Panglao - Sad?

While at the Bohol Bee Farm on Panglao Island the tour guide there told a story that the name of the island originally came from the farmers. He claimed that the island was about 80% rock and only 20 soil so farming on the island was very hard.

Thus he said that "Panglao" actually means "Sadness"... The fishermen were happy but the farmers were not. It is the reason the at the Bohol Bee Farm they do all their farming in pots and not directly in the ground.

Not sure if that is the case. Maybe someone on here that speaks the language can enlighten the rest of us?

Peace,

Island Hopper

[Rhoody]

when I went to Bohol to meet the Dane, there was no "Tarsier on Bike" - Show... My little one would have loved it...

Originally Posted by Island Hopper

While at the Bohol Bee Farm on Panglao Island the tour guide there told a story that the name of the island originally came from the farmers. He claimed that the island was about 80% rock and only 20 soil so farming on the island was very hard.

Thus he said that "Panglao" actually means "Sadness"... The fishermen were happy but the farmers were not. It is the reason the at the Bohol Bee Farm they do all their farming in pots and not directly in the ground.

Not sure if that is the case. Maybe someone on here that speaks the language can enlighten the rest of us?

Peace,

Island Hopper

I'm from Bohol and speaks the language. Pang-lao is not sadness. "Pang" is suffix to the word "Laot" or lawod in Sugbuhanon language or sea. This means the island is "only for the sea" or jumping area to the sea. It is true that Pang-lao island is 80 percent rocks and 20 percent soil. It could be corals which hardened after thousands -- or million -- of years, like that of chocolate hills, which were formed when Bohol was under the sea.
The hills were limestone formed million of years ago on the sea bed by tidal movement. The lime deposits hardened to form into hills.
Again there is no source of fresh water in Panglao. or there could be only few springs embedded on rocks . I have been to Pang-lao several times. I have even visited the Hagdanan cave, which is underground.
Old panglao residents moved to Mindanao, particularly to Dipolog, Dapitan and other parts of Northern Mindanao since the land is not arable. In fact the Dapitan settlement during the pre-Hispanic time was founded by one of the datus who moved to Mindanao from Panglao island.Later people from across the bay, Maribojoc-hanons, also joined the people from Panglao and formed the settlement in Dipolog, during Spanish time.displacing the original people from the river or subanons, from the word suba (Subbuhanon word) meaning river.
During the American regime , the town hall of Dipolog was designed as the exact replica of the town hall of Maribojoc, down to the jail size. I know this because I was born in Maribojoc and grew in Dipolog, which is a settlement comprising the people from Bohol, led by the datu of panglao.