page_title: Romblon, Romblon
section_title: Early history
hierarchical_section_title: Romblon, Romblon / History / Early history
caption_attribution_description: English: Fort San Andres is a 17th century Spanish colonial fortification under the supervision of Fr. Agustin de San Pedro
context_page_description: Romblon, officially the Municipality of Romblon, is a 3rd class municipality and capital of the province of Romblon, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 38,758 people.
  The town comprises the entire Romblon Island, one of the three major islands of Romblon province aside from Sibuyan Island and Tablas Island. As the capital of the province, it is also the seat of the Provincial Government. Its natives mostly speak Romblomanon or Ini language.
  Romblon is known for its local marble industry and is the second biggest producer of the mineral in the country. It is also increasingly become known as a tourist destination because of its unspoiled beaches and Spanish-era twin forts.
context_section_description: The first inhabitants of Romblon were Negritos tribes of Panay and Mindoro Mangyan tribes. The discovery of hanging coffins and artistic material in caves of the island of Banton demonstrates the existence of a rich and ancient civilization and Aboriginal culture.
  The islands were first visited by Spanish conquistador Martin de Goiti in late 1569, and were thereafter organized by the Spanish into encomiendas. The encomienda of Donblon (Romblon), established on April 24, 1571, was granted to Don Gonzalo Riquel. In the first census done by Spanish navigator Miguel de Loarca in 1582, Romblon Island was shown to have 240 residents engaged in wax gathering. At this time, Miguel de Loarca recorded the island's name as "Lomlon" or "Doblon". In the local Visayan dialect, the word means a bird warming an egg in its nest.  It was also known as Domblon before the present name was adopted.
  In 1631, during the term of Spanish Governor-General Juan Niño de Tabora, Romblon was established as a pueblo, making it one of the two oldest settlements in the province, the other being Banton located in the north of the province. In 1635, the island of Romblon was evangelized by Spanish Recollect fathers and became a dependency of the Captaincy General of the Philippines.  Their fortified church is the present cathedral of Romblon. It received its first Spanish missionaries in the 17th century. During the 17th and 18th centuries, it was often ravaged by Moros. Two forts were erected by them, San Andrés and Santiago.
  It was organized into a Comandancia (a province or district under military control) by the Spanish in 1853.
caption: Fuerza de San Andres, a national cultural treasure as declared by the NCCA.
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