The first Spaniards who came to this place were the friars who established the first Spanish settlement in the area and began to Christianize the local population. The Spaniards, having difficulty in pronouncing the "G" consonant, called this place "Mabitac" whenever they mentioned this place. Eventually, the name found its way in the official records and maps of Laguna made by Spanish cartographers and mariners who chartered the coastal areas of Laguna de Bay. This town was formerly a barrio of
Siniloan, an immediate neighboring town. It became an independent municipality in 1611, not by legislation, but by mutual agreement between the Spanish friars of both towns who were then the influential ruling class. The 1818 Spanish census recorded the area having 525 native families and three Spanish-Filipino families. Mabitac was the site of a
battle in the
Philippine–American War, when on September 17, 1900, Filipinos under General
Juan Cailles defeated an American force commanded by Colonel
Benjamin F. Cheatham.
World War II and Japanese occupation In 1942, Japanese soldiers entered and occupied Mabitac. In 1945, the Philippine guerrillas defeated the Japanese and liberated Mabitac. ==Geography==