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Was it because the spirits of the river, or the dreaded kills by crocodiles that gave the town its name, no one can authoritatively tell.

But according to the folklores, way before the coming of the Spaniards, the place where the present municipality of Inabanga was a center populated by immortals and men. Fairy tale or not, the myth behind Inabanga and its fabled river continue to haunt local folks, to this day.

Many people who were born in the place could roughly piece a story handed down, tales that tell about a place which their elders pronounce with awe: a mystical or mythical golden city within the town: a place called the city of Makaban.

Oral traditions here also narrate how ships could mystically stray into the Inabanga River and hit the bridge, the captain allegedly lured to the gleaming city of gold.

Makaban, the city made hypothetical by the strong oral traditions here is said to be having streets lined with gold, peopled by rare breed of tall albinos and mestizos; engkantos who lived life like there was no tomorrow.

They accordingly dined in the finest sparkling glass and silvers and the best chinese porcelain, food a-bounty and music so joyous an ordinary man who would partake with them would never be like any normal being again.

So the people of the town would just sit and gaze at the perpetual parties, their only chance to get hold of the silver and porcelain pieces is when they borrow it from the supernatural beings.

Oral traditions also relate that when the poor people of the town needs silvers and plates for large social gatherings, they would just list them down and leave it at the doorway of the mythical city.

When they return the following day, what awaits them are piles of sparkling silver, china and glasses, ready for the taking.

The catch, they must return it in the same condition.

The friendly co-existence of the town’s people and the spirits stopped only when some people allegedly failed to return the borrowed items.

Now the city of Makaban has remained shrouded in mystery.

But the ships’ foghorns still come early dawn, ask employees at the town hall.

And the aroma of roasted cocoa or burnt and brewed coffee still accompany the whiff of air here, when no one’s cooking.

This eventual wrath of the engkantos resulted in their wreaking havoc upon the people who abuse their goodness.

Why kill along the river?

Common superstitious belief said that the river is the conduit between the world of the immortals and men.

On the other and, another story also delve on the ferocious crocodiles that teem in the river.

The Inabanga River was once accordingly infested with crocodiles.

Every year, a human life was lost through attack by a crocodile.

Local folks also thought that the deaths were yearly rental or “abang” for the use of the river and thus the river was called “Inabangan”or “Rented River”, which is also the most prominent mark in the town, thus the town was called Inabangan.

However during the Spanish times, Spaniards find “Inabangan” too hard for them to pronounce.

Inabanga was how they would call it, and the name stuck to this day. - source: Sunday Post

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