Calbayog, Western Samar Etymology
- Jack Maico
- Jun 12
- 3 min read
Taboc is the place where the name Calbayog began. Taboc, legend says, once abounded with “Bayog” trees. They were cut down and burned for fuel in making “Cal” (lime) out of sea shells and corals. From these two things, the Spaniards called the place “Calbayog”. The second version says that there was once a man named “Bayog”. It so happened that there was no other path leading to the sea except at Bayog’s place. Fishermen used to say “tikang kami kan Bayog” (we came from Bayog) or “makadto kami kan Bayog” (we shall go to Bayog).
One day, a “guardia civil” asked for the name of the place. The fisherman, mistaking the query for another thing, answered, “Tikang kami kan Bayog” (We came from Bayog). With the correct query and a wrong answer, the Spaniard took the last words, “kan Bayog”, for the name of the settlement. A lot of tongue-twisting and mispronunciation changed the original name of Calbayog.
Source: https://calbayog.gov.ph/history/
Special credits: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calbayog_Cathedral
Church in town: 𝐒𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐥
Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, also known as the Parish of Our Lady's Nativity and commonly known as Calbayog Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in the city of Calbayog, Samar province, Philippines. It is the seat of the Diocese of Calbayog, a suffragan of the Palo Archdiocese. Being the first cathedral designated in Eastern Visayas in 1913, it is considered the mother church of the region
The Jesuits established the would-be Calbayog parish in a settlement named "Jibatan," which became a visita of the parish of Capul in 1599. It was consequently transferred to the Franciscan administration in 1768. In 1785, the visita became a parish of its own under the patronage of the Nativity of Our Lady.
The parish priest of Calbayog in 1835, Fr. Jose Gomez of Huerce, Spain, when he was only 26 years old, commenced the construction of the present-day cathedral in 1840. The foundation of the church was laid by him, putting up solid 2.40 meters-thick stone and brick walls and roofing the building with nipa. Executed in the Baroque-Romanesque style, the ground plan of the church exhibits a cruciform shape and has a circular dome above the center of the transept. In 1855, Fr. Francisco Juan Moreno de Montalbanejo expanded the height, length, and width of the church. Fr. Carra continued the reconstruction of the structure. The church was added with exterior buttresses, and a convent was built in the 1870s by Fr. Salustiano Bus. The façade and the campanario were built in 1871 by Fr. Juan Ferreras. Under the parish priest from 1890 to 1894, Fr. Damian Peña, the ceiling was built, and the galvanized iron roof was installed. Fr. Antonio Sanchez, parish priest from 1894 to 1898, beautified the church's interior and sanctuary was paved with marble, and the retablo was built. He also built another convent that later will house the Colegio Seminario de San Vicente de Paul.
𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
Calbayog began as early as 1600 in a settlement called Hibatang on the riverbank of the present Oquendo River. It had 2,000 inhabitants under the spiritual guidance of a certain Jesuit, Father Ignacio de Alzina. The present barangay of Anislag was the forerunner of the Calbayog settlement.
𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐠:
- St. Peter and Paul Cathedral
- Malajog zipline and ridge nature park
- Tarangban Falls
- Pan-as Falls
- Ton-ok Falls
- Guinogo-an Cave
- Nijaga Park
- Gaisano Grand Mall Calbayog
- Daraga Island
- Samar Archaeological Museum
- Mapaso Hot Spring
- Bangon Falls
- Almagro Island
- Ten 4's Disco
𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐠:
- Jose Avelino (the first president of the Senate of the Third Republic of the Philippines and the second president of the Liberal Party. He was Senate President pro tempore to President Manuel Quezon before the establishment of the Commonwealth.)
𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐲 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐠:
- Ronaldo Aquino (was a Filipino accountant and politician who served as mayor of the city of Calbayog, Samar. He and his three companions were assassinated in March 8, 2021)
- Jose Avelino (first president of the Senate of the Third Republic of the Philippines and the second president of the Liberal Party)
- Pedro Dean (Filipino Archbishop who served as Archbishop of Palo from 12 October 1985 until 18 March 2006)
- Buddy Gomez (Filipino journalist/businessman)
- Chito S. Rono (Filipino writer/producer/director)
- Julio Rosales ( the second Archbishop of Cebu) was a Filipino cardinal of the Catholic Church.)
- Mel Senen Sarmiento (Filipino politician)
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