26/08/2026
๐ฅ๐๐๐ | ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐ฅ๐๐, ๐ก๐ข๐ง ๐ ๐ง๐ฅ๐๐ฃ ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ก๐ข๐ข๐ฆ๐
The name of the sitio where the Chapel of Mary Help of Christians is located is Bitik. For many decades, locals narrate that the name of the sitio is associated with pigs and ducks, and then later on, became synonymous to traps or nooses.
But bitik is actually a kind of tree.
In the 3rd volume of the book "An Enumeration of Philippine Flowering Plants" by Elmer D. Merrill published in 1923, it was mentioned that bitik is actually a local name (Tagalog) of guijo or giho (Shorea guiso), a kind of tree in the family Dipterocarpaceae, the group of trees that also include apitong, tangile, yakal, and lauan, all known for their strength and durability. Once abundant in many places in the Central Luzon and MIMAROPA areas like Bulacan, Rizal and Laguna, in 2017, the IUCN Red List website listed Shorea guiso as a vulnerable species, due to logging and kaingin or slash-and-burn.
Elmer Merrill is a American botanist and a leading expert on the flora of the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific region, who wrote this foundational four-volume botanical work and published between 1922 and 1926.
Bitik or Shorea guiso is a tree that can grow up to 30 m (98.43 ft) to 40 m (131.23 ft) and its diameter can measure up to 1.80 m (5.91 ft) or more. The color of the bark is light reddish brown when it is newly bared, while the shape of the leaves ranges from lanceolate or ovate lanceolate to oblong with nerves having at least 15 pairs. The flowers are small, measuring about 10 mm in diameter, and feature a yellow-red color arranged in panicles. Guijo is generally used for construction, furniture making, ship and boat farming, and other uses that needing hard wood with aesthetically pleasing grain.
In Valenzuela City, many places here were named after the trees and plants that were once predominant in the area: Karuhatan (from duhat, Syzygium cumini), Dalandanan (from dalandan, Citrus aurantium), Maysan (from mais, Zea mays), Palasan (a type of rattan palm, Calamus merrillii), Balubaran (from balubad or kasoy, Anacardium occidentale), Canumay (Diospyros maritima), Mabolo (Diospyros blancoi), Bignay (Antidesma bunius) among others. So it is not surprising that same scheme will be used in naming our sitio.
