ARANGUREN (Capas)
Aranguren, a barangay of Capas, Tarlac, is pronounced by
the locals as ‘Aringoring’, leading to the myth that the barrio was named to
honor a local vendor by the name of Aling Goring! In truth, it was named after
Fray Jose Aranguren, the only Recoleto to become an archbishop of Manila from
1847-1861. Prior to this, he was stationed in Capas, and later in Masinloc, to
help revive the Recollect missions in Zambales.
ATLU BOLA (Mabalacat)
This barrio, established in 1852, was once a wide expanse of sugarcane fields
formerly under the jurisdiction of Mamatitang. The founders were the Gomezes :
Dña. Virginia, Don Salvador and son Jaime Gomez and Turing Mercado. It is so named after the circular stone
grinders or rollers in the shape of a ball. Hired laborers used these to
extract sugarcane juice from sugarcanes for use in making “muscovado” sugar.
Ordinary rollers would have two “bolas”, but the ones that Mercados built had
three, hence, “Atlu Bola”.
BABO SACAN (Porac)
Babo Sacan, a sitio of barrio Cangatba, was already known
by that name in 1939. It became an independent barangay around 1960.
“Babo”means atop, while “sacan” is cultivated land, so it could simply describe
that the particular area was an arable upland, located in an ascending
elevation from nearby Poblacion.
BAHAY PARE (Candaba)
A barangay in Candaba with a name that makes a reference
to a religious person is known as ‘Bahay Pare’. It is named as such—instead of
the Kapampangan “Bale Pare”, because of its proximity to Bulacan. The priest
alluded to is Fray Aniceto de la Merced, born in nearby Baliwag, and known for
being the author of Pasyong Candaba
written in 1858, one of the four versions of the Pasyon found in the
Philippines. He built a house and a small chapel in the area, and his place of
residence was called--“Bahay Pare”—which has since become the name of the barrio.
CANSINALA (Apalit)
Cansinala’s old names included Caingin or Taram (blade,
or sharpness, the last, referring to clandestine blacksmith shops which
operated deep in the forest, making bladed weapons for use in fighting the
Spaniards, and offered ‘sharpening’ services of old dull, blades (“taram”). The once densely wooded place was
so dark that when Spaniards cleared the area—the place became bright and clear
(“sinala”)—and so it was quickly settled.
CUAYAN BUGTUNG
(Candaba)
During the colonial times, when Spaniards began exploring
the central plains for expansion, they ventured into this area where nothing
grew except for a lone bamboo tree. Thus the name “Cuayan Bugtung”—solitary
bamboo. A barangay in Mindoro Occidental shares the same unusual name as this
old Candaba place.
LANDING (San
Fernando)
Two places in San Fernando—near barrio Maimpis and Lara
respectively, and one in Porac (in barrio Babo Sacan) are known by the name, “Landing”. They have a
common origin story—that the sites were once secret airfields used by Americans
during World War II. However, Fr. Venancio Samson, a Kapampangan scholar and
translator, cites a 1913 map that shows the same area in San Fernando indicated
with the name “Landing”. As aircrafts were rarely seen in 1913, it could be
that the placename could mean something other than the more obvious airplane
“landing field”.
MATALUSAD
(Concepcion)
Barangay Santo Cruz in Concepcion has a sitio goes by a
vividly descriptive name--Matalusad (‘slippery”). It is so called by travellers
and passengers , because during the rainy season, the gravelly road becomes
very slippery, causing spills,
accidents, and slowing travel. The road has since been cemented, but as
recent as 2 July 2016, a motorcycle rider slipped and fell into a canal,
causing his death.
PANGCLARA
(Candaba)
Pangclara, often pronounced as “Pangcalara” by town
oldies, started out with the name “Calauitan”, from “lauit”, meaning extreme.
The barrio is at the extreme end of Pampanga, near the Bulacan boundary. When
the Hispanization of barrio names began, the barrio was placed under the
patronage of Sta. Clara—hence,”pang-Clara” (for St. Claire).
TELABASTAGAN (San
Fernando)
The border barrio of Telabastágan literally means
“frame-like”. A “bastagan” is a frame or
a wooden mount to stretch a fabric for sewing, embroidering or weaving of fishnets
or mats, which, most likely, was similar to the shape of the barangay when
mapped.
Sources:
Historical Data Papers (HDP) of Candaba, Apalit, Mabalacat
Sibug, Edgardo: Porac" A Rancheria at Batiauan 1594-2004. Municipal Government od Porac. 2006.
"Etymology of Place Names in San Fernando", Tarebalak Discovery, tarebalakadiscovery.blogspot.com, blogger Joel P. Mallari
Dizon, Lino L. , AMLAT, Kapampangan Local History Contours
in Tarlac and Pampanga, Center for Tarlaqueño Studies, Tarlac State University,
2000.
Dizon, Lino L. East of Pinatubo: Former recollect Missions
in Tarlac and Pampanga (1712-1898), Museo Archivo Recoletos, Center for Tarlaqueño Studies, Tarlac State
University, 1998.
Photo Sources:
Aranguren:.Jose Aranguren:
Retrato Photo Archive of the Filipinas Heritage Library
Atlu Bola: Sugarmills: www.123rf.com
Babo Sacan: Babo Sacan
Elem. School
Bahay Pare: Nipahut, created by De Montaland. www.bigstockphoto.com
Cansinala:
wallpaperweb.com
Cuayan Bugtong:
bamboo, www.rgbstock.com
Landing: P-47
Thunderbolts: www.pinterest.com
Matalusad: Slippery when
wet sign: www.creativesafetysupply.com
Pangclara: Catholic saints
from a-z: spreadjesus.org
Telabastagan: free clip
art
Another name that could be interesting is a place in Dau, Mabalacat called "Gasdam" I've always wondered why.
ReplyDeleteWe will try to cover that in the next part of this series. There are a lot of these unusual place names.
ReplyDeleteIn masantol, there are places called nigi, macaniud, and bagang.
ReplyDeleteAmong Jowel, do you know how they were named as such?
Deletewhat about Darabulbul in Concepcion
ReplyDelete