Libon

Libon, officially the Municipality of Libon, is a municipality in the province of Albay, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 72,135 people. It occupies an area of 222.76 square kilometres and is about 37 kilometres west-north-west of the provincial capital Legazpi City, and about 300 kilometres east-south-east of Manila. It is classified as a partly urban municipality with 47 barangays subdivided into seven leagues: St. James (Poblacion), Lakeside, Coastal, Big Five, Interior Nine, Palayan, and Six Hills. Libon's major economic activities are agriculture and fishing. Its 4,000 hectares of rice fields produce 30.4 million kilos or 608,000 bags of palay per year, earning the district the sobriquet "Rice Granary of Albay". Libon is also the seat of the Pantao Port, a regional port facility linking the Masbate island province, the Visayas and Mindanao to mainland Bicol towards Southern Luzon and the National Capital Region. The town was originally called Libong, and its name may derive from the Bicol term "libong" or "ribong", meaning puzzled or dizzy. It traces its origins to the Second Expedition of Juan de Salcedo to the Bicol Region in 1573, when he established a settlement for Spaniards named Santiago de Libong on the shore of Bato Lake. Libon is historically significant as the first settlement for Spaniards established in the Bicol Region and served as the starting point for the organized propagation of the Christian faith in the region.

The town of Libon traces its origins to the "Second Expedition of Juan de Salcedo to the Bicol Region in 1573." Travelling through the northern passageway, Salcedo had first arrived in the region in 1571, shortly after his uncle's (Miguel Lopez de Legazpi) seizure of Manila. Legazpi had ordered his nephew to subdue the area around Manila and in the process Salcedo heard rumors that "somewhere beyond the mountains of southern Luzon was a place called Paracale with its fabulous gold mines." He spent an undisclosed amount of time searching for the rumored mines, but returned to Manila upon the orders of his uncle, vowing to return to the Bicol Region as soon as he could. He accomplished this in early 1573. "Salcedo undertook his second trip to the Bicol Region retracing his first route and with the wealth of information that he gathered during his first arrival in the region, he led his men beyond Paracale." He continued upstream on the Bicol River upstream and reached its source, Bato Lake. On the shore of the lake Salcedo established the beginnings of a "[s]ettlement for Spaniards and named it Santiago de Libong." It appears from the accounts about the finding of Libon that this town occupies a prominent place in the history of the Bicol Region for two main reasons. First, it is the first settlement for Spaniards established in the Bicol Region, and by no less than Captain de Salcedo, recognized as the Spanish "Conquistador" of this part of Luzon. Second, Libon, during the early days of the Spanish conquest of Bicolandia, also served as the starting point for the organized propagation of the Christian faith in this region. Also, Libon possessed a prosperous and complex precolonial society, that is why it was chosen as a royal villa. In 1573, Juan de Salcedo set up the garrison named Santiago de Libong, and a church was constructed under the patronage of Saint James the Apostle. In 1578, when the Franciscans arrive, it was ceded to the province under San Gregorio Magno. A church made of red bricks was constructed in Linao in 1591. This church was destroyed in mid 17th century and a new church was constructed. The 1818 census showed the area had 410 native families and 1 Spanish-Filipino family. In 1847, the town was ceded to Albay from Camarines. Huerta reported that the new church was reconstructed by Vicente de Dosbarrios in 1865 and it was made of solid bricks, while the casa parroquial was made of stone. The church was destroyed by a strong earthquake in 1907 and it had to reconstructed w…

• 1907

  The church is destroyed by a strong earthquake.

• 1865

  The new church is reconstructed by Vicente de Dosbarrios.

• 1847

  The town is ceded to Albay from Camarines.

• 1591

  A church made of red bricks is constructed in Linao.

• 1578

  Franciscans arrive and the church is ceded to the province under San Gregorio Magno.

• 1573

  Juan de Salcedo establishes Santiago de Libong settlement on the shore of Bato Lake.

1. 1Libon - Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2Libon, Albay - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org