Calasiao, Province of Pangasinan, Ilocos Region, Philippines

🇵🇭 Calasiao, officially the Municipality of Calasiao (Baley na Calasiao; Ili ti Calasiao; Bayan ng Calasiao), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Pangasinan, Philippines.

Today, Calasiao is known as a First Class Municipality and is located at the very heart of Pangasinan. It governs 24 barangays and 31 sitios in a total land area of 4,836 hectares. Calasiao's flagship product is the native rice cake known as Puto Calasiao.

Calasiao is 18 km (11 mi) from Lingayen and 206 km (128 mi) from Manila.

Etymology The name Calasiao was derived from the native word Kalasian, which means "a place where lightning frequently occurs", from the root word lasi, meaning "lightning". Upon the arrival of the Spaniards, they called the place "Lugar de Rayos", a literal Spanish translation of the word Kalasian. It was named as such because it is said that Calasiao back in the day was always frequented by this natural phenomenon.

History The indigenous people of Calasiao are descended from the Austronesian-speaking people who settled in the Malay archipelago at least 5,000 years ago. Calasiao was settled by a Pangasinan speaking people whose language belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian languages family.

In 1571, the Spanish conquest of Pangasinan began. The Spanish conquistadors were accompanied by Roman Catholic missionaries who introduced Roman Catholicism to the indigenous peoples of Pangasinan.

In the 16th century, Dominican friars, who were settling at Gabon, were driven out because of the continuing unrest in the town. The formation of the new Calasiao however was not immediately welcomed by its native inhabitants. Hence in 1660, when the call for the Malong Rebellion came, the citizens picked up their weapons and joined in the fight against the Spanish rule. The citizens were also one of the first people to answer the call for rebellion of Juan de la Cruz Palaris of Binalatongan (now San Carlos City), which succeeded in driving the Spanish rulers and friars out of the boundaries. The town of Calasiao became part of the Pangasinan encomendia of Labaya, designated as belonging to the King of Spain, Juan Ximenez del opaline, and a son of Alonso Hernandez de Sandoval for whom tributes were collected.

Today, Calasiao is rapidly expanding town. It may soon become a city or join with Dagupan and San Carlos City to be a metropolis. Yet many people from Calasiao have emigrated to other parts of the Philippines, the United States and other countries to seek better opportunities.

Geography: Barangays Calasiao is politically subdivided into 24 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios. • Ambonao • Ambuetel • Banaoang • Bued • Buenlag • Cabilocaan • Dinalaoan • Doyong • Gabon • Lasip • Longos • Lumbang • Macabito • Malabago • Mancup • Nagsaing • Nalsian • Poblacion East • Poblacion West • Quesban • San Miguel • San Vicente • Songkoy • Talibaew.

Demographics The people speak Pangasinan, the dominant language in central Pangasinan. Ilocano, Tagalog, and English are also widely spoken.

Economy Calasiao is centrally located in Pangasinan, between Dagupan and San Carlos City, with a major road connecting Calasiao to both cities. The town is also connected to Santa Barbara, from where the MacArthur Highway connects to Baguio City and Metro Manila.

Calasiao has rich farmlands planted mainly with palay or rice, coconuts and mangoes. Calasiao also has a lot of fishponds along its rivers and wetlands where fish like bangus (milkfish), pantat (catfish), and tilapia are raised. A Coca-Cola Bottlers plant is located in Purok 7 Barangay Bued Calasiao.

In June 2010, Robinsons Malls announced the construction of its 30th mall in this town. Robinsons Place Pangasinan is a two-level mall built on a 5.8 hectares (14 acres) lot with a gross floor area of 31,900 square metres (343,000 sq ft) and a gross leasable area of 23,000 square metres (250,000 sq ft).

Economy: Tourist Industry Calasiao is a short ride to the Bonuan Blue Beach and the Hundred Islands in Lingayen Gulf. Calasiao is about 2 hour ride to Baguio City and a four-hour ride to Manila.

Calasiao is known for its puto, a soft rice cake; suman, a sweet coconut and sticky rice cake wrapped in banana leaves; and bagoong, or fermented fish paste. Calasiao puto is described as the town's "white gold". Calasiao puto is a bite-size, soft rice cake made from semi-glutinous rice that is fermented in earthen jars. It is produced mainly in Barangay Dinalaoan.

Many pilgrims from neighbouring cities/towns and provinces visit Calasiao to pray at the Senor Divino Tesoro shrine. The statue of a crucified Jesus Christ is believed to grow in size and grant miracles.

Puto festival Calasiao celebrates a puto industry festival. The Calasiao puto is a rice cake that is well known all over the Philippines for its melt-in-the-mouth feeling. It is locally sold along the streets going to Sr. Divino Tesoro.

It is known for its "white gold": "cup-shaped, bite-sized, soft rice cakes; the semi-glutinous rice is fermented in old earthen jars" (in villages of Dinalaoan, Lumbang, Ambuetel, and part of Nalsian).

Calasiao puto is made of long grain rice soaked in water, ground and fermented for three days of more, with just enough sugar to taste, and steamed. It can be topped with cheese or drizzled with chocolate syrup for variation. It is perfect to be paired with dinuguan. The town has the traditional white puto and many flavors like pandan (green), ube (violet), banana (yellow), strawberry (light red/pink) and cheese (gold).

The original white puto and kutsinta (another rice cake variety) is sold at P80 per kilogram (70 to 75 pieces), while the flavored ones are sold at P80 per kg. The price is higher by P15 to P20 in other areas to cover transportation costs.

Bella's Puto consumes three to six sacks of rice a day to make puto, depending on the season. Peak production period is from October to January. A sack of rice can produce 8,000 pieces or 107 kg of puto. Bella's Puto is sold at four SM shopping mall branches, in Santa Mesa (Manila), Baliwag (Bulacan), Clark (Pampanga) and Rosales (Pangasinan). It is also sold in a store in Caloocan and at the Pasalubong Center in Rosales town.

Bocayo (sweetened coconut) and dinuguan are also the best products of Nalsian Bacayao and Nalsian Centro. Calasiao celebrates its town fiesta every May 2 and 3: the feast day of Señor Divino Tesoro. Every June 28 and 29 is the fiesta of San Pedro and San Pablo, which were the dates of the Calasiao fiesta.