09/09/2026
SAYOD BAEA KAMO?
THE EVOLUTION OF STREET NAMES IN KALIBO
Aside from facilitating the correct delivery of mail and making addresses easier to locate, street names serve as signposts to history.
They can preserve the memory of people, historical events, political eras, religious traditions, local landmarks, and cultural practices. Street names can therefore serve as tools for educating future generations and preserving a community’s local history, heritage, culture, and identity.
For Kalibo, the evolution of street names provides a fascinating way to examine the town’s history—from the Spanish colonial period, through the American era, the Philippine Commonwealth, the Second World War, the establishment of Aklan as a separate province, and into the present.
However, historical scholarship requires us to distinguish between documented history, local historical accounts, and oral or folk tradition. Some information presented here is supported by laws, government records, or other documentary sources. Other details come from local historians, historical accounts, and community memory and may still benefit from further archival verification.
A NOTE ON THE LEGAL BASIS FOR STREET NAMING
Under Section 13 of Republic Act No. 7160, or the Local Government Code of 1991, the authority to change the names of public places and roads depends on the level and jurisdiction of government concerned.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan has authority concerning provincial roads, while the appropriate sanggunian of a city or municipality may act on roads and streets within its jurisdiction, subject to the requirements and limitations established by law.
The law also provides for consultation with the historical commission. The institution referred to in the original 1991 law as the Philippine Historical Commission is now the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP).
The NHCP has issued guidelines concerning the naming and renaming of streets, public schools, plazas, buildings, bridges and other public structures. Historical and culturally significant names deserve particular consideration because changing a place name can also mean changing part of a community’s historical memory.
With that in mind, let us look at some of the old and present names of the streets of Kalibo.
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🚦 D. MAAGMA SR. STREET
Present name: D. Maagma Sr. Street
Earlier name: Datu Bangkaya Avenue
Earlier Spanish-era name: Calle El Porvenir
D. Maagma Sr. Street is named after Desposorio M. Maagma Sr., who served as municipal mayor of Kalibo from 1952 to 1959.
The street was formerly known as Datu Bangkaya Avenue.
The name Datu Bangkaya is associated with the traditional historical narrative of Panay and the Maragtas tradition. In local historical tradition, Bangkaya is associated with the leadership of the Akean area within the traditional political organization of Madya-as.
This should be understood as traditional or folk history, rather than as an independently established fact of precolonial history.
During the Spanish period, the street was reportedly known as Calle El Porvenir, meaning approximately “Street of the Future.”
The evolution from El Porvenir to Datu Bangkaya and eventually to D. Maagma illustrates how a single street can carry several layers of Kalibo’s historical memory.
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🚦 VETERANS AVENUE
Veterans Avenue honors the Akeanon veterans of the Second World War who fought against the Japanese occupation.
The street was formerly known as Kalantiaw Street, while local historical accounts identify an earlier Spanish-period name as Calle Fraternidad.
The name “Kalantiaw,” however, requires an important historical qualification.
The Code of Kalantiaw, once presented as an ancient Philippine legal code, is now considered by historians to be a fabrication rather than an authentic precolonial legal document. Thus, while Kalantiaw Street is part of Kalibo’s documented naming history, the street name should not be used as evidence that the supposed Code of Kalantiaw was historically genuine.
In 2012, there were attempts to rename the street in honor of Federico Icamina, who served as mayor of Kalibo from 1960 to 1980.
Local historical accounts credit Icamina with an important role in the development of the modern Ati-Atihan celebration, and he has been referred to in local accounts as the “Father of Kalibo Ati-Atihan.”
The proposed renaming, however, did not materialize.
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🚦 XIX MARTYRS STREET
Former name: Calle Amadeo
XIX Martyrs Street commemorates the Nineteen Martyrs of Aklan, who were executed by Spanish colonial authorities during the revolutionary period.
Local historical accounts associate a site along this street with the imprisonment and massacre of the martyrs.
