Liloan, Cebu
Encyclopedia
Liloan is a 1st class municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines
. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 92,181 people with 42,202 registered voters and has 13,381 residents.
Liloan is part of a metropolitan area informally called Metro Cebu
.
. The original lighthouse was built in 1857 by the Spanish. However, the current tower was constructed in 1904 by order of William Howard Taft
http://www.lighthousedepot.com/digest/Storypage.cfm?storykey=2170, the first Governor-General of the Philippines
and later the President of the United States
. The tower is 72 feet tall and remains in active use today. http://www.lighthousedepot.com/database/uniquelighthouse.cfm?value=4831
The word Liloan, as the legend is told, comes from the word “lilo” - whirling waters (not unlike Edgar Allan Poe’s maelstrom) that form when the sea approaches an abrupt depth at a point just after a bridge.
Long ago, as the legend goes, when Lilo-an was still a wilderness, a marriage of a couple was objected to by the parents. As such, they boarded a boat and fled to a far away place. Somewhere at sea, a storm overtook them. For safety, they entered a channel, now called “Suba,” (a name of a place in Liloan) and proceeded into the interior. They took shelter at its bank and noticed the abundance of the fish in the vicinity. They decided to stay, and with the extra fish they caught, they sold or bartered the catch in the nearby villages. When asked where the fishes were caught, the answered, “Sa may liloan” (by the lilo). Asked where they live, they gave the same answer, :Sa may liloan.” In time, the place was called, as we know the town now, “Liloan”.
Sometime in the 1970’s, a newspaper article stated that the “Pueblo de Lilo-an” was separated from the Municipality of Mandaue (now Mandaue City), and was created a new municipality in 1840. However, in the “BRAVE ENSENA de lo que fue y de lo que es la DIOCESIS DE CEBU En Las Islas Filipinas,” published in 1866, it was mentioned that Lilo-an was created a parish in 1845 (in 1995, Lilo-an celebrated its sesquicentennial - 150th anniversary.)
The creation of the municipality of Lilo-an could have been at the same time the parish was established, but not earlier than its being a parish. As recorded, the first priest of Lilo-an, Fr. Vicente Dolorech, served in 1845. The first mayor, then called “Kapitan” was Basilio Bantilan. His term was from 1845 - 1846.
During the war years (World War II), Lilo-an had three mayors at one time. The elected mayor was Catalino Noval. The Japanese Occupation Forces appointed another - Pascual Delgado. Not to be outdone, the Guerilla Forces also designated another - Jose Cañete.
In 1945, Filipino soldiers of the 8th, 81st, 82nd, 83rd, 85th & 86th Infantry Division of the Philippine Commonwealth Army and the 8th Infantry Regiment of the Philippine Constabulary was liberated the towns in Liloan, Cebu was helping to Cebuano guerrilla unit to fought against the Japanese troops at the end of World War II under the Japanese Occupation in Cebu.
Records show that the mayors with the longest length of service were Lazaro Ramas and Cesar Bugtai, each having served Liloan for 21 years. For priests, the longest was done by Fr. Vicente Rallos - 19 years (1931 - 1950).
One unusual detail about the Church in Liloan is that it faces the mountains to the West, whereas most churches face the sea to the East. Some have theorized that this is because Mass is often performed in the morning, and the church is thus shielded from the morning sun, making it less hot and uncomfortable. Others have speculated that the church's direction has a symbolic significance related to church rites. That is how it all started
Kneading the dough manually and using a wooden eggbeater, some baking tins and a clay oven, little did the 21-year-old know that she was starting a product that would put her little town in the national and international map of gastronomic delight.
The market for her unnamed cookie started with her neighbors and passersby who were offered the snack as a freebie for every purchase of a bottle of soda. It was then Cebu governor Sergio Osmeña, who later became Philippine president, who gave it the name rosquillos after the Spanish word rosca.As years passed, people going to northern Cebu have made it a habit to drop by the store to buy the rosquillos. It is also a known fact that those who couldn’t visit Cebu would ask friends who are in Cebu to buy some for them.
Rosquillos have become a household name, a product that is aptly celebrated in a festival that Liloan could call its very own.
s:
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 92,181 people with 42,202 registered voters and has 13,381 residents.
Liloan is part of a metropolitan area informally called Metro Cebu
Metro Cebu
Metro Cebu is the main urban center of the province of Cebu in the Philippines. Metro Cebu is located along the central eastern portion of the island including the nearby island of Mactan...
.
Lighthouse
One of the best known landmarks in Lilo-an is its historic lighthouse at Bagacay PointBagacay Point Lighthouse
Bagacay Point Lighthouse is a lighthouse in Liloan, Cebu in the Philippines.-Description:The lighthouse tower stands at a height of 72 feet in an uphill area overlooking the Mactan Channel. It sits on an elevated 5,000-sq m government property. With a focal plane of 146 feet, the third-order...
. The original lighthouse was built in 1857 by the Spanish. However, the current tower was constructed in 1904 by order of William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
http://www.lighthousedepot.com/digest/Storypage.cfm?storykey=2170, the first Governor-General of the Philippines
Governor-General of the Philippines
The Governor-General of the Philippines was the title of the government executive during the colonial period of the Philippines, governed mainly by Spain and the United States, and briefly by Great Britain, from 1565 to 1935....
and later the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
. The tower is 72 feet tall and remains in active use today. http://www.lighthousedepot.com/database/uniquelighthouse.cfm?value=4831
History
Long before other towns were “discovered” as tourist spots, Liloan was already known for its scenic pristine beaches and as a resort town, favorite place for sea bathing. Along its coastline, there is spot called Silot. Here, bathers are cautioned not to swim to a certain point because of a whirlpool caused by the ebb and tide of the waters which flow from an inland lake. This phenomenon is called lilo in Cebuano. Because of this, the town was known as Liloan, a place where there is lilo.The word Liloan, as the legend is told, comes from the word “lilo” - whirling waters (not unlike Edgar Allan Poe’s maelstrom) that form when the sea approaches an abrupt depth at a point just after a bridge.
Long ago, as the legend goes, when Lilo-an was still a wilderness, a marriage of a couple was objected to by the parents. As such, they boarded a boat and fled to a far away place. Somewhere at sea, a storm overtook them. For safety, they entered a channel, now called “Suba,” (a name of a place in Liloan) and proceeded into the interior. They took shelter at its bank and noticed the abundance of the fish in the vicinity. They decided to stay, and with the extra fish they caught, they sold or bartered the catch in the nearby villages. When asked where the fishes were caught, the answered, “Sa may liloan” (by the lilo). Asked where they live, they gave the same answer, :Sa may liloan.” In time, the place was called, as we know the town now, “Liloan”.
Sometime in the 1970’s, a newspaper article stated that the “Pueblo de Lilo-an” was separated from the Municipality of Mandaue (now Mandaue City), and was created a new municipality in 1840. However, in the “BRAVE ENSENA de lo que fue y de lo que es la DIOCESIS DE CEBU En Las Islas Filipinas,” published in 1866, it was mentioned that Lilo-an was created a parish in 1845 (in 1995, Lilo-an celebrated its sesquicentennial - 150th anniversary.)
The creation of the municipality of Lilo-an could have been at the same time the parish was established, but not earlier than its being a parish. As recorded, the first priest of Lilo-an, Fr. Vicente Dolorech, served in 1845. The first mayor, then called “Kapitan” was Basilio Bantilan. His term was from 1845 - 1846.
During the war years (World War II), Lilo-an had three mayors at one time. The elected mayor was Catalino Noval. The Japanese Occupation Forces appointed another - Pascual Delgado. Not to be outdone, the Guerilla Forces also designated another - Jose Cañete.
In 1945, Filipino soldiers of the 8th, 81st, 82nd, 83rd, 85th & 86th Infantry Division of the Philippine Commonwealth Army and the 8th Infantry Regiment of the Philippine Constabulary was liberated the towns in Liloan, Cebu was helping to Cebuano guerrilla unit to fought against the Japanese troops at the end of World War II under the Japanese Occupation in Cebu.
Records show that the mayors with the longest length of service were Lazaro Ramas and Cesar Bugtai, each having served Liloan for 21 years. For priests, the longest was done by Fr. Vicente Rallos - 19 years (1931 - 1950).
