Dumangas, officially the Municipality of Dumangas (, ), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Iloilo, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 73,899 people. Etymology Local stories written regarding the origin of the name of the town stated: "A Spaniards resting under two closely growing mango trees asked a native of the name of the place. Thinking that he was asked of the name of the trees under which the Spaniard was resting, he answered in crude Spanish "dos manggas", meaning two mango trees. Another version which is the most probable, tells about Legazpi's Spanish-French officer and a creole who was one of the leaders of the foraging party who come to Araut. Having seen mango trees growing abundantly in the place, he gave a verbal report to the Adelantado upon is return to Cebu mentioning "Sitio Du Manggas" as the place they got plenty of food. Being a creole and was accustomed to substandard Spanish he mispronounced the Spanish article "de" as "du" thus, the place was identified and recorded as "Pueblo de Dumangas". History Early settlement The old village of Dumangas started as a settlement of old Malays who made a clearing along the Talaguis River and established a community sometime in the 12th or 13th century. The community was called Araut ( variant of Jalaud ), the term is derived from the old Malayan word laut meaning sea or pa-laut or laud which means towards the sea. When the Spaniards arrived in Panay they found the coastal village of Araut, a thriving agricultural community. During the first few years of Spanish arrival in the Islands, the Spaniards established their first settlement in Leyte and Butuan. The Spanish settlement in Cebu was often attacked by Portuguese invaders and aside from that the Island of Cebu had a shortage of food provision to support the Spaniards. Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, sent various expeditions to look for food and to find another settlement other than Cebu to evade the attacks from the Portuguese explorers. The royal treasurer to the Philippines Guido de Lavezaris writes (June 5, 1569) to King Philip II of Spain that the danger of Portuguese attack leads the Spaniards to remove their camp to Panay. The governor general Miguel Lopez de Legazpi sent Mateo del Sanz who landed in Araut (now Dumangas) in June 1565 and “found many provisions and