Jiabong

The name Jiabong is a combination of the terms “Hiya-an” which means a “place of preparation before an attack” and “bong” which is actually “the sound of a canon gun”. According to the legend, during Spanish time, villagers from Motiong, Paranas and San Sebastian fled to Casandig (now Jiabong) to seek refuge from the invading pirates who killed, robbed and held them as captives.

To rescue the villagers, the Spanish soldiers and guardia civil camped at Casandig and mounted their preparations for an eventual pirate attack. The Spanish soldiers cried “Ensiqueda Fuego, Hia-bong!” as cannons were fired on the invaders. After this victorious fight, remained two words: Jia-bong.

In 1882, during the Spanish regime in the Philippines, Jiabong was made into a town or municipio. It was made as the cabeza de barangay, incorporating the barangays of Jia-an, San Fernando, Malino, Camarubo-an and the rest of the barangays that were founded later. During the Filipino-American war in 1900 to 1904, Catbalogan, Samar, the capital town, was placed under military rule. Jiabong became a barrio of Catbalgan from 1905 until June 15, 1948,

Jiabong became a separate municipality of Samar and got its independence from the Municipality of Catbalogan on October 22, 1948, when Congress approved House Bill No. 1812 into law. Under Republic Act. No. 269. On October 27, 1948, Jiabong was inaugurated as a municipality. President Elpidio Qurino appointed Domingo Jabinal as the Municipal Mayor and Eleuterio Bacarra as the Vice Mayor.

Poverty incidence of Jiabong

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority^{[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]}