Santa Barbara, officially the Municipality of Santa Barbara (, ), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Iloilo, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 67,630 people.
Santa Barbara is a part of the Metro Iloilo–Guimaras area, centered on Iloilo City.
History
The Augustinian Archives, Vol. 17–18, which recorded the missionary achievements of the Augustinian missionaries, mentions that in 1617 the missionaries ministered a community then known as Catmon, a name derived from a fruit tree which was an imposing landmark, which sat on a rich and fertile plain traversed by the Salug (now Tigum) and Aganan rivers, producing rice, corn, sugar, mongo and tobacco. Then Catmon was only a “Visita Catmon” of Jaro vicariate.
In 1760, Catmon was established as an independent parish, whose patron saint was Santa Barbara and the settlement became a “pueblo” named after her. Its total population at the time was 15,094.
In 1845, its population was 19,719 and it covered an area which are now the Municipalities of Maasin, Janiuay, Cabatuan, Alimodian, San Miguel, Zarraga, New Lucena and parts of Leganes and Pavia.
When the Philippine Revolution broke out on Luzon in 1896, it did not spread immediately to Iloilo. The Spanish authorities thought that they could keep the Ilonggos loyal to Spain. Governador–General Basilio Agustin organized the Volunteer Militia in Iloilo to enlist Ilonggos to fight the Tagalog rebels. Being a “mestizo” and having occupied the highest office in his town, Martin Teofilo Delgado was appointed commander of the “voluntaries” in Santa Barbara.
Unknown to the Spaniards, however, Delgado had already become a “revolucionario”. On October 28, 1898, he publicly declared himself for the Revolution and seized the municipal building. The Revolutionary Government of the Visayas was organized and on November 17, 1898, was formally inaugurated at the town plaza of Santa Barbara. A large crowd hailing from many places across Iloilo gathered for the historic occasion. The Philippine flag was raised for the first time outside of Luzon.
The officials of the Revolutionary Government were Roque Lopez, president; Vicente Franco, vice president and secretary of the interior; Venancio Concepcion, secretary of finance; Ramon Avanceňa, secretary of state; Jovito Yusay, secretary of justice; Julio Hernandez, secretary of war; Fernando Salas, secretary general. General Martin T. Delgado was chosen General –in-Chief of the Revolutionary Forces.
Santa Barbara became the headquarters of the Revolutionary Forces and from here, Gen. Delgado launched the campaign to liberate the whole province which culminated in the surrender of Iloilo City by Governor-General de los Rios on December 24, 1898.
The victory against Spain was short-lived as the Philippine–American War followed. Gen. Delgado led the same army against Americans from 1899 to 1901. Delgado was forced to surrender on February 2, 1901.
Upon the establishment of the civil government, Martin Delgado was appointed as the first provincial Governor of Iloilo and was elected to the same position in the first elections held in 1903. Santa Barbara became a town under American regime and was incorporated into a municipality by the Commonwealth Government. The town soon began to progress.
In 1948, Barangay Tuburan-Solbud was transferred to Zarraga, Iloilo.
Geography
Santa Barbara has a land area of , ranks 29th as to size among the 42 municipalities of the province and occupies 1.5% of all lands in the Province of Iloilo. Almost 100% of Santa Barbara's land is cultivated and alienable or disposable. It is from Iloilo City.
The topography of Santa Barbara varies from slightly rolling hills to almost flat or gradually inclined plains, sliced by Tigum River at its centremost, which flows from the north-west to the southeast and the Aganan River in the southern section.
Land Use
Basically, Santa Barbara is an agricultural town with 84.75% or devoted to agriculture. The rolling hills, amounting to , are unsuitable to farming and are utilized as pasture and open grassland. The built-up areas within the poblacion and the barangay areas total or 8.761%. Also included in this category are the areas utilized for commercial, institutional purposes, parks and open space. Agro-industrial area is 101.928 has. or 1.315%, industrial area is .069 % or 5.330 has., utilities or roads comprise 150.853 has. or 1.946% . The area for the cemeteries is 4.720 has. or .061 % and bodies of water is 1.084% or 84 hectares.