HISTORY...

(From Gibalong to Ibalon: The First Mass in Luzon Island)

When the Spanish conquistador, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, who was then based
in Panay Island in the Visayas, dispatched, sometime between 1565 to 1570, to this part of
the islands an expeditionary force headed by Capitan Luis Enriquez de Guzman, together
with their chaplain, the Augustinian friar, Fray Alonso Jimenez, primarily to gather
provisions for the starving Spanish force in Panay, and at the same time, evangelize
whatever native villages they might come upon in the course of their foray, the group
stumbled upon a small fishing village at the mouth of the Ginangra River, in what is now
the Municipality of Magallanes.
This was the village of Gibalong, the very first Christian settlement in the island of
Luzon. It was here where the first mass in Luzon was celebrated by the Augustinian friar,
Fray Alonso Jimenez.
Thus, the name Ibalong, to refer to the whole of Bikol Region, really came from
this small fishing village, Gibalong, which is now a mere sitio of Barangay Siuton, in
Magallanes town, where the local parish constructed sometime in the 1970s a small
wooden chapel and a concrete historical marker on the site. In some old Spanish maps,
the Spanish cartographers even retained the original spelling by identifying, either the
whole Bikol Region or parts of it – Tierra de Gibalong. In his book, From Ibalon to
Sorsogon: A Historical Survey of Sorsogon Province to 1905 (New Day Pub. QC,
Philippines, 1991), Dr. Luis C. Dery writes, “Historical records showed that the Spaniards
started using the name Ibalon as early as 1567 to refer variously to a pre-Spanish native
settlement in Sorsogon Gulf, to the entire Bicol Region, and sometimes to the entire island
of Luzon. The Spaniards’ indiscriminate use of this name was due to their inadequate
knowledge of Bicol geography at the outset of their exploration and conquest of the region.
Gradually, they were able to delimit Ibalon and the rest of Kabikolan’s territory.”
Sorsogon became a province, separate from the Province of Albay to which it was
formerly attached, in 1894. This is the reason why, in 1994 the centennial foundation
anniversary of the Province started to be commemorated and celebrated with a festival –
the Kasanggayahan Festival – every October of each year.
How Sorsogon got to be Sorsogon . . .
The name Sorsogon was originally spelled “solsogon” in most old Spanish
maps. Solsogon is an old Bikol word, meaning, “to trace a river going upstream”. The
rootword “solsog” is Bikol for “going against the current”. It is also variously pronounced
and spelled as “sogsogon” or “sosogon”, which all really mean the same thing – “to trace a
river, a trail, or a pathway”.
As the old folks story goes, after establishing a settlement in Gibalong, in what is
now the town of Magallanes, the Spaniards fanned out to explore the area and one group
soon came upon a small river emptying itself into what is now Sorsogon Bay. Tired and
lost and not knowing where they were, the Spaniards asked a native about the name of
the place. Ignorant of the Iberian tongue, and fearful of the white men with the funny hats
and bushy countenances, the native, thinking that the strangers were asking for directions,
simply pointed at the river and said, “Solsogon”, meaning, trace the river upstream to a
native village beyond. And the name stuck.
From Solsogon to Sorsogon. The people of Sorsogon invites everyone, from
whichever corner of the world they are, to trace the path towards the beautiful and most
hospitable Province of Sorsogon.