Barangays > Ligaya

Brief History

The first name given to this place by the indigenous people belonging to the Tau-Buhid tribe was Pianga, from the name of the river located at the southern portion of their settlement. When farmers from Panay arrived, years before the outbreak of World War II, they called this place as Sampaloc due to the abundance of tamarind trees in the area. It was only in 1948 when Ligaya was adopted as the official name of this community.

Aside from the indigenous people, the lowlanders who were the first settlers of this place were the families of De Dios, Mateo, Cervantes and Francisco from the island of Panay; and Lastra family from Abra de Ilog.

When the Japanese soldiers occupied Mindoro in 1942, a group of guerrillas established their headquarters at Bangcoro, one of the sitios of Ligaya at present. A group of Japanese soldiers were sent to hunt them. Unexpectedly, the two groups met at Sitio Kabigunan. A bloody encounter took place. With superior firepower, the Japanese troop defeated the guerrillas.

After the war, many families of farmers from other provinces arrived in Ligaya. Due to the great increase in the number of inhabitants, the residents requested the municipal government of Sablayan for the elevation of their settlement to the status of a barrio and the opening of a primary school for their children. Their requests were granted and in 1948, upon the creation of Barrio Ligaya, a primary school was opened in the community.

Crispulo de Dios was elected as the first teniente del barrio of Ligaya. During his term of office he worked for the completion of an elementary school in his community.

In 1958, the third wave of settlers arrived in Ligaya. Additional sitios along the coast were formed. Among them were Buswangan, Tambungon and Garo-Garo which became Brgys. Burgos, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo and San Nicolas, respectively.

When barrio high schools were opened in different parts of the country, with the approval of the officials of the Department of Education, teachers and parents in Ligaya also opened the same type of school in their barrio.

During martial law period, the national government vigorously implemented the construction of roads and bridges in Occidental Mindoro. One community which benefited from the infrastructure projects was Ligaya because the road from the highway to the barrio was widened and improved

Ligaya was one of the barangays which was frequently visited by members of the New Peoples Army (NPA), in the early part of Decade 80’s. Luckily, no violent encounter occurred between government troops and rebel groups in the barangay.

A few years before the peaceful revolution in EDSA, an irrigation system was constructed by the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) in Ligaya and its adjacent barangays. Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative (OMECO) was able to provide electricity for lighting, cooking and other purposes to households of members of the cooperative in Ligaya.