THE MUNICIPALITY OF CONSOLACION

Consolacion, (colloquially 'Lacion), is a first class municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. Consolacion is part of a metropolitan area informally called as Metro Cebu.

 

 HISTORY OF CONSOLACION

The town of Consolacion was first founded in the year 1871 with a population of 14,248 under the leadership of Juan Villamor. Before this, it was only a barrio of the municipality of Mandaue. Its people had to go to Mandaue to pay their taxes. They were required to render free labor to build the church of Mandaue every Sunday as well as all other  religious barangays. In view all of these, Juan Villamor, their leader, petitioned the Spanish governor of Cebu to convert the barrio into a town or “pueblo”. Soon their request was granted,thus a new town formed with its first captain, Juan Villamr. The name chosen for the new town  was “Consolacion” in honor of the governor’s daughter named Consolacion. This was done as an act of gratitude to the governor for granting their petition. The site plotted for the poblacion was Garing because most of the influential names were from this place, but Agustin Palang and Cabeza Gregorio Besabella (Visabella) who were both from Tugbungan suggested that their place was more preferable as it is located near the seashore, thus more accessible in terms of  sea and land transportation. Still others wanted it to be in Tayud. Finally, through a compromise, it was decided to choose the very place where it is now located, which lies 13 km from the capital of the province.

 The first municipal building was then constructed in 1871. It was made up of nipa and bamboo, which was erected on a lot donated by Andres Hatamosa. The followingyear in 1872, the first parish church was also built, with similar materials. It was made out of free labor and financial contributions of some religious people of the town. The choice San Narciso as the Patron Saint of the town was made in honor of the governor’s wife whose name was Narcisa. This again was a gesture of gratitude to the creation of the new town. Unfortunately both the church and the municipal building were blown down by a strong typhoon, which occurred way back in 1888.During the year 1902 up to 1904, it was observed that the town of Consolacion could not continue to maintain itself as an independent community because of insufficient revenues, thus it was returned back as part of the municipality of Mandaue.

In 1919, under the leadership of Felipe Hatamosa, a petition was again submitted to Gov. Manuel Roa requesting for the restoration of Consolacion as a municipality. After due consideration, the petition was again granted and Consolacion once again became an independent municipality in 1920.A second municipal building was again constructed, but the retreating Japanese army destroyed it in 1943.

After the war, the second parish church was built on a new site donated by Felipe Hatamosa and financed by Dona Sergia Valle which cost P10,000 by then. On the upper portion, adjacent to the same site, the third municipal building was built through the effort of Mayor Primo Zabala in 1953. The municipal hall stands on an elevated place overlooking the national highway. Since 1970 to ate, it has been renovated, expanded and modernized. Very soon, the municipal office will be transferred to the new government center in Laray Cansaga Bay, Consolacion.