The aforementioned council began to change the name of Pulong Samat and later used "Licab" which came from the ilocano saying "kaskada agliklikab ti ani ti pagay da" which means "the collected rice is flowing", the word likab is the Ilocano term of "flowing".

In 1882, led by Don Dalmacio, the local heads of the barrios of Santa Maria, Licab, Bantog and neighboring sitios, presented a petition to the civil administration of the Spanish government in the Philippines for the establishment of a separate and independent municipality from the municipality of Aliaga.

After more than ten years, having fulfilled the requirements prescribed by the leaders of the Spanish government in the Philippines, the order to establish the municipality of Licab was adopted under the leadership of the governor general Ramón Blanco and took into effect on March 28, 1894.

[6] About 155 kilometres (96 mi) north of Metro Manila, Licab lies in one of the lowest portions of the province with an average elevation of 24 metres (79 ft),[7] experiencing flooding in all but one of its 11 barangays during rainy season.

Poverty incidence of Licab Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] Agriculture has remained the prime industry of the municipality.