There was once a tribe whose people were disunited. A wise old man seeing the evils that dissension has sown among his people, stepped forward and united the tribe under his leadership. A group of miscreants did not appreciate the old man’s noble action and disliked the idea of the tribe having a single competent leader.
One day, the wise old man just disappeared. After a long and exhaustive search, the old man’s body was found but with the head missing. The natives attempted to locate the severed head of their leader but were ultimately unsuccessfully.
A boy in the village, however refused to give up and made a vow to not stop searching until he could find the old man’s head.
Then one day, the boy finally found the old man’s head resting on the tip of a bamboo pole. The miscreants apparently wanted to humiliate the wise old man and his legacy so that discord would again prevail among the natives. Upon seeing the head, the boy ran back to the village shouting, “Ulo ng Apo!” “Ulo ng Apo!”
The phrase somehow stuck and the place became known as it is called today – Olongapo.