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History
According to folktale, Escalante was originally known as "Manlambus",
a Visayan termmeaning "to strike with a club" because its
coastal waters were then teeming with fishes that catching them could
be done simply by clubbing. It was first inhabited by the Negritoes
or Aetas, who were eventually pushed back to the mountains as the
plains were gradually occupied by people of Malayan stock. It was
this group of people who were already occupying the area when Magellan
waded through the shores of Mactan to fight a doomed battle with Lapulapu.
Virtually nothing is known of Escalante during the pre-Hispanic era.
But archaeological
findings in 1975 prove that this part of the island now known as Escalante
was inhabited by settlers with a relatively developed culture who
were engaged in some form of trade and commerce with the outside world,
such as the Chinese traders who could have brought the jarlet, stonewares
and celadon pieces during the Ages of Contacts and Trade with the
East (11th & 12th centuries A.D.)
On
November 28, 1856, Governor-General Manuel Crespo issued a decree
creating the Municipality of Escalante and Saravia. The decree ordered
"that the two towns in question would be separated immediately
from their mother town, Silay".
Two
(2) years after the liberation, Escalante was divided into two (2)
municipalities. President Elpidio Quirino issued Executive Order
141 dated May 19, 1948 "Organizing certain barrios of the Municipality
of Escalante, Province of Negros Occidental, into an independent
municipality under the name Toboso," to take effect July 1,
1948. Victor Bedonia who was then the incumbent mayor of Escalante
opted to become the first mayor of the newly created town of Toboso.
The seat of government was later transferred from Brgy. Old Poblacion
to its present site at Brgy. Balintawak, by virtue of Executive
Order No. 301 issued by President Carlos P. Garcia on May 30, 1958.
It was only after 143 years of existence as a municipality that
Escalante became qualified
to become a city. On July 24, 1998, the Sangguniang Bayan of Escalante
passed Resolution No. 98-79 "requesting the Honorable Congressman
Julio A. Ledesma IV of the 1st District of Negros Occidental to
file a bill in Congress creating / converting the Municipality of
Escalante into a new City of Escalante." Six days later, Congressman
Ledesma filed House Bill No. 1514 "An act converting the Municipality
of Escalante into a component city to be known as the City of Escalante."
In spite of a moratorium on the creation of cities imposed by the
Malacañang in 1999. Congress went ahead with its enactment.
After conducting a public hearing right here in the town on November
27, 1999, Congress passed the substitute bill, House Bill No. 8882,
on second reading on December 9, 1999. More than a week later, it
passed the bill on third and final reading.
A similar
bill, Senate Bill No. 1786, was filed by Sen. Serge Osmeña
III in the House of Senate on October 22, 1999. Senate Bill No.
2245 (in substitution of Senate Bill No. 1786) was passed on third
and final reading on February 8, 2001, the last session of the 11th
Congress.
Both
bills became Republic Act No. 9014, "An act converting the
Municipality of Escalante, Province of Negros Occidental into a
component city to be known as the City of Escalante." It was
signed into law on February 28, 2001 by President Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo, and was ratified in a plebiscite held on March 31, 2001.
Of 14,723 who actually voted, 14,075 voted "YES" and only
648 voted "NO".
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