Dauis

A tale has it that Dauis was once called Mariveles, based on a story of the statue or image of Our Lady of the Assumption, the town’s patroness who was said to have requested an unnamed fisherman to take her to this island called “Mariveles” . When they neared the coast, the lady said, “duol na ang Mariveles”.

She got off the boat and went toward the beach where the palms now abound in Poblacion, Dauis. The fisherman revealed that the lady passenger disappeared and in her place saw an object, the image of which evoked the likeness of his passenger.
It has been said that the name of the place is derived from the word “Lawis” which means a “sand bar”. It may also come from the word “dawi” which means “a fish biting the bait of a fishing hook and line.”
Recorded history of Dauis began with the arrival of two Jesuit priests, Fr. Diego de Ayala and Fr. Joseph Gragorio. Since then, there was a succession of Jesuit missionaries until 1786, and were later replaced by the Augustinian Recollect fathers until 1888. Since then, Filipino priests have taken over.
Administration of the civil government started in 1883 with the late Bruno Clarin as its first mayor.

native name: Lawis
no. of barangays: 12
rep. dist. : 1st district
patron: Our Lady of Assumption
feast day: August 15