OYANGI” a name of a tree in abundance when Father Baltazar de la Magdalena found the Municipality, was the origin of the name of
Polangui. The town was then a place called “BINANUAAN”. Its foundation started
with the baptism of its about twenty-five elderly citizens. The town then
consisted of five hundred people. Binanauaan’s location was a low place and such
was prove to floods. The people then moved to where the town now exists, an
elevated area less exposed to flood.
The construction of the parish church
which took a period of ten years to its completion is one of the significant
highlights in the history of Polangui. The church was started in 1654 by Fr.
Juan Bautista. It is also during this regime that Polangui gave birth to a
martyr Camilo Jacob, a photographer who together with other Bicolanos was
executed in January 1897. A year later, the “Guardia Civil” in Naga City led by
Don Elias Angeles mutinied against Spaniards. This ended the Spanish rule in
Bicol Region. By 1899, the whole country was free from the pang’s of the Spanish
rule.
