Licab, Philippines

History

Licab was a sitio under the municipality of Aliaga and was known as "Pulong Samat". A wooded area surrounded by rivers and streams, it was then inhabited by thirty families consisting of Ilocanos, Tagalog, and relatives of the Esguerras from the Ilocos Region. The Esguerra brothers later arrived from San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte and lived with the locals.

Don Dalmacio, one of the Esguerra brothers, led the clearing of the vast grasslands and brushwood with his brothers and the locals, subsequently cultivating the area with a bountiful harvest.

Due to the increase in the population of Pulong Samat, Dalmacio directed the establishment of a "gunglo" which served as Pulong Samat's council or government. The council then worked to change the name of Pulong Samat and later used "Licab" which came from the Ilocano saying "kaskada agliklikab ti ani ti pagay da" which means "the collected rice is flowing", the word likab is the Ilocano term of "flowing".

In 1882, led by Don Dalmacio, the local heads of the barrios of Santa Maria, Licab, Bantog and neighboring sitios, presented a petition to the civil administration of the Spanish government in the Philippines for the establishment of a separate and independent municipality from the Municipality of Aliaga.

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