History

Guizo. The story goes that on a bright day a laborer loaded with a white slab was walking on a grassy field. He met a Spaniard who was curious as to the name of the place. The laborer could not at first be bothered, weighty as his cargo was. He did turn back to catch the question which was repeated, but did not know what it meant. He searched the Spaniard’s face for clues and remembered that the white man had quickly glanced at his load. Thinking that the Spaniard meant this, he replied, “Giso, ni noy, giso. Adto ni nako dad-on…” (This is giso, sir, giso. This is where I’ll bring it). So Guizo was the name of the place, thought the Spaniard, after the whitish earth found in this barangay. That must have amused the Spaniard, because “guiso” means “dish of food” in Spanish.

A simpler version goes that the place got its name from the dipterocarp tree gisok that must have grown numerously in the area. Gisok’s common English name is Balau Red (Shorea guiso).