Toledo, Cebu

Founders of Hinulawan

Toledo City came from Old Hinulawan and New Hinulawan. Old Hinulawan, presently called Daanglungsod, was founded by Mariano Libre, Fulgencio Lebumfacil, Areston Macapaz, Adriano Blanco, and Tranquilino Blanco.

New Hinulawan, presently called Toledo (on the present site), was founded by Fermin Poloyapoy, Máximo Macapobre, Jacinto López, Jestoni Estrada, Servando de Jesus, Juan Libre, Agapito Nieves, Francisco Blanco,Geresola,Compra,Amaquin, Paraba,Concina,Camoro,Laspoña, and Sñr. Noel Dayot

Destruction of Old Hinulawan

On June 3, 1863 a series of earthquakes shook Hinulawan. The first tremor toppled the newly built school, leveled several houses to the ground, and caused the church facade to collapse. It caused injuries and death to several residents from falling debris.

The quake that followed brought greater damage: complete destruction of the church and the convent; cracking of the lowlands in all directions; crumbling of the stonewalls along the Hinulawan river bank; and sagging of the ground, causing water from the sea and the river to rush in and flood the settlement to waist level.

A third temblor totally destroyed Pueblo Hinulawan.

The survivors were rescued by residents of neighboring highland localities.

New Hinulawan

The survivors of the Hinulawan earthquakes gradually rebuilt their lives in the aftermath of the disaster. With assistance from residents of Barangay Tubod, some cleared sections of the surrounding forest and plateau and constructed homes with roofs made of cogon grass. Others who chose not to settle in the newly cleared areas built their houses at the foot of the Tubod highlands. The community also established a burial ground on a portion of the plateau, where they laid their dead to rest not far from their new settlements.

The area occupied by this particular group, a majority of the survivors, subsequently evolved into the New Hinulawan.

A minority of the refugees decided to migrate to other places: the hinterlands of Da-o, Bulok-bulok, Landahan, and Sam-ang as well as the pioneering settlements in the seafronts of Cabito-onan and Batohanon.

In those days pirate attacks against pueblos situated near the shores of Tañon Strait were rampant. To protect themselves against such attacks, the residents of New Hinulawan built a baluarte, or bulwark, made of chopped stone blocks piled along the shoreline. With the passage of time, however, the bulwark became dilapidated and fell apart, its remnants forever buried in the sand during the construction of the first municipio, or Municipal Hall building. The municipio itself was destroyed by Philippine Commonwealth troops and Cebuano guerrillas in World War II.

Many years later, a few among those who resettled in New Hinulawan decided to return to their former homes in Old Hinulawan when the depressed lowlands gradually became habitable. Old Hinulawan is the present-day Barangay Daanglungsod.

The majority who opted to remain in New Hinulawan worked hard to regain the prosperity they had achieved before Old Hinulawan was wiped out by catastrophe.

Pueblo Toledo

Two significant events happened in mid-1869 which led to the change of name of New Hinulawan:

Carlos María de la Torre (1869-1872) became the new Spanish Governor-general of the Philippines. Father Mariano Brazal (1869-1876), who championed the Filipinization of parishes, assumed the duties as parish priest of New Hinulawan, replacing Father Servando Seoane who was transferred to another parish. Fr. Brazal and the new Governor-general were proponents of political liberalism which was on the rise in Spain during that period following the fall of Queen Isabel II.

Meanwhile, the alcalde mayor of Cebu (equivalent to the modern-day Cebu Provincial Governor), Esteban Perez, was the boyhood friend of governor-general De la Torre in their hometown Toledo, Spain. Perez was married to a Philippine woman and used to spend his vacation with his family in Talavera, a part of New Hinulawan, where he owned a beach resort. He and Fr. Brazal were also good friends.

A welcome banquet was given in the governor-general's palace in Manila in the evening of July 12, 1869 which was attended by students, priests, and Filipino leaders to express their gratitude to De la Torre's liberal policies.

During the occasion, Carlos María de la Torre and Esteban Perez reminisced about their boyhood days in Spain in the presence of Fr. Mariano Brazal. In the course of their recollections, Perez spoke to the governor-general about New Hinulawan, expressing his fondness for the place, particularly because his Filipina wife was a native of Talavera, a barangay of New Hinulawan. He also remarked on the similarities between the environment of New Hinulawan and their homeland of Toledo, Spain, noting that the winding Hinulawan River was comparable to the Tagus River (*Río Tajo*) in Spain.

That evening Perez and Fr. Brazal recommended to the governor-general that the name of New Hinulawan be changed to Toledo.

Governor-general De la Torre delightfully approved the recommendation at once. He even announced to all people present in the banquet the promulgation of a decree changing the name of pueblo New Hinulawan in the province of Cebu into pueblo Toledo, the name of his beloved birthplace in Spain.

Second World War

In 1942 the Japanese Imperial forces captured and occupied the town of Toledo.

In 1945, local Filipino forces of the Philippine Commonwealth Army from the 8th, 82nd, 83rd, 85th and 86th Infantry Division aided by Cebuano guerrilla resistance fighters, battled against the Japanese Imperial forces and liberated the town of Toledo.

Cityhood

On June 19, 1960, Toledo became a chartered city under Republic Act No. 2688. It was made into a city through the efforts of then Congressman Manuel A. Zosa, representative of the old Sixth District Cebu, who authored Republic Act No. 2688.^[6]

Although not as progressive as Cebu's other cities, it is unique in that it is the only city in the province on the western seaboard facing Negros Oriental – and therefore strategically located. (Danao, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, Cebu City, Talisay, Naga, and Carcar are on the east. One more city, Bogo, is in the north, on the eastern side.)

Shrine of Saint Pedro Calungsod

Following the canonization on October 21, 2012, of Visayan teen martyr Pedro Calungsod (1672), the hilltop parish of Cantabaco became the first shrine and church named after the second Filipino saint.^[9]

Malubog Lake

Toledo has been the source of water for Metro Cebu, Cebu City Water District. It uses Vacuum Type Water Systems, the Pipes from this lake go up the mountain and go down to Cebu Proper, Malubog Lake is situated and located more higher than Cebu City Proper.

Barangays

It is composed of thirty-eight (38) barangays, ten (10) of which are urban and twenty-eight (28) are rural barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Climate