Bicol Region has had various names since the time of Spanish who called its northern part Tierra de Camarines and its southern part Tierra de Ibalon.

     Some historians claim that it was originally referred to Ibalon but the Spaniards later divided it into Partido de Ibalon and Partido de Camarines.

     Though described by the Spanish missionaries as the friendliest race in the Philippines, gentle, temperate and religious,

     the Bicolanos fiercely resisted the first attempts to subdue them in 1573.

     Fr. Martin de Rada reported how they refused to surrender unless forced into it by superior arms.

     Their chiefs bravely opposed the Spanish forces led by Salcedo�s officer, Captain Pedro Chavez, who established the Spanish city of Caceres next to the indigenous village of Naga.

     Thus, the name Ibalong, to refer to the whole of Bikol Region, really came from this small fishing village, Gibalong, which is now a mere sitio of Barangay Siuton, in Magallanes town, where the local parish constructed sometime in the 1970s a small wooden chapel and a concrete historical marker on the site.

     In some old Spanish maps, the Spanish cartographers even retained the original spelling by identifying, either the whole Bikol Region or parts of it � Tierra de Gibalong.

     In his book, From Ibalon to Sorsogon: A Historical Survey of Sorsogon Province to 1905 (New Day Pub. QC, Philippines, 1991), Dr. Luis C. Dery writes, Historical records showed that the Spaniards started using the name Ibalon as early as 1567 to refer variously to a pre-Spanish native settlement in Sorsogon Gulf, to the entire Bicol Region, and sometimes to the entire island of Luzon.

     The Spaniards� indiscriminate use of this name was due to their inadequate knowledge of Bicol geography at the outset of their exploration and conquest of the region.

     Gradually, they were able to delimit Ibalon and the rest of Kabikolan�s territory.

     Sorsogon became a province, separate from the Province of Albay to which it was formerly attached, in 1894.

     This is the reason why, in 1994 the centennial foundation anniversary of the Province started to be commemorated and celebrated with a festival � the Kasanggayahan Festival � every October of each year.