Brief History of La Libertad

It was during the Spanish regime, that “Tuayon” or “Gabasa” in Visayan dialect was a sitio of barangay Dampalan, Dapitan. The place sparsely occupied by “lumad”, the Subanen, was a wooden area where settlers practiced “kaingin” for livelihood and economic resources.

A group of residents endeavored and made an appeal to the council to change the status of the place from being a sitio of Dampalan to a barrio. Luckily, the concerted effort gained support and was favored. Hence, Tuayon became a barangay and was named La Libertad.

In January 1, 1951, barrio Rizal claimed independence from Dapitan and turned into a municipality. La Libertad, along with the neighboring barrios, became a barangay of the municipality of Rizal.

By virtue of Republic Act. No. 2192 dated May 7, 1959, La Libertad was officially declared as Municipality with ten (10) original barrios namely: Poblacion (formerly La Libertad), El Paraiso, Singaran, Mauswagon, New Carcar, La Union, La Victoria, San Jose, Mercedes, and New Bataan. As it continued to prosper, additional barangays were created, namely: New Argao (from El Paraiso), Sta. Catalina (from La Victoria) and Sta. Cruz (from New Carcar). Records show that its administration began in September 1, 1959 which is religiously observed as “Araw ng La Libertad”.