The Gigantes group used to be called Sabuluag, or Salauag, which is the name of a species of tree endemic to the islands.

Local legend describes coffins found inside Bakwitan Cave that contained gigantic sets of human bones, which constituted the name change.

Designated ARLHS PHI-094, the white 38-foot-high (12 m) tower features a keeper's house and a focal point 77 feet (23 m) in the air, which flashes once every ten seconds.

Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as "Yolanda", passed over the Gigantes group, along with the rest of Panay, on November 8, 2013,[7] damaging houses and boats.

[5] Many groups conducted relief missions to the Gigantes group, including the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Region 6 (BFAR-6), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-6), RockEd Philippines-RockEd Iloilo, the ABS-CBN Foundation, Loma Linda University Health (LLUH), and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA).

[9][10] In June 2014, Save the Children donated more than a thousand bags of school supplies to students on the island.

[5] Aside from food and clothing, the fishing community also asked relief organizations to help rebuild their livelihoods.

Local legend says that the waters of Tangke would miraculously rise every year on June 24, the Birthday of Saint John the Baptist.

Daily trips are also available from the port of Estancia, which can be reached via point-to-point bus operated by Ceres from their terminal just outside Iloilo City.