When the Christian settlers came at the onset of the century, these friendly natives moved further to the hinterlands along with them their "pana-sa-boboy". These later evolved into present day name PANABO.

1999 Hypothesis

The Municipal Government of Panabo conducted Barangay Development Planning Workshop wherein historical trending of all barangays were considered using key informant interview for the baseline information. The oldest natives in the barangay who were born in Panabo were tapped but they never mentioned about the history as first drafted. This ignites the idea to dig out more information. The stories were collated until the final consensus was presented.

The aetas were not the only first migrant in Panabo. They came in unison with the Kalagans (presently called as Davao Muslims), and the ANGs (Non-Muslim and Non-Christian). They grew in number and until villages were settled. A common trading center was established, where they sold their agricultural and marine products as well as where they bought their prime commodities. They fondly called this place as "PANABO-AN" which means in the locality as TABOAN and trading center in English. The word PANABO was later used and declared as the official name of the place.