Valenzuela City In Spanish , Valenzuela is a diminutive form of Valencia which means "little Valencia". Before 1960, Valenzuela was formerly known as Polo. [14] The name Polo was derived from the Tagalog term pulƓ , which means "island" or "islet", although the area was not an island itself. The town of Polo was entirely surrounded by the rivers, thus, creating an impression of itself being an island. During the Spanish era, present-day Valenzuela, Obando and Novaliches (now in Quezon City ) were parts of Bulacan . When Manila became an archdiocese in 1595, regular friars who had already established permanent churches in Catanghalan, Bulacan (now Meycauayan ) decided that the sitio of Polo be separated from the town and have its own church to cater its increasing spiritual needs. A new pueblo was carved out of the northwestern area of Polo on May 14, 1753, by the orders of the Governor-General Francisco Jose de Obando y Solis, Marqui