The move to give Davao City’s Poblacion barangays culturally rooted and historically meaningful names gained momentum on Wednesday, November 12, as 40 barangay officials attended a seminar outlining the guidelines for renaming the city’s numerically designated barangays.
Councilor J. Melchor Quitain Jr., who is leading the initiative through a proposed ordinance, said the push to rename barangays goes beyond administrative convenience.
He stressed that the goal is to restore the cultural identity and historical character of each community, elements absent in the current numerical system.
“Dili lang ni para sa identification. Yes, they have numbers, pero unsay cultural or historical significance ana? Davao is still young, barely 100 years old, so there is time for us to research our history,” Quitain said.
He urged barangay leaders to dig into their origins, study key events in their communities, and uncover stories that define their local identities.
Quitain encouraged officials to select names that will resonate with future generations and remind them of where Davao City began.
“We cannot move forward and forget the past. Preserving our identity is one way to help our city,” he added.
While acknowledging that the renaming initiative will take time, Quitain expressed hope that within three years, Poblacion barangays will complete their cultural mapping and advance toward adopting names that genuinely reflect their heritage and identity.
Meanwhile, Davao City Culture and the Arts Office (OCA) Head Oscar Casaysay reinforced the call for historically grounded naming.
He said proposed names should reflect significant figures, old landmarks, native flora and fauna, or meaningful events tied to each barangay.
He said to support this, the OCA encouraged barangays to conduct cultural mapping to ensure authenticity in their recommendations.
Casaysay added that final name proposals will require approval from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, but assured that OCA is ready to assist barangays with technical guidance throughout their research and mapping.
