Calauan | ||
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Municipality | ||
Calauan Welcome Arch
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Nickname(s): Home of the Sweetest Pineapple | ||
![]() Map of Laguna showing the location of Calauan |
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Location within the Philippines | ||
Coordinates: 14°09′N 121°19′E / 14.150°N 121.317°ECoordinates: 14°09′N 121°19′E / 14.150°N 121.317°E | ||
Country | Philippines | |
Region | CALABARZON (Region IV-A) | |
Province | Laguna | |
District | 3rd district of Laguna | |
Barangays | 15 | |
Government | ||
• Mayor | Buenafrido T. Berris | |
Area | ||
• Total | 65.40 km2 (25.25 sq mi) | |
Population (2010) | ||
• Total | 74,890 | |
• Rank | 9 out of 30 (in Laguna) | |
• Density | 1,100/km2 (3,000/sq mi) | |
Time zone | PST (UTC+8) | |
ZIP code | 4012 | |
IDD : area code | +63 (0)49 | |
Income class | 2nd | |
Electorate | 34,676 voters as of 2016 | |
Website | www |
Calauan is a second class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 74,890 people. The town got its name from the term kalawang, which means rust. Folklore has it that the town got its name when the Spanish started construction of the Municipal Church and water seeped in from the holes dug into the ground for the Church's foundation. The water was colored brown and rusty in character hence the name Calauan (Kalawang). Calauan is known for the Pineapple Festival, which is celebrated every 15 May.
In 1993, the town became the focus of media attention when Antonio Sánchez, who was serving as mayor at the time, got involved into a double murder case involving two UPLB students. Sánchez and several other men were given a life sentence.
The patron saint of Calauan is Isidore the Laborer, the patron of farmers, known in Spanish as San Isidro Labrador.
Calauan's population is expected rise as the town is being used as resettlement of informal settlers in Metro Manila through the Bayan ni Juan and the Kapit-Bisig para sa Ilog Pasig project of the ABS-CBN Foundation.
Popular destinations in the area include the Field of Faith situated in Brgy. Lamot 2 and the Isdaan Floating Restaurant located along the National Highway going to Victoria Laguna.
The fertile soil of Calauan attracted attention of Captain Juan de Salcedo, when he passed through Laguna and Tayabas (now Quezon) on his way to Bicol Region in 1570. Ten years later, Spanish authorities established a town government two kilometers from the site of the present Poblacion, in what is now Barrio Mabacan. They called the townsite “Calauan” (Tagalog word for rust). Following in epidemic in 1703, the town was moved to its present site at the fork of three roads---now to the south-west leading to San Pablo City, the other southeastward to Sta. Cruz, the provincial capital, and the third going North to Manila.