Cebu Metropolitan Enthusiast: Danao City

6. DANAO CITY
Danao City is a third class city in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 119,252 people.

In 2005, Metro Cebu's definition was expanded to include Danao City, a leader in the gun industry, in the north and the municipalities of San Fernando and Carcar in the south.

Danao City is well known for its gun industry. The industry started around 1905-1906. When World War II came, the Danao gunsmiths went underground, joined the guerrilla movement or were inducted into the USAFFE. Their main task was to re-chamber the Japanese Arisaka rifles to fit the US .30 caliber round or to keep the original Japanese rifle in good service.

The industry went on, still underground. In the 1960s, the term paltik was given to the homemade (and illegal) guns. In the early 1990s the industry was legalized by the government, with the creation of two organizations of local gunsmiths. The organization now left with proper permit is Workers League of Danao Multi-purpose Cooperative (World MPC), in Dungguan, Danao City. There is no concrete record to support the story on how Danao got its name. Although in the 1960’s there were circularized copies of a story concerning the early founding of Danao, but the contents and substance were but clear reproduction of an old legendary version which related of a Spanish Captain by the name of Manuel Aniceto del Rosario who, as the story went, was commissioned by the early Spanish authorities in the province of Cebu to establish municipalities starting from what is now Danao City towards the northern part of Cebu as far as what is now presently the municipality of Borbon.

This developed when in compliance with his commission, Capt. Del Rosario went to said places to perform his duties. Riding on a horse on his way to the north after a place called Cotcot, he came upon a few natives who were resting and taking time bathing their carabaos in one of the many lakes in the area. Dismounting from his horse, the Captain took his rest and in a short while struck conversation with the surprised natives. Pointing vertically his forefinger to the ground where they stood, the captain inquired just what was the name of the place, with the impression that the stranger might have asked the name of the small lakes where their carabaos were resting, one of the native instantly replied: "DANAWAN" (a Cebuano dialect for small lake) which, according to the story, on account of the Captain’s defective sense of hearing, only heard and recorded the first syllable DA-NAO. Thus begun the early naming of the placeDANAO.

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