Barangay Bahay Toro

Bahay Toro Center along Road 3
near Short Horn.

In the time of President Ferdinand Marcos, during martial law, city districts were subdivided into barangays which were something like a town. Some barangays were smaller than a regular town, some were bigger, like Barangay Bahay Toro in Project 8. It is said to be the biggest barangay in Quezon City. As of this writing, the barangay captain is Dennis Caboboy who won the local barangay elections last year. Prior to this, he was replaced for a while by another captain but managed to recapture the seat.

Anyway, this is where I live, Barangay Bahay Toro, which is one of the barangays that touch on Project 8. The other barangay is said to be located somewhere in Mendoza Village. I've never been to that barangay yet but I'd soon be when I start securing the barangay clearance and permit of our laboratory business. Bahay Toro covers the three-bedroom area of Project 8 and upwards going to Congressional Avenue and parts near Pagasa, Project 6.

If you'd look closer you'd see the
signage saying "Bahay Toro."

Why the name Bahay Toro? This barangay is one of the oldest in Quezon City. From what I gathered, it used to be the area where carabaos or local water buffaloes were grazed as early as the Katipunan days. Thus the name Bahay Toro or literally Carabao House, insinuating a place where the farm animals were mostly found roaming. A nearby locality, called Banlat along Tandang Sora Avenue, was the place where skins of slaughtered carabaos were said to be dried under the sun. The resultant leather was then made into bolo sheaths. A bolo was a native short sword used for both working and artful fighting.

Today, dropping by the Barangay Bahat Toro center along Road 3 near the intersection of Short Horn and Congressional Avenue, one witnesses a busy office building were local constituents, visitors, and barangay office staff work to accomplish documents, clearances, and other paper works. You also see pupils and mothers walking past from the nearby Toro Hills Elementary School.