Badiangan celebrates 3rd Pandayan Festival
Badiangan, a fifth class municipality in the northwest central portion of Iloilo Province, is located about 40 kilometers from Iloilo City. It lies at the geographic and cultural towns belonging to the Third District, with borders on the north by Dueñas; on the northwest by Lambunao; Pototan on the east; on the southwest by Janiuay, and Mina on the southeast.
In the Spanish period, the territory of present-day Badiangan was a thriving settlement. Since then, the town's inhabitants have referred to it by the name "Kabadiang," derived from a wild plant called "badiang," a specie of the gabi family found to be very abundant in the area. It was only until June 17, 1967, when former President Ferdinand E. Marcos signed into law RA 506, that Badiangan be a full-fledged municipality of Iloilo Province.
Badiangan extends over an area of 7,750 hectares purely devoted to agricultural crop production. The town is roughly sloping having 29.14% of its land ideal for rice farming, 23.65% is best for intensive feed grains and upland crops and the remaining 47.21% suitable for coffee, coconut and corn.
The population of Badiangan was estimated at 22,213 in 2000 (Census on Population). The growth rate began to decline in the mid-1970s after the government initiated a major population control program. Using the 2000 as its base year, the growth rate had declined to 0.10 percent from the years 1990-2000.
The municipality is divided into 31 barangays. Although 92.36% of the municipality's population resides mostly in its rural barangays, its poblacion, covering an area of 350.35 hectares, serves as its main administrative, educational, commercial---though slow and undefined, and financial center.
Codes of personal conduct and group behavior that far predate the Spanish conquest continue to influence Badiangans' culture. Enduring cultural values include observance of religious obligations and striving to act morally. The increase in educational opportunities mostly for girls, since then, raised expectations among women in the community for work opportunities outside the home. This rapid increase of employed women has stimulated the growth of a gender-sensitive society and many of them are perceived as main contributors to development.
Government planning plays an important role in Badiangan's economy. Its municipal government, headed by their very dynamic and devoted municipal mayor, the Hon. SUZETTE A. MAMON has designed and implemented multiyear planning programs with the goal of industrial diversification, emphasizing economic self-sufficiency, which required greater investment in agriculture and livelihood programs.
Such livelihood programs are seen in the towns' long tradition of loom-weaving based in barangays Tina and Cabayogan, producing products such as patadyong, barong, handkerchief and tablecloth. The Badiangan Instant Taho or "ginger ale", a patented product developed and manufactured in Barangay Iniligan, is a delicious concoction from ginger rhizomes that leaves a soothing sensation and helps relieve sore throat and stomach upset. Known for its durability and craftsmanship here and abroad, the Bingawan Bolo produced in Barangay Bingawan is another product the town is truly proud of. At present, the municipality produces ten types of bolos used for a specific function: (a) Binakuko used for chopping wood; (b) Sinuwak used in carpentry and cutting shrubs and smaller trees; (c) Ginunting having the same function as the sinuwak; (d) Pinuti is used in slicing meat; (e) Tangkap can be used in the kitchen; (f) Linamay, Surot, and Balintawak are used in gardening; (g) Kayog used long time ago to harvest rice; and (h) Wasay used to chop lumber and bigger trees. These livelihood programs remain an important industry of the town.
Although Badiangan (one of the less profitable colonies of Spain in the province of Iloilo) lacks the splendors of Spanish architecture that are found elsewhere, Spanish culture and tradition is deeply felt and seen through the high esteem in which Badianganons hold their festivity. This has helped the town foster its own identity in a province where festivals are celebrated almost every month of the year. PANDAYAN Festival, now on its 3rd year, is considered one of the most promising cultural attractions in Iloilo. Developed to honor a tradition that served as the main source of livelihood of the people through the years, the festivity is a fitting tribute to the ingenuity, skill and dedication of every Badianganons.
The Municipality of Badiangan is inviting everyone to its week-long celebration of the town's Foundation Day, Annual Religious Fiesta and Pandayan Festival that will open on June 17-24, 2006. Highlighted by the tribe competition on June 21, 2006, Pandayan Festival salutes Badiangan's significant efforts in fostering goodwill among its people, enhancing and promoting the image of Badianganons as a responsible and dignified worker, and for the greatly contributing to the socio-economic development of their community and our province as a whole.