', officially the ', is a of the Philippines| in the province of,. According to the, it has a population of people. Belison is the smallest and the youngest municipality in the province of Antique.
History
Belison was merely a barangay in the larger municipality of Patnongon, adjacent to the north. Belison barangay leaders and Manila-based Belisongnons mapped out a petition requesting the national government to make Belison an independent town. The petition was brought to Malacañan Palace on March 10, 1961, and through Presidential Executive Order No. 421 signed by President Carlos P. Garcia, Belison was declared a municipality - the smallest and the youngest in the Province of Antique. During World War II, Japanese war submarines and other marine craft found the shores of Belison easy entry points to Panay, and invaded the Western Visayas in that location. People still tell of the fear created by these foreign intruders, and also of the bravery of those who decided to resist, creating rebel strongholds in the mountainous areas above the municipality. When the Japanese air raids would bomb Belison and the nearby communities, families from all around fled to Guinobatan Cave, high in the hills of barangay Buenavista. And when the American forces came, they too used the smooth sea landing in Belison, bringing relief food supplies to Belisongnons, and troops to attack the Japanese occupying forces. They often used local homes in the area to hide in while planning their strategies for assault against the enemy, and enlisted the help of brave men and women to carry out their plans.
Belison is politically subdivided into 11 barangays, each with a duly constituted government unit known as the barangay council headed by the barangay captain. The Poblacion, seat of the municipal government, is an urban barangay. The other 10 are considered rural.
Nine of the leading Christian religious dominations in the Philippines established their presence in the town. Most Belisongnons are of Aglipayan ancestry.
Agriculture continues to be the heartbeat of the town. More than half of its land is riceland, while the rest are planted to corn, coconut, sugar cane and other production like vegetables and peanuts.
Municipal seal
The Belison municipal seal was created to commemorate the agricultural heritage of the town, in order to preserve the legacy of the original settlers in the region. It depicts three mainstay agricultural activities:
The top image represents fishing and the bounties of the neighboring sea.
The lower left portion is the harvesting of sugar cane, its processing muscovado sugar.
The lower right depicts tilling of the lowlands for the planting of rice and other grains and vegetables.
Surrounding the great triangle are eleven stars – one representing each barangay in the town. The largest star at the bottom is for the Poblacion. Their strength lies in their connectivity to one another, and in their closeness to the traditions of the past.
