Calasiao, officially the Municipality of Calasiao (; ; ), is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Pangasinan Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan (, ; ; ), is a coastal Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its capital is Lingayen, Pangasinan, Lingayen while San Carlos, Pangasi ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 100,471 people. Today, Calasiao is known as a first class, highly commercialized municipality and is strategically located at the heart of Pangasinan. It consists of 24 barangays and 31 sitios across a total land area of 4,836 hectares. Being a town adjacent to the city of

Dagupan Dagupan , officially the City of Dagupan (, , ), is a 2nd class independent component city in the Ilocos Region, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 174,302 people. Located on Lingayen Gulf on the northwest-central ...

, the municipality's economic activities are fed by the demand in Dagupan as the town increasingly becomes an important satellite commercial hub for the immediate area. In terms of delicacy, Calasiao's flagship product is the native rice cake known as '' Puto Calasiao''.

Etymology

The name Calasiao was derived from the root word ''lasi'', meaning "lightning". Building on this root is the Pangasinense word ''Kalasian'', which means "a place where lightning frequently occurs". Upon the arrival of the Spaniards, they called the place "''Lugar de Rayos''", a literal Spanish translation of the word ''Kalasian''. It was named as such because it is said that Calasiao back in the day was always frequented by this natural phenomenon.

History

The indigenous people of Calasiao are descended from the Austronesian-speaking people who settled into the Philippines from Taiwan 5,000 years ago. Calasiao was settled by a Pangasinan speaking people whose language belongs to the

Malayo-Polynesian The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 385.5 million speakers. The Malayo-Polynesian languages are spoken by the Austronesian peoples outside of Taiwan, in the island nations of Southeast ...

branch of the

Austronesian languages The Austronesian languages ( ) are a language family widely spoken throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, parts of Mainland Southeast Asia, Madagascar, the islands of the Pacific Ocean and Taiwan (by Taiwanese indigenous peoples). They are spoken ...

family. In 1571, the

Spanish conquest The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It ...

of Pangasinan began. The Spanish ''conquistadores'' were accompanied by

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

missionaries who introduced Roman Catholicism to the

indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

of Pangasinan. The town of Calasiao became part of the Pangasinan encomendia of Labaya, designated as belonging to the King of Spain, Juan Ximenez del Opaline, and a son of Alonso Hernandez de Sandoval for whom tributes were collecte

In the 16th century, Dominican friars, who were settling at Gabon, were driven out because of the continuing unrest in the town. The formation of the new Calasiao however was not immediately welcomed by its native inhabitants. Hence in 1660, when the call for the Malong Rebellion came, the citizens picked up their weapons and joined the fight against the Spanish rule. The citizens were also one of the first people to answer the call by Juan de la Cruz Palaris of Binalatongan (now San Carlos City) to rebel, which succeeded in driving the Spanish civil and ecclesiastical authorities out of the vicinity.

Geography

Calasiao is situated from the provincial capital

Lingayen Lingayen, officially the Municipality of Lingayen (; ; ; ), is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality and capital of the Philippine Province, province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 10 ...

, and from the country's capital city of

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

Barangays

Calasiao is politically subdivided into 24

barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...

s. Each barangay consists of

purok A ''purok'' () is an informal division within a barangay in the Philippines. While not officially considered a local government unit (LGU), a ''purok'' often serves as a unit for delivering services and administration within a barangay. ''Pur ...

s and some have

sitios A ''sitio'' (Spanish language, Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own bar ...

. * Ambonao * Ambuetel * Banaoang * Bued * Buenlag† * Cabilocaan * Dinalaoan * Doyong * Gabon * Lasip * Longos * Lumbang * Macabito * Malabago * Mancup * Nagsaing * Nalsian *

Poblacion ''Poblacion'' (from Spanish '' población'', meaning "population"), sometimes abbreviated as Pob., is a term used in the Philippines to refer to the administrative center, downtown, old town, or commercial area of a city or municipality. It ...

East *

West^ * Quesban * San Miguel * San Vicente * Songkoy * Talibaew *† Indicates the most populous barangay. *^ The seat of government

Climate

Demographics

Languages

The people in Calasiao speak

, the dominant language in central Pangasinan. Ilocano, Tagalog, and English are also widely spoken.

Economy

Calasiao is centrally located in Pangasinan, between Dagupan and San Carlos City, with a major road connecting Calasiao to both cities. The town is also connected to Santa Barbara, from where the

MacArthur Highway The MacArthur Highway, officially the Manila North Road (MNR or MaNor), is a , two-to-six lane, national primary highway and tertiary highway in Luzon, Philippines, connecting Caloocan in Metro Manila to Aparri in Cagayan at the north. It is t ...

connects to Baguio City and Metro Manila. Calasiao has rich farmlands planted mainly with ''palay'' or rice, coconuts and mangoes. Calasiao also has a lot of fishponds along its rivers and wetlands where fish like ''bangus'' (milkfish), ''pantat'' (catfish), and tilapia are raised. A

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

Bottlers plant is located in Purok 7 Barangay Bued Calasiao. In June 2010,

Robinsons Malls Robinsons Malls is one of the List of shopping malls in the Philippines, largest shopping malls and retail operators in the Philippines. It was incorporated on September 9, 1997, by entrepreneur John Gokongwei, John Gokongwei Jr. to develop, c ...

announced the construction of its 30th mall in this town. Robinsons Place Pangasinan is a two-level mall built on a lot with a gross floor area of and a gross leasable area of .

