Where Parañaque City got its name – Palanyag

There are several accounts as to how the City of Parañaque got its name. One such story stated that long ago, at the mouth of what is now known as the Parañaque River, there stood a balete tree that, when viewed from afar, looked like a majestic ship. This earned it the name Palanyag, taken from the term ‘palayag’, which means “point of navigation”. Another version of the story was that, before the Spanish colonizers came to the Philippines, there were some natives who lived close to the Manila Bay whose main livelihood was fishing or paglalayag. On the other hand, the neighboring place from the east called Muntinglupa had rice farmers who were referred to as taga-Palayan. One day, the fishermen and rice farmers had a feast and many got drunk from tuba or fermented coconut wine. One farmer suggested that they should name the whole place Palayan as a sign of cooperation and good will between them. However, a fisherman protested and stated that they should name it Palalayag instead. As a compromise, they agreed to merge these two words and came up with Palalanyag. However, another drunken guest shouted, “Mabuhay ang Palanyag at ang mga taga-Palanyag!” The rest liked this word better and ever since then, the place was called Palanyag. In another story handed down to generations, when the Philippines was conquered by the Spaniards, some soldiers riding a horse-drawn carriage asked to be taken to a certain place. However, the coachman did not understand the Spanish soldier’s pronunciation. When they arrived, one of the soldiers said, “Para aqui, Para aqui” meaning, “Stop here, stop here.” The coachman did not understand and kept going whereas the soldier also repeated his instruction, “Para aqui, Para aqui”. The coachman left the carriage and told the townspeople that, “These Spaniards are repeatedly saying para aniya ake… para aniya ake” to which the townspeople just laughed. The incident circulated and was repeated around for days and the term para aniya ake stuck.

Source: Baybay, D. F. & Marquez-De Guzman, A. (2001). Palanyag to Parañaque: A History. City of Parañaque.

Vision and Mission

Vision

The City of Parañaque is the model for academic excellence, public health and safety, environmental preservation and good governance, providing equal opportunities for all, in a peaceful and business-friendly atmosphere through a God-centered leadership.

Mission

The City of Parañaque through a God centered leadership will emerge as the primary investment and tourist destination in Metro Manila by creating a business and environment friendly atmosphere, achieving academic excellence in education, exemplifying good governance and public order, providing equal opportunities for livelihood and housing and establishing an efficient and sustainable nutrition and health care program.

TEAM