History

Ibabao-Estancia. The double-barreled barangay of Ibabao-Estancia (which suggests a fusion) was once one with the poblacion. It is situated at its northern portion; here a road cuts through the heart of Mandaue and leads straight up to Daanbantayan municipality in northern Cebu. When people would go to this northern part of the poblacion they say, “Mo adto ako sa Ibabaw,” (I will go to the upper part).

Ibabao, meaning “up” (or northwards, as the case may be) was later distinguished from “Centro” ,the middle part of the poblacion, and was eventually seceded from it as a separate barangay.

Another take on the origin of Ibabao and Estancia states that the former meant “at a high place” where rainwater would begin to run to the sea; while the latter “Estancia” meant a wealthy place of residence because of the big houses of its citizens in the past. History suggests otherwise, in that Estancia may have gotten its name from a ranch in the area, quite plausibly the one donated to the Jesuits in 1599.