Alicia

IJsselstein, Tuesday, 25 January 2011 (updated: Monday, 14 February 2011)

Alicia is a town in the eastern part of Bohol.

History

Alicia is an old town, that was originally founded in 1768 as one of the settlements for "returnees" from the Dagohoy rebellion in the surrounding hills. Here followers of Dagohoy where given some land to till, but at the same time could be kept under a watchful eye of the Spanish authorities. At that time, the place was known as Batuanon, after the abundance of batuan trees in the locality.

In 1829, the year the Dagohoy rebellion ended, the town was the largest of five such settlements, with over 6000 inhabitants.

Curiously, the entire town was moved a few kilometers to the west in 1870. In July 1901, during the early years of the American occupation of the Philippines, the town was burned to the ground, and only slowly recovered. At that time it became a barangay of the neighboring town of Mabini.

In 1949, it became an independent municipality, and was renamed Alica after the wife of former president Elpidio Quirino.

Fiesta

Alicia celebrate its town fiesta on the 26th of July in honor of Saint Joachim.

(Based on figures from the census of 2000)

Links

• A short article on Wikipedia.
• Some information on the Provincial website of Bohol.
• A explanation of the origin of the name Alicia by Boholano historian Jes Tirol.

Jeroen Hellingman

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