03/06/2023
HISTORY OF THE NAMES OF THE CITIES AND MUNICIPALITIES IN THE PROVINCE OF LEYTE.
1. TACLOBAN CITY - "TAKLUB" ; bamboo tray used to catch crabs or shrimp.
2. ORMOC CITY - "OGMOK" ; old Visayan term for lowland or depressed plain.
3. BAYBAY CITY - "ANG SUBA NAGBAYBAY SA PANGASUGAN" ; the community was then named as Pangasugan, but when a Spanish conquistadores asked a native about the name of the place, the native answered in Visayan, "Ang suba nagbaybay sa Pangasugan", this is how Baybay got its name.
4. ABUYOG - "AH! BUYOG" ; When Spaniards asked about the black creatures swarming along the shore, the natives answered "Buyog," repeating after the natives, the sailors muttered "Ah! Buyog."
5. ALANGALANG - "indecision" ; There was a time when only footpaths existed in Mainit river going to Carigara which was too wide to leap and too narrow to wade in, so travelers were undecided on what to do. "Alang-alang" is a vernacular word of indecision.
6. ALBUERA - "ALBUJERA or ALBUHERA" ; fresh water lake, named after a town in Galicia, Spain by a Spanish Priest.
7. BABATNGON - "BATONG" ; a large trap made of abaca fibers used for hunting by the early Boholano settlers. Later on named as "Babatngon," which means hunting ground with the use of a net.
8. BARUGO - "BALUGU" ; a big tree which grew near the bank of brook, Spaniards later called the place Barugo.
9. BATO - "ADTO SA BATO" referring to the church made of stone.
10. BURAUEN - "BURA-BURON" & "BURA-ON" ; When Spaniards were asking the natives about the name of the place, the natives thought that the Spaniards were asking about the name name of the river Bura-Buron near Bongtod Hill. When drought was felt by nearby towns, locals came to find water sources and discovered a water supply which they called "Burabod" (source spring), the barrio was then known as "Bura-on" (foamy) because of the little geysers that made the waters of the spring foam and boil. Later on the name was changed to Burawon.
11. CALUBIAN - "coconuts" ; according to the town legend, from hunting wild animals, the husband got tired and engaged in fishing until he saw a coconut floating near his boat. He gave it to his wife and then planted it. After a few years, the coconut then spreaded in the area.
12. CAPOOCAN - "MAPU-UK" ; meaning obstructed.
13. CARIGARA - "KANGARA" ; meaning "that of Gara" or simply "Gara's". Gara (was said to have come from Borneo) was one of the ten datus who landed in Panay.
14. DAGAMI - "Dinagami-an, Senor" ; The island of Leyte was divided into sultanates before Spaniards set foot in the Philippines. Three prominent sultanates merged and was called Dagilan sometime in 1478. When Spaniards arrived and happened to pass along Dagilan, they asked for the name of the community. The natives thought that the Spaniards were asking for the definite term for the field after rice had been harvested, so a woman answered, "Dinagami-an, Senor". The Spaniards had difficulty in pronouncing "Dinagami-an" and the natives laughed at them, in anger, one of the civil guards shouted agrily in Spanish, "DAGAMI or DAWIAN makes no difference, this place is DAGAMI, DAGAMI, DAGAMI"
15. DULAG -
a.) "DULAG" ; German term for center.
b.) "DULAO" ; an herb which is abundant in the area, yellowish-green in color used as a food seasoning for a local dish.
c.) "NAGDUDULAG HIN TUL-AN" there was a time when bones of different kinds of animals were scattered all around the place, and people commented "Nagdudulag hin tul-an" when they see bones all around.
d.) "DULAGDULAG" ; Dulag's first settler.
16. HILONGOS -
a.) "ILONG" : nose; adopted from its early inhabitants Ilongots, a tribe from Iloilo.
b.) "LOMOS" : to drown, a usual occurence in a turbulent Salog River which flows nearby, (account from Artigas)
17. HINDANG - "INDANG" : derived from a very large tree named Indang which used to stand in the northern part of the town.
18. INOPACAN -"INONG PAK-AN" : named after its legendary hero INONG who has wings or PAKO. folks calls hin INONG PAK-AN.
19. ISABEL - Isabel Leyte's name then was Dupong (a deadly snake), then was changed to Quiot. In 1948, the municipality was then renamed to Isabel, in honor of the wife of former Senator Carlos S. Tan, who fathered the bill and of Queen Elizabeth of Spain.
