13/06/2024
Barangay Sto. Domingo, one of the emersion sites of the rover moot...
A BRIEF HISTORY OF BARANGAY SANTO DOMINGO
Barangay Santo Domingo was formerly known as Lamboon. Patag which is now an independent barangay, Linanlinan and Camambangan were former sitios under the jurisdiction of Lamboon.
Lamboon is from the root word "lambo" which means unripe or unripened. Unfortunately, the place came to be named as such because it used to be that landowners in the place could not enjoy the fruits of their plants because thieves would already steal and gather these fruits even before they riped. "Lamboon pa, inkakalit na," (The fruits are still unripened but they would already be stolen) became a once popular line.
The book "Historia Nin Banuaan" by Sabiniano Gacias narrates the origin of the name Lamboon thus:
"May sadit na barrio, pag-gnaran Lamboon,
Iyong dating apod can magna panahon,
Harani sa banua, na con lalacauon,
May dos kilometros dagnan mo abuton.
"Huling abundancia nin magna cacanon,
lanca, pili, ogob patin magna botong,
Day nacahinog asin ta canayon,
Pinopodo tolos, sa hayag nahilom.
"Dahil ta lambo pa na pinagcacacan,
Na siring man sana, lambo nin cawayan,
Na tolos man sana, sinda gninaranan,
Iyo an Lamboon, saindang tinodan."
Trans.:
"There was a small barrio named Lamboon,
It was thus called during those times,
Near the poblacion, and if you would travel by foot,
About two kilometers and you would reach it.
"Since it was abundant with food,
Jackfruit, pilinut and bamboo roots,
They couldn't ripen since the neighbors,
Would gather them at once.
"Since they were eaten unriped,
Just like an unripened bamboo,
At once they called it,
Lamboon, it was thus named."
What makes Lamboon, now Barangay Santo Domingo, unique and distinct from the other twenty-seven barangays of the municipality is the fact that residents of this barangay speak a Bicolano dialect that is more Albayano than Irosinon. It is the only barangay in Irosin wherein residents speak the Albayano rather than the Irosinon tongue.
What occasioned such unique trait?
Back in the late 19th century, Lamboon, Patag and Camambangan were a vast track of coconut and abaca lands owned by only two prominent persons in the municipality -- the northern part was owned by Don Ramon Galindes while the southern part was owned by Don Luciano Gabito. Don Ramon and Don Luciano were not only the best of friends, now aptly described by the acnonym BFF; they were also united by one common link: the name Gacias. Don Luciano was married to Lilay Gacias while Don Ramon's unica hija Rosa was married to Don Pedro Gacias.
Don Ramon was originally from Lib-og, Albay of then Partido de Tabaco. He migrated to Gin-ay when his brother priest Valentin was assigned in Bulusan. He became one of the founders of Yrocin and became its chief head called Gobernadorcillo from 1887 to 1888. Don Luciano Gabito in turn also became the chief head of the town, which was later called Capitan Municipal, from 1894 to 1899.
In 1897, Mayon Volcano in Albay erupted, buried the town of Bacacay 15 meters beneath the lava and caused the death of at least 100 people in Lib-og. To help the evacuating Lib-oganons, Don Ramon brought some of his relatives and friends from Lib-og to Irosin and gave them houses and work in his estate in Lamboon. "Magroturar," was how they described work on a person's estate during those times. When Don Luciano saw how productive the estate of Don Ramon had become because of the Lib-oganons, he requested Don Ramon to invite more Lib-oganons to Irosin to also work ("magroturar") on his own estate. And so, more people from Lib-og and other Albay towns like Bacacay came and settled in Lamboon and worked on the estates of Don Ramon and Don Luciano.
Hence, some of the persons who first settled in Lamboon and became barrio lieutenants were Saturnino Balase, Eustaquio Balingasa, Cecelio Balaoro, Marcelo Banastao, Malicio Belesario, Anastacio Aurellano, Eusebio Balaoro, Juan Balase, Leoncio Millapre, Lorenzo Rodriguez, Marcelo Rodriguez, Florencio Balderama, Pedro Ballano, Sulpicio Fuensalida and Pedro Azurin.
Why do most surnames of people in Lamboon start with the letter B? It is because the letter B was assigned as the starting letter of surnames for people who live in Lib-og, Albay when Gobernador General Narcisco Claveria decreed the hispanization and cataloguing of surnames for Filipinos in 1849.
The Lib-oganons who migrated to Lamboon are very patriotic of Lib-og, Albay, and they remain so. First, they retained the Albayanon tongue as their spoken language. That remains true even today, more than a century after their ancestors have first reached Lamboon. Then, when they chose their patron saint for their place, they chose Santo Domingo, after the patron saint of Lib-og. Last but not least, when Lib-og changed its name to Santo Domingo because of the negative connotation of the name Lib-og especially for people from Manila, and when people in Lamboon also had the chance to adopt an official name for their place, they rejected Lamboon and chose Santo Domingo as the official name of the barangay.
Today, the barangay is named Santo Domingo, the patron saint of the barangay is Santo Domingo, and the people in the barangay still speak the Albayanon tongue -- more than a century after the first Lib-oganons have reached this place.
One disaster may be considered etched in the annals of history of Lamboon, now Santo Domingo: On December 24, 1932, a catastrophe occurred in Irosin, particularly in Lamboon. Several days of non-stop rains caused a huge erosion in this place. That fateful event is now referred to as the "Inundasyon." At least eight hectares of land collapsed in a place which is now referred to as "Inulpacan." Soils and rocks were eroded and swept by the floods. There were destruction of houses and animals, trees were uprooted and carried by the floods and several people perished. Some houses of light materials, still with candles lit, were seen being swept by the floods. Women and children were heard screaming and animals were wailing. The sitio of Linanlinan was almost wiped out.
During the Second World War, Filipino guerillas established their command post in the the barrio and the school building was turned into a storage of military supplies. A few of them were executed by the Japanese forces.
Santo Domingo, according to the NSO 2015 census, had a total population of 950, with 226 households and an average household size of 4.20.
Photo: Children helping in copra production ("paglukad") in Lamboon
