Libon, Albay

Etymology

The town of Libon, as it is presently known was originally called Libong. It is not known when and how the letter "g" got dropped. Some writers believe that the Spaniards must have found it difficult to pronounce the word "Libong" with the letter g, so that in due time Libong became Libon. There are conflicting and various versions regarding the origin of the name Libong. Some say that the word must have been derived from the Bicol term "libong" or "ribong", meaning puzzled, dizziness, losing one's sense of direction, or becoming oriented. Others believe that the word Libon must have originated from a Spanish term "libon", which means "assault". Another version is that the word is a corruption of the Bicol word "libtong", meaning difficulty, obstacle or pool of stagnant water, which when applied to a place could mean a difficult or stagnant place. The more popular and perhaps more plausible version is the claim that Libon originated from the Bicol term "libong" or "ribong", and there is a story which seems to support this view. The story goes that Captain Juan de Salcedo and his men arrived in this place, by sailing across Lake Bato and entering the river called, Quimba. Sailing upstream, they finally landed in a place called Linao; (Linao is one of the barrios of Libon today and is situated on the banks of Quimba River). Here Salcedo and his men proceeded to find a town. However, after exploring the surrounding area and noting that Linao was at the foot of a mountain range, making it vulnerable to enemy attacks from the surrounding mountains, Salcedo and his men, with some natives as their guide, decided to move on to a more suitable place. Traveling across marshy land, they arrived at a slightly elevated area. Upon looking around and trying to determine where they were, one native guide remarked "libong aco". (I am confused). The Spaniards on hearing the word "libong" understood it to mean the name of the place. Hence, Salcedo christened it "Santiago de Libon."

History

"The city of Libon draws its beginning to the “Second Expedition of Juan de Salcedo to the Bicol Region in 1573.” Using the northern passageway to the region Salcedo arrived in 1571, following his uncle’s (Miguel Lopez de Legazpi) cshortly after the seizure of Manila. Legazapi had commissioned his nephew to calm the area around Manila, and in the process Salcedo discovered a rumor that “somewhere beyond the mountains of southern Luzon was a placed 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 a "Settlement for Spaniards and christened it Santiago de Libong."

Saint James the Greater Parish

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.

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 with new materials.

Geography

Libon is located at 13°18′N 123°26′E.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the municipality has a land area of 222.76 square kilometres (86.01 sq mi)  constituting 7000865000000000000♠8.65% of the 2,575.77-square-kilometre- (994.51 sq mi) total area of Albay.

Barangays

Libon is politically subdivided into 47 barangays.

Paroy Festival

This festival was made to thank the industrious local farmers of Libon that planted rice into its 35% rice lands. It is celebrated every July 22–25.

Demographics

In the 2015 census, Libon had a population of 75,172. The population density was 340 inhabitants per square kilometre (880/sq mi).

In the 2016 electoral roll, it had 41,117 registered voters.