As told by historical researchers, the word Subic is a derivative of HUBEK, which means head of a plow, a tool used in farming by the Zambaleños which the missionary fathers mispronounced as Subic.

Another legend reveals that Subic is derived from Su! Biik!, which the Spaniards mistook as the name of the place. It just so happened that the woman they encountered was only driving away piglets loitering in the yard. From then on, the place came to be

called Subic to the Spaniards. The early inhabitants of Subic were the Negritos of Zambales (more popularly knownas the Aetas). At the end of the Pleistocene, seafarers from the Malay Peninsula of the Asian mainland sailed for the Southeast Asian islands establishing pocket of population. The Malays were the first migrants to reach Zambales and drove the Negrito aborigines from the plains and valleys to the mountains. They found themselves at the western coastal plains of Luzon between Subic Bay and Lingayen Gulf.

The town of Subic was founded by the Augustinian Friar, Father Rodrigo de San Miguel in 1607. The Spanish Government Christianized the Negritos and made them subjects of Spain. However, there were resistance by the Negritos and they continued to defy the government. In 1884, King Alfonso II issued a Royal Decree officially declaring Subic Bay as a naval port and Subic became Spain’s stronghold in the Far East. After the Spanish-American war which erupted in April 25, 1898, the US Naval forces took over Subic and its Bay, whose deep harbor was regarded by Admiral George Dewey as having no equal in the Philippine Islands. In 1901, the U.S. Navy designated Subic Bay as a repair and supply naval base site. U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt issued an executive order in 1903 designating 70,000 acres of land including Subic as an American military reservation because of its strategic importance. Nearly 50% of Subic’s original land area became part of the military reservation area. Subic was in ruins after the Japanese bombers and fighter planes attacked Subic Bay and Olongapo on December 14, 1941. During the Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945, Subic served as a monitoring and defense facility of the Japanese Imperial Army until the end of World War II. The most significant historical event took place during World War III wherein Subic Bay remained as the only vanguard and played an important part in the defense of Bataan and Corregidor.

Olongapo, a barrio of Subic and part of the U.S. Military Reservations was turned over to the Philippines and converted into a municipality by virtue of Executive Order No.366 issued by then President Carlos P. Garcia in December 7, 1959. Based on census data, this milestone in Subic’s history resulted in the drastic reduction of the town’s population more than half, from 25,233 to 12,985 in 1948 and 1960, respectively. 

Today, Subic has sixteen-(16) Barangays and the 5th largest town in Zambales. It has 27,922 hectares of land, a growing population and booming economic and industrial growth of development.