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Camalig
There is only one town with that name. But there is another in the very same region called Camaligan. Yes, they just added the last 2 letters! Camalig generally means a small hut used as a temporary storage for farm produce or harvest. Camaligan therefore means, where the Camalig is made! Gosh!
Capas is a town, Capiz is a province. And they are worlds apart hehe! Or are they?! Duuu!
Caramoan
That is that fantastic destination in CamSur. But directly across it, in the island of Catanduanes is another town named Caramoran! Spot the difference?! Yeah, just one letter!
Cav
Then there is Cavite – the name of a province that is also the name of a city. But many times it gets confused with the town of Cavinti during conversations – especially by the Tagalogs who have this habit of too much softening the letter “I” into the sound of a letter “E”. They even think that’s cool and correct, come to think of it! Proof? See them write and hear them pronounce LALAKI and BABAE or BENTE and BINTI in a sentence hehe. Both places above btw, are in the same region – CALABARZON! For the Germans, careful pronouncing the town of Kawit as you might add to the above confusion!
Duma----
Oh on these towns that start with Duma… aside from Dumaguete, there are many like Dumalag, Dumalinao, Dumalneg, Dumangas, Dumanjug, Dumaran, Dumarao and Dumingas. Note on Dumangas and Dumingas pronounced as “DU-MANG-GAS” and “DU-MING-GAS” respectively. Note too that there is no typo error on Dumarao and Dumaran!
Get
How about Dalaguete and Dumaguete? Those two places are near each other btw. You pass by Dalaguete from Cebu City on your way to Dumaguete! But here is the real score… Cebu locals pronounce that town’s name as “DA-LA-GET” instead of “DA-LA-GE-TE”! Anyway for us the unfamiliar, that might be more than confusing for we might erroneously say I am flying to “DU-MA-GET” hehe! Oh, that place called Dumaguit is not a town, its just a port in Aklan, thankfully!
Lao---
There is Laoag and there is Laoac. Add to that, there is also Laoang! For these three, the confusion is more likely on the written expression since pronunciations are a bit varied. Laoag is pronounced as “La-wag” in the stress and speed as you would say “La Paz”. Laoac is pronounced as “La-wak” in the stress and speed as you would say “liar or lover”. On the other hand, Laoang is pronounced as “Lao-ang” in the stress and speed as you would say “Lapland, landed or lumber” with just a very little pause after the first syllable.
Here are some interesting pairs:
Dauin and Dauis
Guimba and Guimbal
Hagonoy and Lagonoy
Ilagan and Iligan
Larena and Llarena
Las Navas and Las Nieves
Lawaan and Lauaan - pronounced exactly the same
Lantawan and Lantauan - also pronounced exactly the same!
Lapu-lapu and Rapu-rapu
Maasin and Maasim
Makati and Makato
Matalam and Matalom
Solana and Solano
Tubaran and Tuburan
The town of Leon and another town called Leon B. Postigo also sometimes adds in to the confusion.
So do Lopez and Lopez Jaena!
Natividad Villanueva Aguinaldo
Nati… who?! Calm down hehe. These are similar names of towns, but not really. There is a town named just Natividad and another town named GM Natividad. Both are in Luzon and north of Metro Manila! Then there is also the town just named Villanueva (Misamis Oriental) and another that is usually referred to as “E. Villanueva” for Enrique Villanueva (Siquijor). Finally there is a town named Aguinaldo in Ifugao and another that is commonly called “General Aguinaldo”. These latter two towns refer to the same person btw!
Lobo, Loboc, Loon and Looc(there are even 2) are worth a thought too. Even add in Luuk!
Now there are also…
Basud and Bansud
Cabagan and Cabangan
Candon and Candoni
Dulag and Dumalag
Iba and Ibaan
Lumban and Lumbatan
Mabini and Mabinay
Mambajao, Mamburao, Mambusao
Midsalip and Midsayap
Paracale and Paracelis
Piddig and Pidigan
Pila, Pili, Pililia and Pinili
Oas and Oras
Siay and Siayan
Tanay and Tanjay
Tapaz and La paz
Taysan and Tayasan
Tayug, Tayum and Tagum
Tigbao and Tigbauan
Tunga and Tungawan
Tubo and Tubod
Tayug, Bayog, Bayugan, Calbayog,
Wao, Tuao and Tubao
Tuba, Tubajon, Tubay, Tuy and Ubay
Viga and Vigan,
I Shall Return
There are this two towns both in the region where the handsome general made that pronouncement! One is the town of MacArthur in the province of Leyte while the other one is commonly referred to as General MacArthur, a town in Eastern Samar. But locals in the region shorten that to just MacArthur when referring to any of the two!
How about Matanao, Matanog, Matnog, Matuguinao and Matungao! Quite a group of town brain and even tongue twisters eh?!
There are also Palanan, Palawan, Paluan, Palayan. One is a province, another is a city, the other two are towns. Muddle up Palayan with Balayan, Pinamalayan, Talayan and Calayan. Whew!
Pandan
We said earlier there are two towns that sport that name, right? Well, to add-in to the dizzying mix, there are prefixes to the name which becomes the other towns of Pulopandan, Mapandan!
Now, what and where is Samal, aber?! Yes, yes, there is a town in Bataan and there is the island in the Davao Gulf. Island? Didn’t we mean Samar? Well yes, Samar is an island too, but the Samal in Mindanao is even called the “Island Garden City Of Samal” – the longest city name in this country hehe!
Something New
Lucena City is the capital of Quezon province, correct? Well, there is a town named “New Lucena” in the province of Iloilo! There is also a town named Corella in Bohol while there is New Corella in Davao Del Norte. Then we know that Bataan is a province in Central Luzon, right? But a town in Compostela Valley is named New Bataan. Hmm, I am tempted to say, how uncreative hehe! Now there is New Washington in Aklan… where is the old?!
Tanauan
We said there is a city and a town bearing the same name, right? Add to the confusion that nearer the city is a town named Catanauan!
And finally…
Trinidad
There is the town named just Trinidad. There is also La Trinidad. Moreover, there is even “D.R. Trinidad” which actually means Dona Remedios Trinidad-Romualdez! That’s quite long – reason probably why they resorted to the abbreviated DR Trinidad. Now there is even yet another town named RT Romualdez – which is the very same person for a namesake! They probably just preferred another abbreviation. O, laban ka?! I wish they’d just call these towns “RTR” for Remedios Trinidad Romualdez. Then that would be a confusion with the school named as such hehe. Or is it a university already?! Basta, she is the mother of Imelda! Hmm, speaking of Imelda… there were places named as such, but it seems they have become Aquino or some other names when Cory assumed office. So its Imelda Aquino?! Ah shaddap pareng Chop, lasheeng ka na!
Hah, there we are on the nomenclatorial mambo-jumbo of our dear inang bayan hehe! Where are you going na nga? Well, good luck and have fun!
Its more fun in the Philippines, really!
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