20. JARO - "HARO" : term of the mixture of the herbs from the hill (where the present church stands now), a medicinal potent drug supposed to cure all kinds of afflictions and diseases.
21. JAVIER - named after Daniel Falcon Javier, a former teacher and principal of Cebu Normal School and the person behind the barrio's progress.
22. JULITA - "HINULATAN" : meaning waiting place; from its former name Tambuko, the place was a sanctuary of traders or merchants who had to stay overnight.
23. KANANGA - "COMO AGUA CANANGA" : the fragrance of the giant Ilang-ilang captured the attention of one Spanish Lieutenant and remarked, "Como agua Cananga" a label of an old famous Spanish perfume.
24. LA PAZ - named in honor their patroness Nuestra Senora de la Paz y Buen Viaje (Our Lady of Peace)
25. LEYTE -
a.) "HIRA ETE" : The placd belonged to Ete
b.) "HIRAYTE" or "HIRAITE" : Justice Norberto Romualdez Sr.'s version, "Hi Raite," meaning a person named Raite, or "Hira Ete," meaning Ete' s mean or Ete's company.
26. MACARTHUR - Named after General Douglas MacArthur
27. MAHAPLAG - "MAHAPLA" (destruction or failure) and "KAPLAG" (success)
28. MATALOM - "MATAHUM" or "MATALOM" meaning beautiful. When Spaniards once saw the flaming red of the fire trees that dotted the shores of Matalom Beach and the scenic Canigao Island and asked the natives the local dialect for "hermosa" or beautiful, the natives answered "matahum" or "matalom"
29. MATAG-OB - "NAGTIG-OB" : meaning uniting as one, referring to the two rivers which meet at the entrance to the poblacion.
30. MAYORGA - named after "MALLORCA", a town in Spain, famous for its luxurious growth of palms. However, natives were having diffficulty pronouncing the name and changed it to Mayorga.
31. MERIDA - named after a Spanish town.
32. PALO -
a.) the name ks derived from a mast of ships (mast in the dialect is palo) which in the past sailed in its waters and fish laden shores.
b.) it is also believed that the name is derived from the mallet "palu" for this place in the past had many carpenters.
c.) WALO WALO - Justice Norberto Romualdez' version says that this town was frequently visited by typhoon "as often as every eight days". Later, the term walo became corrupted into Palo.
d.) ATITIPALO, a certain specie of centipede. A Spanish captain befriended a beautiful lass in the settlement and one time when he vusited the lady, an insect fell on the lady's head and the member of her family shouted "Atitipalo!"
33. PALOMPON - "PAUNGPUNG" : An expedition of Spanish soldiers was once set to liberate "Hinablayan", former name of Palompon, from the marauding moros who had seized the place, they saw a cluster of mangrove flowers floating on the waters. Asking their Filipino guides what yhese clusters were, the answer was "Paungpung" which was later on evolved to Palompon.
34. PASTRANA - named after a town in Spain. Before it was named Pastrana, the place was called Pamagpagan.
35. SAN ISIDRO - named in honor of San Isidro Labrador, the patron saint of farmers. San Isidro was originally called Ponong.
36. SAN MIGUEL - named in honor of ST. MICHAEL ARCHANGEL.
37. STA. FE - a former and one of the biggest barrio of Palo, Leyte.
38. TABANGO - "TABANG MO" : meaning help me. One day a man living in the barrio went to catch some crabs, although an expert he was bitten by a big one. A Spanish soldier happened to be near of the place and was asked for help. The man shouted "Tabang mo" and the soldier thought that it was the name of the place, "AH! TABANGO"
39. TABONTABON - named after a big tree called TABON and in its forest are large birds named TABON.
40. TANAUAN - "TAN-AWAN" a look-out tower. Due to rampant lootings, killings and other abuses of the moro pirates, watch towers were built to warn the inhabitants.
41. TOLOSA - "AN TOLO NAG USA" symbolizing the three prominent tribes in the place being united. The three chieftains were Daginot, Tostosanay and Bankaw.
42. TUNGA - a.) believed to be a contact point in trading between people from Ormoc, Carigara, Barugo, Jaro and Tacloban. Since it had no name people calls it Tunga (half). b.) Another is Tunga acquired its name when at the time it was organized into a barrio, there was a river cutting in half.
43. VILLABA - "VILLA ALBA" or village of Alba, in honor of the wife of the Spanish Governor General in Manila, Dona Pia Alba.
Source : Leyte Town Histories and Legends; Francisco S. Tantuico Jr., 1980.