The street was formerly known as Calle Amadeo.
It has been suggested that the name may have referred to King Amadeo I of Spain, but this should presently be treated as a historical hypothesis requiring documentary confirmation.
The street subsequently became known as Calle 19 Mártires and eventually developed into the present XIX Martyrs Street.
Whatever the precise chronology of the street’s renaming, its present name preserves one of the most important chapters in Aklan’s revolutionary history.
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🚦 JAIME CARDINAL SIN AVENUE
Jaime Cardinal Sin Avenue honors Jaime Cardinal Sin, the distinguished Akeanon churchman who became Archbishop of Manila and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.
He played a prominent role in the 1986 People Power Revolution and was again an important national figure during the political crisis surrounding the 2001 EDSA uprising.
The legal basis for the present name is particularly well documented.
Republic Act No. 9685, approved on August 4, 2009, officially renamed the Kalibo–New Washington Road in Aklan as Jaime Cardinal Sin Avenue.
Part of the road within Kalibo was also known as Quezon Avenue, according to local historical accounts.
Thus, it is more accurate to say that part of the road in Kalibo was known as Quezon Avenue, rather than suggesting that the entire Kalibo–New Washington Road officially carried that name.
The distinction is important because RA 9685 itself specifically identifies the road being renamed as the Kalibo–New Washington Road.
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🚦 ROXAS AVENUE
Roxas Avenue is named after Manuel A. Roxas, former President of the Commonwealth and first President of the independent Third Republic of the Philippines.
Roxas was born in Capiz at a time when Aklan was still part of the province of Capiz.
For Akeanons, therefore, the name also evokes an earlier political geography in which Aklanons were administratively part of Capiz.
According to local historical accounts, the street was formerly known during the Spanish period as Calle Labradores, associated with the Spanish word labradores, referring to workers or agricultural laborers.
The Spanish-period name would benefit from further verification through old maps and archival records.
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🚦 RIZAL STREET
Rizal Street is named after Philippine national hero Dr. José Rizal and was popularly known as Calle Rizal.
Local historical accounts identify the area as part of the commercial center of old Kalibo and associate it with Calle Escolta, traditionally remembered as an early business district and center of Chinese commerce.
The exact relationship and chronology between Calle Escolta and Calle Rizal should be further established through old maps, cadastral records, business directories and other documentary evidence.
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🚦 J. MAGNO STREET
J. Magno Street honors Julio Magno, who served as municipal mayor of Kalibo from 1931 to 1933.
The street was formerly known as Calle Igualdad, from the Spanish word igualdad, meaning “equality.”
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🚦 M. LASERNA STREET
M. Laserna Street honors Manuel Laserna, who represented the Third District of Capiz—which included the Aklan area—in the Philippine Legislature.
He was associated with early efforts toward the separation of Aklan from Capiz and was among the founders of Kalibo Institute.
Laserna was also a writer, poet and historian. He authored “Sungkaan sa Pag Sueat, Pag Basa ag Pag Hambae it Inakeanon”, a work concerning the Akeanon language published in 1916.
The street was formerly known as Calle Regeneración, from the Spanish word regeneración, meaning “regeneration.”
His commemoration through a street name is particularly significant because it connects Kalibo’s physical landscape with the development of Akeanon intellectual and linguistic history.
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🚦 N. ROLDAN STREET
N. Roldan Street is named after Nazario B. Roldan, who served as Presidente Local Interino of Kalibo when American forces arrived in 1900.
The position was broadly comparable to the municipal executive leadership of the period.
During the Spanish period, the street was reportedly known as Calle Pescadores, meaning “Street of Fishermen.”
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🚦 C. LASERNA STREET
C. Laserna Street honors Cirilo R. Laserna Sr., who served as municipal mayor of Kalibo during the American period from 1904 to 1909.
The street was formerly known as Calle Legaspi.
