User:Wesleyte

Tugbong

A barrio in the municipality of Kananga, Leyte, Philippines. It has population of 2780. Its about 2.3 kilometers from the municipality of Kananga through the Escalo Rd and 1.5 kilometers from Libongao through AbeAbe Rd. Barrio Tugbong was once the choice to become a municipality. It had a larger commerce than barrio Kananga before the WW11 mostly due to the chinese merchants that settled in the area bringing together their goods from Tacloban, Palompon and Ormoc. After the war, Kananga was chosen since it had a higher traffic between Tacloban and Ormoc. In the early 1920s, Barrio Tugbong was mostly owned by Gomercendo and Filomina AbeAbe-Escalo. Having bought and owned large parcels of land, theys settled in the area and built their "mini White House". The war relic of this mansion is survived today by its remaining concrete stairs. The Escalos turned most of the whole barrio into their abaca and cacao plantation- a fraction of the massive lands that they acquired into the sorrounding hills. When the provincial road was constructed, in the 30s, the road went through their property and thus the Escalo's benefited by the access to transportation and the influx of the merchants and the area being the crossroads to the three growing town and cities with seaports (Palompon, Ormoc and Tacloban). When population grew, there was a need for a school, chapel and recreation areas, the Escalos responded by allowing their properties to be used for community needs. Area for the community chapel, playgrounds were provided. Many of the population worked in the Escalo farms. When a teacher from Philippine Normal School was assigned to the barrio to set up the school, The Escalos responded by allowing the use of their property along the provincial road a school site which has been used since then. The Escalo family was always the icon of the barrio and many of the early politicians and merchants from the sorrounding areas to Palompon,Tacloban and Ormoc. Nowadays, Tugbong has new and progressive families and survived by a generation distanced from the past. It is now enjoying the 21st century conveniences of electricity, Television, Cellphones and Internet. The schools has been upgraded to a district school subudinating other schools from the sorrounding barrios with much more upgrading buildings and playgrounds. It also boast a barangay hall, and a game plaza for its population