More than 60 years ago, there is no such place as Barangay Moloy. The place exists but it has no name. Nobody even dares to settle on the place because you can only see bushes everywhere. The place had been referred to as “Katigbawan” because the area is fully occupied by plants called “Tigbaw”.
In an interview conducted by Fely Aniversario(my Aunt) to Fe Fulgencio (My grandmother) who happens to be among the first settlers in the area, the said place is actually a hide out of the tribes of B’laans. In the year 1950s, her father Miguel C. Empleo Sr. is looking for a place to settle. They left Antique and found this land occupied by grasses. During that time, the B’laan tribe is in war with the Muslims, and they could not afford to stay in the place, so they went running towards the grasses (Katigbawan) just to hide themselves from the enemies. My great grandfather Miguel Empleo on his venture to the new place met a B’laan and he had no intention to interrogate about the war, he was just there to discover things. He asked the B’laan about the name of the river and he had no other way to communicate with them but using the vernacular called Kinaray-a. The B’laan man could not understand a single word from him, so he supposed Lolo Miguel is asking him for the whereabouts of the people. The B’laan answered him “M’lay”, a B’laan term which means “They Run Away” because people there are running away from the enemy. So Lolo Miguel called the place “M’lay”. But for a native Karay-a, they could not pronounced the term properly, so Lolo Ising, also one of the first settlers in the place changed the term from “M’lay” to “Moloy”.
The new settlers from Antique start to occupy the place and officially called it Moloy. The B’laan tribes on the other hand literally run away from the place and decided to stay in the upper areas. Miguel Empleo assumed the title Teniente del Barrio in 1953 and it was then followed by Antonio Penuela in 1958, Alfredo Fulgencio on 1959, Crispin Omodto in 1960, Wenifredo Cabra in 1961, Cresenciano Vegafria in 1962, and Sabas Vegafria in 1963. They are the first 6 people who established the foundation of the cradle of the community of Barangay Moloy. In honor of these people, their names are currently scrolled in a concrete wall of the Barangay Plaza.
In 1964, Barangay Moloy has its own set of Barangay Officials. This is the complete set of the Barangay Officials of Moloy from 1964 to 1968.
During the year 1968, the Barangay Moloy is slowly progressing and it is already a known place. So another set of Barangay Officials took over.
The first settlers including my grandparents Mr. Flaviano Fulgencio and Mrs. Fe Fulgencio raised their family in this place. Barangay Moloy is already 57 years old and throughout the years, it serves as a dwelling place for each of us.
