Written by Jes Tirol
Proem
The town of Batuanan was different from the present town of Batuan. The town of Batuanan was created as a resettlement area of the surrendered followers of Dagohoy. It never became a separate parish and continued its precarious existence until it was ordered abolished on Sept. 9, 1879. It was re-created a town again by Executive Order of President Elpidio Quirino under the new name of Alicia on Sept. 16, 1949 to be effective on Nov. 8, 1949.
The Name
The name Batuanan was taken from the name of the batuan tree. It has the same origin of the name as the present day Municipality of Batuan.
The batuan tree was a useful tree. The water in which its leaves and fruit are boiled was usable to clean metals; the juice of the fruit when picked ripe is equivalent to the olive oil.
The Town
On 31 August 1829 Major Manuel Sanz made a report to Governor General Mariano Ricafort. The report said that the place “was planned during the start of 1827 with 1981 voluntary surrenderees. On April 1828 there were resettled 2,087 surrenderees. These were added to those who were joined to this visita (mission field) last March. At present, there are 6,266 souls under the temporary administration of the parish priest of Guindulman.â€
The town of Batuanan was created by the Military Commander of Bohol Don Manuel Sanz by virtue of an authorization granted by the Governor General on 5 February 1828. It was one of the resettlement areas of the surrendered followers of Dagohoy together with Balilihan, Catigbian, Vilar, Candijay, and Cabulao. However, Cabulao wsa not implemented as a town because all its inhabitants fled to the nearby island of Leyte.
Its Location
The location of Batuanan was very unhealthy. It was located at the bank of a navigable river called Napô. However, the place was infested with malaria-bearing mosquitoes. Many inhabitants died due to sickness. Also, the soil was not fertile. It was a reason why no priest wanted to live in Batuanan.
However, the inhabitants were forced to construct a church, a town hall and schools. When these infrastructures were destroyed by a typhoon on 15 October 1856, the people did not anymore rebuild them.
Without a resident priest to guide them, literacy was neglected and the people became ignorant and lawless. They could not even remember their official names.
The Abolition
By the year 1879, Batuanan became remiss in its payment of taxes. There were many cattle rustles in the place. Even its Gobernadorcillo (Mayor) was arrested for cattle rustling.
In 1879, the Governor of Bohol consulted with leaders of the neighboring towns on what action to take regarding the town. Its was only the parish priest of Ubay who disagreed with its dissolution. On 9 September 1879, the Politico-Military Governor of Bohol, Adolfo Martin de Baños issued an order dissolving the town of Batuanan and converting it into a barrio of Candijay town. However, due to its far distance from Candijay the town of Batuanan continued to have its own town officials even though officially it was already a barrio of Candijay.
American Period
For a long time Batuanan practically existed as a town within a town. That was the reason why the Spaniards never made it into a separate parish.
In 1903, by virtue of Act No. 968 of the Philippine Commission of the Americans, Batuanan was effectively abolished and made a barrio of the new Municipality of Mabini, Bohol. As time went by, the residents of Batuanan became more knowledgeable in the art of government. They produced two Mayors, two Vice Mayors, and many councilors for the town of Mabini.
The attitude of the people had already changed. Whereas in the 1830s the people did not want to continue as a town because it only meant expenses, in the 1940s the people wanted to regain their former status as a town.
In 1949, Pedro Huiso, a local leader of Batuanan and a municipal councilor of Mabini, spearheaded the move to convert barrio Batuanan into a municipality.
On 15 April 1948, while President Qurino was in Dumaguete city campaigning for his election as President of the Philippines, Governor Jacinto Borja of Bohol together with the leaders of Batuanan presented the petition for conversion to a municipality.
On 16 September 1949, President Quirino signed Executive Order No. 265 converting Batuanan into the municipality of Alicia, Bohol.
The leaders of Batuanan promised President Quirino that his opponent would get zero votes in Batuanan. To let the leaders keep their promise, the executive order was made to take effect only on 8 November 1949 after the national election. If the promised was not kept, the Executive Order could be revoked. All went fine and Batuanan became again a new town but with the name Alicia, Bohol.
References: 1. Manuel Sanz, “Conquista De La Isla De Bohol, Abril 1828 hasta 31 de Agosto 1829,†(National Archives, Manila), MSS.
2. Adolfo Martin de Bañs, “Carta Para Señor Gobernador General de Visayas, 9 Septiembre de 1879,†Ereccion de Pueblos: Bohol 1857-1890, Libro 3, (National Archives, Manila), p. 503. MSS.
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