History

Isabela was known before as a part of Binalbagan when the Spaniard arrived to the island of Negros. The place was once inhabited by native people with full of tattoos in the body called “Pintados”. The natives, however, called those occupying the coastal areas as the “Higuencinas” while those in the upland and hills were called “Igneines”. Among the early villages in the area of Isabela was “Tinungan”. During the Spanish occupation of the island when the town of Himamaylan was founded “Tinungan” was made a visita Parish of Himamaylan and makeshift chapel of bamboo and nipa and sawali was built there. The site of the “first church” however, was plague by recurring floods during the rainy days when the river would overflow. In 1834, the Parish Priest of Himamaylan, Father Agustin Silva transferred the church Tinongan to another place called “Manacup”, which is now the present site of the Poblacion of Isabela.

In 1861, “Manacup” became a parish and virtually a town. The first Parish priest assigned was a Recollect Friar named Pedro Echevarria who subsequently changed “Manacup” to Isabela in honor of the Queen of Spain at that time (Queen Isabela II, 1833-1868). The most noted founders of Isabela were Father Vicente Abrego and Father Mariano Lasa.