Numancia, Aklan
Encyclopedia
History
Numancia is one town in Aklan that has great historical significance. Its name was derived from a Spanish Yacht, which happened to pass by from Manila. This yacht was reported to be sailing around the world.In Spain there is also a town by the name Numancia , which became famous for its inhabitants who resisted the invading forces of Hannibal, a great general of Carthage (which was at war with Rome during that time). Some Spaniards who came here may have come from this town and requested the Spanish government to name this town Numancia through a royal decree.
The town Numancia is bounded in the east by Aklan River, in the North by the Sibuyan Sea; in the west by Makato; and in the south by Lezo. The original name of Numancia is Majanos. This is born out by the records in the national archive and the historical accounts. The name Majanos is truly Malayan in origin just like Madjaas and Madjahapit.
Madyaas is the highest mountain in Panay, which is considered the abode of goddess Sidapa by the old folks. The name Madyaas could have a derivative of the word “mataas” meaning high. Majanos could mean lowland for this is the only town in the Province of Aklan that has no highland or even a small hill. From Numancia one can view the majestic mountain of Majaas with its peak shaped like a “sarok” or “sadok”.
When the ten malay Datu arrived from Borneo, they bought the island of Panay, formerly called the Aninipay from the Aeta Chief Marikudo. The transaction was known as the barter of Panay, Datu Puti gave a sarok to Marikudo and the gold necklace of Kapinagan, and wife of Datu Puti was given to Maniwangtiwan, the wife of Marikudo. There were other goods involved in the transaction and Marikudo gave the lowland area to Datu Puti and members of his party while Marikudo and his tribe occupied the high lands or the hills and the mountains.
In about the year 1213 A.D. after having explored the whole island, the Malay leaders met and organized the Madjaas Confederacy or the Katilingban it Madjaas. They divided the islands in three sakops or provinces and naming them Akean, Hantik and Irong-Irong
Irong-Irong
Irong-Irong appears in the Maragtas legend of the coming of ten Bornean datus to the island of Panay. The datus bartered with a local Ati chieftain for the plains and valleys of the island, offering gold in return....
. Sumakwel was assigned as head of Hantik, Bangkaya was assigned as head of Akean, and Paiburong was assigned as head of Irong-Irong. Sumakwel who was the senior among the three heads was chosen by popular votes to head the confederation.
The capitals of each sakop or province are the following: Bugasong in Hantik, Ogtom in Irong-Irong and Madjanos in Akean. Since Sumakwel was the first punu-an of the Madjaas Confederacy, Bugasong was the first capital of Panay.
Many historical accounts have different versions about the exact locations of the first settlement established by Bangkaya in Aklan. In Numancia there is still the small river called Madjanos that serves the boundary between Marianos and Languinbanwa. This river used to be wide and navigable. According to the old folks, sailboats used to sail up to this river but because of floods, mudflows and silting, it became narrow and shallow.
Barangay Marianos could be the very place where Datu bangkaya and his family lived together with the other Malay families who arrived with him. The present name of this barangay was corrupted to Marianos. It is not difficult to guess with less margin of error that the original name of this barangay is Madjanos considering that the Madjanos River is still there retaining its old name. The “d” in Madjanos in the course of time was eroded and replaced by letter “r” due to the dominance of the letter “r” in the Spanish language. Add the fact that the former priest by the name of Padre Mariano formerly lived in this barangay must have gradually influenced the corruption of the name Madjanos to Marianos.
In the course of time, Madjanos like the other settlements in the island of Panay became a thriving community. The population increased and more settlers came to settle here. Many other settlements were established and were scattered throughout the whole province up to what is now the province of Capiz, Capiz was formerly a part of Aklan but later the whole province was named Capiz during the arrival of Legaspi here in Panay.
The eighteenth century records in the national archive and historical sketches by some local chroniclers show that there were two names mentioned pertaining to the town of Numancia. They were Madjanos and Lawan. Lawan consists of what is now Albasan is located along seashores while Madjanos located inland. Madjanos is grown into a township, when reached up to the west bank of Aklan River. It has its own church and trading post.
Since the confederation has expanded to include Lusong, Buglas, Rorom, Sugbo and Mait, volumes of trades increased. Chinese, Indonesians and Malayan traders came here to trade. when Balinganga, the son of Datu Bangkaya, was the Punuan of the Minuro it Aklan and at the same time the head of Madjaas Confederacy and shortly after the death of Datu Paiburong, Madjanos was again the seat of the whole government of Panay and consequently became the national capital of Pre-hispanic Philippines.
