The Guinayangan Republic

Kapuluan is a barangay of Guinayangan about ten kilometers south of the poblacion. The name since its foundation was never changed. West of Ragay Gulf is capes and between them is a small lake where milkfish and pulahan are found in abundance. This invited people to settle around it. The first settlers and the fishermen of the adjoining barrios called the place Kapuluan.


Kapuluan Central or Nabanca Punta, Cabong Sur, Cabong Norte, Bantayan, Tulon, Hupiay, Ligpit and Matula are the sitios within the territorial jurisdiction of the barrio. It was founded in the year 1700, the year when Guinayangan was also founded. The pioneers were the families Adriano Porlay, Raymundo Porlay, Apolonia Servando, Catalino Cataquez, Carlos Victoria, Raymundo Tuba, Leodivico de los Reyes and Juan Carolina.

The tenientes (barangay captain) named below in the order of their appointment, Adriano Porlay, Raymundo Porlay, Apolonio Servando, Vicente Porlay, Teodoro Servando, Felix de los Santos, Pantaleon del Rosario, Ladislao Porlay, Juan Servando, Juan Ilagan, Luciano Claveria, Eufronio Dueñas, Miguel Jardin, Julio Ilagan, Esteban Porlay, and Ireneo Dueñas.

There are no sitios within its jurisdiction that are not populated but no historical site, structures, or building that could be found. During the Spanish Regime, this barrio was always visited by the Spanish Guardia Civil. The people they would ask for the cedula and if one had none, he would brought to the poblacion and would be given hard labor. For slight mistake, people were giving corporal punishment as whipping. Because of the Spanish atrocities, the people throughout the Philippines revolted in 1896. Not only in the Philippines but also in some other Spanish territories, the people revolted resulting the signing of Treaty of Paris. In this treaty, Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States of America so that Spain sovereignty ended on August 13, 1898.



At first the people were afraid of the Americans because they though the new colonizer were like the former one. Finding that they were not like the Spaniards, the Filipinos became very friendly to them and vice versa. Forced labor was not practiced by the new comers and people found that for a little work the Americans would pay for their service. Schools were established throughout the archipelago.
The Japanese occupation hampered very much the economic and educational progress of the barrio. The people took refuge in some other places to escape from the Japanese atrocities. After the liberation the people returned to the place and rehabilitated their farm again.




Kapuluan Tulon is a big sitio which became an independent barangay.  Before, it’s a part of a large parcel of land of Cabong. The name of the said place originated from the word “tulon”, a Tagalog word for a peninsula. There being a small “tulon”, a peninsula extending in the Hiwasayan  River where several families have lived because of the fertility of its soil. These original settlers of the “tulon” later on called the place Kapuluan Tulon, maintaining the name of the original barrio Kapuluan and adding the word Tulon to distinguish it with the barrio of Kapuluan.The barrio was established during the Spanish Regime in the year 1887 as a part and parcel of the old barrio of Kapuluan. The original families of the place were Francisco Olivera, Angel Talavera and Leodivico de Los Reyes and their families.
The following were the “tenientes del barrio” of the place: Arcadio Florendo, Eulalio Ilagan, Ricardo Macatangay.
 
There were no sitios or barrios within the jurisdiction of this barrio which are now depopulated and extinct, as the locality was a part of the big barrio of Kapuluan.
 
There were no historical site, structure, buildings, or old ruins found in the place. During the Spanish Regime there was no available record of important events. During the American Regime, attempts have been made to construct a bridge across the deep and wide Hiwasayan River because it’s infested by man-eating crocodiles. One was built. The ruins of the bridge can still be traced in the banks of the river. This helped a lot to the people during those times. 
During the Occupation Period of Japanese Imperial Army, there was huge destruction to property as personal belongings, large cattle, and crops. The Japanese soldiers confiscated the people’s livestock and other foodstuffs. Other has been lost due to looting and stealing as there was no organized government. The people evacuated to the town leaving their animals and crops, homes and other property leaving them at the mercy of the Japanese Soldiers and their collaborators.
 
During the Liberation Period, some of the lost properties were restored through the financial helps paid by the Philippine War Damage Commission. Several families who have filed their claims were given the payment to the destroyed, stolen, confiscated and looted property. With the initial payments made the people began to rehabilitate and reconstruct their economy. Today the place is progressive as it is inhabited by industrious and peaceful farmers.



Compiled by: 
Mr. Flaviano Bala
Ms. Anita Sastrillo

Excerpt from the manuscript: 
Collection And Compilation Of Historical Data And Cultural Life Of The
Municipality Of Guinayangan Including Its Barrios And Sitios, 
Province of Quezon, Philippines
Philippine (Republic) Bureau Of Public Schools
Division Of Quezon