12/03/2021
BRIEF HISTORY OF PRESIDENT ROXAS, CAPIZ
President Roxas, Capiz was called originally Lutod-Lutod, a sitio of Barrio Aranguel, Pilar, Capiz. Lutod-Lutod was derived from Ilonggo word utod which means to cutor break. The sitio was criss crossed by small rivers and streams which made traveling within the breadth of the sitio utod-utod or discontinuous. Sitio Lutodlutod then was a cogonal and shrubby area where a variety of trees, game birds and animals abound. According to stories,inhabitants in this area before the boom of the sugar industry was minimal, “less than what your fingers could count”.
But Barrio Aranguel, which was a built-up area beside the meandering Alñgon River, is more than a barrio. Aranguen -as it was then called- has a remnant of Spanish Colonization and Catholicism as revealed in the Aranguel ruins like those that were recorded in several parts of the country such as the walls of Intramuros, stone foundations in Arroceros, Manila, stone ruins in Balut, Tondo and Sarangani Island, Davao del Sur, the stone ruins of the visita of Salug, Carcar, Cebu and the church ruin of San Nicolas, Batangas (Cuevas, Jacar and Peñalosa, 2014).
The ruin in Aranguel has been established as an old Spanish visita under the Parish of Santa Monica, Panay in 1581. Aranguel was also established by the Augustinian missionaries as the first mission in 1704. (Website Archdiocese of Capiz). There is no footprint on how the visita was abandoned. But like other visitas in the region, Aranguel may have also experienced Moro raiding and uprising of the natives that may have caused massive destruction to buildings and properties during the Spanish period. (Cuevas, Jacar and Peñalosa, 2014).
During the heyday of sugar production in the Visayas, it was discovered that the plains of Lutod-Lutod was very suitable to sugar cane production. In 1924, the first sugar mill was installed right at the site where the Capiz Sugar Central now stands. It was formerly called Central Azucarera de Pilar which was then owned and operated by Elizalde and Co. (acquired from the Ynchausti), a company that pioneered sugar cane milling in the country. The company improved production and became one of the biggest sugarcane producers in the Philippines. The sugar central is currently owned and operated by La Filipina Uy Gongco Group of Companies, an agribusiness, livestock and food company based in Iloilo City.
The burgeoning sugar industry resulted to rapid influx of population to Sitio Lutod-Lutod. The inhabitants were either employees or workers of the sugar central and the sugarcane haciendas and their families. The progress of the sugar industry also gave rise to the emergence of the small-scale industries, merchants and retailer groups. Eventually, Lutod-Lutod became a big community and a stable source of revenue for the municipal government of Pilar, Capiz.
Former Pilar town Mayor Don Braulio M. Patricio, Jr. (whose wife Bonifacia Roxas, was cousin of President Manuel A. Roxas) initiated the creation of a separate town. Through the help of his compadres Felicisimo Asis and Sebastian Corro, the resident manager of the sugar central, and also Mayor Patricio’s own nephew, Attorney Pacifico Patricio Pacis, they mobilized a people’s initiative to create a separate municipality.
From 1948 to 1949, the municipal resolution creating a separate municipality was intensely debated. The people’s initiative was finally affirmed and approved by the Pilar Town Council in 1949 when two Nacionalista councilors, namely; Jose Samson and Tomas Solis, Sr. joined the Liberals in a YES vote, thus; breaking the political deadlock in the 6-man Council.
In congress, Representative Ramon Arnaldo and Senator Oscar Ledesma co-sponsored the House Bill creating a new municipality from the territories of Sitio Lutod-Lutod, Barrio Aranguel and the neighboring coastal and mountain barrios in the area. On June 14, 1949, during a joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Philippines, Republic Act No. 374 was passed making the sitio of Lutod-Lutod and the neighboring barrios as the new Municipality of President Roxas. It was later signed into law by then Philippine President Elpidio Quirino,
The municipality was named after President Manuel A. Roxas (a renowned Capizeño) and was officially inaugurated on November 30, 1949. RA 374 provides for “…the conversion of sitios into barrios and its separation from the municipality of Pilar. The barrios include Aranguel, Culilang, Pandan, Pinamihagan, Quiajo, Sangkal, Pondol, Marita, Madulano, Jaboyana (now Viscaya), Cabugcabug, Goce, Badiangon, Bayuyan, Agbololo (now Manoling, the nickname of Pres. Manuel Roxas), Ibaca and Elizalde (Poblacion)”. The seat of government was placed at Barrio Elizalde (Poblacion), which was the former Sitio Lutod-Lutod. Barrio Carmencita, Cubay, Sto. Niño and Pantalan were later created. Barrio Hanglid was created after 1970.
-cto MPDO
