BANTAYAN FIRST

1. The first lawyer of Bantayan, the late Hon. Eulallo E. Causing, was also the first Civil Governor of Davao.
2. The first Cebuano, outside of Cebu City to top the bar examination was Atty. Roque Desquitado in 1923.
3. The late Atty. Ramon M. Villaceran married the first woman lawyer of the Philippines, the late Atty. Maria Francisco.
4. The first Cebuano to top the CPA Board Examination was Mrs. Florentina Cabatingan Reboton.
5. The first Cebuano to top the Entrance Examination for the Baguio Military Academy in 1924 was the late Col. Francisco Villacastin of the AFP.
6. The first Director of the Wage and Position Classification Office (WAPCO) was Atty. Ladislao Yap.
7. The first postwar Mayor of the Civil Government of the City of Cebu was the late Hon. Nicolas Escario.
8. The first Filipino Supervising Teacher in the Division of Cebu was the late Mr. Anastacio E. Yap.
9. The first four teachers in the Province of Cebu to qualify in the Senior Teacher Examination were, Anastacio Yap (1918) , Mr. Nicolas Ybañez (1919), Mr. Pedro Maderazo (1920) and Mr. Emilio Gillera (1921).
10. The first Cebuano Academic Supervisor of the Bureau of Public Schools was Mr. Pedro Maderazo.
11. The first Cebuano Commanding Officer of the III Military Area Command of the AFP was Col. Juan Causing.
12. The first rural bank established north of Cebu City is in Bantayan – The Rural Bank of Bantayan Inc.
13. In the most colorful Carnival and Exposition in 1921 participated by all towns in the province and some neighboring provinces in the Visayas and Mindanao, The Bantayan Pavillon won first prize with flying colors.
14. Several Bantayanons were elected to the 7th Congressional District of Cebu as compared to other towns in the district put together, namely, Rep. Eulallo E. Causing, Rep. Paulino Ybañez, Rep. Nicolas Escario, Rep. Roque Desquitabdo, and Rep. Antonio Y. de Pio.
15. Of all church bells in the Province of Cebu, Cebu City included, the Bantayan bells are the biggest and the most resonant.
16. Bantayan has the widest “hunasan” in the whole Province of Cebu.
17. Bantayan has the biggest and well maintained plaza in the whole Province of Cebu.
18. Bantayan consumes more beer than any other town in the whole Province of Bohol.
19. Bantayan is recorded in geography books as the “ Alaska of the Philippines”, and dubbed as the “Egg Basket” of Region VII.
20. Mrs. Remedios A. Escario was the first woman mayor in Cebu Province.
21. The Bantayan Holy Week celebration is the most impressive, spectacular and one of its kind in the Philippines.
22. The Bantayan Parish is the oldest parish in the Visayas and Mindanao. It is even older than the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral and the Basilica del Santo Niño de Cebu.
23. Atty. Cecilio Gillamac a Bantayanon pioneered the “peso po”, which were popularly known as PU cabs.
24. The trainer and conductor of the three time “National Himig” undefeated champion, Rev. Fr. Rodolfo Escalona Villanueva, better known in the world of literature as Renato E. Madrid, fictionist whose short stories with superb craft substance, copped the Philippine Free press and Palanca Memorial Awards. Aside from this, he was also a famous concert pianist and jazz buff who obtained his masters degree in literature and music in Mankato State in Minnesota.
25. Bantayan proudly produced Gloria Sevilla, a one time movie queen and FAMAS awardee. She is also a proud mother to Mat Ranillo III, cinema’s one time popular movie idol, Suzette Ranill, better known as Nadia Velos, who is also a FAMAS awardee and Dindin Ranillo, a one time popular teenage idol and movie star are sibling of Sevilla.
26. Noted for its beautiful women, Bantayan can boast of Miss Ligaya Bataclan, who reigned as Miss College Girl in 1960, a beauty and brain contest participated in by all universities in Cebu City. She earned her masteral degree in Psychiatry in Columbia University in the U.S.