Local ecclesiastical history associates the name with Fr. Fernando de Legaspi, who served in Malinao and later in Kalibo.
According to local church historical accounts, Fr. Legaspi introduced or strengthened devotion to the Santo Niño in these communities.
The story forms part of the local history of Catholic devotion in Aklan.
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🚦 GODING RAMOS STREET
Goding Ramos Street honors Godofredo P. Ramos, popularly remembered as the “Father of Aklan.”
His residence was located along this street.
The street was formerly known as Taft Street, after William Howard Taft, the American colonial administrator who served as Civil Governor of the Philippines and later became the 27th President of the United States.
The eventual replacement of an American colonial name with that of an Akeanon statesman reflects the changing political identity of Kalibo and Aklan.
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🚦 PASTRANA STREET
Pastrana Street honors Gregorio I. Pastrana, who served as municipal mayor of Kalibo from 1933 to 1936.
He was also associated with the founding of Kalibo Institute.
The street was formerly known as Plaridel Street, named after Marcelo H. del Pilar, whose famous pen name was “Plaridel.”
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🚦 L. BARRIOS STREET
L. Barrios Street honors Luis S. Barrios, who served as municipal mayor of Kalibo during the American period from 1919 to 1922.
The street was formerly known as General Luna Street, honoring Filipino revolutionary general Antonio Luna, who fought during the Philippine-American War.
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🚦 S. MARTELINO STREET
S. Martelino Street honors Segundo Martelino, who served as municipal mayor of Kalibo from 1902 to 1903.
The street was formerly known as McKinley Street, most probably referring to William McKinley, President of the United States during the Spanish-American War and the beginning of the American colonial period.
The street is also associated with the birthplace of Victorino Mapa, who became the first Visayan Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines.
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🚦 E. ACEVEDO STREET
E. Acevedo Street honors Emiliano B. Acevedo, who served as municipal mayor of Kalibo from 1910 to 1912 and again from 1916–1919. He later represented the Second District of Capiz in the Philippine Assembly from 1914–1916, a district that included Calivo (Kalibo). The Province of Capiz’s official historical record also lists Acevedo among the provincial governors for 1906–1907; however, the precise legal status of his tenure during those years should not be characterized as “acting” without documentary evidence establishing that designation.
The street was formerly known as P. Magalona Street.
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🚦 W. REGALADO STREET
W. Regalado Street honors Wilihado C. Regalado, who served as municipal mayor of Kalibo from 1980 to 1986.
The street was formerly known as Calle P. Burgos, after Fr. José Burgos, one of the three Filipino priests remembered collectively as GomBurZa.
Burgos, together with Mariano Gomes and Jacinto Zamora, was executed by Spanish colonial authorities on February 17, 1872.
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🚦 F. QUIMPO STREET
F. Quimpo Street honors Fortunato M. Quimpo, who served as municipal mayor of Kalibo from 1928 to 1931.
The street was formerly known as Calle López Jaena, after Graciano López Jaena, journalist, orator and one of the leading figures of the Philippine Propaganda Movement.
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🚦 ARCH. GABRIEL M. REYES STREET
Arch. Gabriel M. Reyes Street honors Gabriel M. Reyes, a distinguished Akeanon Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Cebu and later Archbishop of Manila.
He was born in Kalibo.
The street associated with his birthplace was formerly known as Calle Blumentritt, named after Ferdinand Blumentritt, the Austrian scholar and friend of José Rizal.
The street therefore preserves two layers of Philippine intellectual and religious history: the memory of an Akeanon archbishop and the international intellectual circle associated with Rizal.
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🚦 C. QUIMPO STREET
C. Quimpo Street honors Cenon Quimpo, one of the Katipuneros detained by Spanish authorities during the revolutionary period.
According to local historical accounts, he was among those facing ex*****on but was eventually released through the intervention of relatives.
The nineteen Katipuneros who were executed became known as the Nineteen Martyrs of Aklan.
