provincial Government then forwarded to Malacañan requesting the creation of a new municipality. By virtue of the power vested in the President of the Philippine Republic, Executive Order No. 140 was promulgated creating the new municipality under the name of Pansipit. This Executive Order was suspended for certain reasons. On April 28, 1949 the suspension was lifted by Executive Order No. 212. The name Pansipit was changed to Agoncillo. The whole of Guitna and parts of Pook and Pamiga formed the town site of the poblacion.

2. Popular name of the Town, Derivation and Meaning:

The greater portion of the new town was popularly known before by the name of Guitna, which means middle or center, the place being in the center of the adjoining barrios. Later, as the place was made the town site of the poblacion for the new municipality, its name was changed to Agoncillo, in honor of Don Felipe Agoncillo, one of the favorite sons of Batangas.

3. Date of Establishment:

Long before the Spaniards came to the Philippines, the barrio of Guitna had this name. When Executive Order No. 140 was approved, its old name was changed to Agoncillo on April 28, 1949.

4. Original Families:

Most of the tracts of land of Guitna, now Agoncillo, were owned by the wealthy families of Mr. Francisco Carolino, Facundo Balba and Lorenzo Canubas. These three families were able to acquire the land through hard toil. Their tracts of land were cultivated by their kasama with the proper administration given in their farm management, more pieces of land were added.

5. List of Tenientes from the Earliest Time to Date:

Tenientes were appointed and changed every three years by the gobernadorcillos during the Spanish time. The first teniente was Teodoro Carolino, succeeded by Basilio Mendoza. Three years passed and Tomas Patolot, one of the bravest sons of the barrio and a very capable leader, came next. Rafael Mendoza soon followed and Pedro Canubas the next. He was succeeded by Leon Masongsong, Pedro de Sagun and Benito Mendoza. Soon after the Japanese occupation, Pedro Carolino was appointed teniente del barrio and then Benito Mendoza was appointed to the position. Mr. Mendoza was followed by Mr. Juliano de Chavez and held the position up to its creation as the poblacion of the new municipality. Mr. de Chavez was an able leader, and to his credit goes the influence of the present satisfactory peace and order conditions of Agoncillo.

PART I | PART II

Transcribed from “Compilation of Historical Data Regarding Barrios and Towns of the Municipality of Agoncillo, Province of Batangas,” 1953, online at the National Library of the Philippines Digital Collections.