Discover Carles

           

Carles, one of the towns of the province of Iloilo, is located at the heart of the Philippine Archipelago. It is situated at the Northeastern tip of Panay Island.

            It lies 141 kilometers North of the City of Iloilo or about 293 statute miles south of Manila. Carles is composed of 33 barangays, and 15 of which are found in the mainland and 18 in the islands and islets.  

Before the middle of the 19^th century, while Iloilo southern towns were already sprawling communities, the municipality of Carles was only yet in the state of wilderness of jungle and virgin forest.

          Toward 1850s, the fringes and off shores of Punta Bulakawe and neighboring islands are frequently visited for seasonal fishing activities, refuge and sanctuary from bad weather and from the depredation of Muslim Piracy. Later a few family of those fishermen, hunters, and stranded traders from shipwrecks established scattered casual settlement along the sandy shores until Francisco Arriola arrived and founded Barrio settlement of Bulakawe. The settlement flourished on Ibabaw plateau just 300 meters north of the present Carles, Poblacion.

          On October 15, 1847, a year after Francisco Arriola had organized the barrio, settlers celebrated thanksgiving for the first year anniversary of their arrival in the shore of Punta Bulakawe.

Arriola transferred Barrio Bulakawe to the flat lowland adjacent and below the Ibabaw plateau on 1856. The name of Barrio Bulakawe was changed to Badiang in view of the fact that badiang plants were abundant in the vicinity of the new site.

Soon the Barrio of Bancal, Dayhagan, Tarong, Cabilao, Cawayan, Tupaz, Kobay, Binuluangan, Granada, San Fernando, Tinigban, and Bitoon were settled one after another succeeding waves of settlers arriving from other towns and province of Panay Island.

Arriola went to Capiz to petition the provincial government to change the barrio of Badiang to a municipality or a pueblo. The Capiz Military Governor consider Badiang as incapable to become a pueblo, he instantly turned down the petition.

Out of their disgust, the Badiang petitioners traveled to Iloilo City. Their petition was studied and approved by Governor Jose Maria Carles including their appeal to turn the barrio Badiang to a pueblo.

In gratitude to Governor Carles the Badiang petitioners again appealed to change the name of Badiang to Carles in honor of the Spanish Governor Jose Maria Carles. The approval of the new name was followed by the inauguration as new pueblo on July 1, 1862 with Alejandro Buaya as the 1^st Gobernadorcillo del Pueblo de Carles which included for its extended jurisdiction over Balasan, Estancia and Batad.