Villaba

Geography

Barangays

Villaba is politically subdivided into 35 barangays.

1. Abijao
2. Balite
3. Bangkal
4. Buga-buga
5. Cagnocot
6. Cabunga-an (A Tumamak)
7. Cabungahan
8. Cahigan
9. Calbugos
10. Campurog
11. Canquiason
12. Capinyahan
13. Casili-on
14. Catagbacan
15. Fatima (Poblacion)
16. Hibulangan
17. Hinabuyan
18. Iligay
19. Jalas
20. Jordan
21. Libagong
22. New Balanac
23. Payao
24. Poblacion Norte
25. Poblacion Sur
26. Sambulawan
27. San Francisco
28. San Vicente
29. Santa Cruz
30. Silad
31. Suba
32. Sulpa
33. Tabunok
34. Tagbubunga
35. Tinghub

Climate

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History

Pre-Spanish history

The existence of the place now known as Villaba was discovered in about the last quarter of the sixteenth century by Boholano traders. These traders landed on the western coast and found fertile plains along the river and forest. The sea coast also proved to be good fishing ground. The settlers built their houses along the banks of the river and banded into groups to protect themselves from the moro pirates and wild animals. Along the banks of the river were "Hindang" trees which grew in abundance so they called the new settlement Hamindangon (full of hindang trees).

As the years passed, more settlers migrated from Bohol and Cebu. These new inhabitants likewise settled on the plains along the Hamindangon River.

Spanish period

During the expedition of the entire Eastern Visayas by Spanish conquistador in 1593, a group of Spaniards, led by the General-Governor's son, Luis Pérez Dasmariñas landed on the shores of Hamindangon and the named the place Nueva Galicia in honor of his father, the Governor-General of the Philippines, Gomez Perez Dasmariñas who is from Galicia, Spain.

The governor set sail from Cavite for Pintado province in October 1593, to join the part of the fleet under Luis Pérez who is already at the Visayas. Before he proceeded to Moluccas, Luis Pérez introduced the barrio of Nueva Galicia to the whole fleet. But the Governor-General renamed the place to Vilalba (from the Spanish town in Galicia region) in order not to confused with other Nueva Galicia town that is located in Mexico.

Over the years, the natives of the barrio had problem of Spanish accented digraphs, mispronouncing Vilalba (Spanish pronunciation: [biˈʎalβa]) with Villaba (IPA: [vɪ'ʎabɐ]), and perhaps, it is easier to pronounce the later name and thus retained it when the town was officially established in June 1910.

American period

The Spanish was defeated by the Americans who started their occupation of the Philippines on August 13, 1898. The following year, there was a popular revolt in the Visayas particularly in Samar and Leyte called the Pulahanes movement. One consequence of that revolution against the Americans was that the town of Villaba was reduced to a barrio and became part of the municipality of San Isidro, Leyte.

During that period, Villaba was then ran by local executives known as cabeza de barangay. For want of official records however, to provide a complete list and their specific terms of office, the following have served in the said capacity:

1. Andres Gervacio
2. Antonio Dejillo
3. Fortunato Cabilar
4. Hermogenes Tumamak
5. Casimiro Tumamak
6. Tomas Tumamak
7. Luciano Domael

The Villaba Town

In June 1910, the Provincial Board of Leyte passed and approved a resolution creating the Municipality of Villaba. Since then, there was a continuous change of Chief Executives in the municipality up to the present.

In November 2013, Villaba was among the towns in Leyte that were heavily affected by Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), which caused extensive destruction across the province.

On the night of September 30, 2025, at 22:49 PST, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake off Cebu was strongly felt in Villaba, where a landslide occurred in Barangay Abijao.

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Villaba was 42,859 people, with a density of {{sigfig|42,859/150.31|2}} PD/km2.

Economy

References

References

1. {{DILG detail
2. (2024-07-14). "2020 Philippine census". Wikipedia.
3. "Philippine Places of Spanish Origin". Tourism In The Philippines.
4. Gabieta, Joey A.. (October 1, 2025). "Power down in E. Visayas after Cebu quake damaged grid facilities". Inquirer.net.