HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The town of Libertad in Antique was formerly a barrio of the town of Pandan, until President Elpidio Quirinos Executive Order No. 253 made it into a municipality on August 6,1969.
It was during the administration of Atty. Daniel Dujali, the appointed Municipal Mayor (September, 1949 to December, 1951) when the town was inaugurated on October 10, 1949. In 1951, Libertad finally was able to elect its own mayor and municipal officials. Arcenio Nicopior y Depuno was first elected mayor, who won protest to his closest rival Primitivo B. Garmillos. In 1955, Mayor Arsenio Nicopior lost to Primitivo B. Garmillos after another local election took place. In 1967, Mayor Primitivo B. Garmillos gave way to Mayor Burgos Nicopior, the son of Ex-Mayor Arsenio D. Nicopior.
During the Spanish era, barrio Inyawan was first located at Patipos, a place enclosed with a wooden fence. Due to the frequent attacks of Moro pirates, the barrio folks built a watchtower on the eastern side of the mouth of the Inyawan River, now called Magsapad. This place was composed of about 12 houses, a stone tower and a stone church. Later, four wooden mills were constructed in Agungon, Inyawan (Balud), Carajon (Codiong) and Malatibok (now part of Panangkilon) respectively. On February 5, 1855, Moro pirates burned the house of Tenyente Owa, robbing the people and killing one man.
With the transfer and migration of many settlers from southern portion of the province, the barrio progressed leading the Spanish authorities to impose heavy taxes known as “montes”. The people were made to contribute money or in kind to support the priest and officials. Forced labor was imposed, causing the disappearance of the people, thus, the barrio was considered “abandoned”, which locally means Inaywan or Binaya-an, hence, the name Inyawan was derived.
In 1886, Filipinos struggled for independence from Spain. The revolt spread all over Panay. In 1898, Gen. Leandro Fullon, a revolutionary leader together with his men landed at Pucio Pt. Pursued by Spanish soldiers, he hid at a cave in Mt. Agongon. He was later arrested but managed to escape. Instead, Ignacio Unilongo and his nephew Felix Unilongo were arrested and presented to the Spanish General in Pandan. However, they were rescued by Gen. Fullon, who deceived the Spanish authorities by telling them to meet him in a battle at Culasi. Since then, the General changed the names of the following barrios-Nipa to Union, Nabat-a to San Roque and Tinawagan to Patira.
In November, 1898, Gen. Fullon organized the municipality of Libertad under the revolutionary government and appointed Ignacio as the President Municipal and Pedro Depuno as the Tesorero Municipal. The town remained unorganized, however, due to the revolutionary crisis.
In 1899, when the American forces came, they started to administer the community and educate the people, establishing the first public school with Delfin Rodillon as the first mentor. In 1909, the Philippine Independent Church was established in Libertad with Fr. Leopisto Pacete as the first parish priest.
With the advent of the World War II, four other houses were built of concrete materials. When the Japanese occupied the country, the guerilla movement was organized in the island of Panay, making Libertad, or Inyawan as the center of guerilla activities. The guerilla forces under Col. Cirilo Garcia were victorious over the Japanese. Infuriated, the Japanese burned the barrios of Taboc, Olaog, and the hiding place or camps in Magpiyong. With the coming of the Americans in 1945, the locality was liberated from Japanese rule, hence the name Libertad. Conditions returned to normal. All ruined structures including school buildings were reconstructed.