Government

Local government

Calasiao, belonging to the third congressional district of the province of

, is governed by a mayor designated as its local chief executive and by a municipal council as its legislative body in accordance with the Local Government Code. The mayor, vice mayor, and the councilors are elected directly by the people through an election which is being held every three years. The town hall is located in front of the Roman Catholic convent of San Pedro y San Pablo de Calasiao, the same building as the shrine of Senor Divino Tesoro. The current mayor is Mamilyn A. Caramat, who took over the mayoralty post from Joseph Arman C. Bauzon, following his victory in the May 2022 elections. In January 2023, she died from stroke and Kevin Macanlalay took over as Mayor.

Elected officials

The town is currently led by Mayor Kevin Roy Q. Macanlalay, Vice Nestor Gabrillo, and eight other councilor

Tourism

Calasiao is known for its '' Puto (food), puto'', a soft rice cake; suman, a sweet coconut and sticky rice cake wrapped in banana leaves; and

bagoong ''Bagoóng'' (; ) is a Philippine condiment partially or completely made of either fermented fish (''bagoóng isdâ'') or krill or shrimp paste (''bagoóng alamáng'') with salt. The fermentation process also produces fish sauce known as ''pat ...

, or fermented fish paste. Calasiao puto is described as the town's "white gold." '' Puto Calasiao'' is a bite-size, soft rice cake made from semi-glutinous rice that is fermented in earthen jars. It is produced mainly in Barangay Dinalaoan. Many pilgrims from neighbouring cities/towns and provinces visit Calasiao to pray at the Senor Divino Tesoro shrine. The statue of a crucified Jesus Christ is believed to grow in size and grant miracles.

Puto festival

Calasiao celebrates a ''puto'' industry festival. The '' Puto Calasiao'' is a rice cake that is well known all over the Philippines for its melt-in-the-mouth feeling. It is locally sold along the streets going to Sr. Divino Tesoro. It is known for its "white gold": "cup-shaped, bite-sized, soft rice cakes; the semi-glutinous rice is fermented in old earthen jars" (in the barangays of Dinalaoan, Lumbang, Ambuetel, and a part of Nalsian). ''Puto Calasiao'' is made of long grain rice soaked in water, ground and fermented for three days of more, with just enough sugar to taste, and steamed. It can be topped with cheese or drizzled with chocolate syrup for variation. It is perfect to be paired with

dinuguan ''Dinuguan'' () is a Filipino savory stew usually of pork offal (typically lungs, kidneys, intestines, ears, heart and snout) and/or meat simmered in a rich, spicy dark gravy of pig blood, garlic, chili (most often '' siling haba''), and v ...

. The town has the traditional white ''puto'' and many flavors like pandan (green), ube (violet), banana (yellow), strawberry (light red/pink) and cheese (gold). The original white ''puto'' and ''

kutsinta ''Puto cuchinta'' or ''kutsinta'' is a type of steamed rice cake ('' puto'') found throughout the Philippines. It is made from a mixture of tapioca or rice flour, brown sugar, and lye, enhanced with yellow food coloring or annatto extract, a ...

'' (another rice cake variety) is sold at P80 per kilogram (70 to 75 pieces), while the flavored ones are sold at P80 per kg. The price is higher by P15 to P20 in other areas to cover transportation costs. ''Bella's Puto'' consumes three to six sacks of rice a day to make ''puto'', depending on the season. Peak production period is from October to January. A sack of rice can produce 8,000 pieces or 107 kg of ''puto''. ''Bella's Puto'' is sold at four SM shopping mall branches, in Santa Mesa (Manila), Baliwag (Bulacan), Clark (Pampanga) and Rosales (Pangasinan). It is also sold in a store in Caloocan and at the Pasalubong Center in Rosales town. Bocayo (sweetened coconut) and dinuguan are also the best products of Nalsian Bacayao and Nalsian Centro. Calasiao celebrates its town fiesta every May 2 and 3: the feast day of Señor Divino Tesoro. Every June 28 and 29 is the fiesta of San Pedro and San Pablo, which were the dates of the Calasiao fiesta.

Education

There are two schools district office which govern all educational institutions within the municipality. They oversee the management and operations of all private and public elementary and high schools. These are Calasiao I Schools District Office, and Calasiao I Schools District Office.

Primary and elementary schools

* Ambonao Elementary School * Ambuetel Elementary School * Balani-Parongking Elementary School * Balingit Constantino-Lasip Elementary School * Banaoang Elementary School * Blessed Generation Dream Academy * Brilliant Achievers Learning Center * Bued East Elementary School * Bued Elementary School * Buenlag Central School * Cabilocaan Elementary School * Calasiao Central School * Calasiao Educational Center * Carthel Science Educational Foundation * Dinalaoan Elementary School * Doyong Centro Elementary School * Doyong Malabago Elementary School * Elpidio P. Roy-Gabon Elementary School * Idoldol Elementary School * Longos Elementary School * Lumbang Elementary School * Macabito Elementary School * Malabago Elementary School * Mancup Elementary School * Mother of Good Counsel Academy * Nagsaing Elementary School * Nalsian Bacayao Elementary School * Quesban Elementary School * San Miguel Elementary School * San Vicente Elementary School * Señor Tesoro Academy * Sir Melan Learning Center * Songkoy Elementary School * Talibaew Elementary School

Secondary schools

* Bued National High School * Buenlag National High School * Calasiao Comprehensive National High School * Doyong-Malabago National High School * Precious Minds Montessori and High School

Higher educational institution

* AMA Computer College * Philippine College of Science and Technology * Señor Tesoro College * Acatech Aviation Academy

Notable personalities

* Mitoy Yonting

References

External links

Calasiao Profile at PhilAtlas.com
*
Municipal Profile at the National Competitiveness Council of the Philippines

Calasiao at the Pangasinan Government Website

Local Governance Performance Management System
* Philippine Standard Geographic Code
Philippine Census Information
{{Authority control Municipalities of Pangasinan 1592 establishments in the Philippines Populated places established in 1592