https://scene.ph/stories/philippines-named-by-a-starving-fleet2026-10-08https://scene.ph/media/stories/philippines-named-by-a-starving-fleet/poster-v1.jpgThe Philippines got its name from a starving fleetIn 1543 a hungry Spanish fleet named a few islands after a sixteen-year-old prince. Months earlier it had named Mindanao after his father. Only the son's name stayed.https://scene.ph/media/stories/philippines-named-by-a-starving-fleet/film-v1.mp4552026-10-08T00:00:00+08:00yesnono https://scene.ph/stories/luzon-and-the-rice-mortar2026-10-08https://scene.ph/media/stories/luzon-and-the-rice-mortar/poster-v1.jpgIs Luzon named after a rice mortar?They say Luzon is named after the lusong, the wooden mortar for pounding rice. The oldest records, from Ming China to Pigafetta's word list, leave a strange clue, but no record of a naming.https://scene.ph/media/stories/luzon-and-the-rice-mortar/film-v1.mp4582026-10-08T00:00:00+08:00yesnono https://scene.ph/stories/visayas-the-painted-ones2026-10-08https://scene.ph/media/stories/visayas-the-painted-ones/poster-v1.jpgSpain called the Visayans the painted onesBefore they were called Visayans, Spain called them Pintados, for tattoos earned by bravery. Where the word Bisaya comes from, nobody knows for sure; a Bornean legend has its own answer.https://scene.ph/media/stories/visayas-the-painted-ones/film-v1.mp4512026-10-08T00:00:00+08:00yesnono https://scene.ph/stories/mindanao-before-it-was-mindanao2026-10-08https://scene.ph/media/stories/mindanao-before-it-was-mindanao/poster-v1.jpgBefore it was Mindanao, it had at least three other namesCesarea Karoli, the Filipina Island, Bindanao: Europeans tried several names before the local one won. Magindanao, Saleeby wrote in 1905, is the place that floods.https://scene.ph/media/stories/mindanao-before-it-was-mindanao/film-v1.mp4592026-10-08T00:00:00+08:00yesnono https://scene.ph/stories/bangsamoro-a-people-defined-by-a-moment2026-10-09https://scene.ph/media/stories/bangsamoro-a-people-defined-by-a-moment/poster-v1.jpgBangsamoro: a people defined by a momentThe 2018 Organic Law defines the Bangsamoro by who was native when Spanish colonization began. Behind it: a mosque dated 1380, the sultanates, and place names that mean current, lake and far.https://scene.ph/media/stories/bangsamoro-a-people-defined-by-a-moment/film-v1.mp4612026-10-09T00:00:00+08:00yesnono https://scene.ph/stories/bicol-region-the-day-mayon-moved-a-town2026-10-09https://scene.ph/media/stories/bicol-region-the-day-mayon-moved-a-town/poster-v1.jpgBicol Region: the day Mayon moved a townTradition says Bicol is named for a bending river. On 1 February 1814 Mayon buried Cagsawa; the town moved to Daraga, and in 1914 the Bicol Region made a pilgrimage to the ruins.https://scene.ph/media/stories/bicol-region-the-day-mayon-moved-a-town/film-v1.mp4562026-10-09T00:00:00+08:00yesnono https://scene.ph/stories/cagayan-valley-the-cave-and-the-giant-province2026-10-09https://scene.ph/media/stories/cagayan-valley-the-cave-and-the-giant-province/poster-v1.jpgCagayan Valley: the cave and the giant provinceA foot bone found in Callao Cave in 2007 led to Homo luzonensis, a human species named in 2019. The valley above was once one province covering all of northeast Luzon.https://scene.ph/media/stories/cagayan-valley-the-cave-and-the-giant-province/film-v1.mp4602026-10-09T00:00:00+08:00yesnono https://scene.ph/stories/calabarzon-every-name-was-something-else2026-10-09https://scene.ph/media/stories/calabarzon-every-name-was-something-else/poster-v1.jpgCALABARZON: every name was something elseCALABARZON