Belison (), officially the Municipality of Belison (, ; ; ), is a municipality in the province of Antique, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 14,433 people.
Belison is the smallest (in area and population) and the youngest municipality in the province of Antique.
Belison () was merely a barangay in the larger municipality of Patnongon, adjacent to the north. Belison barangay leaders and Manila-based s (; âÂÂBelison residentsâÂÂ) mapped out a petition requesting the national government to make Belison an independent town. The petition was brought to Malacañan Palace on March 10, 1961, and through Presidential Executive Order No. 421 signed by President Carlos P. Garcia, Belison was declared a municipality - the smallest and the youngest in the Province of Antique.
During World War II, Japanese submarines and other naval vessels used the shores of Belison as accessible entry points to Panay, facilitating the invasion of Western Visayas. Local accounts recall both the fear brought by these forces and the resistance mounted by inhabitants, who established guerrilla strongholds in the mountainous areas surrounding the municipality.
When the Japanese air raids would bomb Belison and the nearby communities, families from all around fled to Guinobatan Cave, high in the hills of barangay Buenavista. And when the American forces came, they too used the smooth sea landing in Belison, bringing relief food supplies to s, and troops to attack the Japanese occupying forces. They often used local homes in the area to hide in while planning their strategies for assault against the enemy, and enlisted the help of brave men and women to carry out their plans.
Belison is from the provincial capital, San Jose de Buenavista.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the municipality has a land area of constituting of the total area of Antique.
The municipality is bounded on the east by San Remigio, southeast by Sibalom, south by San Jose de Buenavista, north by Patnongon, and west by the Cuyo East Pass.
Belison is politically subdivided into 11 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
The Poblacion, seat of the municipal government, is an urban barangay while the rest are considered rural.
In the 2024 census, Belison had a population of 14,433 people. The population density was .
Kinaray-a is the dominant dialect of Belison while Hiligaynon is also spoken and understood by the residents.
Nine (9) of the leading Christian religious dominations in the Philippines established their presence in the town. Most s are of Aglipayan ancestry.
Agriculture is the main economic activity of the town. More than half of its land is riceland, while the rest are planted to corn, coconut, sugar cane and other production like vegetables and peanuts.
The Belison municipal seal was created to commemorate the agricultural heritage of the town, in order to preserve the legacy of the original settlers in the region. It depicts three mainstay agricultural activities:
Surrounding the great triangle are eleven stars â one representing each barangay in the town. The largest star at the bottom is for the Poblacion. Their strength lies in their connectivity to one another, and in their closeness to the traditions of the past.
The Belison Schools District Office governs all educational institutions within the municipality. It oversees the management and operations of all private and public, from primary to secondary schools.