, where the earliest known warp
ikat textile in
Southeast Asia was found in 1936
Early history Romblon's aboriginal inhabitants were the
Negritos from
Panay and
Mangyans from
Mindoro, who settled in the islands during the precolonial period. Ancient wooden coffins discovered in the Guyangan Cave System of
Banton Island in 1936 signify a rich ancient civilization and culture in the province before the arrival of the Spaniards in 1569. These artifacts are currently on display at the National Museum in
Manila. Remnants of Negrito and Mangyan aborigines now live in the mountains of
Tablas and
Sibuyan after they were displaced by the influx of
Hiligaynon,
Aklanon,
Bicolano and
Tagalog migrants as early as 1870. Romblon was separated from the jurisdiction of Arevalo and annexed to
Capiz, when the province was created in 1716. During the 1818 census Romblon was recorded to have 1,511 native families and 15 Spanish-Filipino families. More than a century later in 1850, the inhabitants of the province began using Spanish family names after
governor-general Narciso Clavería decreed on 21 November 1849 the use of surnames from the
Catálogo alfabético de apellidos.
Asi-speaking natives were assigned the letter F, Romblomanon speakers were assigned the letter M, speakers of the Sibuyanon style of Romblomanon were assigned the letter R, while
Onhan-speaking natives were assigned the letter G. In 1853, the islands were organized into a politico-military
comandancia ("sub-province" in English) administered from Capiz and continued to be so until the end of the Spanish rule in 1898. As a sub-province, Romblon was under an army officer with the rank of captain. The town of Romblon was its capital and the other municipalities were Azagra, Badajos (now San Agustin), Banton, Cajidiocan, Corcuera, Looc, Magallanes (now Magdiwang), Odiongan, Despujols (now San Andres) and Santa Fe. The Katipunan general Mariano Riego de Dios and his forces liberated Romblon, while generals Ananias Diocno and Leandro Fullon proceeded to Panay. On 25 July the same year, Riego de Dios took the Romblon capital and captured Spanish officials. Four days later, the Spanish politico-military governor Don Carlos Mendoza formally signed the surrender of Romblon's district government, ending more than three hundred years of Spanish rule in the archipelagic province. Later, Don Wenceslao Molo, a local from Romblon town, was appointed governor and became responsible for the collection of a total amount of , Romblon's share to the war expenditures of the Revolutionary Government from 31 May 1898 to 28 February 1899. A local election was also held in Romblon town for its ministers of justice and barrio officials. However, Molo's term was a brief transition to another era as the Americans arrived in the province a few months later. when Act No. 2724 reestablished the province. Under Commonwealth Act No. 581, enacted without executive approval on 8 June 1940, the province was reorganized with four towns or municipalities, namely: Tablas (composed of
Odiongan,
Looc, and
Badajoz), Romblon (including the islands of Logbon, Cobrador and Alad),
Maghali (comprising
Banton,
Corcuera, and
Concepcion), and Sibuyan (composed of the towns of
Cajidiocan,
Magdiwang and
San Fernando).
Japanese occupation During
World War II, the
Japanese Imperial Forces established a garrison in Romblon on 21 March 1942 which they maintained until the end of the war. The islands became one of the centers of
resistance movement against the Japanese. The movement was led by the Free Panay Guerilla Forces composed of members from the 6th Military District under the direction of Col. Macario Peralta, Jr. One of the major naval engagements during the
Battle of Leyte Gulf, the
Battle of Sibuyan Sea, happened off the waters of Romblon on 23–24 October 1944 between Japanese
Admiral Kurita's fleet from
Singapore and
Admiral Halsey's carrier planes from the
US Third Fleet then stationed east of the Philippines. Units from Company C of the 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division landed on Sawang, Romblon on the night of 11 March 1945. By 18 March, the province was liberated from Japanese forces.
Postwar era On July 4, 1946, the United States relinquished sovereignty over the Philippines and recognized the Republic of the Philippines as a sovereign and independent nation with the signing of the
Treaty of General Relations and Protocol by representatives of the United States and Republic of the Philippines. On 1 October 1946, Congress passed Republic Act No. 38, sponsored by Cong. Modesto Formilleza, which abolished the four special municipalities and restored Romblon and its municipalities to its pre-war status. In the decades that followed, the province saw the creation of new municipalities, such as Alcantara (1961) from Looc, Calatrava (1969) from San Agustin, Ferrol (1978) from Odiongan, and Santa Maria (1984) from San Agustin. During his
bid to be the first Philippine president to be re-elected for a second term, Ferdinand Marcos launched an unprecedented number of foreign debt-funded public works projects. This caused the Philippine economy to take a sudden downwards turn known as the
1969 Philippine balance of payments crisis, which led to a period of economic difficulty and a significant rise of social unrest. With only a year left in his last constitutionally allowed term as president, Ferdinand Marcos placed the Philippines under
Martial Law in September 1972 and thus retained the position for fourteen more years. This period in Philippine history is remembered for the Marcos administration's record of
human rights abuses, particularly targeting political opponents, student activists, journalists, religious workers, farmers, and others who fought against the Marcos dictatorship. The Marcos regime was able to solidify its hold on Romblon when its governor, who had earlier been part of the opposition, joined Marcos' KBL party. Romblon, which is historically and geographically part of the
Western Visayas Region, was made politically part of the
Southern Tagalog Region (Region IV) in the gerrymandering of the
Philippines by
Ferdinand Marcos on 1972. Marcos used the Armed forces as its main implementor of authoritarian rule, but the regime soon encouraged the creation of armed militias due to manpower limitations. These militias, broadly placed under the umbrella of the
Integrated Civilian Home Defense Forces (CHDF), soon became infamous for their human rights violations. In Romblon, one of the active paramilitary groups was a subunit of the paramilitary group which called itself "
The Lost Command." The coming of the Martial Law era is also notable because it saw the beginnings of the controversial mining operations on Romblon province's island of Sibuyan - it was then that the Marcos regime first gave Sta. Barbara Development Corporation (STABADECO) was first given a contract to conduct mining exploration on the island. By the time the May 1984 Batasang Pambansa Elections came along, Romblon was once again an opposition stronghold, with
UNIDO candidate Natalio Beltran Jr. winning its legislative seat. Romblon Provincial chair for Marcos'
KBL party, Nemesio Ganan Jr. had been threatening residents around Leaño's local voting not to vote against Marcos, and later abducted Pastor Leaño, who had volunteered to be a pollwatcher for the opposition
UNIDO party during the elections. Leaño was shot and buried a few kilometers away in
Looc, Romblon. Buried with his copy of the New Testament in his shirt pocket, his last words to a companion had been "
... Whatever happens to me, do not leave the ballot box, bring it to the town hall!” ==Geography==