Dueñas, officially the Municipality of Dueñas (; , ), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Iloilo, Philippines. According to the , it has a population of people.
Dueñas was founded in 1590 under the name Sumandig. In 1599, it was moved to Sibucao. In 1603 the town was joined to Dumangas but regained independence in 1605.
In 1608, the town was transferred to Laglag, now Barangay Pader, Dueñas, and remained there until 1667. It had only five barrios, namely: Sibucao and Sumandig in the lowlands; and Misi, Camantugan and Malonor in the upland.
In 1641, the neighboring pueblo of Baong to the east became so small after it has been depopulated twice that it was annexed as a visita to Laglag and remained as such for 182 years.
In 1668, Laglag was joined to Passi, only to be separated a year after (1669). From 1669 to 1844 or for a period of 175 years, Laglag still remained in the said site. (This was for reason that most of the family name of the residents of Dueñas begin with letter "L" ).
On March 8, 1820, with the support of 31 cabezas de barangay of the principalÃÂa of the visita of Dingle (formerly Baong), and the parish priest of Laglag, Fray Juan Raile, a petition for the re-elevation of Dingle into a pueblo was submitted to Miguel Calderón, alcalde mayor (equivalent to the present-day provincial governor) of Iloilo, through the leadership of the Dingleño teniente mayor (municipal vice-mayor) of Laglag, Don Juan Marcelino Dayot (Dingle gobernadorcillo, 1829âÂÂ1835). On April 28, 1823, Dingle was thus re-elevated into a pueblo and separated itself from Laglag after almost two centuries of being under one pueblo.
In 1845, Laglag was moved around four kilometers eastward and was given the name Dueñas in memory of the birthplace (Dueñas, Palencia, Spain) of Fr. Florencio Martin, who authored the transfer. Saint Jerome, Doctor of the Church, is the Patron Saint of Dueñas.
The word "Dueñas" or "Dueña" is derived from a Latin word domna or domina, which means landlady or madam who has dominion over a certain house or estate.
Dueñas has been known to be the site of the infamous "Teniente Gimo" urban legend story. Teniente is a Spanish word for lieutenant since according to the story, a man named Gimo was the Teniente del Barrio, or what is now known as the Barangay Chairman of the place. The story revolves about Gimo's family of aswangs wherein one of her daughters invited two of her female classmates from Iloilo City to their barrio fiesta without any knowledge of them being aswangs. The story says that Gimo and company mistakenly slaughtered his daughter while asleep instead of the targeted guest after that one guest herself overheard them of their plan to slaughter her and feast for her body. As a result, the girl tricked the aswangs into killing their own kind and escaped, while the fate of the other classmate was unknown.
The story has still been considered unproven and remains arguably the most famous aswang story of all time. Sources state that the whole story and characters were all fictional and is a product of old native literature by the elderly Ilonggo people. The story is often told by adults, both young and old, to scare off disobedient children. It has even been referenced to in popular culture specifically in a few Philippine horror films and is also widespread outside Iloilo and the rest of Panay, with various versions of the tale.
Dueñas is from Iloilo City.
Dueñas is politically subdivided into 47 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
In the 2024 census, the population of Dueñas was 34,941 people, with a density of .
As of 2018, there have been around 75 town executives who served Dueñas (from old name - Laglag to present name - Dueñas).
The Dueñas 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.