Baao

Baao is a first class municipality in the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 54,971 people.

The municipality of Baao is within the 5th Congressional District of the province of Camarines Sur. The town is bounded on the north by the municipalities of Pili and Ocampo, on the east by the city of Iriga, on the west by Bula and south by the municipalityNabua. The town is approximately 480 kilometres (300 mi) south-east of Metro Manila, 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of Naga City, 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) west of Iriga City, and 70 kilometres (43 mi) north of Legazpi City.

BRIEF SOCIO ECONOMIC PROFILE OF

THE MUNICIPALITY OF BAAO AS OF 2010

I. HISTORICAL PROFILE

ORIGINS

Baao, land of rice and coconut palm, art and pretty women, early cradle of Catholicism in Camarines Sur, has had a colorful history whose early period and pre-Spanish beginnings are lost in the mists of fable, legend and mystery. Its written history which antedated the Spanish conquest and preserved in native scripts of the ancient Malay characters and alphabet, was destroyed by the Missionaries who regarded them as works of Satan. Only the history which began to be written by the Spaniards themselves, friar or functionary, some travelers, as well as a rare number of natives, have been preserved as the foundation and origin of local written history. Tradition says that Baao earned its name from its turtle-shaped ancient site of Binabaloy, Binanuaanan and Layoan where the Spaniards found the early Baao folk which then formed part of the adjacent town of Bula. Baao or “Bao” is supposed to derive from the turtle itself due to the abundance in the vicinity of turtles, especially during floods. A part of the municipality and curacy of Bula, one of the several oldest towns of the province, Baao’s political affairs were first separated from those of Bula at the turn of the 17th century , later to be followed by a separation in ecclesiastical affairs to form early in the 18th century a new independent pueblo. Due to floods, the old site was moved farther south where the Bay and the Langday streams meet on their way to Baao Lake; where the driller for a new ground well or the workers digging posts for a new house are often astounded to excavate human skulls and bones and bits of ancient Chinese porcelain of the Yuan or Ming dynasty which was popular with the Filipinos in Spanish and pre-Spanish times, and often buried with the dead. Houses kept moving southward seeking higher levels, and a less damp climate. The town as constituted consisted of only a few hundred inhabitants as may be judged by the fact that in the earliest baptismal records, there were only two or three baptisms every week or forth night. From 1787 to 1800, only 1,439 births were recorded for this period of 13 years, or an average of 110 yearly. The years 1796 to 1800 showed only 221 deaths, or an average death rate of 55 persons per year. Marriages averaged 8 or lower for the same period. Another circumstantial evidence of the number of its early inhabitants may be interfered from the memorials, reports and accounts of early Spanish officials and missionaries and from travelers and visitors, the most famous of the former being Father Jose Castaño, a Spanish friar and parish curate of the town for some time until the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution, and much admired and loved for his unusually democratic ways and modern outlook judged by the standards prevailing during that dark historic period.

THE LEGEND OF THE NAME BAAO

Little known about the exact origin of the name BAAO, except for the fragment of history that were

compiled from the sporadic sources combined with the tales and legends cultured by the transfer of tongues from generation to generation, the municipality of Baao attributed its name only from speculative origins. One such theory is that its name evolves from the word BA-OO which means “turtle” in the local dialect. It is said that the native turtle was excessively abundant in the early settlement site and that for the purpose of geographic referencing the Spaniards designated the place as BAAO, a close resemblance to the word BA-OO, probably because the foreign tongue found it difficult to pronounce. Another theory relates its significance to the topography of the early sites of the site of the poblacion center which is sitio Binanwaanan. This southern bank of the lake Baao when viewed at the vantage point in the mountain ranges reveals a concave shape. With its arable

fields, cris-crossed with dikes and ditches, it closely resembles the back of the turtle, hence the reference to Ba-oo that meted off the present day name BAAO. Still another theory take into account a remote possibility that the name Baao evolved from the manifest disposition of eating left over rice from previous meal. The natives that time and even now relish from what they call “Bawow” which means “Bahaw” or not hot in Bicol dialect. What really isOffice File - MPDC the basis of its name remains in doubt and mystery, nurtured by times and events. Only the wave time can ebb seashore and unearth the exact origin of its name. Credence is attributed heavily in the legends and myths that made Baao known to present day.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE

MUNICIPALITY

History has it that the town of Baao started its township upon the establishment of the independent parish in honor of St. Bartholomew the apostle in the year 1590. BAAO was then a barrio of Bula. The chronology of events that followed lead its destiny to the present day seat: from the banks of the Bicol River called Sitio Layuan, it moved southward to Sitio Langday and Sitio Binabaloy looking for the table land, but then when the place proved unsuitable for habitation it further moved to the present day poblacion. Baao is among the rear places in the Philippines that consistently maintained its deep devotion to its faith that made it a home for famous religious patriarch such as the 1st Filipino Bishop Msgr. Jorge I. Barlin and numerous priests among others

INDUSTRIES

The traditional industries of Baao are hemp, rice, fishing, lumbering and weaving. The abaca and copra
industries which constitute Baao’s main money – crops today, were not as important as hemp, rice, fishing, lumbering and weaving comprised as today the main pattern of her economic effort. In the old days, Baao’s cloth was well known in the province but now its pre-eminence in this field has been replaced by bigger, more bustling towns. More declined due to the competition also of foreign cotton, wool, and silk textiles, but during the Japanese occupation it received a tremendous, artificial if temporary stimulation. On the other hand, from a minor industry, copra-making and hemp-string have been stimulated by the American free market, to become by far the leading local industries.

Fiestas and festivals

The town fiesta (Feast of St. Bartolomew) or "Pintakasi" of Baao is celebrated from August 23 to 25. The only festival at Baao is the Barlin Festival; it commemorates the birthday of the First Filipino Bishop, Jorge I. Barlin. It is celebrated annually during the month of April.

Harvest Festival at Baao