On July 4, 1863, Libas was separated from Sulat politically and ecclesiastically, and as it already had enough population and revenues to support a priest, was erected into a diocesan parish on August 25, 1871.

The new parish included the vistas (barrios) of nonoc, the patron of which was St. Pascual Baylon, Simangan, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and Pagbabangnan, placed under the protection of St. Francis of Assisi.

When commerce in Samar Island improved in the late 19th century, the priest and the people recognized that the location of the town placed it in an economic disadvantage.

In 1886, during the incumbency of Don Granizo Calim as gobernadorcillo, when the town had a total 3,645 population, and the people were already part of the inter-town commerce, Fr.

Having been seconded by the majority of the principales (town's leading men), the proposition for the transfer of poblacion, after much deliberation, was locally approved on April 7, 1886.

With the stamp of approval by the governador general in Manila, with the assistance of the Gobernador Politico-Militar Don Pelayo Echacon y Lopez, the transfer became effective on August 14, 1887.

Diaz led in the construction of the parish church of stone (traditionally dated 1890), a church plaza, a casa tribunal (roughly a municipal building), a convento, a cemetery (1888), and a primary school (escuela de primer ensenanza) Meanwhile, Libas was reverted to the status of visita, populated by those Libasnons who chose to remain in the settlement.

Before the end of the Spanish regime, one more visita was added to the pueblo (township) San Julian, namely, Nena, which was already known for its agricultural products.

Poverty Incidence of San Julian Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Tourism has been a part of locals since the early 1990s as Liliputan opened its doors to visitors.