History
It has been said that he who controls the past, controls the future. The historical events of the town shaped the present state of its development.
How Agoncillo got its name
The town of Agoncillo was originally a part of Lemery, Batangas.
In 1935, civic leader Hon. Jacinto M. Mendoza sought the help of two Lemery Municipal Councilors namely; Vicente Maligalig and Hon. Graciano Alcantara to work on infrastructure problems, especially roads, bridges, and the construction of schools in his part of town.
Due to his undying persistence, Hon. Mendoza, along with the two Councilors, managed an Executive Committee to pass a resolution on September 10, 1936 to the Provincial Board to separate 11 barangays from Lemery to form a new municipal government where better attention to the basic needs of its residents could be efficiently and effectively met. Among those to part were the barrios of Balangon, Coral na Munti, Bangin, Pansipit, Pook, Pamiga, Guitna, Panghulan, Subic, Bilibinwang, and Banyaga. This was endorsed to the Secretary of the Interior for comments and recommendations.
On May 12, 1948, by virtue of Executive Order No.140, President Elpidio Quirino created the Municipality of Pansipit effective July 1 of the same year. However, before it could take effect, the Municipal Council of Lemery passed Resolution No.19 dated June 10, 1948, requesting President Quirino to revoke his EO due to alleged economic, political, and financial reasons. This move proved to be very valuable as EO 140 was suspended on July 2, 1948. It was believed that the residents themselves were against the separation and creation of a new municipality.
Four days after, on July 6, 1948, EO 148 was endorsed for the holding of a plebiscite involving the 11 barangays. This transpired on August 22, 1948, and the result; 1,479 were in favor while 2 said otherwise. With this, the Municipality of Pansipit was formally created. On April 7, 1949, the name was changed to the Municipality of Agoncillo in homage to the late Don Felipe Agoncillo who was the first Filipino representative to the Spanish Cortes and the lawyer-representative to the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Paris that ended the Spanish-American War. He was also known as the “Outstanding First Filipino Diplomat”,
As years passed, the 11 original barangays of Agoncillo become 21 barangays.
History of Agoncillo
The Spanish Period
During this era, Agoncillo is one of the least villages of Taal, Batangas. The population is very low and no significant development was recorded, since during that time development was focused on the Municipality of Taal.
The American Period
During this period, Agoncillo became one of the barrios (barrio Pansipit) of Lemery, Batangas and that time development was focused on the Municipality of Lemery, thus are no significant records of this period.
The Japanese Occupation
All over the country, the Japanese period was the days of disorder, fear, and desolation. Shortage of food, limited infrastructure, limited medical services, and limited educational services was rampant in the whole country. The Philippines was run by a “puppet” government as it was being governed by the watchful eyes of the Japanese imperial army. The re-establishment of the Philippine Commonwealth by the American Liberation Forces in 1945 gave people new hope, especially in barrio Pansipit.
The Third Republic
During this period, people in the Municipality of Lemery including constituents in barrio Pansipit ( that become Municipality of Pansipit and later became Municipality of Agoncillo in honor to Don Felipe Agoncillo) gave their hope to the new form of government. However, due to the effect of war, there was an extensive problem in infrastructure especially roads, bridges, and the construction of schools alongside the problem of pestilence and starvation.
Due to this situation, to enable to resolve the existing problem of Municipality of Lemery, Hon. Mendoza along with the two councilors managed an Executive Committee to pass a resolution to the Provincial Board to separate 11 barangays from Lemery to form a new municipal government where better attention to the basic needs of its residents could be efficiently and effectively met.