Palompon is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Leyte, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 50,754 people in 10,790 households.
Lat 11°03’N Long 124°23’E W coast of Leyte Island SE of Canagayan Point, Palompon, Leyte.
Region REGION VIII (Eastern Visayas) Income Classification: 2nd Class Registered Voters (2004): 28,307 Rural/Urban: Partially Urban District: 4th
Palompon is 124 Kilometer (road distance) from Tacloban City, the provincial capital of Leyte Province, 66 Kilometers from Ormoc City, the commercial growth center of the western coast of Leyte province and 72 nautical miles (133 km) from Cebu City. Palompon lies approximately at north latitude between 10 degrees 55 minutes and 11 degrees 07 minutes and east longitude between 124 degrees 22 minutes and 123 degrees 29 minutes. It is bounded in the north by municipality of Villaba and Matag-ob, in the east by Ormoc City and Merida, in the south by Isabel and in the west by the Camotes Sea.
The land area of Palompon is 128.46 Kilometers, or 12,845.58 hectares. The municipality has fifty (50) barangays, ten (10) of which, are poblacion barangays of an area of approximately two square kilometers. The other (40) barangays are distributed along the coastline and the interior rural and mountainous areas.
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Palompon is politically subdivided into 50 barangays.
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Along the strip of fertile coast, our forefathers founded this community which assumed the role of cabeceria of all the municipalities in the northwestern side of Leyte. The pueblo was originally named Hinablayan. There were yet no streets in those days, only trails and mountain paths, big trees and wild games. Fish, sea shells and other marine products abounded. People fished along the shore with arrows tied to vines. They just threw them to schools of fish along the coast and pulled them with fish already hooked. That was life in the early days of our town.
However, such a settlement so well-endowed by nature attracted not only hardworking migrants but also fierce Moro raiders from the south. Legends tells that local defenders use to hang on tree branches the dead bodies of the Moros, so that the place come to be known as Hinablayan.
The legend continues that when the Spaniards came they saw floating at the bay a cluster (pong pong) of mangrove propagules locally known as "Tungki" they have decided to change the name of Hinablayan to Paungpung which gradually evolved into what is now Palompon, after that beautiful cluster of mangrove propagules to erase the bloody memory of the Moro raiders. It is said that cluster later got stuck to the shoal until they grew up as trees, forming an islet which is Tabuk island today.
In 1737, Jesuit missionaries arrived and built the first chapel which was later burned during a Moro raid. It was rebuilt and as a refuge from attack the chapel was enclosed with piled stones, with a "cota" along the frontage. When the people saw Moro vintas coming, the big church bell would ring the alarm and people rushed inside the church, fighting back with bows and arrows and spears.
It is the place where the fiercest battle among the early settlers and Moro raiders happened sometime in 17th and 18th century, or even earlier. Our forefathers stood defiantly and fought those Muslim pirates during that decisive encounter. Many among the local warriors perished, and some women are held captive one of them is a young woman named Tomasa, daughter of a local warrior and leader.
At the time Palompon was under the parish of Hilongos. The parish priest visited the place occasionally for marriage, baptism and masses.
The Jesuit, later succeeded by the Agustinians, built the present church with 300 natives. It was a forced labor without pay. If one or some of the laborers were unable to work, they were substituted by others just to maintain the quota every day for the next thirty years. The structure soon became a great landmark towering over the settlement of Palompon, reputed to be the oldest church in Leyte. On November 12, 1784 Palompon obtained its parochial independence from Hilongos.
The town of Palompon is one of the oldest coastal settlement in Northwestern Leyte. It existed for more than four centuries already. Folklore says that it was Hinablayan before because of its gory objects found along the coast. The dead bodies of the enemies (Moros) that are hanged at the branches of the tree. However, these remained an oral tradition up to now.
The name Hinablayan evolved to Palompong, and then to Palumpun (spelling of Palompon sometime in 1700 or 1800). It is indisputably a very old town. Ormoc was part of Palompon parish from 1784 until 1851, when finally it was declared as an independent parish. Villaba and Matag-ob are both part of the territorial jurisdiction of this town before it obtain its municipio (pueblo) status.
But there are no available records in our town about our very interesting history. In 1990, then Mayor Viacrucis together with historian, Arcadio “Carding” Molon Jr, and Antonio E. Reposar came up with a book that established some facts about the significant past of Palompon. It was an attempt to give a clear picture of the things that happened to this town. It has complete names of town leaders (mayors and capitan municipal) from 1852 until present , municipal mayors, parish priests from 1784 until present, names of beauty queens and damas from 1914.
It was a good and laudable accomplishments, but there are still many things that are unknown to many Palomponganons.
The history of the people's struggle should be verified so that the younger generations of Palomponganons and Leytenos will know how their forefathers generously shed their blood for the noble cause.
Sadly, little is known on what must have been to be a very fascinating story. The place has some artifacts and relics that came from the past. One of these, is the century-old cannon, believed to be used by the natives during the violent Moro raids in 17TH and 18TH centuries. But there are no established facts that can claim that the said cannon was used by the early Palomponganons during those encounters, or where did it came from. Another, is the wooden image of the patron saint, St. Francis Xavier, place in a glass and wooden urn, which was brought by the Jesuits missionaries in mid-17TH century.
Lately, the book of Manuel Artigas de Cuerva “Resena de la Historia de la Provincia de Leyte” has a fascinating revelation. That the cannon found in our plaza was used by the early Palomponganons during Moro raids and that they have sustained in a nine-day battle that took place sometime in late 17TH century, that the people rushed to the stone church (newly completed at that time) and took refuge for more than a week, that the Moros suffered losses in that encounter. It was the only recorded victory among the natives in all the raids that happened Leyte perpetrated by these bandits.
Some other towns, however, was devastated by the onslaught of these violent raids, like Ogmuk on December 3, 1634 (now Ormoc) whose priest, Fr. Juan del Carpio was brutally killed by the raiders by the use of kampilan, with more than 300 natives perished because the bandits slaughtered them mercilessly, and other towns suffered losses also when these Muslim bandits plundered whatever riches they could take from these places, and took its natives captive. In Ogmuk, the early settlers in the coastal villages (now the present site of Linao, Alegria, Punta and Naungan) find its way to live in the hinterland, the reason why the settlement of Palungpung (now Palompon) flourished and expanded earlier than that of Ogmuk.
In 1957 the barrios of Santo Rosario, Santa Rosa, Balagtas, San Vicente and Mabini were separated from the municipality of Palompon and constituted into Matag-ob.[1]
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