Canaman, Camarines Sur
| Canaman | ||
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| Municipality | ||
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| Nickname(s): Citadel of Bicol Culture; Birthplace of Tancong Vaca Guerilla Unit | ||
| Motto: "Bangon Canaman!" ("Rise Canaman!") | ||
 Map of Camarines Sur showing the location of Canaman |
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 Canaman
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| Coordinates: 13°39′N 123°10′E / 13.65°N 123.17°ECoordinates: 13°39′N 123°10′E / 13.65°N 123.17°E | ||
| Country | Philippines | |
| Region | Bicol (Region V) | |
| Province | Camarines Sur | |
| District | 3rd district | |
| Founded | 1583 | |
| Barangays | 24 | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor | Henry Ragodon | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 43.27 km2 (16.71 sq mi) | |
| Elevation | 5 m (16 ft) | |
| Population (2015 census) | ||
| • Total | 34,210 | |
| • Density | 790/km2 (2,000/sq mi) | |
| Demonym(s) | Canamanons | |
| Time zone | PST (UTC+8) | |
| ZIP code | 4402 | |
| IDD : area code | +63 (0)54 | |
| Income class | 4th class; urban | |
Canaman is a landlocked 4th class municipality centrally located in the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. It is bounded on the north by Magarao, on the south by Gainza and Camaligan, on the east by Naga City, and on the south-west by the broad Bicol River. From north to south it is 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) long, and 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) wide from east to west. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 34,210 people.
The area that is now Canaman used to very thickly forested. According to Fr. Frank Lynch, S.J., who said that Canaman is the purest among Bicol dialects: “The name Canaman is locally said to be derived from the root kana, meaning "building materials". The suffix -man is taken as a locative, the name thus indicating “place where there are building materials”.
Spanish colonization in Canaman began around the 1580s when some Nueva Caceres-based missionaries apparently on their way back from gospel work in either the visita of Quipayo (now Calabanga) or San Gabriel (now a barangay of Pamplona), got their bearings confused and, thinking they were turning eastward from the Bicol River to its Naga tributary, instead entered the Canaman creek which at the time was still a deep and fast flowing stream. They continued paddling until they ended up at a native settlement in what is now the barangay of Poro.
In June 1583, the place was organized into a parish, administered by Fray Pedro Matias de Andrade, a Franciscan who later became the fifth Bishop of Diocese of Caceres. In the 1590s, its church was constructed, which was rebuilt in 1669. The patron saint at that time was San Roque, whose image, said to have come all the way from Spain was met at its arrival by the people of Canaman in the shores of Pasacao.
In 1900, after militant Canamanons heard that the Americans were closing in, they burned the church to the ground in an act of self-immolation to prevent desecration of the church at the hands of the new imperialists. The burning was a deliberate and intentional act: the arsonists even gathered and piled on top of the church’s expensive organ dry grass and big tree branches to which they touched the match, to make certain that the fire consumed all combustible parts of the 231-year-old building and its interiors.
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Wikipedia