Anything under the sun
Origins of place-names (8)
After animals
In West Visayas there are some towns named after animals.
Libacao – This place was formerly called Aglangka – from langka (jackfruit). It was said to be ruled by a woman named Abo-ab who spent her fortune on building roads and clearing the forest.
Her last possession to go was her cow, colored bulagaw (yellow). She had it slaughtered to finance her unfinished projects. Later, the inhabitants renamed their place Bulagao which in the course of time became Libacao.
Leganes – At first, the place was called Gihaman, after a destructive wild boar called Giham by the natives and which destroyed crops. When it became a pueblo, it was renamed Valencia – after the town of its patron saint San Vicente Ferrer in Spain. Later, two Valencia families quarreled, each claiming that the town was named after them. To avoid trouble the parish priest renamed the town Leganes – a "town of fools" in Spain according to him.
Mandurriao – A district of Iloilo City, it got its name from two crocodiles named by the natives as Mando and Riao. A story goes that one day, they fought each other and the natives took sides and cheered alternately Mando and Riao.