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ORIGIN OF PLACENAMES IN ANGELES
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ning ning Ma Matuang Ma tuang Culia Culiat Culia
Pampang, Balibago, Anunas, Pulungbulu, Malabanias, Talimunduk
and other ancient placenames that hint at the town’s pre-Culiat existence
By Joel Pabustan Mallari and Roel Manaloto
Agapito Del Rosario, a present
baranggay named after Agapito Jose Del
Rosario y Abad Santos.. San Fernando-born
Del Rosario (he was the son of Isabelo del
Rosario, the Kapampangan martyr who
played his violin
moments
before the
Americans executed
him)
was the famous
Socialist mayor
of Angeles
(1940-1942)
and one of the
founders of the
Upsilon Sigma
Agapito del Rosario
Phi, the oldest
Greek-letter
fraternity in
Asia. Together with his uncle Pedro Abad
Santos, leader of the biggest peasant organization
in Central Luzon, and other
peasant leaders, Del Rosario rallied the
peasants to become a potent force in Philippine
politics. They fielded candidates
representing the peasantry in the 1940 local
elections, including those in the key
towns of Angeles and San Fernando.
Shortly after Japan invaded the Philippines
in December, 1941, Mayor Del Rosario was
put on the list of officials to be arrested
immediately. After securing the safety of
his family, he met with other anti-Japanese
leaders in Manila, where he was eventually
caught and imprisoned at Fort
Bonifacio. When he refused to swear allegiance
to the Japanese flag, he was executed,
just like his father before him. He
was only 41 years old.
Amsíc a barrio named after an erect,
branched, glabrous or nearly glabrous
herb, 1m high or less; also spelled amsík,
amisík or amsí (Solanum nigrum L.). It is
known in English as the many varieties of
nightshade, hierba mora in Spanish and
kunti in Tagalog. This herb belongs to the
same family of balasenas (eggplants) which
differed (slightly) from what Mariano
Henson noted as a kind of timber-tree. This
area once belonged to sitios Anunas and
old Pampang. The old location was on the
merging point of the Pasig (Potrero downstream)
River and the upstream of Abacan
River. It was one of Culiat’s three new additional
barrios in 1829 with San Nicolas of
the Poblacion and San Jose.
Anunas is a baranggay that took its
name from the native fruit-bearing custard
apple (Anona reticulata Linn.). It is a
native of tropical America and introduced
Angeles plaza in 1945 (Walter Huecker)
only in the Philippines sometime ago. This
tree belongs to the family of Anona said to
be derived from the Malay name menona
(minuna in Kapampangan?) having 3 varieties
in the Philippines to which atis and
bena-bana (guyabano) belong. The village
used to be known as Pulung Anunas and was
one of the 4 new barrios of Culiat in 1812,
together with Sto. Rosario, Cutcut and
Pampang.
Balibágo is one of the busiest entertainment
districts in Central Luzon. Its name
came from the much-branched tree of 4 to
12 m height, Hibiscus tiliaceus Linn. During
the early days it was valued in making
ropes for its flexible bark. This is actually
common in the tropics and throughout the
Philippines, especially in places near the
sea. This plant that belongs to the hibiscus
family includes the favorite variegated species
common in gardens which also includes
varieties of gumamela and malutú (or
malibago). Thus the placename balibago
should not be mistaken as having been derived
from the synthesis of the two words
bale + bago (“new house”). In fact bago is
not a Kapampangan term for new; otherwise
it should have been called as balebaiu.
In Cuta, an old sitio of barrio Anilao in the
town of Bongabong, Oriental Mindoro, the
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