Art by Denis Binguet

THE LEGEND OF COLDILLERA PLACES

BAGUIO===>

Legend has it that when the Americans reached Kafagway

they asked the natives for the name of the place and most

likely pointed to the soil. Not understanding what they were

saying, the Ibalois gave the name of the mossy flowering

plant that covered the ground "bag-iw," which the Americans

pronounced "bag-i-...yo."

KAPANGAN, BENGUET===>

Long long time ago, an American visited a place that

he didn’t know. The people there saw the American and

thought it was a visitor so the people were to offer him

to eat. When a man went to him and to ask the American,

the American suddenly spoke.

“What is the name of this place?” the American asked

the man coming near to him. The man did not understand

what the American said because their language there

is Kankana-ey or Ibaloi. The man did not understand it so

he just offered the American to eat and said, “ka pangan”

(which means: come and eat).

The American thought that it is the name of that place,

Kapangan. So that beautiful place is now known as the

Municipality of Kapangan. And it is also a practice of the

people in Kapangan that if there is a visitor, they will

offer them food to eat.

And there are many beautiful places in Kapangan, an

example is the Amburayan River where some people

visit there and take a bath or catch some sea animals.

BENGUET===>

The name Benguet was first pronounced in La Trinidad,

a thriving settlement at the crossroads to the lowland

trading sites during the period of Spanish expeditions.

La Trinidad then was a settlement around a lake alive

with wildlife, wallowing carabaos dotted with patches of

taro, rice, gabi and camote.

In one expedition, a curious Spanish conquistador who

saw this settlement noted that the people wore cloth

coverings wrapped around their head several times.

When he inquired about it, the native explained that the

heavy head covering which the people wore as protection

from the searing cold and winds is termed “benget”.

With the western accent of the colonizers “benget”

was mispronounced as “benguet”. In time, it eventually

became a general reference to the territories of the

Iggorotes peopled by the Ibaloi, Kankanaey, Kalangoya,

and other minor tribes.

BUGUIAS===>

The name of the Municipality of “Buguias” was derived

from the word “BUGAS” meaning “rice” in the local

vernacular. “Bugas” refers to the local cereal purposely

used for fermenting wine. Local legend has it that the term

“Bugas” emerged when a certain American soldier got lost

while on his way to Kabayan, a nearby municipality.

The foreigner came upon a group of native women

somewhere in the southern part of the town pounding rice

and he consequently asked the natives of his whereabouts.

The natives gratefully answered, “Bugas” thinking that the

foreigner was asking the name of what they are pounding.

The word was naturally Americanized to read and be

pronounced later as Buguias (Bug-yas) and consequently

adopted as the official name of the municipality.

Another local legend claims that Buguias got its name from

the word “BOGEY-YAS,” a popular igorot settlement during

the pre-Spanish time. Through the years, the word evolved

as “BUGUIAS” until the dawn of the colonization period.

BAUKO===>

One day, the pregnant sow got out of its pen and never

came back. The couple searched the immediate vicinity but

the pig is nowhere to be found. Adian searched farther

where she discovered the sow’s footprints headed eastward

going down the lower dike-like mountain called Kamanbaneng.

They followed the footprints until they reached a cave-in near

a spring in Mt. Kipay-an where they finally saw the pig.

The area is packed with trees called “Baukok.” Padoka

surveyed the land and found out that it has a good and

friendly terrain which made him decide to transfer his whole

family there.

As the number of people who live in this place expanded as

a result of migration and intermarriage between the children

of Padoka and Adian and nearby communities, there began

rampant cutting down of trees which they used to build houses.

As the number of trees dwindled, the descendants of Opeg,

son of Padoka and Adian started calling the place “Baukok”

which served as memory of the trees that once abounded in

the place. This later on evolved to Bauko which is how this

municipality is now known.

APAYAO===>

According to a legend, Apayao is derived from the combination

from the Ilocano word “Apay” meaning “Why” and Tagalog word

“Ayaw” meaning “Don’t like”, the legend tells of an Ilocano and

Tagalog who accidentally met in one forest of the province.

The Ilocano ask, “Apay adaka ditoy?”

to which the Tagalog answered,”Ayaw” thinking that Ilocano is

offering food. Not understanding each other, they fought. Men

from a nearby village the two men fighting and hearing the word

“Apay” and “Ayaw”. The place was then referred as Apay-ayaw

by the villagers thus came the name Apayao