The Liloan Church (San Fernando Rey Parish Church)
The designer of the church in Liloan is viewed by some as visionary. Despite Liloan having only 5,000 citizens when the church was constructed in 1847, this local church was even larger than that of Mandaue, Cebu's second largest city. Today, 159 years, more than 30 priests, 50 mayors, and some 47,000 people later, the church still has enough room to accommodate the faithful.One unusual detail about the Church in Liloan is that it faces the mountains to the West, whereas most churches face the sea to the East. Some have theorized that this is because Mass is often performed in the morning, and the church is thus shielded from the morning sun, making it less hot and uncomfortable. Others have speculated that the church's direction has a symbolic significance related to church rites. That is how it all started
Rosquillos Festival
Celebrated every last week of May in honor of patron saint San Fernando ReyHistory
The making of these little ringlet cookies date back to April 3, 1907, when the then 21-year-old Margarita “Titay” Frasco was tinkering in her kitchen with her baking ingredients and made her new culinary creation.Kneading the dough manually and using a wooden eggbeater, some baking tins and a clay oven, little did the 21-year-old know that she was starting a product that would put her little town in the national and international map of gastronomic delight.
The market for her unnamed cookie started with her neighbors and passersby who were offered the snack as a freebie for every purchase of a bottle of soda. It was then Cebu governor Sergio Osmeña, who later became Philippine president, who gave it the name rosquillos after the Spanish word rosca.As years passed, people going to northern Cebu have made it a habit to drop by the store to buy the rosquillos. It is also a known fact that those who couldn’t visit Cebu would ask friends who are in Cebu to buy some for them.
Rosquillos have become a household name, a product that is aptly celebrated in a festival that Liloan could call its very own.
Barangays
Liloan is administratively subdivided into 14 barangayBarangay
A barangay is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district or ward...
s:
- Cabadiangan
- Calero
- Catarman
- Cotcot
- Jubay
- Lataban
- Mulao
- Poblacion
- San Roque
- San Vicente
- Santa Cruz
- Tabla
- Tayud
- Yati
Ceramics
Liloan is home to a number of ceramics manufacturers. Their shops sell a variety of ceramics items - from ordinary plant pots, to bricks and exotic jars.Titay's
Titay’s Liloan Rosquillos was founded in 1907 and had withstood the taste of the times in baking prowess. It started with just the Rosquillos and tablea making. It later expanded to an array of homemade delicacies ranging from torta, mamon, monay, otap, CPA (chicken pork adobo), bao-bao and a lot more mouth watering pastries. Titay’s Liloan Rosquillos gains the prestige of being known for its select delicacies domestically and internationally.Municipal Mayors
- Basilio Bantilan -served 1845-1846
- Hipolito Pepito -served 1846-1847
- Francisco Cabahug -served 1847-1848, 1859-1860
- Esteban Cañete -served 1848-1849, 1850-1851, 1852-1853
- Juan Delgado -served 1849-1850
- Juan Cabatingan -served 1851-1852, 1861-1862
- Cruz Mendoza -served 1853-1855, 1860-1861
- Alberto Yungco -served 1855-1857
- Victor Pepito -served 1857-1858, 1863-1865, 1875-1879
- Pedro Pepito -served 1858-1859, 1862-1863
- Felix Cabatingan -served 1865-1867
- Jacinto Cañete -served 1867-1869
- Apolonio Pilapil -served 1869-1871
- Custodio Mendoza -served 1871-1873, 1883-1885, 1899-1900
- Guillermo Pepito -served 1873-1875
- Ambrosio Pepito -served 1879-1881
- Eugenio Pilapil -served 1881-1883, 1889-1891
- Mamerto Cabatingan-served 1883-1887, 1891-1893
- Sotero Cabatingan -served 1887-1889, 1900-1902, 1905-1909
- Antonio Villamor -served 1893-1896
- Simeon Pilapil -served 1896-1898
- Mariano Pilapil -served 1898-1899
- Blas Cabatingan -served 1902-1904
- Marcelo Pilapil -served 1909-1911
- Francisco Ramas -served 1911-1912
- Jose Cabatingan -served 1912-1916
- Cirilo Ramas -served 1916-1919
- Cipiriano Jumapao -served 1919-1922
- Florintino Pilapil-served 1922-1925
- Santiago Noval -served 1925-1928
- Lararo Ramas -served 1928-1937, 1937-1938, 1959-1963, 1963-1965
- Catalino Noval -served 1941-1945, 1945-1946, 1965-1967
- Jorge Pitogo -served 1946-1947, 1947-1951
- Fabian Cañete -served 1951-1955
- Teofilo Ponce -served 1967-1971
- Cesar Bugtai -served 1971-1986
- Achilles Cañete -served 1986-1988, 1988-1992
- Panphil Frasco -served 1992-1995, 1995-1998, 1998-2001
- Maria Sevilla -served 2001-2004, 2004-2007
- Duke Frasco -serving from 2007-Present