- Panganiban, Catanduanes
The municipality of Panganiban (formerly Payo) is a 5th class municipality in the province of Catanduanes, the
Philippines . It is situated on the northern part of Catanduanes, with its eastern part facing the Pacific Ocean. It is bounded on the north by the municipality of Bagamanoc, on the south by the municipality of Viga, and on the west by the municipality of Caramoran which is covered by a dense forest.The town proper has a distance of 56 kilometers from Virac, the capital town and commercial center of the province. Its distance from the adjacent towns of Viga and Bagamanoc are 5 and 4 kilometers, respectively.
History
On January 1, 1921, Gov. Gen.
Francis B. Harrison signed into law Executive Order No. 55 officially segregating the municipality from Viga; thenceforth she was called Panganiban, in honor of Jose Blanca Panganiban who stood as sponsor during the inauguration. She is also known as Payo, after a native herb, "hamapayo" and due to its brevity, the name Payo is more commonly used.About 9,500 inhabitants populate her 7,772 km2 area of vast plains and valleys painted gold with rice, of hills verdant with abaca and coconuts, and of rugged coastlines thick with mangroves. Deep within her bowels lie the richest coal deposits in the island, untapped as of yet.
The pioneers were navigators and traders on commercial expeditions, descendants of the first wave of settlers from Borneo, Malay and China. In the early 13th century, another wave of seafarers, coming from southern Luzon mainland, got lost in storm, ventured inward into the mouth of Payo river and there found an Eden—and so they stayed and called this home.
The Spanish colonizers who came around 1573 indelibly left their thumbprint in Christianity to the character of Payonhon such that save for a few Christian sect. Catholicism remains the predominant religion. The church of
St. James the Greater whose massive edifice built in the 1700s still stands, lording it over the other institutions serves as a testament to the people’s ingenuity and perseverance; they who fashioned the building out of limestone and local materials using their own hands—a labor that took them 15-25 years to finish. Only a people of remarkably deep and unwavering faith could do such a feat. And this faith did not fail them through a series of crisis during the Japanese occupation. Miraculously, while the rest of the country reeled under atrocities committed by the Japanese, the Payonhons were relatively treated with civility by their captors until the aliens were driven out of town and annihilated by the guerrillas in Banquerohan in ruthless ambush on April 19, 1945.During the last term of the late assemblyman Francisco Perfecto, Panganiban became Payo again on April 20, 1957 under Republic Act No. 1654. Congressman Jose M. Alberto (through Republic Act 2122 approved April 15, 1959) changed the name to Panganiban again by which it is officially known at present.
"Some of the texts were taken from the marker at the municipal hall."
Barangays
Panganiban is politically subdivided into 23
barangay s.
* Alinawan
* Babaguan
* Bagong Bayan
* Burabod
* Cabuyoan
* Cagdarao
* Mabini
* Maculiw
* Panay
* Taopon (Pangcayanan)
* Salvacion (Pob.)
* San Antonio
* San Joaquin (Pob.)
* San Jose (Pob.)
* San Juan (Pob.)
* San Miguel
* San Nicolas (Pob.)
* San Pedro (Pob.)
* San Vicente (Pob.)
* Santa Ana (Pob.)
* Santa Maria (Pob.)
* Santo Santiago (Pob.)
* TiboExternal links
*
[http://elgu2.ncc.gov.ph/panganiban-catanduanes/index.php?cat1=1 Official website of Panganiban, Catanduanes]
* [http://www.nscb.gov.ph/activestats/psgc/municipality.asp?muncode=052007000®code=05&provcode=20 Philippine Standard Geographic Code listing for Panganiban]
* [http://www.panganiban-catanduanes.gov.ph/index.php?cat1=2&cat2=2 Municipality of Panganiban, Catanduanes]
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