Alcantara, Cebu

Location : 85.3 km SW
Town Fiesta : August 28
Patron Saint : San Agustin
Places of Interest : Cabadian waterfalls

Historical Notes

Alcantara is the smallest among the Cebu towns in terms of area. Why is this so is explained by an amusing vignette:

Alcantara is bordered on the south by the municipality of Ronda; and on the north, by the municipality of Moalboal. There were frequent disputes about their boundaries. To settle the controversy, it was agreed that representatives from the three towns will meet at an appointed spot which will be declared as the demarcation lines. Ronda’s delegate will proceed northward to be met by Alcantara’s representative, while an agent from Moalboal will travel southward to meet another Alcantara’s representative. The points of convergence will determine their respective boundaries. They are to start at an appointed early morning hour, which both the Ronda and Moalboal men strictly followed. But the two Alcantara deputies failed to wake up early because of a drinking spree the night before. When the delegates finally met, the Ronda and Moalboal men had covered a wide distance for their respective towns.

Because of inadequate revenues, Alcantara for a time was annexed as a barrio of Moalboal. It reassumed its municipality status in 1914 when Felipe Llenos was once again its head, with the title of municipal president, a post he held until 1922.

Alcantara is Hispanic-sounding. It is indeed a Castilian appellation. The original name of the town - Kudtong - was rather banal and unimaginative. The name was derived after an exceptionally large fish which dwelt in its deep spring at the center of the town. But the Spanish Officials did not like the name. Thus, they christened the town after a place in Spain.

Reprinted from the book: Cebu In Legend and History
By: Lavilles de Paula