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ETYMOLOGY OF PLACENAMES IN SAN FERNANDO
Baltangan is the name of an old village
near the northwest boundary of San
Fernando. Its old dictionary definition includes
(a) crossing (crossroads); and/or
(b) along or across the border, edge, margin,
bank, shore or in some extent against
the breeze or moving
wind.
The old site of this
village actually covers
part of Sto. Domingo (of
Angeles City) down to
Essel Park Subdivision
and Telabastagan (of San
Fernando) and
Calibutbut (of Bacolor).
At the heart of this old
site now runs the polluted
old river known as
the Sapang Aslam among the people of
Sto. Domingo. This river once supplied
residents with freshwater bios such as
parusparus (Telescopium sp.), susung
balibid (Telescopium sp.), bia (goby), etc.
This old crossroads once had a rugged terrain
which can hardly be seen now due to
the breadth of residential and commercial
structures. Folks still recall the old
gasgas (dirt road) located across the river
connecting the villages of Salapungan,
Highway near
San Fernando in the early 1900s
Baltang Baltangan Baltang an da da ring ring Memalen
Memalen
ning ning Pue Pueblo Pue lo San San F FFer
F er ernando er nando
Kebiauan, Telabastagan, Sindalan, Kalulut, Bulaun, Maimpis
and other villages that the colonizers failed to hispanize
By Joel Pabustan Mallari
Mangga and Pulungbulu (all of Angeles City)
towards the southern part of Telabastagan
(of San Fernando), going to the western section
of San Fernando (Calibutbut of
Bacolor), and northwest to Porac. Today this
site still serves a similar purpose of its setting;
it is near the
Just because San
Fernando was created
only in recent times does
not mean the villages
that comprise it
are just as young: the
parts are much older
than the whole
entry point of the
circumferential
road going to the
Clark Economic
Zone and also near
where the boundaries
of the cities
of Angeles and San
Fernando meet in
reference to the
Mac Arthur Hi-way.
Plant names
A barrio at the mid-southwest boundary
of San Fernando was named Alásas, apparently
derived from the tree alásas (Ficus
ulmifolia Lam.) of the balíti family.
Balíti is a basic term for all the “strangling”
figs, of Ficus family. Some of the
known species include not only alásas but
also buku-bukuan (Ficus pseudopalma
Blco.) pakiling (Ficus odorata [Blco] Merr.),
auili ( Ficus hauli Blco.), and the common
baliti varieties (Ficus benjamina L. and Fi-
American Historical Collection
cus indica L. etc..Bulaon was named after
the bulaon tree (molave or smallflower
chastetree Vitex parviflora Juss.). This
type of tree is known as lagundi in Guam
and the famous molauin in Tagalog. It is
one of the preferred wood materials for
making balutu (canoe type boat), lunas
of sarul (plowshares’ base), furnitures etc.
Calúlut, one of the oldest barrios in San
Fernando, was named after an erect tree
about 8 m high with oblong leaves, axillary
inflorescence, and many seeded fruits
known locally as kalulút. This tree is a decoction
for its bark; fresh leaves are administered
in fevers. It is also known as
anabiong and anubing by the people in the
Kapampangan-Tagalog boundaries and
anardong among the Ifugaos. It is a favorite
material for wood carving for its
softwood character just like the sacred
bulul figures of the Ifugaos. Old folks say
one would spend about 6 days just to fell
one matured tree of this kind. Another
barrio with lesser population is Lára located
near the boundary between Porac,
Bacolor and Angeles City. The name of this
barrio was derived from the plant name
lára. This plantname is a generic term for
all types of local chilis (in English) or sili
in many languages of the Philippines.
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