We are the proud people of Maripipi who had traveled a long way from home and now seek to find a place to lodge our personal viewpoints and stance born out of our being a Maripipianon. We have traveled places but still this flame in us, founded from the very culture of our very own island home, Maripipi, Biliran, continues to persist, allowing us to constantly look back and remember Maripipi as the very place that honed us into becoming who we are. Being world travelers don’t in anyway allow us to forget who we were once, in us we carry in out hearts the values, the traditions, the ideals, the principles and the dreams that our home had inculcated in us. And this site will become a melting pot for all these, so that together, we will show the rest of the world how Maripipi had mold us into individuals with great potentials and talents that our own home will always be proud to tell generations after generations.
The Reason Behind
This website is aimed at gathering all the people of Maripipi all over the world so they can share their experiences, learnings, insights, stories, current mindsets and day-to-day living despite the distance that separates us all. This website seeks to become a beckon of light in the big impersonal world that most Maripipianon can turn to when this world becomes engulfing at times. This site is also aimed at showcasing the sights, sounds, culture of Maripipi as seen through its people’s eyes. It aims to become a portal for all people, Maripipi native or not, to learn the magnificent place that Biliran Island is fortunate to have. Simply put, this site hopes to converge all Maripipi people into one colorful website full of stories and tales for everyone, all around the world, to personally view and experience.
The People We Wish to Have Here
Merely starting or owning this website does not make us great storytellers of the beauty and wonders of our place Maripipi. We need to have other Maripipi people here — people who are willing to share and tell us their side of the story. We need to have those people who would be glad to tell us the things that some of us don’t know yet from that far side of the globe – things that made out of their being a proud Maripipi native. The “whats” and the “hows” of their lives currently, that are stemming from the very own culture, values and ideals that Maripipi had instilled in them. We wish to get people who will be willing to link their lives with ours through this website despite the very impersonal distance and mode of communication to prove. And, once and for, proving to all that in our hearts and in our minds we are just one group of people happy to be living in far distances yet coming from one, sole home, we call Maripipi.
History of Maripipi, Biliran
Maripipi is one of the eight towns of Biliran Province. It is an island municipality located in the northernmost part of the province. It was named after Maria and Pepe who was believed to be the first settlers of the island municipality. They were followed by the people of Samar, Masbate and other neighboring provinces.
The birth of this barrio dates back to the year 1765. This barrio was previously called Isla de Rosa. In previous years the houses in the barrio was razed by fire in such a way that all residents left the place. Only after five years had passed that a group of settlers returned and settled in the said island once again. It is also known that in 1768, the Moros that holed-in on the sitio called Guijom, of the Province of Masbate, conducts a once a week raid of Maripipi.
Being an island municipality, it has been a constant prey to roving pirates and bandits. Its existence dates back during the Spanish regime in the Philippines. Leaders consisted of capitanes, presidents, alcaldes and mayors. They assumed their office either by election or appointment.
Being full of depredations caused by the ravages of the Moros, the people agreed to wage war against the enemies. In Sitio Awang, the inhabitants dug up a hole nine feet deep and covered it with bamboo leaves as a camouflage for the purpose of capturing the invading Moros. They were able to kill Moros and the rest ran away after the bloody fight staged by the inhabitants. In order that they may be forewarned from any further attacks, they built a bulwark to serve as a watchtower (Lantawan) in Barangay Ermita. This bulwark was guarded by warriors, among them were Capitanes.
The island was enclosed in rough terrain. Its shores are likewise, but short especially from the east and Northeast. The principal mountain of this island is called Ellihan. A seawall was contructed in Barangay Binung-toan using powdered shells and wood mixed with other ingredients.
Way back in 1860, Maripipi was a town located at Barangay Danao up to 1870. In 1871, it was transferred to Daang Bungto, two kilometers from the seashore. This is located at Mount Borobatidor, present weathervane of the municipality.The town was established at this site to safeguard the populace from the fierce Moros at the time, who looted houses near the shores and captured women and children either for wives or for slavery.
With the coming of the Americans, and Spaniards losing of the island, Maripipi was fused to Almeria and Kawayan with the former being the seat of the Municipal Government. Later a civil government was organized by the American colonizers. The seat of government was transferred to Kawayan Biliran which is geographically nearer to Maripipi and Almeria. Maripipi and Almeria then became a barrio of Kawayan.
In 1915, with the people’s clamor for the Philippine self-government, Maripipi became an independent town, and Mr. VICTORIANO SALAS was the first appointed Municipal President.
On May 11, 1992, through a Plebiscite with major votes, Biliran became a full pledged Province separated from the mainland of Leyte Province and Maripipi is now a part of the Province of Biliran.