Malasiqui

The word Malasiqui originates from the Pangasinense root word lasi meaning lightning. With prefix ma indicating high degree and suffix qui indicating place - Malasiqui means "place full of lightning".

Another story about the town's etymology goes to talk about three Spanish priests who, while conducting ocular during those days, were so pissed off with the condition of the road which was muddy. The first priest said "mala" which means bad. The second priest responded "si" which means yes. The third one apparently not paying attention asked "que?" or "what". The local folk who overheard the conversation mistook it as if they are naming the town. And so it came to be known as Mala Si Que? or the current name spelled as Malasiqui.

The socio-political history of the municipality parallels that of the Pangasinan province and the country in general. Its history is punctuated by periods of foreign domination first by the Spanish, then by the United States and briefly by the Japanese during the 2nd World War.

There were no organized communities in the area before the Spaniards arrived. Attempts to group families into a settlement may have started as early as 1665. The present site was then heavily forested with small family groups scattered along banks of small rivers and creeks.

The municipality proper traces its origins during the middle of the 17th century when Spanish friars opened a mission intended to convert the native population into Catholicism. The most probable founding year was 1671 when Spanish civil authorities in Manila gave the license for the creation of the town. The population participated heavily in some of the bloodiest rebellions during the Spanish period. Catholicism and other Christian sects dominate the religious life of the people.

Ethnically, it is one of the few places in the province of Pangasinan which did not experience in-migration from other regions of the country. Consequently, Pangasinanse is the dominant ethnic group with almost no other ethnic groups mixing into the locality.

Today, the poblacion or town center, has recently been experiencing high commercial growth spurred mainly by high consumer spending generated by increase in family incomes attributable to earnings of OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers). The estimate of OFW population as a percentage of adult labor force is as much as 22% - one of the highest rates in the Philippines. The OFW phenomenon is so significant that almost all households have at least one member working outside of the country.^[6]

Malasiqui is situated 27.97 kilometres (17.38 mi) from the provincial capital Lingayen, and 195.76 kilometres (121.64 mi) from the country's capital city of Manila.

Poverty incidence of Malasiqui

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority^{[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]}

It is mainly an agricultural municipality with rice, corn and tropical lowland vegetables as main crops. It is also famous for its mango fruits having one of the largest concentration of mango tree population in the Philippines.

The Town Fiesta is celebrated January 17 thru 22 every year.^[22] Points of interests include:

• Malasiqui Agno Valley College
• Perpetual Help College of Pangasinan
• Harvest Festival
• Assembly of God
• Rep. Rachel "Baby" Arenas farm
• Monastery of the Poor Clares of St. James the Apostle
• Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan's first cloistered monastery
• Malasiqui Central School^[23]
• Centeno Farm Resort and Ecohills Resort
• Barangay Lareg-Lareg and the Arenas Civic Center
• Magic Mall
• St. Ildephonse of Seville Parish Church (Malasiqui)

There are two schools district offices which govern all educational institutions within the municipality. The schools district offices oversee the management and operations of all private and public elementary and high schools.^[24] These are Malasiqui I Schools District Office, and Malasiqui II Schools District Office.