Historia de Bais City

 Baisanon lady daughter of one of our local Heroes in Negros Oriental  Ambrosio B. Somoza

  Bais was organized into an independent town in 1801 but some time passed before it would be established as a parish by the Augustinian Recollects. Before November 1872, the town was under the parish of Tanjay and, a few years later, of Manjuyod. Nevertheless, the parish priest of Manjuyod continued to minister to the town until it was appointed its down spiritual administrator beginning 1873. A book on the evangelization work of Augustinian Recollects in Negros, “Handurawan: Visita Iglesia Negros Y Recoletos,” said Fr. Benigno Jimenez took over in April 1873 as the first Recollect parish priest. Church beginnings During his tenure, a modest convent and chapel made of bamboo and nipa was built and used by the town for close to three years. He later built a wooden convent and fortified the chapel with bricks but these were destroyed during a strong storm in 1874. Fr. Jimenez worked on the church reconstruction using strong materials and his successor priests contributed through imp...

  Serafin Miguel Diaz Teves III, Nito to friends, was a nurse, visual artist,Sugar Planter, Cultural & Heritage Advocate, Social Historian of Bais City and vocal advocate for local cultural preservation. He was born on 25 August 1956 to then Former Bais City Vice Mayor & FreeMason Serafin Montenegro Teves and Malueca Arnaiz Diaz. He studied briefly at Silliman University in 1973-1974, before transferring to De La Salle University-Manila where he graduated in 1981. He worked in various capacities in banking, finance, and insurance, before going back to school to earn a nursing degree at Silliman University, graduating in 2007. He worked as nursing supervisor at SureCare Home Health Services, and then as nursing supervisor at Affinity Home Health Care, eventually pursuing work with the Philippine Coconut Authority, and S.L. Teves Inc. and S.L.Teves Realty Development Corp. As an artist, he dabbled briefly in film, had his first solo art exhibition in 1989, and was part of ...

Juvenal Villanueva -Somoza World War II Hero and Martyr Jovenal is the son of Don Alejandro Somoza and Doña Narcisa   V. Villanueva from Bais and La-Liberated landed clan.Educated in Dumaguete and Manila prestigous institution and finished his degree in Engin eering ,he joined the City Engineering Dept. under Mayor Jose Teves -Pastor,his first project is to put up Health Center in Piapi , Daro and Taclobo .He later worked with the Provincial Engineering Dept.,one of the biggest projects were schools in Siaton , Bais , Dumaguete ,la liberated and Amlan .He made many proposal to the Bureau of Public Works and Highways of the United States of America for road construction. Before and during the Outbreak of the World War II he became assistant district engineer.Among his projectswas to built a road from Bais to Kabankalan ,bridges connecting Sta.Catalina to Bayawan . During the War he was dubbed as " Pied Piefer " He went to places and countryside to delive...

Bais City is the largest producer of raw sugar in Negros Oriental. There are two sugar mills in the city. The Central Azucarera de Bais was established by Tabacalera of Spain in the early 1900s and is one of the oldest in the country. The other mill, URSUMCO (Universal Robina Sugar Milling Corporation) was formerly UPSUMCO (United Planters Milling Corporation) and constructed in the mid '70s by Marubeni Corporation of Japan as a project of Ignacio Montenegro (also of Spanish roots).  Geography There are two bays in the area, hence the name "Bais". The shore line is mostly mangroves , which are in danger of destruction due to the increasing population. The richness of marine life in the bays is because of these mangroves. Bais City's bays are widely known to have one of the most beautiful coral reefs in the area. The Pelarta river runs beside the city center. There is, however, a dispute that the name Bais was taken after the eels locally called "Bais...