Anything Under the Sun
Origin of place names (2)
After enchanted trees:
Some towns in West Visayas are named after trees believed by the ancient Malays to be enchanted – kamadag, maliao, dao and balete or lunok (ficus benjanena Linn).
In Aklan is Balete after balete and in Iloilo, there is Camando from kamandag – renamed Leon by its parish priest after his town in Spain.
In Negros Occidental is Maliao (now Victorias) from maliao.
There are two towns named Dao – one in Antique (now Tobias Fornier, former congressman) and another in Capiz, both named after dao tree. Several towns in West Visayas are named after big trees in the forest.
After hardwood trees:
In Antique are Culasi from culasi (L.receinosa Wild) – a hardwood though some say it was named after the bird culasisi (loricus philipensis) and Laua-an from lawa-an (another hardwood).
In Iloilo, there are Catmon (now Santa Barbara) from catmon, Talisayan (now San Joaquin) from talisay tree. In Negros Occidental are Talisay from talisay tree, too, and Kabankalan from bancal tree.
There are also towns named after fruit trees. In Aklan there is Ibajay. It is from iba tree. Aklanons have an expression Hay added at the end of almost anything they say.
In Iloilo, there is Passi from jungle berry pasi though many say that it is from pasi (unhusked palay mixed in clean rice) and Dumangas from mangga or mango (mangifera indica).