HISTORY OF BUHI.

From the past writings of Friars and native historians, we learned that
somewhere between what is now Sta. Crus and the sitio of Sapa was a
little lake called Buyok-buyokan, so called because of the faint circular
motion of the water. Along the shores of this lake were small huts of the
Agta who lived fishing and hunting.
On April 14, 1578, Captain Pedro Chavez and a certain Fr. Tomas
Francisco, Franciscan and some members of the exploring party
discovered and founded Buhi. It’s inhabitants at the time were estimated
to be 5, 645 pagans scattered in the different settlements. In 1605
thought the painstaking  effort s of Franciscan, Fr. Antonio Mendez,
they received their Catholic baptism in the jungles and dense forests
where they lived.
On January 4, 1641, at 1:00 o’clock in the afternoon, all the well known
volcanoes in the Bicol region erupted simultaneously. The side of a high
mountain, the Bicol valley blew up and subsequent earhquakes that
followed made the eastern  sank down and the fine lake came into
existence.
Apparently, the small lake Buyok-buyokan joined the waters of the new
lake because this small lake disappeared. What only remained were the
two sitios of Buyok-buyokan and Sapa. The few of the native s who
survived scampered to the north-eastern Island. Thus, another hamlet
was developed.
On February 1, 1814, Mayon Volcano had it’s worst eruption. The
thriving community of Cagsawa at the foot of the volcano was buried
under the lava and ashes. Only the upper portion of the frontage of the
church and its belfry remained to be seen. And it still can be seen to this
day. Many of the people living near the side of the volcano fled for their
lives.
A story was told that two brothers who are survivors of a family that was
exterminated by a venomous snake in a spring in  Lignion near old
Albay and Cagsawa town trekked to Riquit, a forest near a clear pond
known as Maydanao Polangui. It was here that the refugees caught up
with them. Because they were familiar with the place, the two brothers
became the leaders of the caravan. They reached Macaa-angay of Buhi
and pushed further was until they reach Buraburan. Feeling still insecure
because they could still feel the tremors of Mayon, they continued
northward until they saw a lake. Here on the shores of the lake, they
decided to stay because according to them it was a “Maraay na Raga”
and in time was abbreviated to “Marayag” which is now the name of the
same place and a sitio of Barangay San Buena.
After a few years, the inhabitants of Marayag realized that the place has
grown small for them. So they migrated westward crossing a river. Here
on the side of the river, they made a clearing for their homes in a dense
forest. Thus, the stage was set for the founding of Buhi. For whenever
the natives asked these migrants who they were, they would answer
“NAKABUHI” from Mayon, which means, that they “were able to
escape” from the wrath of Mayon. Incidentally, the word BUHI is either
an Albay of Visayan origin   which means “had escape”.
It is how Buhi got its name.