Before the Superior-Gobierno decreed the conversion of Balangiga into an independent town on April 3, 1854, it was a visita of Guiguan. An account of the Jesuit religious mission in the Philippines, however, considered Balangiga as a village distinct from Guian (Guiguan). Lying at 11° 3'' latitude, it sits by the left of a river of the same name on the southern coast of the island of Samar. Enclosing the town are Giporlos at the east, Marabut at the west, Llorente at the north, Mt. Pasayahan at the northwest and Lauan Bay at the south. In 1850, Fray Manuel Valverde supervised the construction of a stone church-convent complex. These buildings later became the scene of the historic Balangiga incident of September 28, 1902. Balangiga males, angered by the abuses of American troopers stationed in the town, attacked the soldiers while they were at breakfast table. In retaliation, General Jacob H. Smith ordered that the town be scorched to the ground and the residents, including the children old enough to fight, be killed. For a time, Balangiga was one of the bastions of the Samar Pulahan Movement. The two mountains that flank Balangiga at the north yield excellent timbers, a wide range of palms, rattans and coconuts and various species of basic aliments. Its coast nurtures fish in commercial quantity and serves as a harbor for inter-island vessels. May, 1972.