Sasmuan, Pampanga

Sasmuan
Municipality
Town hall
Nickname(s): Pampanga Mini SEA
Map of Pampanga showing the location of Sasmuan
Sasmuan Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 14°56′N 120°37′E / 14.933°N 120.617°E / 14.933; 120.617Coordinates: 14°56′N 120°37′E / 14.933°N 120.617°E / 14.933; 120.617
Country	Philippines
Region	Central Luzon (Region III)
Province	Pampanga
District	2nd District
Barangays	12
Government[1]
• Mayor	Nardo Mangalindan Velasco
Area[2]
• Total	91.80 km2 (35.44 sq mi)
Population (2010)[3]
• Total	27,254
• Density	300/km2 (770/sq mi)
Time zone	PST (UTC+8)
ZIP code	2004
Dialing code	45
Income class	4th class

Sasmuan (known as Sexmoan until January 15, 1991)^[4] is a fourth class municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 27,254 people.^[3]

Etymology

The town's former name of "Sexmoan" was how it was spelled by Spanish friars attempting to transcribe "Sasmuan", the original and current name. In medieval Spanish, the letter <x> was pronounced as a voiceless postalveolar fricative /ʃ/, identical to the digraph <sh> in English. It was derived from the ancient Kapampangan rootword sasmo, which means to meet, according to a 17th-century Kapampangan dictionary. Sasmoan therefore is synonymous with "pitagmuan" or "meeting place of the datus". It was named "Sasmuan" because it is where the Pampangos meet when they were at war with the Chinese in Guagua.^[5] In 1991, it was unanimously changed into Sasmuan, since the previous name, Sexmoan, denoted a very negative sexual connotation not only to the town, but to the people living within the town itself.^[6][7]

History

Sasmuan already had a well-developed system of government well before the era of Spanish colonization. It evolved to be one of the oldest and major settlements in Pampanga by the 16th century. The Santa Lucia Church was one of the first Roman Catholic churches built in the Philippines by the Spaniards with the political and financial support of the Principalia.

Barangays

Sasmuan is politically subdivided into 12 barangays.^[2]

• Batang 1st
• Batang 2nd
• Mabuanbuan
• Malusac
• Santa Lucia
• San Antonio
• San Nicolas 1st
• San Nicolas 2nd includes Sitio Remedios
• San Pedro
• Santa Monica includes Sitio San Francisco
• Santo Tomas includes Sitio Sta. Cruz
• Sebitanan

Demographics

Economy

Sasmuan Fish port

Sasmuan has a unique geography in that it is surrounded by fish ponds. Aquaculture has been the main industry that drives the local economy. The fish from ponds and other areas are sold at the Fish Port.

The town's prime business venture is Sasmuan Delicacies, founded in 1990. It is being sold in many big supermarkets and malls in the Philippines, including SM City Malls.

Culture

Cuisine

• Polvoron- Roasted flour with sugar, milk, and butter or margarine.
• Tamales- Rice flour with shrimp gravy, garlic, and a little slice of boiled egg steamed in banana leaves.
• Palapat- A sour fruit from a tree that grows in shallow waters. Often utilised as a condiment.
• Tabang Talangka- fat derived from talangka, a small breed of crab.
• Eko- a type of fish sauce.
• Taklang Dagis - A Stool from Dakung.
• Dulum/Sinarapan- A small fish found in rivers.

Fiestas

• Fiesta San Juan: Celebrated every June 24 in honour of St. John the Baptist. Customarily, visitors to the town are doused with water in imitation of the saint's biblical role. A grand fluvial parade is conducted that lasts throughout the day.
• Kuraldal Festival: Celebrated every January 6 in honour of the town's patron saint, Saint Lucy. This saint is believed to help not only the blind but women who wish to have fertility and to bear children.

Santa Lucia Parish Church

Santa Lucia Parish Church

The Santa Lucia Parish Church in Sasmuan is the first church in the province built by Augustinién priests. It stands right beside the Río Grande, the ancient waterway that connected Pampanga to Manila Bay. The structure is said to have been built by Jose Duque in the 17th century. It was rebuilt in early 1800 and was reinforced by Toribio Fanjul in 1884.

The edifice has an interesting and unique façade. It has decorative floral carvings on its main entrance. The old town church is one of the few, if not the only church in the country where the single belfry is situated between the church and the convento. The church, which measures 45 metres (148 ft) long, 11 metres (36 ft) wide, and 6 metres (20 ft) high, also features a grotto of Our Lady of Fatima. Devotees from all over the province flock here to honor Saint Lucy, believed to be a miraculous saint.

Founded in 1590, Santa Lucia is a parish of the Vicariate of St. Joseph in the Archdiocese of San Fernando. The parish celebrates the feast day of its titular patron on December 13.

An author described it as “very beautiful and of very good condition.” When looking at the complex of church and convent, one is stuck by the impression that the round and rectangular openings are capriciously aligned. This makes the façade both interesting and unique.^[9]

It was renovated in 2003 under parish priest Teodro P. Valencia. On June 9, 2007, it was solemnly rededicated.^{[10] [11]}

Images

• 

  Welcome marker

• 

  St. Lucy School of the Archdiocese of Pampanga

• 

  Covered courts and gymnasium

Panorama of the Fish port

See also

• List of renamed cities and municipalities in the Philippines
• Place names considered unusual

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sasmuan, Pampanga.

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

		Guagua	Minalin
	Lubao		Macabebe
	Sasmuan
		Manila Bay

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