Candaba, Pampanga

Candaba Vizal Sto Cristo Candaba
Municipality
Seal
Map of Pampanga showing the location of Candaba
Candaba Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 15°5′36″N 120°49′42″E / 15.09333°N 120.82833°E / 15.09333; 120.82833Coordinates: 15°5′36″N 120°49′42″E / 15.09333°N 120.82833°E / 15.09333; 120.82833
Country	Philippines
Region	Central Luzon (Region III)
Province	Pampanga
District	4th District
Barangays	33
Government[1]
• Mayor	Danilo Baylon
Area[2]
• Total	176.40 km2 (68.11 sq mi)
Population (2010)[3]
• Total	102,399
• Density	580/km2 (1,500/sq mi)
Time zone	PST (UTC+8)
ZIP code	2013
Dialing code	45
Income class	1st Class

Candaba (Kapampangan: Balen ning Candaba; formerly Candawe) is a first-class municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 102,399 people.^[3]

Geography

Candaba represents the lowest point in Central Luzon Region of Luzon Island. The neighboring municipality of San Miguel (San Miguel de Mayumo) in Bulacan province used to be part of Candaba until San Miguel became a municipality itself.

Candaba's municipal boundaries are: Municipality of Arayat, Pampanga, and Municipality of Cabiao, Nueva Ecija, to the north; Municipality of San Miguel, Bulacan, and Municipality of San Ildefonso, Bulacan, to the east; Municipality of Baliuag, Bulacan, to the south; Municipality of San Luis, Pampanga, and Municipality of Santa Ana, Pampanga, to the west.

Barangays

Candaba is politically subdivided into 33 barangays.^[2]

Climate

Like rest of the area in Central Luzon, there are two seasons in the area, the wet season and dry season. The wet season occurs during the months of May to October, and the dry season the rest of the year.

Demographics

St. Andrew Parish Church

Religion

Roman Catholic 90%, Members Church of God International 3.5%, Iglesia ni Cristo 3%, Evangelicals 2%, others (includes Islam, Buddhism and other religions) 1.5%. The Saint Andrew church serves as one of the Roman Catholic parish churches inside the municipality.

The most popular religious site in Candaba is in the barangay "Pulong Gubat". It pulls many pilgrims who believe that Nuestra Señor dela Pacencia will cure their illness or grant their wishes.

Local government

Town hall

Mayor of Candaba is Baylon Danilo, and vice mayor is Michael V. Sagum, replacing Rene Maglanque and Babes Evangelista respectively after the 2016 mayoral elections.^[1]

Economy

Candaba market

The Candaba Swamp (Pinac, Pinak) absorbs most of the flood waters that flow from the western slopes of the Sierra Madre Mountain Range. During the rainy season, the Pampanga River overflows and the swamp is submerged. But it is relatively dry during the dry Season, hence making the land suitable for a variety agricultural production.

Candaba is noted for its production watermelon, that are sold worldwide. The swamps are communal fishing grounds encompassing some 430 km² of highly arable farmlands. Candaba swamps are very fertile due to its sustained deposits of humus and decaying plant residues. Migrant wild ducks and various wildlife bird from Siberia, New Zealand, Mongolia and other parts of Asia use Candaba as their yearly sanctuary.

Infrastructure

Roads

Candaba-San Miguel road or pinak was fully cemented by 2014. This was one of the former mayor Jerry Pelayo's major projects. The construction stopped when the ex-mayor didn't won when he ran for governor. But then it was continued by the present mayor, (2015) Rene Maglangque and is planning for the whole road to be asphalted, though some parts of it was already asphalted.

Drainage System

Candaba-San Miguel road is known for being flooded when a typhoon hits Candaba. The drainage system or rip-rap, which is a part of Mayor Jerry Pelayo's road cementing project, was built on both sides of every cemented roads made so the rainwater from other parts of Pampanga will just flow on it and not on the road.

Transportation

Public transport is mainly done by means of jeepneys and tricycles. Jeepneys have their routes as an itinerary route for various places.

Telecommunication facilities

Candabas telecommunication facilities and telephone services are provided by the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), PSE.DGTL, Datelcom, Evangelista Telephone Company and the Pampanga Telecom Company.

Water and power utilities

Waterworks

Candaba will soon have modern waterworks, following the start of a 24 million Peso water supply development project of the Candaba Water District (CWD) with the financial and technical assistance of the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA). Other means to get drinking water are water wells.

Electric power

The municipality receives it electric power in from the Pampanga Electric Cooperative (PELCO) and from Manila Electric Company (MERALCO).

Bird sanctuary

Eastern marsh harrier (Circus spilonotus), Candaba Marsh

On January 2008, a Philippine record of 17,000 birds (in the 24-hour count) visited the 32,000-hectare Candaba Swamp, sanctuary for migratory birds. Michael Lu, president of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines (WBCP), stated that 80 species of migratory birds were sighted at the 100-hectare fishpond of Mayor Jerry Pelayo in Barangay Doña Simang and in Barangay Paralaya. The rare birds spotted were: the Shrenck’s bittern, great bittern, gadwall, coot, Philippine mallard or ducks, and Eurasian spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia). Robert S. Kennedy’s book A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines lists endemic and migratory birds which visit the Philippines. Pelayo organized the Ibon-Ebon Festival (“birds and eggs”) on February 1–2. The WBCP recorded three rare species in Candaba swamp: the purple swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), Chinese pond heron (Ardeola bacchus) and the black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax).^[5]

References

Bibliography

• Gatbonton, Manuel, Ing Candawe, excerpts, 1933.
• Henson, Mariano A., Pampanga and Its Towns (AD 1300-1965), Angeles: 1965.
• Licuanan, Virginia Benitez and Jose Llavador Mira, The Philippines Under Spain: A Compilation and Translation of Original Documents, Quezon City: 1993.
• Pangilinan, Michael Raymon M. (Siuala ding Meangubie), Five Thousand Years of Antiquity: A Timeline of Candaba History, Kapampangan Magazine, ed. by Elmer G. Cato, ISSN 1656-5592, Year 2004, Issue XV, pp. 11–12.
• Pangilinan, Michael Raymon M. (Siuala ding Meangubie), Candaba: Timelessly Mystical, Kapampangan Magazine, ed. by Elmer G. Cato, ISSN 1656-5592, Year 2004, Issue XV, pp. 16–17.
• San Agustin, Gaspar de, Conquistas de las Islas Filipinas; 1565–1615, 1st Bilingual Edition, Intramuros: 1998.
• The Historical Data Papers, Candaba, Bureau of Public Schools, 1953
• The Contemporary Chinese Dictionary (Chinese-English Edition), Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, Beijing 2002.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Candaba, Pampanga.

• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Philippine Census Information
• Local Governance Performance Management System

	Arayat	Cabiao, Nueva Ecija	San Isidro, Nueva Ecija
	Santa Ana		San Miguel, Bulacan San Ildefonso, Bulacan
		Candaba
	San Luis	Baliuag, Bulacan	San Rafael, Bulacan

Province of Pampanga
San Fernando (capital)
Municipalities	Apalit Arayat Candaba Floridablanca Guagua Lubao Macabebe Magalang Masantol Mexico Minalin Porac San Luis San Simon Santa Ana Santa Rita Santo Tomas Sasmuan Villa de Bacolor
Component cities	Mabalacat San Fernando
Highly urbanized city	Angeles (Administratively independent from the province but grouped under Pampanga by the Philippine Statistics Authority.)