Sogod, Southern Leyte
The name of the municipality originated from the Cebuano word, "sogod", meaning ""to start."" Founded as a Catholic mission station by the Society of Jesus in 1601, Sogod became a regular municipality on June 10, 1853.
Sogod, Southern Leyte
Following the successful establishment of settlements in northern Leyte, the Jesuits began to move southwards around the early 1600s. One of these pastors was Padre" Fabrizio Sersali, an Italian Jesuit from Naples and former superior of Carigara and Ormoc. After founding the mission of Cabalian, he and Padre" Cristobal Jimenez, then parish priest of Palo in 1595, planned to established mission stations in the settlements of Limasawa, Sogod [in some narratives, the name was spelled as Sogor], and Panaon. But on arriving at Panaon in November 1602, the Jesuits found the town deserted. "Padre" Sersali assumed that the natives fled to the mountains because they thought that the missionaries were from Cabalian. He also added, in a letter addressed to "Padre" Diego Garcia, the vice-provincial of the Jesuits in the Philippines, that the villagers see them as cannibals. After surveying the area, the village temple dedicated to the Mag-anitos was burned and a cross was planted at the site. Only "Padre" Sersali continued to Limasawa. However, upon arriving there, the Christian "datu", Bancao have already left the island and settled in Sogod.