Origin Of The Name Libon
Origin of the Name Libon Early Spanish documents referred to the town as Libong, a name it retained roughly until the nineteenth century, when the letter “g” was dropped. A number of interpretations were given about the origin of its name. An 1823 history of municipalities written by a former governor of Camarines, Antonio de
Siguenza, claimed that it was adopted from the name of of one of Juan de Salcedo’s captains.
This theory could easily be dismissed since no officer of that expedition bore such name. Others thought that it was derived from the Bicol term ribong, which means, to loose one’s sense of direction or to be puzzled, to be disoriented. Others claimed that it came from libon which means to assault or to raid. This last interpretation seems to offer a more reasoned explanation. In his Vocabulario de la Lengua Vicol composed in the last years of the sixteenth century,
Fray Marcos de Lisboa, defined libong as matar salteando por los caminos o hurtar gallina o puerco. This translates to this: “To kill by raiding through the roads or to steal chicken or pig.”
Such explanation was accepted even by the late nineteenth century Spanish writer and governor of Albay Juan Alvarez Guerra, who also attributed the origin to the same meaning
“to kill during raids.” To fully appreciate the meaning of this term in the large context of the
Bikolano culture, a brief incursion into this preHispanic custom is necessary. Excerpt from
Villa Santiago de Libon
Kabikolan’s First Spanish Citadel by Danilo Madrid Gerona
Copyright 2010
Municipality of Libon
Siguenza, claimed that it was adopted from the name of of one of Juan de Salcedo’s captains.
This theory could easily be dismissed since no officer of that expedition bore such name. Others thought that it was derived from the Bicol term ribong, which means, to loose one’s sense of direction or to be puzzled, to be disoriented. Others claimed that it came from libon which means to assault or to raid. This last interpretation seems to offer a more reasoned explanation. In his Vocabulario de la Lengua Vicol composed in the last years of the sixteenth century,
Fray Marcos de Lisboa, defined libong as matar salteando por los caminos o hurtar gallina o puerco. This translates to this: “To kill by raiding through the roads or to steal chicken or pig.”
Such explanation was accepted even by the late nineteenth century Spanish writer and governor of Albay Juan Alvarez Guerra, who also attributed the origin to the same meaning
“to kill during raids.” To fully appreciate the meaning of this term in the large context of the
Bikolano culture, a brief incursion into this preHispanic custom is necessary. Excerpt from
Villa Santiago de Libon
Kabikolan’s First Spanish Citadel by Danilo Madrid Gerona
Copyright 2010
Municipality of Libon