Dumangas, Iloilo

Dumangas is a 1st class municipality in the province of Iloilo, Philippines. The town is located northeast of Iloilo City on the island of Panay. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 56,291 people in 11,262 households.

Like most parts in the Philippines, Dumangas is a rural town where agriculture and livestock are predominant.

Although an hour drive from the port city of Iloilo, Dumangas continues to retain its provincial standing, but whose commitment to certain fundamental community values and innovation has produced many in the way of medicine, law and education.

Barangays

Dumangas is politically subdivided into 45 barangays.

Bacay Bacong Balabag Balud Bantud Bantud Fabrica Baras Barasan Bolilao Calao Cali Cansilayan Capaliz Cayos Compayan

Dacutan Ermita Pd Monfort South (Guinsampanan) Ilaya 1st Ilaya 2nd Ilaya 3rd Jardin Lacturan Pd Monfort North (Lublub) Managuit Maquina Nanding Lopez Pagdugue Paloc Bigque Paloc Sool

Patlad Pulao Rosario Sapao Sulangan Tabucan Talusan Tambobo Tamboilan Victorias Burgos-Regidor (Pob.) Aurora-del Pilar (Pob.) Buenaflor Embarcadero (Pob.) Lopez Jaena-Rizal (Pob.) J.M. Basa-Mabini Bonifacio (Pob.)

History

Dumangas was known as Araut until 1605.^[1] The town is home to one of the oldest standing churches in the Visayas. It is where the Spanish Agustinian missionaries of the Catholic Church began converting the indigenous population at the time to Christianity. There are many stories as how the town acquired its name, however the consensus is that which can be attributed to the mango trees that are abundant in this part of Panay island.

Famous Writers

Dumangas is hometown to famous Hiligaynon writer Peter Solis Nery, who has won multiple Palanca Awards, the 1998 Philippine Centennial Literary Prize for screenplay, a CCP literature grant, an NCCA poetry prize, among many others. Peter Nery is author of 16 books of poetry, plays, and memoirs, including the controversial full-length play in English, "If the Shoe Fits: Or, The Five Men Imelda Marcos Meets in Heaven" (2011), the award-winning "The Passion of Jovita Fuentes" (2009), and the groundbreaking "100 Erotic Sonnets from the Hiligaynon" (2010). Peter writes in English and Hiligaynon, and is also a filmmaker whose breakthrough film was the five-minute "Dabadaba". Among Peter Solis Nery's popular stories in Hiligaynon are: "Lirio", "Candido", and "Donato Bugtot". His one-act play "The Wide Ionian Sea" has also won a Palanca Award.

Superstitions About Aswang

Dumangas is alleged to have aswangs. The aswang is an ugly creature that possesses wings similar to those of the bats and they eat human flesh. The myth of the "Aswang" is popular in the Visayan region of the Philippines, specially in the western provinces of Capiz, Iloilo, and Antique. Aside from entertainment values, mothers are said to tell their children "Aswang" stories to keep them off the streets and keep them home at night. Similar to Count Vlad III Dracula of Transylvania in Vampire stories, the most popular characters are the clan of Teñente/ Tenyente/ Tiniente Gimo of the town of Dueñas, Iloilo.

References

1. ^ "También fundó convento el Padre Fray Martin de Rada en Araut- que ahora se llama el convento de Dumangas- con la advocación de nuestro Padre San Agustín...Está fundado este pueblo casi a los fines del río de Halaur, que naciendo en unos altos montes en el centro de esta isla (Panay)...Es el pueblo muy hermoso, ameno y muy lleno de palmares de cocos. Antiguamente era el emporio y corte de la más lucida nobleza de toda aquella isla...Hay en dicho pueblo algunos buenos cristianos...Las visitas que tiene son ocho: tres en el monte, dos en el río y tres en el mar...Las que están al mar son: Santa Ana de Anilao, San Juan Evangelista de Bobog, y otra visita más en el monte, entitulada Santa Rosa de Hapitan." Gaspar de San Agustin, O.S.A., Conquistas de las Islas Filipinas (1565-1615), Manuel Merino, O.S.A., ed., Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas: Madrid 1975, pp. 374-375.

Radio & Television Station

• 105.3 Dream Radio

• List of Radio & Television Station in Iloilo

External links

• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• 2000 Philippine Census Information
• Volunteer Experience Malcolm Trevena's six month volunteer experience in Dumnagas

Coordinates: 10°50′N 122°43′E / 10.833°N 122.717°E / 10.833; 122.717