Aerial view of San Jose de Buenavista, 1937Cathedral of San Jose de Antique
San Jose de Buenavista, officially the Municipality of San Jose de Buenavista (Kinaray-a: Banwa kang San Jose de Buenavista; Hiligaynon: Banwa sang San Jose de Buenavista; Tagalog: Bayan ng San Jose de Buenavista), is a 1st class municipality and capital of the province of Antique, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 65,140 people, making it the most populous municipality in the province of Antique.[3] It is often called simply San Jose.
The Spaniards arrived in Antique in 1581. With them came Augustinian friars who Christianized the inhabitants. Its original name was Tubigon, being still a part of the municipality of Hamtic.
In 1733, it was renamed San José and in 1790 it acquired its municipality through land grants issued by Philippine Governor General Félix Berenguer de Marquina. Later, it became a parish with its first parish priest, Father Manuel Ibáñez.
Some two hundred years ago, the site now occupied by San José de Buenavista was a dense jungle and a favorite landing place for pirates to raid the area.
In 1802, by popular demand, San José de Buenavista became the capital of the province of Antique and Agustín Sumandi was appointed as its first Gobernadorcillo, a sort of local governor during the Spanish Colonial Era.
On November 24, 1898, San Jose de Buenavista was captured by Philippine Revolutionary Expeditionary Forces led by Gen. Leandro Fullon from Cavite during the Battle of Antique after a 2-day struggle. The rest of the Antique province under Spanish authority surrendered to the revolutionary forces.
In 1954, by the virtue of Executive Order No. 3 of the President of the Philippines, the southern portion of San Jose de Buenavista was formed into an independent municipality under the name of Hamtic. The boundary was described to be "From a point on the south bank of the mouth of Malandog River running northeasterly in a straight imaginary line to a point on the northeast side of the San Jose-Hamtic provincial road ten meters west of the intersection of this northeast side of said road with the northwest side of the Sibalom-Piapi-Malandog provincial road; thence following approximately the same direction in an imaginary line that is parallel to, and ten meters distant from the said Sibalom-Piapi-Malandog provincial road until it touches the present boundary between San Jose and Sibalom."[6]
The Evelio B. Javier Airport, the only airport serving commercial flights in the province of Antique, is located in San Jose.
In the 19th Congress of the Philippines, house bills were filed by various representatives which seeks San Jose de Buenavista including other capital towns of provinces with no current component cities, independent component cities or highly urbanized cities to automatically convert into cities.[7][8][9]
Geography
San Jose de Buenavista is 97 kilometres (60 mi) from Iloilo City, 182 kilometres (113 mi) from Kalibo, and 213 kilometres (132 mi) from Roxas City.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the municipality has a land area of 48.56 square kilometres (18.75 sq mi)[10] constituting 1.78% of the 2,729.17-square-kilometre- (1,053.74 sq mi) total area of Antique.
In the 2020 census, San Jose de Buenavista had a population of 65,140.[3] The population density was 1,300 inhabitants per square kilometre (3,400/sq mi).
Language
Kinaray-a is the spoken language of the municipality. Kinaray-a came from the word "iraya", which refers to a group of people residing in the mountain areas of the province. Hiligaynon is spoken as a second language of the municipality.
Before the creation of San Jose de Buenavista into what it is today, it had three neighboring pueblos, Guintas, Antike and San Pedro. These pueblos, each under the Presidente Municipal, served for one year as follows:
1901–1902
Ceriaco Erena
San Jose de Buenavista
1901–1902
Ramon Javier
Antike
1901–1902
Nemesio Tinga
Guintas
1901–1902
Emigdio Moscoso
San Pedro
1902–1903
Anselmo Alicante
San Jose de Buenavista
1902–1903
Feliciano Mijillano
Antike
1902–1903
Apolonio Magbanua
Guintas
1902–1903
Agapito Capistrano
San Pedro
When the pueblos were organized into one pueblo, San Jose de Buenavista, the following served as Presidente Municipal:
1904–1905
Martin Iglesias
1905–1908
Mariano Autajay
1908–1910
Jacinto Peña
1910–1912
Sixto Quilino
1918–1922
Vicente Javier
1919–1922
Antonio Ricarze
He died in office, January 1922 and Jose Iglesias served the unexpired term for the whole year.
1922–1928
Gregorio Esclavilla
1928–1934
Alberto Villavert
1934–1937
Antonio delos Reyes
1938–1951
Silverio Nietes
1952–1954
Julian Pacificador
In 1954, the title, Presidente Municipal, was changed to Municipal Mayor. When Hamtic was separated from San Jose de Buenavista in 1954, Municipal Mayor Julian Pacificador was transferred to Hamtic and Vice Mayor Delfin Encarnacion took over as Municipal Mayor of San Jose.[24]
1954-1956
Delfin Encarnacion
1956–1963
Severa Panaguiton-Banusing
Still the first and only female mayor of San Jose de Buenavista
1964–1967
Agerico Villavert
1968–May 7, 1986
Oscar Salazar
May 8, 1986, to December 1987
Efren G. Esclavilla
1987
Condrado V. Petinglay, Jr.
Officer-in-Charge
1988-1998
Efren G. Esclavilla
1998-2007
Fernando Corvera
2007-2016
Rony Lavega Molina
2016–Present
Elmer C Untaran
Tourism
Since 1971, San Jose de Buenavista celebrates the Binirayan Festival during the final week of December. This festival involves a theatrical presentation commemorating founding of the first Malayan settlement or barangay in the country. San Jose celebrates its religious fiesta on May 1 to honor its patron saint, Saint Joseph the Worker.
Evelio Javier Freedom Park is located in front of the Antique Provincial Capitol building in San Jose de Buenavista. It is named for the late Governor Evelio Javier, who was shot by an unknown assassin on February 11, 1986. A marker in the park denotes the exact place of his death.
Old and new buildings dot the town: the Old Capitol Building; Evelio B. Javier Memorabilia (New Capitol); ADF Handicrafts; Azurin Mansion and Piedra's Restaurant; La Granja and Binirayan Hills; and the San Pedro Old Church.
John Iremil Teodoro - Filipino writer, university professor and freelance journalist. He is also a multi-awarded poet and playwright, one of the country's leading pioneers in gay literature and the most published author in Kinaray-a to date.
Alex C. Delos Santos - a Karay-a writer and theater artist based in San Jose, Antique, the Philippines. His research and writing interests are in culture and arts and gay literature.
Richard Yee - Filipino professional basketball player who last played for the Barako Bull Energy Boosters in the Philippine Basketball Association.
Alberto A. Villavert - Filipino Politician who led the Philippine Province of Antique between 1937 and 1946 both as an appointed and elected Governor.
Sunshine Teodoro[25] - Filipina Actress known for her work on Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story (2011), Feng Shui 2 (2014), Social Virus (2014) and Oro(2016)
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