Calauan

Calauan (), officially the Municipality of Calauan (), is a municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. The municipality has a land area of , which constitutes 2.4% of Laguna's total area. According to the , it has a population of people.

Calauan is known for its pineapple production, which is part of its local economy. The town is known for the Pineapple Festival, which is celebrated in May. It also offers serene destinations like the Field of Faith in Barangay Lamot 2 and the Isdaan Floating Restaurant located along the Calamba–Pagsanjan Road.

Etymology

Calauan, also spelled as Calauang, got its name from the Tagalog term kalawang, which means "rust". Folklore has it that during the construction of the municipal church, water seeped into the holes dug for its foundation, giving it a brown, rusty hue, hence the name Calauan (Kalawangin).

History

The fertile soil of Calauan attracted the attention of Captain Juan de Salcedo when he passed through Laguna and Tayabas (now Quezon) on his way to Bicol in 1572. Ten years later, Spanish authorities established a town government from the site of the present Poblacion, in what is now Barrio Mabacan. They called the townsite "Calauan" (Tagalog for rust). Following an epidemic in 1703, the town was moved to its present site at the fork of three roads, one southwestward leading to San Pablo, the other southeastward to Santa Cruz, the provincial capital, and the third going north to Manila.

At the turn of the 18th century, when Bay was designated as the provincial capital of Laguna, Calauan functioned as a sitio under its jurisdiction. As a result, merchants traveling to and from Southern Luzon commonly passed through both Bay and Calauan, contributing to the area’s early economic activity and connectivity within the region. In 1812, a wealthy Spaniard named Iñigo acquired extensive tracts of land in Calauan. These holdings, later expanded and maintained by his heirs, remained largely undeveloped for a considerable period due to their vast size. The estate came to be known as Hacienda Calauan, a name that persists in historical references to the area. According to the 1818 Spanish census, the settlement had a population consisting of 610 native families and 2 Spanish-Filipino families, reflecting its early demographic composition during the colonial period.

During the Philippine Revolution, Basilio Geiroza (better known as Cabesang Basilio) and his men routed a battalion of "guardia civiles" in a five-hour battle in Barrio Cupangan (now Lamot I) in December 1897. During the subsequent Philippine-American hostilities, Calauan patriots fought numerically superior forces of General Elwell Otis in Barrio San Diego of San Pablo. With the establishment of civilian authority in Calauan in 1902, the Americans assigned Mariano Marfori as the first "presidente". Hacienda Calauan financed the construction of a hospital in 1926, and Mariano O. Marfori Jr., son of the first municipal presidente, became the hospital director and the resident physician, respectively.

In 1939, at the request of President Manuel L. Quezon, Doña Margarita Roxas viuda de Soriano, granddaughter of the Spaniard Iñigo, subdivided Hacienda Calauan and sold it to the tenants; part of what remained was converted into a rest house and a swimming pool, and it became one of the tourist attractions until 1956.

In 1993, the town became the focus of media attention when Antonio Sanchez, who was serving as mayor at the time, got involved in a rape and double murder case involving two University of the Philippines Los Baños students. Sanchez and several other men were given a life sentence in March 1995.

Geography

Calauan is southeast of Manila, via Calamba and Los Baños, and from Santa Cruz.

Geographical landmarks

Barangay Lamot 2 is the site of Mount Kalisungan, known for being where retreating Japanese soldiers made their last stand in Laguna at the end of World War II.

| date = 11 May 2020

Demographics

In the 2024 census, the population of Calauan, Laguna, was 89,670 people, with a density of .

Calauan's population is expected to rise, as informal settlers in Metro Manila are being resettled in the town through the Bayan ni Juan and the Kapit-Bisig para sa Ilog Pasig project of the ABS-CBN Foundation.

Religion

The patron saint of Calauan is Isidore the Laborer, the patron of farmers, known in Spanish as San Isidro Labrador.

Economy

thumb|Commercial area in Calauan

Government

thumb|Calauan Municipal Hall

{|class=wikitable

|+ Calauan municipal officials (2022–2025)

!Name !!colspan=2|Party

! colspan=3| Mayor

| Roseller G. Caratihan

! colspan=3| Vice Mayor

| Allan Jun V. Sanchez

! colspan=3| Municipal Councilors

| Ave Marie Tonee S. Alcid

| Aldrin P. Alimbuyog

| June Joseph F. Brion

| Mark Austine C. Camargo

| Charles Owen M. Caratihan

| Joewel M. Gonzales

| Joselito M. Manalo

| Allan Sanchez

Education

The Calauan Schools District Office governs all educational institutions within the municipality. It oversees the management and operations of all private and public schools from the primary to the secondary levels.

Primary and elementary schools

Antonio Chipeco Memorial School
Balayhangin Elementary School
Bangyas Elementary School
Calauan Central Elementary School
Dayap Elementary School
Dayap Elementary School (Annex)
Grace Christian Community School
Imok Elementary School
Lamot Elementary School
Lamot Elementary School (Annex)
Limao Elementary School
Mabacan Elementary School
Madre Giovanna Zippo Learning Center
Mahabang Parang Elementary School
Makativille Elementary School
Maranatha Christian Academy
Masiit Elementary School
Paliparan Elementary School
Perez Elementary School
Prinza Elementary School
Proverbsville Baptist Academy
San Isidro Elementary School
Santo Tomas Elementary School
Santo Tomas Elementary School (Annex)
T.C. Dator Memorial Elementary School (Pulong Dayap Elementary School)
Tamlong Elementary School
The Refiner's Christian School

Secondary schools

Dayap National High School
Dayap National High School (Mabacan Annex)
Dayap National Integrated High School
Liceo de Calauan
Sto. Tomas Integrated High School