Orion, Province of Bataan, Central Luzon Region, Philippines

🇵🇭 Orion, officially the Municipality of Orion (formerly Udyong), (Bayan ng Orion), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Bataan, Philippines.

Etymology The town of Orion has various etymologies. One theory suggests that the town was initially called "Udyong", derived from the words "lu-ad" and "uryong", meaning muddy or swampy. Another popular story states that during the Spanish colonial period, a group of soldiers passing through the area asked locals for the name of the place. Mistaking the question, the residents responded with "uod yon", which referred to a worm on the ground. The soldiers assumed it to be the name of the town and left, murmuring "uod, uod yon". Eventually, the town came to be known as Udyong, which was later changed to Orion.

History Orion's official recognition date is unknown, but records indicate that it was established by a Dominican priest on April 30, 1667. In September 16, 1852, an earthquake struck the Philippines and destroyed the parochial church in Orion. The church was later reconstructed by Fr. Ulpiano Herrera, the parish priest at the time. A major fire ravaged the town in 1892, leaving only three houses unscathed. Fr. Jose Campomanes led the effort to rebuild the town, which transformed it into a thriving and attractive community.

2019 Orion fire On January 29, 2019, a massive fire burned down over 900 houses in Sitio Depensa, Barangay Kapunitan, killing 1 person, injuring 50 persons, and affecting 1,018 families, or 6,131 individuals. The blaze was attributed to children who carelessly played with matches and afterwards mistakenly tried to douse the flames with gasoline. The fire was able to spread quickly since the sitio consisted mostly of bamboo houses, most of which stored gasoline for fishing boats. The town was then placed under state of calamity.

Geography Orion is a municipality located in the southern part of Bataan Peninsula directly south-southwest of San Fernando, Pampanga (the regional city centre and provincial capital of Pampanga) and south of Pilar, Bataan, accessible via the Roman Superhighway. It is 5 km (3.1 mi) from Balanga and 129 km (80 mi) from Manila.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the municipality has a land area of 65.41 square km (25.25 sq mi)  constituting 4.76% of the 1,372.98-square-kilometre- (530.11 sq mi) total area of Bataan.

Geography: Barangays Orion is politically subdivided into 23 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Demographics In the 2020 census, Orion had a population of 60,771. The population density was 930 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,400/sq mi).