Anything Under the Sun
Origins of place names (6)
After incidents
In Aklan, there was a place frequently flooded during the pre-Spanish time. So, its chief, Datu Kabantog erected a dam at Ingus-ingus Hill which later gave way to the water from heavy rains. When this happened, the people shouted "nagbuswang" (the dam gave way). Later, it developed into Buruanga.
In Iloilo, one time a "baroto" (banca) got stuck in the mud and the people called it "baroto sa lutak" (boat in the mud). Later, it developed into Barotac.
Later, another place came to be called also Barotac and it was named Barotac Nuevo (new Barotac) while the old one became Barotac Viejo (old Barotac).
Also in Iloilo, a group of Malay about to settle in a place were driven by the Ati saying: Halin kamo diyan (Go away from here), because of this, the name was called Alimodian.
Still in Iloilo, when the Moros raided Tabucan – which means river crossing, the Chinese in the community, who could not pronounce the letter R, shouted: Molo, Molo, Molo... instead of Moro, Moro, Moro. So the place became to be called Molo – a district of Iloilo City.