Meaning of Cagayan
At the start of the New Millennium I became a member of Alibata, a fiery Yahoo group concerned about Philippine heritage. The owner was a mysterious person named Malachi and the members were argumentative. Eventually, the group self-destructed. But thanks to Malachi, we were able to communicate with the brilliant linguist, Dr. Lawrence A. Reid, Researcher Emeritus of the University of Hawai’i. (He insists on the spelling Hawai’i, not Hawaii.)
It was from Dr. Reid that we learned the meaning of cagayan. Prior to this, I had carried with me the profound suspicion that cagayan might have originated from the Spanish caga, which means manure. Spanish colonizers must have stepped on human excrement – caramba! – on the riverbanks from Luzon to Mindanao because even today, if people dwell on the riverbanks or seashores and they have no septic tank, there we would easily find manure.
The idea was absurd, of course, and I was glad it was scholarly corrected. Otherwise, it would be an insult to be called cagayanon, and Kagayan Festival would be a community health issue. |