Kagsing nin Kabataang Pandananon

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Sa muli, MABALOS po sa inyong pagtangkilik.

Pandan
is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Catanduanes, Philippines. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 19,005 people in 3,181 households.
HISTORY

Formerly the town site was located some two kilometers away south of the present site. Then the people were disturbed by constant depredation of bandits coming from other places.

The present site has been chosen because it was near the sea and the fishermen found it very convenient for their trade, however, being near the sea, it was vulnerable to Moros who always come to get their belongings or even capture some people.

As a defense against such moro raids, the people planted pandan shrubs close to each other to form a formidable defense against invaders. When the Spaniards came they found the plants around the poblacion in great abundance. When asked what the name of the shrubs was, the people told them that they were pandan shrubs. Thus, the Spaniards called the place Pandan.

The municipality lies on the northern tip of the province, 96 kilometers from the capital town of Virac. Bounded on the south by the municipality of Caramoran, on the west by the Maqueda Channel, on the east by the municipality of Bagamanoc and on the north by the Pacific Ocean. It has a total land area of 11,990 hectares. This is a town of 17,096 friendly and hospitable people, to which 99% are Roman Catholic.

Of the 26 barangays that comprise the municipality, four of which actually form the town proper, which are Libod, the biggest barangay in terms of population, Napo, Pandan del Sur and Pandan del Norte. The rest are found usually near the seashore. The rest being an inland barangays.

The municipality does not only boast of the natural beauties, it has which are the Parway, Mangbang, Parola beaches, the Hinik-Hinik falls (Hinik-hinik is a local term for rain shower) and Minaipit falls, but especially of its being a hometown of Senators, Congressman, Governor, Cardinal and Ambassador.

The people of Pandan are generally peace loving, God fearing and are happy people. Everyone in the community is a brother, a sister and a friend where the products of which could be shared even food itself without thought of having it repaid or reciprocated. Visitors are offered the comforts that the family could afford even it means that the owner should lay on the floor just to make the visitor eased at home by using the “papag”. And that is not enough, before going home; products of their yard would be wrapped for you to bring in your family plus a bunch of cockling chickens.

During celebrations, immediate neighbors are invited bringing among the whole members of the family and this seemed to be incomplete without tuba drinking and little dancing. Pantomina is a long cherished dance that never changes with time despite of the current dance and music. Pandananons has a series of collected pantomina songs which are now famous composed locally, of course it is not only the above songs, Pandananons used to compose, for evidence of which that gained popularity was a song composed by the late Mr. Alfredo dela Rosa, former Municipal Secretary of the Sangguniang Bayan of Pandan, entitled “Islang Catandungan”. This song won first place in the regional contest in Sorsogon sometime on the late 60’s.


Saturday, July 18, 2009

Happy Fiesta Pandananon!!!



We celebrate our town fiesta every 30th-31st of July in honor of our patron saint, St. Ignatius of Loyola. Here's a brief history of St. Ignatius of Loyola.


Ignatius was born in 1491 in Azpeitia, a town in northern Spain. His young adult life was characterized by ‘a desire for worldly praise and glory, eager to distinguish himself by daring or even reckless deeds against odds, and tenacity in reaching an objective once he had decided upon it.’ In 1521 he led a group of soldiers in a battle against the French and took a cannon-ball to the leg, shattering the bones. After surgery and near-death he spent time recovering in the castle at Loyola.

While recovering from that wound he read a few works that inspired him to commit his life to the ‘greater glory and praise of God.’ The previously mentioned Ludolph was one of those writers, as was Jacobus de Voragine’s ‘Golden Legend’ – a book on the lives of the saints. In 1522 he spent time at the Monastery in Manresa, where his spirituality deepened. He prayed seven hours a day, and started taking notes that would eventually be the basis of his great work ‘The Spiritual Exercises.’

In 1523 he went to Barcelona, a brief stopping point on his way to Jerusalem. He returned from Jerusalem to Barcelona in 1524 and at the age of 33, realizing he needed more education in order to serve God the way he was being called, spent 10 years going to school. He learned Latin, physics, philosophy, and theology. He was beginning to instruct others in his Spiritual Exercises and attracted a lot of attention, which was a bad thing to do during the Inquisition. He got in trouble with the Inquisition judges and basically had to leave one college. That’s when he decided to go to university in Paris. After all, he couldn’t speak French, so his interactions with others would be minimized and he wouldn’t get in trouble. Well, he flourished in Paris and met friends who would later form the core of the Society of Jesus. In 1535 they all went their separate ways to preach, and decided to reunite in Venice in 1537 for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. But the Turks were invading Jerusalem at the time, so they spent a year in Venice studying for the priesthood and were ordained that same year.

So now Ignatius and his group of friends were priests, and without passage to Jerusalem they decided to go to Rome and offer their services to the pope. They presented a proposal to him for founding the Society of Jesus, and in 1540 it was approved. Ignatius died in 1556, but in those 16 years they ordained about 1000 Jesuit priests, had operations in 10 countries (including India and Brazil), and operated 33 colleges.

If you want more details, plus pictures, take a look at http://www.ignatiushistory.info/

Happy Fiesta mga Pandananon!