Barangays > Lagnas

Brief History

Lagnas is located between two rivers — Amnay and Balingkawing. The wide fertile plain of this place was formed, through the years, by tons of eroded soil from the mountains which were carried by the strong current of the said rivers. Residents of the community considered the eroded soil as a part of the natural resources of the mountains.

The indigenous people belonging to the Alangan tribe were the first settlers of the wide plain. Usually, in their dialect, they call the plain formed by eroded soil from the mountains as Lagnas, hence, the name of their settlement. They selected some portions of this place as sites of their kaingin.

Before the outbreak of World War II, this wide plain was bought by Sotero Baluyot, one of the influential people during that time. People started calling Lagnas as Baluyot Estate. However, like other owners of vast agricultural estates, Sotero Baluyot did not develop his land.

After the war, families of farmers from Central Luzon arrived. They occupied Baluyot Estate, cleared the forested areas and turned it into ricefields and cornfields. They petitioned the government to buy the estate and distribute it to the actual occupants and tillers. Since the main program of the government during that time was Land for the Landless, the public officials helped the farmer leaders in negotiating with the owner of the estate. After seeing that the provisions of the Land Reform Law were strictly followed by the group of petitioners, Sotero Baluyot sold his agricultural estate to the government for distribution to the farmers.

The farmers again called the wide plain as Lagnas. They were able to turn into productive farms the more or less one thousand hectares in the area. They built an irrigation system for their farm. At present, during summer, they could irrigate twenty five percent of their ricefields.

When farmers from Central Luzon arrived in Lagnas, the indigenour people transferred to the nearby hill, called Guitong.Hill by the lowlanders. The said hill served not only as home for the indigenous people but also as protection of the residents of Lagnas from the strong easterly wind.

After a few years, families of farmers from Panay arrived, followed by groups of settlers from other provinces. The number of inhabitants in Lagnas increased. The people decided to choose their leader. In 1970, Leonardo Abon was chosen. As leader of Lagnas, he served until 1975.

Lagnas became a sitio of Paetan during the term of office of Brgy. Captain Juan de Jesus. The said barangay leader appointed five sitio leaders in Lagnas. They were Virgilio Daguinotas, Sr., Tomas Hermosa, Antonio Bonus, Mauro Sison, Sr., and Leopoldo Samillano.

On September 1, 1975 through the cooperative labor of the residents of this place, the first building of Baluyot Elementary School was constructed. Only fifteen pupils, from Grade I to Grade V were the first enrollees of this school. Nevertheless, as years passed, the number of enrollees increased gradually.

When Sitio Lagnas was elevated to the status of a barangay in 1981, Mauro Sison, Sr., was elected as its first barangay captain. The said leader served for six years.

After the peaceful EDSA revolution, Rogelio Arquero was appointed as OIC Brgy. Captain. He was succeeded by Brgy. Captain Tomas Ramos who won during the 1988 elections.