is made of five province names, and most of them changed. Batangas was Kumintang, then Taal; Quezon was Kalilayan, then Tayabas. Cavite's hook story is told as a tradition.https://scene.ph/media/stories/calabarzon-every-name-was-something-else/film-v1.mp4592026-10-09T00:00:00+08:00yesnono https://scene.ph/stories/caraga-the-name-that-came-back2026-10-09https://scene.ph/media/stories/caraga-the-name-that-came-back/poster-v1.jpgCaraga: the name that vanished and came backThey say Caraga comes from calag, spirit. Pigafetta wrote Calagan in 1521. The province was split in 1849, the name returned as a region in 1995, and the town called Caraga sits in Davao Oriental.https://scene.ph/media/stories/caraga-the-name-that-came-back/film-v1.mp4592026-10-09T00:00:00+08:00yesnono https://scene.ph/stories/central-luzon-capitals-on-the-move2026-10-09https://scene.ph/media/stories/central-luzon-capitals-on-the-move/poster-v1.jpgCentral Luzon: capitals on the moveBacolor, Malolos, San Isidro and Cabanatuan each served as a capital of the Philippines between 1762 and 1899, before the government moved on to Tarlac.https://scene.ph/media/stories/central-luzon-capitals-on-the-move/film-v1.mp4592026-10-09T00:00:00+08:00yesnono https://scene.ph/stories/central-visayas-the-gift-found-again2026-10-09https://scene.ph/media/stories/central-visayas-the-gift-found-again/poster-v1.jpgCentral Visayas: the gift found againIn 1521 Magellan gave Cebu's queen a wooden image of the Child Jesus. In 1565 one of Legazpi's soldiers found an image of the Child Jesus in a Cebu house, judged evidently the same.https://scene.ph/media/stories/central-visayas-the-gift-found-again/film-v1.mp4592026-10-09T00:00:00+08:00yesnono https://scene.ph/stories/cordillera-when-it-was-one-mountain-province2026-10-09https://scene.ph/media/stories/cordillera-when-it-was-one-mountain-province/poster-v1.jpgWhen the whole Cordillera was one provinceIn 1908 a single Mountain Province covered the Cordillera. It was split in 1966 and came back together as a region in 1987. The legend of Benguet's name is told as a legend.https://scene.ph/media/stories/cordillera-when-it-was-one-mountain-province/film-v1.mp4592026-10-09T00:00:00+08:00yesnono https://scene.ph/stories/davao-region-the-name-the-river-gave-back2026-10-09https://scene.ph/media/stories/davao-region-the-name-the-river-gave-back/poster-v1.jpgDavao Region: the name the river gave backDavao was once Nueva Vergara. Its people asked for the river's name, which the city's history traces to Bagobo words. Davao became official in 1868 and names the whole region today.https://scene.ph/media/stories/davao-region-the-name-the-river-gave-back/film-v1.mp4592026-10-09T00:00:00+08:00yesnono https://scene.ph/stories/eastern-visayas-the-first-name-san-lazaro2026-10-09https://scene.ph/media/stories/eastern-visayas-the-first-name-san-lazaro/poster-v1.jpgEastern Visayas: San Lazaro, the first nameOn 17 March 1521 Magellan's crew landed on Homonhon and called the islands the archipelago of San Lazaro, the country's first European name. Felipinas came 22 years later.https://scene.ph/media/stories/eastern-visayas-the-first-name-san-lazaro/film-v1.mp4592026-10-09T00:00:00+08:00yesnono https://scene.ph/stories/ilocos-region-our-dialect-salt-and-a-union2026-10-09https://scene.ph/media/stories/ilocos-region-our-dialect-salt-and-a-union/poster-v1.jpgIlocos: our dialect, salt and a unionThe oldest name of the Ilocos is said to mean 'our dialect'. One Ilocos split in 1818, La Union was named in 1850, and Pangasinan is said to mean 'where salt is