Tigbauan, Iloilo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tigbauan is a 4th class municipality in the province of Iloilo, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 50,446 people in 9,779 households.
[edit] Barangays
Tigbauan is politically subdivided into 52 barangays.
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[edit] History
It acquired its name, like the majority of town centers, after a topographical distinction unique to the region — in this case after the Tigbao, a local name for a type of grass that used to swarm the countryside.
Tigbauan was the site where American forces code-named Victor I, landed on March 18, 1945 together with the Philippine Commonwealth troops to begin the liberation of Panay. The troops set out from Lingayen Gulf, Luzon on March 14th. The 185th Infantry, 40th Division, splashed ashore at Tigbauan, several miles west of Iloilo. There they were greeted by Col. Macario L. Peralta's Filipino guerrillas drawn up in parade formation, and General Eichelberger recalled in his memoirs how the guerrillas stood "stiff in starched khaki and resplendent with ornaments." The strong guerrilla force of 23,000 had secured most of the island' except the area immediately around Iloilo where 2,750 Japanese were ensconced. The 40th Division quickly swept through the Japanese outposts and then drove the Japanese from the city in two days. Again the Japanese withdrew after the initial fighting into the inaccessible mountain jungles. In the fighting, the Americans lost 20 men and the Japanese 80. Responsibility for mopping up was turned over to the Filipino guerrillas and the 2d Battalion, 160th Infantry. Some 1,500 Japanese later surrendered at the end of the war. Because General MacArthur planned to stage two divisions from Iloilo for the invasion of Japan, engineers began repairing the local airfield and starting base construction at once.
[edit] External links
- Philippine Standard Geographic Code
- 2000 Philippine Census Information
- Official Account of WW II US Military Operations in the Visayas including the landing at Tigbauan
- Some Photos of Tigbauan
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