Cenon Quimpo later served as municipal mayor of Kalibo from 1922 to 1925.
The street was formerly known as Calle Libertad, Spanish for “liberty.”
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OTHER STREETS OF HISTORICAL INTEREST
🚦 DR. GONZALES STREET
Dr. Gonzales Street is named after Dr. Cipriano Gomez Gonzales, remembered in local historical accounts as an early physician of Kalibo and Panay.
He studied medicine at the University of Santo Tomas and was a contemporary and fellow medical student of José Rizal.
Local historical accounts also associate him with teaching and with several figures who later became prominent during the Philippine Revolution.
He was reportedly multilingual and was associated with the intellectual and educational circles of nineteenth-century Philippines.
The Cipriano Gonzales Drive at the University of Santo Tomas is another important aspect of his legacy that merits further documentary verification.
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🚦 OYO TORONG STREET
Oyo Torong Street honors Teodoro Gomez, popularly remembered as Oyo Torong, a local historian.
One historical account attributed to him connects the name Kalibo with the Akeanon expression sang ka libo or sanglibo, meaning one thousand.
According to the account, a large number of natives were baptized at Madyanos in the early sixteenth century.
This should be presented as a local historical tradition, rather than as a conclusively established explanation of the origin of the name Kalibo.
Nevertheless, such traditions are historically significant because they preserve how generations of Akeanons understood and transmitted their community’s past.
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🚦 CONCEPCION STREET
Concepcion Street honors Juan Concepcion, who served as municipal mayor of Kalibo from 1925 to 1928.
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🚦 TOTING REYES STREET
Toting Reyes Street honors Congressman Jose M. Reyes, representative of the Third District of Capiz, which included the Aklan area before Aklan became a separate province.
He was an educator by profession and a brother of Archbishop Gabriel M. Reyes.
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🚦 SAN LORENZO DRIVE
San Lorenzo Drive is traditionally understood to have been named after San Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Filipino canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church.
The exact documentary basis for the street’s naming should still be established through municipal or provincial records.
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🚦 CALACHUCHI ROAD
Calachuchi Road derives its name from the calachuchi, a flowering plant commonly found in the Philippines.
It is an example of a place name derived not from a political or religious figure but from the natural environment.
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ROADS BEYOND THE OLD TOWN CENTER
🚦 OSMEÑA AVENUE
Osmeña Avenue is named after former Philippine President Sergio Osmeña.
There has been a legislative initiative to rename the road in honor of former Aklan Congressman Allen S. Quimpo.
Allen Quimpo served as congressman of Aklan from 1992 to 2001 and previously served as mayor of Kalibo.
He is particularly remembered locally for environmental initiatives, including the Bakhawan Eco-Park mangrove reforestation project, and for his advocacy concerning Aklan State University.
The final legal status of the proposed renaming should be verified against the official legislative record before the road is described as having been formally renamed.
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🚦 LIBTONG ROAD
Libtong Road takes its name from Sitio Libtong in Barangay Estancia, Kalibo, through which the road passes.
Local accounts indicate that the road was once considered part of the national road network.
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🚦 J. FERNANDEZ STREET
J. Fernandez Street honors Judge Juan G. Fernandez, who served as Presidente Municipal de Kalibo from 1930 to 1931.
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🚦 F. QUIMPO AVENUE
F. Quimpo Avenue honors Federico M. Quimpo, one of the individuals associated with the donation of lots for the Aklan Provincial Capitol after Aklan became a separate province.
He should not be confused with Fortunato M. Quimpo, after whom F. Quimpo Street is named.
According to the local historical account, the avenue was unnamed until a Sangguniang Panlalawigan ordinance in 2018 gave it its present name.
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🚦 R. FERNANDEZ STREET
R. Fernandez Street honors Remegios G. Fernandez, who was also associated with the donation of property for the Aklan Provincial Capitol.
According to local records, the street was formally named through a Sangguniang Panlalawigan ordinance in 2018.
