The Guinayangan Republic

The name Kalimpak was derived from the two Tagalog words “kalimbahan” and “pakpak”. The early settlers noticed some birds coming in and out of the barrio to the marshes for seashells. These birds have light-pink wings, “kalinbahing-pakpak” in Tagalog. Since the place has no name yet and because the people always gave the response when asked where they lived as,  “Sa aplayang may mga ibong kalimbahin ang pakpak” meaning, they lived in the marshes where there are birds with the light-pink wings. So frequently they say it , that the place was later called Kalimpak, the first syllables of the words “kalimbahin” and “pakpak”.


The early settlers began clearing the place in 1902. Gregorio Mercurio and his family made their dwelling there. They were followed latter by the Araña, Esguerra and Seguerra families. Kalimpak that time was a sitio of Hinabaan. It was through the initiative of Gregorio Mercurio, known as Cabesang Goyo that the place gained its independence from Hinabaan.

In the year 1905, a Spanish national named Don Francisco Garcia came to Guinayangan. He married the descendant of the Mattas, Paula Matta , daughter of a rich landholder of the “Municipio de Guinayangan”. After their marriage he decided to develop Kalimpak. With hired men he was able cleared the biggest part of the place. He planted coconuts and established barrio “visita” for the laborer’s religious activities. He was able to buy most of the parts planted such that he was able to have in the place a progressive “hacienda” planted to coconuts. He was able to have a wide tract of land in the barrio of Iba and Kinatakutan. In his old age, he decided to return to Spain, leaving his wife Doña Paula Matta de Garcia and his two sons Rodrigo and Faustino Garcia Matta to manage the vast hacienda.

The prosperous barrio began to wane and by ill fate, Don Rodrigo and Don Faustino have sold their properties to Don Emelio Rodriguez and to Don Amadeo Matute. The latter was able to purchase the hacienda In Kalimpak.

During that time, the place was not well populated because of its nearness to the poblacion. People usually live in the center of the town and go to Kalimpak only during the working hours. The place slowly became populated and progressive because it is traversed by the provincial road.

One of the great barrio lieutenants of this barangay is Elpidio Ladines, the overseer of the Garcia’s hacienda. The place being planted, the people moved inland, in what is now called Maulawin, source of Maulawin River.  Agaton Araña was the pioneer in this undeveloped place. It is so important because of the water supply of the of Guinayangan. Its scenic beauty makes the place a rendezvous for picnickers. Annually people go there during summer to get a look to the water reservoir.






 The plateau on the western side of Kalimpak and Sisi was during this time unexplored and undeveloped. The people moved to the place to make kaingin for palay and other farm products. The population increased rapidly that the people decided to build a “visita”, Catholic Chapel. They have chosen San Vicente Ferrer as the Patron Saint of the place. During Fridays people from the poblacion and adjoining barrios makes pilgrimage to the “visita”. The devotees especially the sick and disabled visited the place to pray. It did not last long as the sitio is to mountainous and the visits made diminished, finally terminated. The place was depopulated. Today, the ruins of the old “visits” could be traced.

During the Japanese Occupation, the place was again populated because the people of the poblacion evacuated to then sitio Kalimpak. It offered a good hiding place from the cruel Japanese. The people developed the place again and planted farm products such as vegetables, camotes, gabi, and palay. They bartered their products, with clothes, fish, soaps and sugar.

During the liberation period, the people returned to the poblacion but others preferred to stay in the place permanently. The Philippine Civil Affairs Unit of the United States Army has helped the people a lot. The reconstruction and rehabilitation of the people’s economy was furthered improved by the Philippine War Damage Commission.


Compiled by:
Mrs.Encarnacion R. Mapaye
Mrs. Primitiva A. Reformado
Ms. Luz E. Salumbides
Mr. Ruben Valencia
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