73. 12 PLACES OUTSIDE OF PAMPANGA WITH KAPAMPANGAN NAMES

Condensed from an article of Joel Pabustan Mallari

Pampanga  used to occupy large portions of Luzon—including parts of Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Zambales, Tarlac and extending as far north as Nueva Vizcaya. Over the years, new provinces and towns were carved out from this area, and today these places that are no longer part of the province, continue to  retain their Kapampangan names. On the other hand, other places have names with Kapampangan meanings, or that were derived from the Kapampangan language.

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1. BINUANGAN, Bulacan

This town must have gotten its name from  ‘binuangin’--a Kapampangan term for an early species of rice, a short variety with red stripes on its hulled seed. A barangay in Bataan shares a similar name.

2. CABIAO, Nueva Ecija

 “Cabiao” comes from the Kapampangan word ‘kabio’, meaning ‘to pound rice’. The time for ‘kabio’ ushers in the season of plenty for frmers, as rice becomes ready for sale and for eating. The capital city of San Fernando has a barangay called ‘Quebiawan’, derived from the same verb.

3. CAPITANGAN, Bataan

Bataan, a Tagalog province has a barangay in the municipality of Abucay called “Capitangan”, which means “midnight” in Kapampangan (“hatinggabi” in Pilipino). Like San Fernando, Capitangan is known for its crucifixions during Holy Week.

4. GABON, Bataan

In Abucay, there is a barangay that goes by the name, “Gabon”.  No, its  name was not derived from the African country of Gabon, but from the Kapampangan word “gabun”, meaning ‘soil, ground or land’.

5. MADLUM CAVE, Sibul, Bulacan

Sixteen kilometers off San Miguel, Bulacan, in Sibul, can be found the Madlum Cave, so named because of its creepy darkness—“madalumdum”, in Kapampangan, which was contracted to 'Madlum". It is believed that a stone image of the patron saint of the town—San Miguel—was first found in Madlum. The caves are characterized by limestone stalagmites. During World War II, Madlum was occupied by Japanese soldiers.

6. MATULID RIVER, Bulacan

Matulid River is a stream within Bulacan and is nearby to Wawang, Pinaganakan and Banaba. It is one of the 3 major tributaries of the mighty Angat River. The river flows on the boundary between between Pampanga and Bulacan, running on almost a straight course, hence “matulid”, meaning ‘straight’.

7. PAMITINAN MOUNTAIN, Rizal

In Rizal province, one of the peaks in the famous limestone mountain there has a Kapampangan name—“Pamitinan Mountain”. “Pamitinan” means “used for hanging”, as in stalactite patterns, a feature in the limestone caves found there. Pamitinan Mountain, along with the Puting Bato, are the two facing rock mountains that entrapped Bernardo Carpio in Tagalog of folklore.

8. SAN MIGUEL DE MAYUMU, Bulacan

The Bulacan town was once a part of the vast Pampanga realm, and it was famous for its sugar produce and sweets—“mayumu”. It was actually settled by Kapampangans until the early 1900s, until Tagalog started trickling in. When it became a town of Bulacan, it retained this Kapampangan word to describe it s a “town of sweets”—San Miguel de Mayumo.

9. TAYSAN, Batangas

When a Kapampangan goes to Taysan, Batangas, he would immediately recognize that the name of the town means  a “grinding or whetting stone” in his native language--a taisan. It is also the name of a soft, sugar-sprinkled cake, a local delicacy shaped  like a whet stone. Local lore has it that “Taysan” was  corruption of the word “atisan”(or a place atis fruit grew) or “tiisan” (to bear with fortitude). But even historians are not too sure. Could it have been that a transplanted Kapampangan  artisan introduced the ‘taisan’ in Batangas? It is interesting to know that Bamban, too, has a place named after grinding stones—the sitio of Panaisan.

10. TAKLANG ANAK, Calaca, Batangas

Lest you think that this barangay between the town of Lemery and Calaca smells bad because of its name, think again. “Taklang Anak” is a small, round juicy fruit that resembles a child’s droppings. The yellow-orange colored fruit (Garcinia dulcis), was first found either in  Arayat or Candaba, according to the noted botanical scholar, Fray Manuel Blanco. But how this Kapampangan fruit reached Batangas and gave this barangay its name is unknown.

11. TAKLANG DAMULAG, Nueva Ecija

Oh yes, there is a mountainous place in Nueva Ecija named after carabao manure or taklang damulag. It must have had  a large population of carabaos that regularly littered its streets with their dung. Whatever the case, “Taklang Damulag” was probably the most fertile land in Nueva Ecija, in those days, as carabao manure--then, as now--is used to enrich agricultural soil. Today, Taklang Damulag is a training ground inside the army division in Fort Magsaysay, Palayan City, Nueva Ecija. In 2011, it was the site of  a 100 mile ultra-trail racing event, the first endurance run in Southeast Asia.

12. TALAGUIO, Doña Remedios Trinidad, Bulacan

Talaguio is a sitio of barangay Kabayunan, and is located northwest of Mount Tabernaculo and northeast of Mount Maon and Mount Mayapa, where llarge conservation areas can be found,like the Angat Watershed. Talaguio is one of the 3 tributaries of the Angat River through where the Sierra Madre mountain range feeds its waters. ‘Laguio’ means ‘name’ in Kapampangan.

SOURCES:

Singsing Magazine. “The Augustinians in Pampanga”, vol. 3 No. 1.

wikimedia.commons: Cabiao seal, Cabiao town photo
San Miguel de Mayumo: https://allevents.in/san%20miguel/san-miguel-de-mayumo-tara-na-pasyal-na/1618364498486213

Taklang Anak, photo by Antonio Soraiano Guia Jr., via Michael Pangilinan FB page

Taklang Damulag: https://baldrunner.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/2017-takla-finishers.jpg?w=510

Taysan: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Taysan,Batangasjf9619a.JPG

 Maps (Talaguio,Matulid)) : mapcarta.com