The Minuro it Aklan became the clearing port of immigrant coming from the other places. For more than fifty years Balinganga rule the confederacy reminding his subject about the Code of Sumakwel. In the meanwhile, he followed the policy of his father throughout the Katilingban of Madjaas. From the death of Balinganga up to the arrival of Legaspi in 1570, several successors has ruled the province of Aklan and the seat of the government was transferred to different places due to demographic movement and the exigency of time.
The old site of Madjanos, which is quite neglected, was renamed Laguinbanwa meaning old town in 1620 to revive the former vitality of the community. The town of Laguinbanwa included the territories, which is now occupied by Lezo and Numancia. But as the community across the Aklan River became more prosperous, the seat of the town was transferred in 1785 to what is now Kalibo, and Lezo and Numancia became barrios of Kalibo.
As the town of Kalibo grew in importance it has become the hub of everyday life of the people in Aklan. It is here where people gathered to attend important celebrations. It is here where other municipalities pay their tribute money or taxes. Every Sunday people faithfully attended mass in Kalibo since the priests make church attendance compulsory especially during fiestas and other religious holidays. Fearing hell and the ire of the church authorities, the people were docile followers of the priests and hence, they found it necessary to hear mass and made confessions for the absolutions of their sins.
At the time, however, there were no good roads, only trails and there were no strong bridge to span wide Aklan River. And during the rainy season it was difficult to cross the swollen river. In view of this, the residents of Laguinbanwa and Guicod petitioned to the bishop of Cebu and the Military governor of the Visayas to allow them to build their own church and to have a separate municipality explaining their problems and difficulties.
After assessing the situation, the Bishop of Cebu and the military governor of the Visayas considered that the people of Laguinbanwa and Guicod are capable of providing tribute tax to run their own municipality informed the leaders of Laguinbanwa that they interpose no objection to their objection to separate from Kalibo. They requested that delegates should be sent to Kalibo were representatives of the bishop and the military governor will hear their cases.
A delegation from Laguinbanwa headed by Silvino Kimpo met the representative of the bishop and the military governor of the Visayas in Kalibo where they talked about their petition. When they were asked where to place their town and where to build their church, they explained that the consensus of the people in Laguinbanwa, Madjanos, and Lauan and also Guicod was to put the Poblacion in what is now the present site of Numancia being the center of these communities. Most of the members of the delegation of Tan Binong came from Madjanos and Laguinbanwa. So in 1856 Numancia was constituted as a municipality with Silvino Kimpo as the First Head of Kapitan Basal The appointment was approved by the Provincial Chief Executive and carried a term of two years.
Numancia as integrated with Banga, Lezo, and Kalibo
When the Americans came in 1899, the military government appointed Felix Kimpo as head of the town. During the election in 1901 he was elected as the president from 1901-1903. At that time there were 34 provinces in the towns of Capiz, but these were reduced to 24 towns by a law passed by the civil Commission when it was found out that some towns were in capable of meeting their financial obligations and maintenance. So on March 4, 1904, an executive order was passed fusing Banga, Lezo, Nuamncia, and Kalibo into one municipality.Numancia as Barrio of Lezo/Lezo as Part of Numancia
Five years after on July 31, 1909, the civil commission passed another law separation Lezo and Numancia from Kalibo and making Lezo as the seat of government. Numancia then, became a barrio of Lezo. In 1920 the situation was reversed with regards to the status of Lezo and Numancia. By Executive Order No. 17, series of 1920, the seat of government was transferred to Numancia and Lezo became a barrio of Numancia.Separation of Lezo from Numancia
The people of Lezo were not willing to be subordinates of Numancia and so they filed a petition stating their intent to be a separate town. It was just before the outbreak of the Second World War when then Pres. Quezon approved their petition when he issued Executive Order No. 364 series of 1941 dated August 28, 1941 making Lezo as a separate municipality. On account of World War II, the actual inauguration for the separation of the municipality of Lezo from the Municiplaity of Numancia was deferred to January 1, 1945. On this date both Lezo and Numancia became separate municipalities.Barangays
The municipality of Numancia comprises 17 barangayBarangay
A barangay is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district or ward...
s. Of these, Poblacion is urban, and the 16 others are classified as rural.
| Barangays | ||
|---|---|---|
| Albasan | Aliputos | Badio |
| Bubog | Bulwang | Camanci Norte |
| Camanci Sur | Dongon East | Dongon West |
| Joyao-Joyao | Laguinbanwa East | Laguinbanwa West |
| Marianos | Navitas | Poblacion |
| Pusiw | Tabangka | |
Education
Numancia is the home of the lone Seminary School in Aklan. By reason of its proximity to Kalibo, only few schools were established in the town. The following are the major schools of the municipality:| Schools |
|---|
| Sto. Niño Seminary |
| Aklan National School of Fisheries |
| Madyaas Institute |
| Irao Institute |
| Numancia Integrated School |