Balayan, Batangas

Balayan is a first class municipality in the Province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the 2010 Philippine Census of Population and Housing, it has a population of 81,805 people.

Balayan is bounded by Tuy on the north; Calatagan and Lian on the west, Calaca on the east and the Balayan Bay on the south. The town is rich among the natural resources of sugarcanes, coconuts and corn. Significant events includes the Parada ng Lechon (every June 24) and the Feast of Immaculate Conception celebrated every December 8 of the year. Widely known products originating from the area include the Bagoong Balayan.

Name

Balayan is derived from the old Tagalog word balayan, meaning 'to walk past the paddy, from a basket to another' and 'carry or accomplish anything with the tip of any batten'. Other possible source is from the old Tagalog word balayang, which means 'wood', as old natives used to call this town up to the present.

History

Tagalog literatures in Balayan were lost and destroyed at the coming of the Spaniards. Jesuit Father Chirino testifies to it that they found (300) three hundred pre colonial manuscripts in Balayan but believing them to be pagan (as anything non Roman Catholic are called Pagan by the Spaniards), and to facilitate them in the propagation of the Roman Catholic faith, the early Jesuit missionaries recklessly destroyed and burned this historically precious records as their usual method in all their conquered lands.