The Guinayangan Republic

The present official name of this barangay is Tikay. In the olden time the place was known as Ilog. This term Ilog, is the Tagalog word for river which passes this barrio and originates from the nearby Danlagan. At that time, Tikay was only a sitio of Danlagan inhabited by five families.

The name of Tikay was derived from the name of a woman, Escolastica. Said to be possessed of a fairy’s charm notwithstanding the fact that her body was bent by ages and her hair silvered by years. This old woman was believed to be the first human being who trotted her feet on the ground of Tikay and never left the barrio till her death. A few years after, another family came and met this old woman, Escolastica. Her kindness, hospitality and generosity attracted the new family who became very attached to her. They called this old woman in the nickname Tikay and upon her death; they named the barangay Tikay to serve as a memory of this benevolent woman.

Another derivation of its name run this way. The barrio of Danlagan during that time was under the Municipality of Apad, the present Municipality of Calauag. The Moro bandits roamed in Apad in pursuit of wealth and hostage. In one of the raids done by the Moros in the neighboring barrios of Apad, Danlagan had become a sanctuary for those who took flight to save their necks from their blood thirsty “Kampilan” and “Kris”. Some of the people gathers whatever weapon the can avail of and fight for the defense of the barrio and its inhabitants. For fear of another raid, one of the people was forced to retreat by the river and reached the sitio of the “Ilog” which is now called Tikay. They decided to live in this place permanently because the soil is fertile. The barrio’s transportation was extremely hard and irregular as the place is hilly with deep ravines, cliffs and brooks. With these discouraging factors other families transferred to a nearby barrio. From that time on the name Ilog was changed to Tikay, from the word “tikang”, meaning separate. Due to the separation of some families in order to settle in other barrio, the place was named Tikay, corrupted word of Tikang.

This barrio was established in 1870, with the following original families: The families of Nicolas Villafuerte, Vicente Molines, Abdon Cawa, Domingo Rofuli, Fernando Fabio, and Jose Vasquez.
The following headed the barrio as “Teniente del Barrio”: Pedro Cerilla, Felipe Villafuerte, Felino San Jose, Nicolas Villafuerte, Jesus Millar, and Edilberto Ragenil.

There was no depopulated barrio as it was a sitio before. There were no historical sites, structures, buildings or old ruins. There were no important facts or incidents that took place during the Spanish time.
During the American this barrio became very prosperous especially during the incumbency of Pedro Cerilla as Barrio Lieutenant. The World War II took place during this period. There were destructions of lives and property, both from the Japanese and the Guerillas. Most of the people joined the underground movement and became members of the famous Matta’s Unit.

The destruction of property was rehabilitated with the help of the PCAU and the PWDC (Philippine War Damage Commission).











Compiled by: 
Miss Arceli Hernandez

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