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Pulúng Maragul is the place where the
new City Hall is located. It is literally translated
as “big forest,” probably to differentiate
it from Pulung Maragul a.k.a. Pulung
Kaputut (“small forest”), which is also in
the same vicinity. It seems that the places
with pulu (literally, an island) as part of
their toponym were once forested with either
ilib (cogon grass, Imperata cylindrica
[L.] P.Beauv.), kuaian tutu (Bambusblumeana,
J.A. & J.H. Schult Bambusa
Schreber) and other indigenous trees, thus
forming island-like sanctuary in the middle
of sandy lands.
Salapúngan is taken rom the root word
salapang, this means “a splitter”. Fray Diego
Bergaño likened the idea to the split
tongue of a barag. Presently, the place well
represents its meaning; it is a place of intersection
going to at least two road ways,
one to the city proper (Sto. Entierro St.)
and the other going any of the roads
northwestwards (like the Magnolia St.) . It
best represents rotonda of the modern traffic
scheme.
Sampaloc is a sitio found on the frontage
of barrio Cuayan after Pampang. It was
named after the tamarind tree Tamarindus
indica Linn. of the Caesalpiniaceae (a tropic
family closely related to the bean family
like bule and kamangiang). This tree originated
in Eastern Africa, but is now growing
all over the tropics. Its etymology came
from the Arabic tamr hindi which simply
means “date of India” (“date” being a general
name for the fruits of various palm
trees); needless to say, tamarind neither
stems from India nor is it related to palm
trees. In spite of this deficiency, loan translations
of this name have made their way
VIEW FROM THE LEFT BELFRY. Sto. Rosario and Pulung Bulu in the 1890s. The Angeles municipal hall is in the left foreground.
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into English, German (Indische Dattel) and
Russian (Indiyskiy finik. It is no wonder that
contemporary Kapampangans include
taramindu or tamarindu to their collection
of glossaries which pertains to the dried
ripe fruits of this tree.
San Jose was one of the early barrio of
the then Culiat town, named by the people
after their patron saint San Jose Labrador
or Apung Jose Talapagobra.
San Nicolás formerly known (partly) as
Talimundoc for “rocky, dry upland or hilly
area.” Part of the barrio intersects with
Lourdes Sur East. It was named after their
patron saint San Nicolas Tolentino.
Santo Domingo formerly known as
Tibág (either “steep gorge” or “crumbled
earth, rocks etc” or “landslided area on the
mountain side or riverside,” or colloquially,
“demolition.”) At present a sitio named
tibag is located in the boundary of San Jose
and Sto. Domingo near the Sapang Balen
Creek, also running parallel along the old
railroad. It is a popular squatting area for
newcomers in the city.
Santa Teresita known before as part of
the malángo village. Large droves of lango
(housefly Musca domestica) infested the
area due to garbage dumps in the
palengking laun (old marketplace of San
Nicolas) and old Pampang.
Santo Cristo obviously named after
their patron saint Santo Cristo del Perdon,
the image of the Crucified Christ.
Santol came from the popular fruit
tree, Sandoricum koetjape (Burm.f.) Merr.
This fruit and sampalok, when unripe, are
used as panaslam for the daily sigang (sour
soup) of Kapampangans. This old village is
now part of Barrio Anunas. The santol tree
is believed native to former Indochina (especially
Cambodia and southern Laos) and
Malaya, and to have been long ago introduced
into India, the Andaman Islands,
Malaysia, Indonesia, the Moluccas,
Mauritius, and the Philippines where it has
become naturalized. The southern town of
Masantol, formerly a barrio of Macabebe,
was also named after the tree.
Santo Rosario, the poblacion or town
proper of old Culiat, apparently deriving
its name from its patron saint Nuestra
Señora De Santissimo Rosario de la Naval.
The same thing is true with one of the oldest
streets of the city, the Santo Rosario
Street.
Sapalibutad from sápa (“creek”) and
libutad (“middle”). This placename does
not say if the river is between two villages
or between two land formations. It is a barrio
south of Pulung Cacutud touching the
boundary of Mexico in the east.
Sapangbato is the westernmost village
of the city. Its name came from Sápang
(“creek of” or “river of”) and bato (“stone”).
Apparently, huge boulders of volcanic origin
littered (and still litter) this hillside-riverside
barrio. The site may have contained a quarry
of calcareous rocks (such as adobe and
planas), dacite and pumiceous rocks used in
the early times in the construction of
pisamban (Catholic churches such as the Holy
Rosary Parish Church), bale batu (colonial
houses like the Bale Herencia), large kamalig
(rice granaries) etc. This old barrio comprises
some of the upland sitios like Sitio Babo populated
mostly by the Baluga (Kapampangan
speaking Aita) and Sitio Baliti. Sapangbato is
one of the old sites of the frequently moving
Fort Stotsenberg, which was integrated later
Our Islands and their Possessions