Place Names

You forgot Pasig City founded in 1572, Jamestown USA founded in 1607.

    You forgot Pasig City founded in 1572 ..    -@Enzyte Bob

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Yes Bob, and doing some further research, Pasig City has a major historical role

Here are some interesting facts about one of the country's oldest local government units .

MANILA, Philippines – Pasig City, which has come a long way from a rural residential area to a growing commercial center, will celebrate its 452nd founding anniversary on July 2nd 2024.

The city is one of the oldest municipalities in the Philippines, as it was established by the Augustinians in 1572. In June 1901, it was incorporated in the province, and was the provincial capital until 1975.

It then became a part of Metro Manila through Presidential Decree in 1975, and was officially converted into a city in 1994.

To commemorate Pasig City’s founding anniversary, here are some interesting facts about one of the country’s oldest local government units.

Land Area: 31 square kilometers

Population: 670,000 (as of 2010 census)

Classification: Highly urbanized city

No. of Barangays: 30

No. of Districts: 2

Head: Mayor Maria Belen Eusebio

There are several stories, legends and assumptions on where the name “Pasig” came from.

The late Dr. Jose Villa Panganiban, a former director of The Institute of National Language, said that “pasig” is an old Sanskrit word that refers to a river flowing from one body to another.

In the case of Pasig City, the word thus refers to the Pasig River, which flows from Laguna de Bay to Manila Bay.

Pasig City has a number of historical spots. These include houses that were built during the 1880s such as the Bahay na Tisa, an antique house made of adobe and capiz shells, and also the Guanio Residence, also known as the Cuartel del Guardia Civil.

The first Marian parish in the Philippines is located in Pasig – the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, is a stone church and was built during 1722 to 1760.

Pasig City had a huge contribution to national history.

One of the most important Katipunan assemblies, Asamblea Magna, took place in this city. Asamblea Magna is the meeting that took place in Bitukang Manok waterway. Bitukang Manok is also a part of Philippine history as it served as a passageway for the underground meetings of Katipuneros – where they planned on starting an uprising against the colonial Spanish forces.

On August 29, 1896, the first major battle of Katipunan, Nagsabado sa Pasig, also occurred in the area.

The Katipuneros and Pasigueños led by General Valentin Cruz successfully captured the Tribunal and Guardia Civil headquarters.

Pasig City is also one of the highly urbanized areas in the country.

Its business district, the Ortigas Center, houses offices as well as commercial and residential buildings.

Among the offices that can be found in the city include the main headquarters of the Department of Education (DepEd), the power provider Meralco, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, and San Miguel.

It also has shopping and food districts such as the well-known Kapitolyo, which boasts of the best hole-in-the-wall restaurants in the metro.

Pasig also has Capitol Commons, Tiendesitas, Metrowalk, SM Megamall, St. Francis Square, and Mutya ng Pasig Public Market, which houses not only restaurants but also shopping hubs and a number of bars.

On world records

In 2014, Time Magazine declared Pasig City as the “Selfiest City in the World” (tied with Makati City) with 258 selfie-takers per 100,000 people. Makati and Pasig were merged into one by Time’s “nearest neighbor” algorithm, which collects photos from within a radius of five miles from the city’s center.

The city also used to hold the Guinness World Record for the largest secondary school in the world. For having a population of around 20,000 students, Rizal High School in Caniogan, Pasig City, was listed as the largest secondary school in the world from 1993 until 2005. – Rappler.com

https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/98120-fast-facts-pasig-city/

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Before I visit a new country/city, I do a google check just to find out what I can before I go and remember the following about Davao.

Durian capital of Philippines.

Home of Mount Apo - highest peak in Philippines.

Like you said - largest area by land mass in Philippines.

It also comes on top or near the top of yearly polls for safest and cleanest city in Philippines.

Seems strange that most Government websites advise against travel to most parts of Mindanao including Davao when it is listed as such a safe city.

You're right Davao is a great place CA .. negative advisories are one of life's mysteries.

Sure, there was a time when religious and income differences gave cause for concern.

But since say Duterte and now Marcos, socially and economically things in the greater Davao region are improved considerably. We've a friend visiting there this week. Left yesterday. She travels by herself around Davao and the region very widely, and has never at all complained about her safety.

She loves the place

Kernel Rootentoot pontificated to the masses:`Yes Bob, and doing some further research, Pasig City has a major historical roleHere are some interesting facts about one of the country's oldest local government units .MANILA, Philippines – Pasig City, which has come a long way from a rural residential area to a growing commercial center, will celebrate its 452nd founding anniversary on July 2nd 2024.The city is one of the oldest municipalities in the Philippines, as it was established by the Augustinians in 1572. In June 1901, it was incorporated in the province, and was the provincial capital until 1975.It then became a part of Metro Manila through Presidential Decree in 1975, and was officially converted into a city in 1994.To commemorate Pasig City’s founding anniversary, here are some interesting facts about one of the country’s oldest local government units.Land Area: 31 square kilometersPopulation: 670,000 (as of 2010 census)Classification: Highly urbanized cityNo. of     etcetera...    -@Col Rootentoot

But here we are supposed to be talking about place names. One theory is about a drowning guy named Virgilio:

'A theory of origin is from the romantic story of a pair of lovers — Virgilio, a Spanish mestizo, and Paz, a Filipina beauty — who spent their evenings together on the banks of the river. One moonlit night, they were in a banca. As fate would have it, the river currents turned treacherous and their banca capsized. Virgilio, who does not know how to swim, was carried away by the current. He desperately tried to keep afloat but to no avail. He kept shouting "Paz, sigue me!" (meaning "Paz, come with me"), until all he could utter was "Paz, sig...!" and finally sank into the river. Thus, the name Pasig.'

sigi sigi (We hear that all the time). "Hey Paz, siqui me!"😂

Hmmm... maybe...maybe not...😂

The best explanation is the Sanskrit one:

'The theory that was most convincing came from the late and former Director of the Institute of National Language, Dr. Jose Villa Panganiban. Panganiban was a linguist, a polyglot, and a professor. He said that "Pasig" is came from an old Sanskrit word "passis" referring to a "river flowing from one body of water to another," as in the case of the Pasig River, flowing from Laguna de Bay (pronounced Ba-i) to Manila Bay.

Sanskrit was one of the mother languages of the Philippines long before Magellan arrived and claimed them as property of Spain. In fact, many Filipino Tagalog words find their roots in Sanskrit — such as, salita (word) or dalita (poor), or guro (teacher) or maharlika (of noble blood). And even their original writing system, called Alibata, was based on the Sanskrit form of writing.'

That little bit of ancient Philippines history was new to me, that the Sanskirt tradition survives in the name of Pasig City. Interesting.