The Guinayangan Republic

Villa Hiwasayan is almost mountainous and about one third of the land is plain. Before the year 1925, the mountains and the plains were covered by virgin forest where wild pigs, deers, monkeys and poisonous snakes roamed.

The Hiwasayan river, some brooks and hills with some clear and beautiful spring drain the place. Tayabigan and Danlig are the largest springs near the Hiwasayan river.

Among the pioneers of the place was the family of Bonifacio Villareal who settled near the Hiwasayan river. Years passed by and the population increased. They wanted to have a name given to the place. When they came the river was called by its present name. To honor the first family who settled in the place, the people took the first syllable of Villareal "Villa" and coined it with the river Hiwasayan, hence the name Villa Hiwasayan.

The settlers of Villa Hiwasayan were industrious. They cleared their homesteads and planted them with grains and citrus.

At first, it became a sitio of Dancalan, Its population increased rapidly. Believing that they could live as an independent Barangay, they petitioned the Municipal Council of Guinayangan under the leadership of the Rural  Barrio Lieutenant to be an independent barrio and to have its own barrio Lieutenant. The petition was handed to Mr. Leodegario Cambronero the then Councilor of the barrio of Dancalan. He sponsored a resolution to this effect in the meeting of the Municipal Council and was indorsed to the Provincial Board of Quezon. It was acted favorably by the provincial board so that on January 1,1932 Villa Hiwasayan was proclaimed an independent barrio. The first Barrio Lieutenant appointed was Mr. Rustico Desembrana, a former teacher in the Bureau of Public Schools.

After a year of service as barrio lieutenant, Mr. Desembrana resigned but the name of his successor could not be recalled. The third barrio lieutenant was Mr. Indalecio Odoño. He held the position for several years with success. It was during his incumbency when the school of Villa Hiwasayan was thrown open to the children in that place. The first teacher appointed was a lady by the name of Miss Juana Jugueta.
The outbreak of the World War II forced the people to leave their already flourishing farms. This inevitable circumstaces greatly ruined their economic and educational progress.

When the Philippines was liberated in 1945 by the American forces from the hand of the ferocious Japanese Imperial Army, the people returned to their homes. The people of Villa Hiwasayan was not an exemption to this. The school was reopened in 1948 and everything was returned to normalcy, had it not been for the people's  fear of the dessidents. But for the lack of children the school was closed again which obliged the parents of some children to send them to Dancalan, the former mother barrio of Villa Hiwasayan.




Compiled by: 
Mrs. Virginia Paraiso

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