Libmanan

Libmanan was a bario of Quipayo in 1580 with the name of "Piglabanan". Records from a historian Mauro B. Avila, revealed that the municipality was named Libmanan on September 15, 1574. Missionaries started working in Libmanan in 1589 and the area's church was dedicated to St. James the Apostle.

German ethnographer Fedor Jagor described visiting Libmanan in his 1875 work "Travels in the Philippines", wherein he visited the local parish priest and learned from him about an ancient human settlement that had been dug up in 1851 during road construction in the Poro area of the southwest close near the Tres Marias islands: the excavation consisted of "numerous remains of the early inhabitants—skulls, ribs, bones of men and animals, a child’s thighbone inserted in a spiral of brass wire, several stags’ horns, beautifully-formed dishes and vessels, some of them painted, probably of Chinese origin; striped bracelets, of a soft, gypseous, copper-red rock, gleaming as if they were varnished; small copper knives, but no iron utensils; and several broad flat stones bored through the middle; besides a wedge of petrified wood, embedded in a cleft branch of a tree." [5]

During the occupation of their country by the United States, the Philippine Legislature greatly expanded the network of railroads throughout the island of Luzon, and a railway headed to the city of Legazpi, Albay and Naga, Camarines Sur was built through Libmanan to provide direct access to those cities.[6] This railway was damaged severely during World War II, but partially restored using American funds thereafter, providing transportation service down the Bicol Peninsula off and on until ending in 2012 despite plans to rehabilitate the route.[7]

The historic Morales Ruins Art Deco mansion at the heart of the town was built in 1937 by the Rev. Friar Mariano Roldan for his parents, and was eventually sold to the Morales family whose name the ruins now bear. It is noted for art deco frescos which are emblematic of the period in which it was built, one of which includes a defiantly displayed Filipino national flag, which would have been disallowed by the American and Japanese occupiers of the time.[8]

Even during the time of the Spaniards, the town of Libmanan was already considered the "rice basket" of the province. This generous production of rice is attributed to the fertile soil and the town's abundant water supply. In 1991 the area's irrigation canals (shared with its northern neighbor Cabusao, Camarines Sur) were sufficient to water 2996 hectares of land during the dry season.[9]

Puro Island in the Ragay Gulf

Libmanan is a large municipality, one of the biggest in Camarines Sur. It stretched across nearly the whole width of the Bicol peninsula, from where it borders Cabusao Municipality on the San Miguel Bay all the way out to the Ragay Gulf, including three islands known locally as the 'tres Marias', including one island known as 'puro island'. The main town, or 'poblacion', is located along the Libmanan River on the lowland alluvial plain adjacent to Cabusao.

Heading to the southern coast from the poblacion the municipality becomes hilly. In this hilly region between the poblacion and the highway lies the Libmanan Caves National Park. Continuing on towards the coast from the hills, the municipality becomes truly mountainous beginning in Barangay Malinao beyond the Pan-Philippine Highway, where the "Boro-Boro Spring Resort" is located; a series of waterfalls that are a locally popular swimming destination.[10] Beyond Malinao the upland region features the mountain 'Tancong Vaca' - in the local dialect meaning 'the cow's hump' - which is a local landmark visible from most locations on the Pan-Philippine Highway in western Camarines Sur and was a base of operations for local guerrillas fighting the Japanese during World War II.[11] Up to the present day, the area around Tancong Vaca has remained an area of conflict between anti-government insurgents and the Philippine National Police.[12]

The municipality's rural barangays lie behind Mount Tancong Vaca, and mostly lack access to paved roads, of which there is only one which terminates in the fishing village of Barangay Bahao, within sight of the tres Marias.

Libmanan is politically subdivided into 75 barangays; five of which are located in the coastal areas and the remaining 70 barangays are distributed in the low land and upland portions of the municipality. Its town center, poblacion or centro, is 7.7 kilometres (4.8 mi) away from the National Highway. The road leading to Poblacion and other major baranggays is marked by a memorial for the Ten Outstanding Young Men trophy awarded to a past mayor and local hero, Jose Bulaong.

Libmanan public market

Libmanan, one of the largest and most populous municipality in the province, benefits from the transportation being offered by the Libmanan River, the railroad and the national highway. Though rail service through Libmanan no longer connects directly to Manila there are still commuter trips available bringing passengers to nearby Naga, Camarines Sur and the route that was reopened in 2015 bringing them all the way to Legazpi, Albay.[19]

Generally, Libmanan soil is adapted for growing different agricultural products. Portions are also adopted to pottery-the making of which has been a local industry for centuries. Libmanan has been the “rice-basket” not only of the province but of Southern Luzon-even during the Spanish regime. In spite of problems encountered by rice farmers, Libmanan maintains its status of being the rice granary of the province.

The town possess one of the most important cultural examples of ancestral houses in western Camarines Sur. Among these architectural marvels are the 1920s municipal hall building with its arcade-embellished facade, the 1875 Dilanco House which is the oldest structure in the town and was home to three former municipal mayors, the 1937 Morales Ruins which is the most culturally-important Art Deco building in the town, the Nacieno House which is another Art Deco ancestral house, and the 1926 Jaucian House (Built by Andres or Jose Jaucian Sr). Most heritage houses in the town have already been abandoned, including the Morales Ruins, Nacieno House, and the Dilanco House. In 2013, a campaign was administered by some locals to transform the Morales Ruins into a municipal museum, along with other heritage houses in the town to spur a heritage-based tourism industry and to conserve the remaining immovable cultural heritage of the town.

The Department of Education (Philippines) lists the following schools for Libmanan:[20]

Tertiary

• CASIFMAS (Libmanan Campus) - Potot, Libmanan
• Luis H. Dilanco Sr. Foundation College, Inc. - Bahay, Libmanan

Secondary

• Colegio del Santisimo Rosario - Station Church Site, Libmanan
• Bicol Central Academy - Libod 1,Libmanan
• Central Bicol State University Sipocot - Libmanan Extension College (formerly: Bicol Institute of Science and Technology - Libmanan Extension College- Sibujo,Libmanan
• Bahay Provincial High School- Bahay,Libmanan
• San Juan National High School - Handong, Libmanan
• San Isidro National High School - San Isidro, Libmanan
• Bahao National High School - Bahao, Libmanan
• Carmel National High School - Potot, Libmanan
• Pag-oring Nuevo National High School - Pag-oring Nuevo, Libmanan
• Malansad Nuevo National High School - Malansad, Libmanan
• Mambulo Nuevo National High School - Mambulo Nuevo, Libmanan

Intermediate

• Libmanan North Central School - Libod # 2
• Candato Elementary School - Candato, Libmanan
• Libmanan South Central School
• Tarum Elementary School
• Ibid Elementary School - Ibid, Libmanan
• Umalo Elementary School - Umalo, Libmanan
• Fundado Elementary School- Taban-Fundado,Libmanan
• St. Joseph Academy - Potot, Libmanan
• Don Jose Ursua Elementary School - Malinao, Libmanan
• Bikal Elementary School- Bikal, Libmanan
• Duang Niog Elementary School-Duang Niog, Libmanan
• Sixto Bulaong Elementary School- Busak, Libmanan
• Mambulo Nuevo Elementary School - Mambulo Nuevo, Libmanan
• San Juan Elementary School - Handong, Libmanan
• Malansad Nuevo Elementary School, Malansad Nuevo Elementary School

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Libmanan, Camarines Sur.

• Libmanan Profile at PhilAtlas.com
• Official Site of the Diocese of Libmanan
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Philippine Census Information
• Official Site of the Province of Camarines Sur