Romblon, officially the Municipality of Romblon, is a 3rd class municipality and capital of the province of Romblon, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 40,554 people.. The archipelagic municipality is the capital of Romblon province and the seat of itd provincial government. It includes Romblon Island as well as the nearby islands of Lugbon, Alad and Cobrador.
Romblon island is one of the three major islands of the province, aside from Sibuyan Island and Tablas Island. As the capital of the province. Its natives mostly speak Romblomanon or Ini language. Romblon is known for its local marble industry and is the second biggest producer of the mineral in the country. It also a tourist destination because of its unspoiled beaches and Spanish-era twin forts.
History
Early history
The first inhabitants of Romblon were Negritos tribes of Panay and Mindoro Mangyan tribes. The discovery of hanging coffins and artistic material in caves of the island of Banton demonstrates the existence of a rich and ancient civilization and Aboriginal culture.
Spanish colonial era
The islands were first visited by Spanish conquistador Martin de Goiti in late 1569, and were thereafter organized by the Spanish into encomiendas. The encomienda of Donblon (Romblon), established on April 24, 1571, was granted to Don Gonzalo Riquel. In the first census done by Spanish navigator Miguel de Loarca in 1582, Romblon Island was shown to have 240 residents engaged in wax gathering. At this time, Miguel de Loarca recorded the island's name as "Lomlon" or "Doblon". In the local Visayan dialect, the word means a bird warming an egg in its nest. It was also known as Domblon before the present name was adopted.
In 1631, during the term of Spanish Governor-General Juan Niño de Tabora, Romblon was established as a pueblo, making it one of the two oldest settlements in the province, the other being Banton located in the north of the province. In 1635, the island of Romblon was evangelized by Spanish Recollect fathers and became a dependency of the Captaincy General of the Philippines. Their fortified church is the present cathedral of Romblon. It received its first Spanish missionaries in the 17th century. During the 17th and 18th centuries, it was often ravaged by Moros. Two forts were erected by the Spanish, San Andrés and Santiago.
It was organized into a Comandancia (a province or district under military control) by the Spanish in 1853.
American invasion era
In 1901, the American occupation saw the establishment of a civilian government in the town. Ten new barrios were created while three existing barrios were also abolished. These include Aglomiom which was merged to Sablayan due to its small population, Embarcacion which was attached again to El Pueblo or Poblacion and the inland barrio of Cogon which was reorganized and split into five barrios of Tambac, Ilauran, Macalas, Lamao, and Agbaluto (referred collectively as TIMLA, from its initial letters) while barrio Alfonso XIII was renamed Li-o.
The 10 additional barrios were Bagacay, Agbudia, Agtongo, Embarcacion, Maria Cristina (renamed as Sawang) and the five new TIMLA barrios. These barrios aside from TIMLA were Agtongo which was created into a separate barrio in 1916 taken from Cajimos while in 1918 those engaged in maritime industry which were designated separately as distinct barrio known as Embarcacion was annexed again to barrio Poblacion or El Pueblo in 1939. Agbudia was the last barrio to be created taken from Guimpingan in 1939. Meanwhile, the two barrios Majabangbaybay and Sogod, located in Tablas island, were returned to Badajoz (now San Agustin), abolished as independent barrios and attached as sitios of barrio Guinpuc-an (Carmen) in 1901.
Japanese occupation era
During World War II, an American force landed in the island on March 11, 1945, and liberated it from the occupying Japanese forces. By March 18, the entire province was liberated from the Japanese. A monument located near the beach in Sawang commemorates this.
Philippine independence
The island barrio of Nagoso was renamed Cobrador in 1960 and the urban barangay of Poblacion was split into four separate barangays, named simply as Barangays 1, 2, 3, and 4 in 1975.