Early history

At around 1212, the site of modern-day Dingle was under the jurisdiction of Simsiman. The area was first inhabited by the Ati or Panay Negritos with Datu Pulpulan as chief. Under Datu Marikudo, son of Pulpulan, Simsiman remained as the seat of government of the Ati polity. The settlement was eventually called Sumandig after a datu whose domain covered the areas along Mount Putian from current-day barangay Lincud in the north to Suague river in the south and from the creek up to present-day barangay Alegria in the west.

Spanish colonial era

In 1586, Datu Disayaran, chief of the Suaga (Siwaragan) settlement, and his son Datu Bantugan, led the serious aborted revolt against the Spaniards in Dingle, known at this point as Baong, by the descendants of the settlers from Borneo, the native priests called maaram, and the marauding Ati who refused conversion to the Catholic faith.^[5]

The Augustinian priest Fray Francisco Manuel Blanco found Baong as a visita of Pototan in 1593 until it became a pueblo on April 23, 1611.

In 1614, a Dutch fleet of 10 galleons under the command of Joris van Spilbergen were seen in Iloilo waters. Fray Diego de Oseguera, parish priest of Baong, and Fray Juan de Lecea, the Augustinian prior of Ogtong, came with supplies and did much to placate the people of Baong who were completely restless after seeing how little the Spaniards could do against the Dutch. 300 native allies who joined the Spaniards have been cornered and were unable to go anywhere because the natives were also at war. Through the intervention of the friars, the townspeople were led back to the pueblo after they have hunkered down from the mountains while soldiers were dying from lack of food after all the rice and every supply in the convent have been consumed. Fray Francisco Encinas of the Society of Jesus also came to hide in the convent of Baong.

In 1629, the pueblo was nearly depopulated because of the incursion of the Ati who destroyed farms and killed most of the settlement's population. Only about 600 of the inhabitants survived. During the same year, Dingle was made a mere visita of Dumangas. In 1634, Fray Alonso de Méntrida managed to secure a seemingly independent existence for the settlement but in 1641, it was annexed as a visita to Laglag, present-day Dueñas, when it was again depopulated.

Petition of Don Juan Marcelino Dayot dated March 8, 1820 to Iloilo alcalde mayor Miguel Calderón for the elevation of the visita of Dingle into a pueblo, as supported by the 31 cabezas de barangay of Dingle and the endorsement of Fray Juan Raile, parish priest of Laglag.

On March 8, 1820, with the support of 31 cabezas de barangay of the principalía or the descendants of the pre-colonial datus of Dingle and certification of Fray Juan Raile, parish priest of Laglag, a petition for the re-elevation of Dingle into a pueblo was filed to Miguel Calderón, alcalde mayor of Iloilo, through the leadership of the teniente mayor of Laglag, Don Juan Marcelino Dayot (Dingle gobernadorcillo, 1829–1835).^[6] On April 28, 1823, Dingle was thus re-elevated into a pueblo after 12 years under Dumangas and 182 years under Laglag.^[6] Its first gobernadorcillo in 194 years was Don Julio Dator (1823–1827). Two of the more notable gobernadorcillos of Dingle who sold some of their vast landholdings to pay for the tributes of their constituents were Don Magdaleno Muyco (1835–1843, 1851–1853) and Don Luís Cantalicio Dayot (1853–1861, 1869–1873), respectively better known to the Dingleanons as Tan Mano and Tan Cantaling. On August 16, 1850, by order of governor-general Urbiztondo, Dingle became an independent parish. In 1865, Fray Fernando Llorente ordered the construction of the current structure of the Parish Church of St. John the Baptist which was completed in 1886.

On November 21, 1849, governor-general Clavería issued a decree requiring Filipinos to adopt Spanish and indigenous names from the Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos for civil and legal purposes. Surnames starting with the letter "D" were distributed to Dingle.

During the second phase of the Philippine Revolution against Spain during the Spanish–American War, Dingle staged the first armed uprising in the province of Iloilo and in the island of Panay. Now known as the "Cry of Lincud", the revolt occurred in Barrio Lincud on October 28, 1898. The leaders of the victorious uprising were Gen. Adriano Hernández y Dayot, Gen. Julio Hernández y Dayot, Maj. Estefano Muyco y Dayot, Maj. Nicolás Roces, and Lt. Col. Francisco Jalandoni.^[7] Today, the event is commemorated as a special non-working holiday.^[8][9]

American occupation

In 1903, by virtue of Act No. 719, an Act reducing the fifty-one municipalities of the province of Iloilo to seventeen, Dingle was annexed to Pototan, Iloilo under the Americans, the latter being larger and more prosperous.^[10] Nonetheless, through the efforts of then Iloilo 4th District Assemblyman Adriano D. Hernández, the separation of the town from Pototan was given impetus in 1907.^[11]

Japanese occupation

Immediately after war was declared, a squadron of Japanese planes flew over Dingle on its way to bomb Iloilo City. The townspeople went out of their houses into the streets and looked at the passing formation quite indifferent and unconcerned, unaware that war was going on. Only when a lone straggler, on its way from the bombing mission overflew the town at a very low altitude and directed bursts of machine gun fire against the citizen army training center, now camp Adriano D. Hernandez, did the townspeople seek some sort of shelter.