made'.https://scene.ph/media/stories/ilocos-region-our-dialect-salt-and-a-union/film-v1.mp4602026-10-09T00:00:00+08:00yesnono https://scene.ph/stories/mimaropa-the-region-that-spells-its-islands2026-10-09https://scene.ph/media/stories/mimaropa-the-region-that-spells-its-islands/poster-v1.jpgMIMAROPA: the region that spells its islandsMIMAROPA is an acronym of its islands. In 2005 one order moved Palawan to Western Visayas and another froze it; a 2016 law named the region the Southwestern Tagalog Region.https://scene.ph/media/stories/mimaropa-the-region-that-spells-its-islands/film-v1.mp4602026-10-09T00:00:00+08:00yesnono https://scene.ph/stories/ncr-the-capital-that-was-not-manila2026-10-09https://scene.ph/media/stories/ncr-the-capital-that-was-not-manila/poster-v1.jpgFor 27 years, the capital was not ManilaQuezon City was the capital for 27 years, and Metro Manila was only put together in 1975: four cities and thirteen towns. Even Manila's name has two competing stories.https://scene.ph/media/stories/ncr-the-capital-that-was-not-manila/film-v1.mp4592026-10-09T00:00:00+08:00yesnono https://scene.ph/stories/negros-island-region-the-region-that-came-back2026-10-09https://scene.ph/media/stories/negros-island-region-the-region-that-came-back/poster-v1.jpgNegros Island Region: the region that came backCreated in 2015, revoked in 2017 and re-created by law in 2024 with Siquijor, the Negros Island Region carries a name a 1975 tax decree had already used. Its island was once Buglas.https://scene.ph/media/stories/negros-island-region-the-region-that-came-back/film-v1.mp4592026-10-09T00:00:00+08:00yesnono https://scene.ph/stories/northern-mindanao-the-river-that-got-its-gold2026-10-09https://scene.ph/media/stories/northern-mindanao-the-river-that-got-its-gold/poster-v1.jpgNorthern Mindanao: the river that got its goldCagayan has long meant river. In 1950 the city charter added de Oro, which the city says honours gold mined in its hinterland. Since 1975 it has led Region X, Northern Mindanao.https://scene.ph/media/stories/northern-mindanao-the-river-that-got-its-gold/film-v1.mp4592026-10-09T00:00:00+08:00yesnono https://scene.ph/stories/soccsksargen-five-names-one-empire2026-10-09https://scene.ph/media/stories/soccsksargen-five-names-one-empire/poster-v1.jpgSOCCSKSARGEN: five names, one empire provinceSOCCSKSARGEN's letters match its provinces and city. Nearly all of it was once one huge province, Cotabato, whose name the province traces to kuta wato, the stone fort.https://scene.ph/media/stories/soccsksargen-five-names-one-empire/film-v1.mp4592026-10-09T00:00:00+08:00yesnono https://scene.ph/stories/western-visayas-ten-datus-two-rivers2026-10-09https://scene.ph/media/stories/western-visayas-ten-datus-two-rivers/poster-v1.jpgWestern Visayas: ten datus, two riversLegend says ten Bornean datus bought Panay for a golden hat. Iloilo, Aklan and Antique tell the legend with two different landing rivers, and its best-known book was finished in 1904.https://scene.ph/media/stories/western-visayas-ten-datus-two-rivers/film-v1.mp4592026-10-09T00:00:00+08:00yesnono https://scene.ph/stories/zamboanga-peninsula-flowers-or-a-boat-pole2026-10-09https://scene.ph/media/stories/zamboanga-peninsula-flowers-or-a-boat-pole/poster-v1.jpgZamboanga Peninsula: flowers or a boat pole?Legend says Zamboanga was first Jambangan, the land of flowers. The city also tells of Samboangan, from a boat pole, and of Fort Pilar in 1635. In 2001 the whole region took the name.https://scene.ph/media/stories/zamboanga-peninsula-flowers-or-a-boat-pole/film-v1.mp4592026-10-09T00:00:00+08:00yesnono