Iba, Zambales History

History
 
Iba was founded by the order of Augustinian Recollect priest in 1611 as the village
of Paynauen. The early inhabitants of the town are called Zambales. They were
later joined by the Ilocanos who migrated to the town which resulted in
intermingling of customs and traditions. The Aeta people settled in the hinterlands
and the majority of them dwelled in the Mount Pinatubo area. In 1860, the
administration of the town was turned over to the Dominican priests until the civil
government came to power. There are no available records as to when Paynauen was
renamed to Iba.The municipality was named after the sour fruit "Iba", commonly known as kamias.

The permanent capital of Zambales was moved from Masinloc to Iba because of its
strategic location being on the central part of Zambales. On August 28, 1901,
American Civil Governor William Howard Taft held the historic session of the second
Philippine Commission establishing the Province of Zambales under the American rule
held at Roman Catholic Church of Iba.

Geography

The municipality of Iba is bounded by the municipalities of Botolan to the south,
Palauig to the north, the province of Tarlac to the east, and the South China Sea to
the west. Like most of the municipalities in the province, Iba is geographically
bound by the coast in the west with the Zambales Mountains in the eastern portion of
the municipality. Iba is about 200 kilometres (120 mi) north-west of Manila.

Religion
 
The majority of the people in Iba, Zambales are Roman Catholics. The largest
minority religion is Iglesia Ni Cristo followed by various Protestant denominations.

Ecclesiastical District

The seat of the Ecclesiastical District of Zambales North of the Iglesia Ni Cristo
is located in Iba. The INC district administration and district office oversees
several locales and extensions from different municipalities in the northern part of
Zambales province.

Diocese of Iba

The Cathedral of Iba, also known as the Cathedral of Saint Augustine, is the seat of
the Roman Catholic Diocese of Iba. The church of the diocese is a 17th-century
Baroque church built by the Augustinian Recollects. It is located adjacent to the
Provincial Capitol Building. The current bishop of the diocese is Most Reverend
Florentino G. Lavarias, D.D..

Conversion to Cityhood

The League of Cities of the Philippines has the expanding disagreement in opinion
against the conversion of sixteen municipalities into constituent cities. The LCP
had tried to influence President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to certify as call for
immediate attention a draft of a law imposing a suspension on the conversion of
additional towns into cities.

Local Government Code states that before a town could be classified as a city, it
must have an annual income of at least Php100 million and a land area of at minimum
100 square kilometres (39 square miles) or a population of 150,000.

Senator Angara advocates House Bill 24 filed by Zamboanga Sibugay Representative ANN
Hofer giving automatic cityhood to capitals of provinces without cities by freeing
the capital towns of provinces from the income needs of the cityhood.

Tourism

Tourism is one of the major economic activity in Iba during the summer period. It
has become a popular destination for summer vacationists and tourists due to the
pristine and beautiful beaches that line the shorelines of Iba, and adventure
trekking to the unique 3-series of Iba waterfalls. Its pollution-free beaches due to
the absence of industrial-polluting activities in the locality, make it one of the
best places in the Philippines.
In response to the growing number of both local and foreign visitors, investments in
beach resorts have increased in the last fifteen years. Today there are about 50
beach resorts in Iba.

Festivals

Zambales Mango Festival
The festival is a celebration of a bountiful harvest of mangoes and other
agricultural products which the province is known for. It is also aimed to highlight
the attractions and places of interest in all of its towns. As a way of promoting
and giving thanks for a good harvest, the people of Zambales annually celebrate the
six-day Mango Festival in March or April in Iba.

Paynauen Festival
A summer festival in Iba featuring local traditional arts and culture first
celebrated in the 1980s, Paynauen Festival (also spelled as Paynawen) has become a
yearly tradition and a tourist attraction lasting for about seven days. Paynauen's
festivities include street dancing, singing competition, boxing events, sports
events, sand castle building, carabao race, kite flying contests, Miss Paynauen
competition, cooking contest, barangay booth displays, products display and sales,
ballroom dancing, traditional parade, concerts and many others.

The festival is held late April, during the summer season where thousands of
visitors flock to Iba for beach activities. Led by the Iba Tourism Council, Paynauen
is supported by the local government, different civic organizations, volunteers and
the private business sector.