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🚦 D. GONZALEZ STREET
D. Gonzalez Street honors Dominador M. Gonzalez, another of the individuals associated with the donation of lots for the Aklan Provincial Capitol.
According to the local account, the street was formally named through the provincial ordinance passed in 2018.
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THE STREET MAP AS A HISTORY OF AKLAN
Look at the names that once appeared on Kalibo’s streets:
Calle El Porvenir.
Calle Fraternidad.
Calle Labradores.
Calle Igualdad.
Calle Regeneración.
Calle Pescadores.
Calle Libertad.
Calle Blumentritt.
Calle López Jaena.
Calle P. Burgos.
Calle Taft.
McKinley Street.
Plaridel Street.
General Luna Street.
Now compare them with the names that followed:
Maagma.
Laserna.
Roldan.
Acevedo.
Quimpo.
Martelino.
Pastrana.
Regalado.
Ramos.
Reyes.
Fernandez.
Gonzalez.
Sin.
The transformation tells a story.
Spanish colonial names gave way to names associated with Filipino nationalism.
American colonial names were eventually replaced by the names of Akeanon leaders.
Revolutionary martyrs were commemorated.
Religious figures were remembered.
Presidents, legislators, mayors, educators, physicians, historians and community leaders became part of Kalibo’s geographical vocabulary.
And beneath these layers are the older memories of Akean—Datu Bangkaya, the traditions surrounding the name Kalibo, the Santo Niño, the Ati-Atihan, and countless stories preserved through generations.
BUT THE STORY IS NOT YET COMPLETE
This list should not be regarded as the final inventory of Kalibo’s historical street names.
There are still many questions that can be answered through archival research.
Old maps.
Cadastral plans.
Spanish-period records.
American-period administrative documents.
Municipal ordinances.
Provincial resolutions.
Newspapers.
Postal records.
Business directories.
Property deeds.
Old photographs.
Family documents.
All of these may reveal additional street names and may confirm, correct or refine the information currently available.
This is particularly important because the NHCP has acknowledged that it does not maintain a comprehensive national database of Philippine street names.
Therefore, local historical documentation matters.
If your parents or grandparents remember an older name for a street, please share it.
If you have an old photograph showing a street sign, share it.
If your family has an old deed, map, business receipt, letter, directory, newspaper clipping or other document containing an old Kalibo street name, it may be an important historical source.
And if you find an error in this article, please point it out.
Better yet, provide the documentary source.
HISTORY IS NOT WEAKENED BY CORRECTION.
History becomes stronger through evidence.
Our goal should not simply be to preserve stories.
Our goal should be to preserve the stories, identify their sources, test them against documentary evidence, and pass them responsibly to the next generation.
So, mga kasimanwa:
SAYOD BAEA KAMO?
What other old names of Kalibo’s streets do you remember?
What did your grandparents call the street where you grew up?
Which street names have disappeared from today’s maps?
What old photographs or documents might still be hiding in our family albums, houses and archives?
Let us document them before the memories disappear.
Because every street has a story—and every name is a piece of Akeanon history.
Credits to Aklan Historical and Cultural Society, Inc. Past President Arnel F. Arollado for some of the historical street names and information incorporated in this compilation.
Editorial note: This article intentionally distinguishes documented historical information from local historical accounts and oral/folk traditions. Some Spanish-era street names, dates of renaming, biographies and local traditions require further archival verification. Corrections and additional primary sources are welcome.
Selected references
Republic Act No. 7160 — Local Government Code of 1991, particularly Section 13 concerning the naming and renaming of streets and other public places.
Republic Act No. 9685, approved August 4, 2009, officially renaming the Kalibo–New Washington Road as Jaime Cardinal Sin Avenue.
National Historical Commission of the Philippines, guidelines concerning the naming and renaming of streets and other public structures.
Local historical accounts, municipal/provincial records, historical publications and community sources, particularly for earlier Spanish and American-period street names.
