History
Although its young distinction as a city, Passi is considered to be one of the oldest Spanish settlements in Iloilo. It was organized as a pueblo in 1766 with Don Martin Saligumba as its first leader. But the place has actually been settled by Malay migrants long before the arrival of the Spaniards.
According to popular legend, Spanish conquistadors stumbled on a small hut by the river’s bank where an old woman was fond winnowing pounded rice. One of them asked her, “¿Cómo se llama este lugar?” not knowing the native language of course. Much to the old woman’s surprise and perhaps excitement, she replied without much ado, “Ah, pasi,” which means some of the unhusked rice on her basket held in both hands. She must have thought that they were eager to know what was in the basket and what she was doing, because she could not understand their language. From that time on, the Spanish begun to call the place Pasi at first until it later evolved into Passi. Such legends about name origins are common throughout towns and cities in the Philippines, the core plot being a Spaniard asking the non-Spanish speaking natives what the name of the place is and the latter responding in what would end up eventually as the name of the place.
It is said that the first Spanish settlement was established in the area in 1766, marking the onset of Spanish colonial rule. In the traditional story, Spanish explorers anchored in Ansig, a place located at the mouth of Lamunan River. The name of the city is probably derived from Pasi, a Hiligaynon word meaning “unhusked grains of palay.”
In 1957, the sitio of Agtabo in the barrio of Salngan was converted into a barrio. In the same year the barrio of Santa Rosa was renamed Santo Tomas.
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