for centuries, Western Pangasinan including Alaminos used to be part of the Northern portion of Zambales, which during the Spanish times was called “La Peninsula de Zambales”.  The first settlers were called “Zambal”, the native of Zambales province.

a record of the first missionaries listed our town of Alaminos under the names of SUYANG, CASBORRAN and SARAPSAP.

the history proper of Alaminos began in 1734 when a group of Zambal adventurers from Bolinao settled in what is now LUCAP and called it “SUYANG”. They built their dwellings and a small chapel made of bamboo and nipa to enshrine the image of St. Joseph.

after 2 years, the pioneers of Suyang moved to another location because their leader, Don Gaspar Montoya died of unknown sickness and the other leaders ascribed his death to evil spirits.

The pioneers of Suyang found another ideal place to live in which we now call CAYUCAY.  They called this place “CASBORRAN”.  Old town folks also called it BALEYADAAN.  During this time, emigrants from nearby towns of Mabini and Bolinao came and as soon as the required quota for population was reached, the town folks sent a petition to the Central Government in Manila and the Archbishop to establish Casborran as a Municipality.  The request was granted in 1747.

by the start of the 18^th century,  Casborran and the other towns along the coast suffered ruthless attacks, kidnappings and killings by the Moro pirates.  These pirates were armed with superior weapons and fast sailing boats called “Vintas” making these towns easy victims.

because of these attacks by the pirates, the people of Casborran transferred the town site further inland, far enough fro the shore and a safe distance from the Moro raids.  During this time, power struggle resulted into open quarrel between the Suyang founders and the emigrants from Dagupan and Lingayen on one side and the Zambal descendants and Pangasinenses on the other.  The Recollect Superior sided with the Zambal aristocracy and so the other faction led by Antonio Nicolas fell into bad grace in the bitter dispute.  Antonio Nicolas resenting this left Casborran with his sympathizers and settled to what are now BUED and POCALPOCAL.

another conflict came about between the Teniente Basal and the Friars where the Friars left Casborran bringing with them the church vessels, the bell and the image of it’s patron saint, St. Joseph.  They settled to what is now SAN JOSE near INERANGAN.  Casborran was divided into different factions.

to make matters worse,  Antonio Nicolas who settled in BUED and POCALPOCAL asked his friend Palaris, a revolutionary leader from San Carlos, Pangasinan and who is known for his victories against the English and the Spanish to settle his disputed with the Recollect Superior and the Zambal aristocracy.  To carry out his commitment, Palaris destroyed the town of Casborran by burning the whole town and the church.  The surviving residents came back to rebuild the town and the church once again.  Casborran was crushed and went back to the status of a barrio.

the different family groups separated by conflicts, came back to live togetheragain in a new locality in 1776.  The legend says that where the present church now stands, a shadow, that of St. Joseph and the sound of his carpenter tools appeared to an old gravedigger and that it is the wish of this shadow that a church is built on it.  This how the new location came about – 5 kilometers away from it’s first location called Suyang.  This new locality was called “SARAPSAP”.

the assignment of a resident missionary, Father Torribio, a Recollect brought new hope for the new locality.  During this time Sarapsap progressed.  A lot of immigrants came from as far as Ilocos to help plant and harvest the fertile lands. Sarapsap gained back its status as a municipality.

in 1872, Sarapsap was honored by the visit of the Governor General of the Philippines, GENERAL ALAMINOS.  To commemorate this event, the name of the town was changed for the fourth time to – “ALAMINOS”.