In Bogo, and maybe the whole Cebu province, the word “carbon” used to mean market place or place of commerce. This would seem a misuse or a merely tolerated use for the same word is also used to mean coal which appears to be appropriate. We have an appropriate Visayan or Cebuano word for a market which is not carbon but “tiyangge”. Mercado is sometimes used as an alternate but this is definitely Spanish.  

Why then is the word carbon to mean public market from which Barangay Carbon in Bogo got its name?

The circulated story runs this way:

The first power plant established by the Visayan Electric Company (VECO) in Cebu City near the old carbon and freedom park powered by coal “carbon”. Because coal was the main fuel for the engines, VECO had to stockpile a big volume of coal which appeared like small mountains beside the plants. The mountain- like stockpile of coal ”carbon” gradually became the popular reference point for people who want to go to the public market near it.

So, instead of saying, “I’m going to the market”, one would instead say, “I’m going to carbon”. Ultimately, the word carbon was accepted by many to mean public market.

So, when Bogo constructed its first public market after the Second World War, it was also called carbon. Since Barangay Carbon in Bogo is located inside the poblacion and includes the public market for its territory, it was but natural to name it officially as Barangay Carbon of Bogo.

source: cityofbogocebu.gov.ph

Historical population

The population of Carbon fell from 503 in 1990 to 263 in 2015, a decrease of 240 people. The latest census figures in 2015 denote a negative growth rate of 7.32%, or a decrease of 129 people, from the previous population of 392 in 2010.





source: https://www.philatlas.com/visayas/r07/cebu/bogo/carbon.html