Agdangan, Philippines

History

In the 18th and 19th centuries, during the Spanish Colonial era, Atimonan was suffering from frequent attacks by pirates and outlaws. A man named Mariano Aguilar thought of moving to a safer place to live and dwell with his family. He asked a friend and distant relative, Juan Salvador to help him find a nearby peaceful place to settle. Along with their immediate families, they walked through the forest south-west bound until they found a clean river. While traversing the riverside, they found a scenic body of water which was best described as ladder-like as the waters run over ladder-like steps.

They initially named the place Hagdan-hagdan (ladder-like structure). This majestic scenery nowadays is a local tourist attraction that can be found in Barangay Dayap. As they moved further west, they found a huge, serene and attractive flat land area where they later established the town proper. In this land, they built houses for their families and divided the land area between their family members, relatives and friends. The population in this newly discovered area had increased dramatically and before the end of the 19th century.

From the History section of Agdangan on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.