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Statue of National Hero Jose Rizal at the Nijaga
Park.
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HISTORICAL
BACKGROUND
A.
Historical
Calbayog began as early as 1600 in a settlement called
Hibatang by the river bank 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 Anislag was the forerunner of Calbayog settlement.
The Barangay is located along the river bank of Oquendo River, about ten
kilometers north of the city proper. Historical remains of what was
once a village church can be noticed by travelers passing this barangay.
The place was often visited by flood during stormy days; so Anislag
settlement became unsafe. The hardy settlers left the place in
balotos (bancas) and hastily rigged bamboo rafts following the river
towards the sea. At Cahumpan (now Barangay Cahumpan) they decided to
stop just for a moment’s break. Somehow, at the spur of the moment and
by common consent, they settled down at Cahumpan to start life anew.
More settlers came; some crossed the river to Sabang (now Barangay
Trinidad). After a certain period of time, the restless settlers moved
again and settled at Taboc (now Barangay Obrero), a settlement facing the
open Samar Sea. The place was once a vast swampland which extended
from the present Nijaga Park, where the monument of National hero, Dr. Jose
P. Rizal and local hero Benedicto P. Nijaga is now erected.
Taboc is the place where the name Calbayog began. Taboc, so 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 the place
has 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
guardian civil asked for the name of the place. The fishermen
mistaking the query for another thing answered “tikang kami kan Bayog”
(We came from Bayog), with the correct query and 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.
Calbayog rose to political and religious prominence after the American era
and became the seat of Roman Catholicism in Samar when the Diocese of
Calbayog was created on April 10, 1910.
Republic Act No. 328 made Calbayog a city on October 16, 1948. In 1961
R.A. 328 repealed by R.A. 3879, an act which revised the City Charter.
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Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral