Historical Origin of Binmaley Pangasinan
I. ETYMOLOGY
The origins of the Municipality of Binmaley are in rooted in legend .The most popular says that two brothers, both heirs to a Lingayen Datu's throne, engaged into a dispute as to who should rule between them as they has a keen rivalry resulting from their businesses in salt making, fish processing (the manufacture of bagoong or fish paste and daing or dried fish), and gold artifacts, which they traded with the Chinese, Arabs and other oriental traders frequenting the area. The younger of them felt cheated and complained to his brother who ordered him to leave Lingayen. He did so in rage with his followers, went eastward, and transformed small fishing community from its lethargic existence to a bustling entrepot of trade and industry that soon rivaled his erstwhile hometown. His boundless energy and vision as well as his “business acumen, leadership, charming personality, and honest dealings “served him well in drawing new members (i.e. businessman, traders, fisherman, artisans, etc.) to the community. The center was called Binmaley, which in Pangasinan means, “a place that became a town".
Another popular legend has it that a magnanimous woman whom the town folk called Binamin founded the municipality. She had no known beginnings and was said to the very first inhabitants of the town>She was apparently accepted as a priestess and had a big shelter constructed where she and her flock worshipped their idols and where strangers dropped in occasionally for food and lodging. Grateful travelers , thus spread the news of her kindness and the growing community eventually made her their leader, their loving grandmother-their "Binamin". Some claim that the term is actually the abbreviated form of the phrase "Bai-min-amin" which means "our grandmother"
A third legend says that Binmaley, derived its name from the Pangasinan phrase "nanmaliw ya baley", meaning a place or territory that has been converted into a town because it is believed that the municipality was formerly a part of the town of Binalatongan now known as San Carlos City.
