facts and figures > brief history

The establishment of the Municipality of Gerona can be traced back during the Spanish colonialization in our country, when the Dominican Missionaries in the Philippines started to propagate the Catholic Faith in the whole archipelago in 1704.

The Dominican Missionaries who were among the missionary pioneers that established and propagated the Catholic faith in Northern Luzon, had placed the Vicar of Malanguey (now Bayambang, Pangasinan) in charge of the mission of converting the inhabitants of “Paontalon” (original name of Gerona) to the Catholic faith. The mission proved to be a success that finally in 1722, Paontalon was recognized as small village and became part of the Municipality of Paniqui then under the Province of Pangasinan.

However, it was only during the early part of the nineteenth century that the inhabitants of Paontalon flourished due to the migration of people from the northern provinces of Luzon in search for greater opportunities.  It is believed that the first groups of people who came and settled in Gerona are the Ilocanos and Pangasinenses. This group of people settled on a side of a small rounded hill on the southwest slope of the town. They settled in the hill by the skirt of the little forest that the Pangasinan folks named “Barug” meaning little forest or “Pugo” in Ilocano.  It is believed that “Barug” was adopted as the name of the newfound settlement in favor of the later due the fact that the Pangasinenses outnumbered the Ilocanos.

However, in 1765, the name Barug was officially changed to Gerona in honor of General Nicolas Claviera who was at that time the Governor General of the Philippines who hailed from Gerona, Spain. 

It was not until the year 1844 when Gerona finally became an independent town but did not have a Gobernadorcillo. The towns first Gobernadorcillo was only appointed in 1845 in the person of Don Anacleto Melegrito. 

When Tarlac Province was organized by the Spanish Central Government, Gerona was among these towns which were incorporated into the new province of Tarlac.