Bicol Region has had various names since the time of Spanish who called its northern part Tierra de Camarines and its southern part Tierra de Ibalon. Some historians claim that it was originally referred to Ibalon but the Spaniards later divided it into Partido de Ibalon and Partido de Camarines.

Though described by the Spanish missionaries as the friendliest race in the Philippines, gentle, temperate and religious, the Bicolanos fiercely resisted the first attempts to subdue them in 1573. Fr. Martin de Rada reported how they refused to surrender unless forced into it by superior arms. Their chiefs bravely opposed the Spanish forces led by Salcedo’s officer, Captain Pedro Chavez, who established the Spanish city of Caceres next to the indigenous village of Naga.