Residents from the poblacion of Dingle left their homes and sought refuge in the town's far-flung barrios and mountainsides. They were joined by many others from Iloilo City and its adjoining towns, including Dingleanons who have been residing from other provinces. Among the more prominent who took shelter in Dingle were the families of post-war Iloilo governor Mariano Peñaflorida and post-war Iloilo 4th District Assemblyman Ceferino de los Santos of Pototan, and the brothers Eugenio and Fernando Lopez of Jaro, Iloilo. Peñaflorida stayed at Barrio Caguyuman at the foot of Mount Bulabog while the latter three sought refuge at Mount Dumingding. Thatched makeshift shelters and lean-tos blossomed overnight on the town's foothills and mountainsides. Many barrio residents shared their homes with the evacuees.

In Iloilo, the civil resistance government, with headquarters at Barrio Moroboro, Dingle, was headed by Tomás Confesor as wartime governor of free Panay and Romblon with former Dingle municipal president Luís R. Dayot as assistant.^[12] Former Dingle mayor Cristino Abelardo Muyco Aportadera was deputy governor. Notably, Luís R. Dayot donated seven hectares of grassland to Camp Hernandez several years before World War II.^[12] In 1942, José Dacudao was designated by the Japanese as puppet mayor while Julio Dayot Muyco and Numeriano Dayot Dator continued to act respectively as municipal mayor and vice-mayor of the civil resistance government at Barrio Moroboro. Many Dingleanons were employed as clerks and aides, and as provincial guards. José Dacudao felt the futility of his efforts in complying with unreasonable Japanese demands and in helping the Dingleanons against Japanese cruelties and atrocities that he left the puppet mayorship. His wife, Remedios Dacudao, assumed the post from 1943-1945. It was during her tenure as puppet mayor when fourteen Dingleanons were executed by the Japanese. She was, however, able to offer some measure of help by persuading the Japanese to leave without added civilian casualties.

Among the Dingleanons who took a more active part in the military operations of the guerilla movement were Lt. Raymundo Muyco Espino and his elder brother, Lt. Alfonso Muyco Espino. Brig. Gen. Alfredo D. Dayot and Brig. Gen. Noé D. Dayot, survivors of the 1942 Bataan Death March, joined the former after they were released as prisoners of war in Capas, Tarlac. On the other hand, Gen. Vivencio D. Dayot, the first Filipino radar expert, was sent to the United States to avoid his capture by the Japanese forces as his contribution to the development of radar was vital to the needs of the Imperial Japanese Army. Others with similar notable exploits were Lt. Mateo Luto, Capt. Fulgencio Dairo, and Maj. Abelardo Muyco. These men, together with many other Dingleanons involved in the guerilla movement, took part in ambushes against enemy patrol and reconnaissance forces.

Recent history

In 1954, the sitio of Nazuni was converted into a barrio and was added as a barangay of Dingle.^[13]

Climate

Barangays

Dingle is politically subdivided into 33 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Private Schools

• Mater Carmeli School – Dingle
• Goodnews Learning Center Inc.
• Dingle Family Farm School

Tertiary

• Iloilo State University of Fisheries Science and Technology – Dingle Campus

Secondary

• Calicuang National HS
• Dingle National HS
• Rufino G. Palabrica Sr. National HS
• Tabugon National HS
• Nazuni Summit Comprehensive National HS

Primary

Power

The Panay Diesel Power Plant located at Tinocuan and Tabugon, Dingle provides 110 megawatts of electricity to Panay. The power plant is operated by the National Power Corporation.

Water

Two natural springs, the Lubong-Tubig and Talinab, serve as water source for the Dingle-Pototan Water District. While the Jalaur Irrigation Dam, also known as Moroboro Dam, built in 1955, provides irrigation to the agricultural lands of Dingle and nearby towns.

Bulabog Putian National Park

Bulabog Putian is the only limestone rock formation on Panay. It was designated a National Park through Congressional Bill No. 1651, and such is considered a "nationally significant area." It occupies a land area of 834.033 hectares covering five of the 33 barangays of Dingle. The park contains 13 known caves namely: Lungib, Hapu-Hapo, Maarhong, Guiso, Maestranza, Linganero, Lapuz Lapuz, Ticondal, Butac, Tuco, San Roque, Pitong Liko, and Nautod. The Maestranza Cave is historically important as it served as a hide-out of the revolutionary forces during the Spanish colonial period and on its stone walls are inscriptions of revolutionary troops.

Mt. Manyakiya

Mount Manyakiya is a natural viewing deck that provides a panoramic view of Negros Island as well as the low lying towns of the province of Iloilo. Nautod Wall, one of the major rock-climbing destination in the Philippines, can be found here.

Water

• Lake Bito
• Jalaur River
• Lubong-Tubig Spring
• Talinab Spring

Historical

• Memorial to the Cry of Lincud Heroes
• Adriano Dayot Hernández bronze monument
• Dingle Parish Church – Finished in 1886, this church, a fine example of Filipino baroque adaptation, is made of limestones from Bulabog Mountain, painstakingly carried by the early parishioners through narrow, steep, and dangerous trails to the present site.

Other landmarks

• The Hanging Bridge is a ruined post-WWII bridge that traverses the Jalaur River.
• Camp Pasica is a 13-hectare Girl Scout Camp.
• Camp Hernandez is a 37-hectare military training camp of the Armed Forces of the Philippines named in honor of the revolutionary hero, Gen. Adriano D. Hernández.
• Jalaur Irrigation Dam
• Museo de Dingle
• Welcome Sign

Festivals

The Dingle Town Fiesta is celebrated every 24th day of June in honor of its patron saint, John the Baptist.

The Pagdihon Festival is a celebration in commemoration of the Cry of Lincud, the first revolt against the Spaniards in Panay. It is held every 4th week of October.

List of local chief executives