History

Casili. A dried-up creek known as Casili joins Mandaue and Consolacion. According to legend it was once high with water and full of fishes called kasili. The fish was like an eel in shape and was considered a delicacy to the Chinese. Since the place had no name, it was then named after the kasili found in abundance in the area and even the spot that belongs to Consoalcion on the north side of the creek has also been known by the same name. When the Americans arrived to colonize the Philippines and register the barangay names, they dropped the old spelling with “K” and changed it to “C”. Now it is Casili.

The casili, is indeed a freshwater eel and in one place it has been protected by an ordinance for its value in keeping waterways clog-free. But the HDP points out that it is sili or chili pepper (Capsicum frutescens) that had given the place its name. It was growing plentifully there that prefix “ca” was added to denote the place of the spicy hot chili.

History reveals, moreover, that barrio Casili has had that name with that spelling since at least 1868, when the town of Consolacion was created out of its matrix, Mandaue. Obviously, Casili was once a bigger place bisected by the creek; and when the creation of Consolacion came to be, a part went to the new town, while the old one remained with Mandaue.