Mapandan

Mapandan (meaning plenty of pandan) got its name from “pandan”, a native palm which grew in abundance in the place at that time. The leaves of the pandan add aroma to the cooked rice if cooked with it. The leaves are also stripped and woven into mats.

Mapandan was a former mere Barrio. That was former part of Municipality of Mangaldan.

Being originally a part of the municipality of Mangaldan, Mapandan was also once called “balon baley” which means new town in the local vernacular.

Mapandan was first established as a “pueblo” by virtue of Direction General No. 39 Administration Civil No. 169-C signed by Governor General Emilio Bravo on December 28, 1887. The Town originally comprised the southernmost barrios of the town of Mangaldan namely: Payapay, Baloling, Apaya, and Amanoaoac

The idea of organizing a separate town from its mother town Mangaldan was first conceived by some ten (10) local leaders in the persons of Antonio Morales, Sabino Prado, Andres Bongato, Ambrosio Calimlim, Valeriano Tamondong, Tomas Aquino, Fulgencio Nato, Filomeno Sarmiento, Jose Lalas and Florencio Datuin.

The town was first centered in Barangay Torres. Due to its remoteness, the same was transferred to its present location, which was formerly a sitio of Apaya. The lands in the present location of the Poblacion were predominantly owned by the illustrious Aquino clan.

It was Leon Hilario Aquino who encouraged the people to flock to the place by subdividing the land of the Poblacion into a lot of uniform sixes and offering these for three to each family head.

Mapandan was temporarily returned to its mother town in 1905 due to the outbreak of an epidemic that greatly depleted its population and finances. In 1908, the town was again reorganized and officially re-established.

Dwarfed amidst the more known neighboring towns of Manaoag, Mangaldan, San Jacinto, and Sta. Barbara, the town is heard of in the province but not many people have seen it.

In year 2002, Mapandan was elevated as a third (3rd) class municipality through the efforts and leadership of Hon. Jose Ferdinand Z. Calimlim Jr., who spearheaded strategies on income and revenue generation.

Mapandan is a Hall of Famer for having the Pangasinan's cleanest, safest and greenest municipality (Category B). Mapandan was also awarded the Pangasinan's Healthiest Municipality for having the fewest malnourished children.^[7]

The Municipality of Mapandan is located in Eastern-Central part of Pangasinan. Bordered by Mangaldan to the north, Manaoag to the east, and Santa Barbara to the west and southern part. It is landlocked, however, it is not too far from nearby coastal areas of Dagupan, Binmaley and Mangaldan. Mapandan is a central hilly area, having several mountains nearby.

Mapandan is situated 29.15 kilometres (18.11 mi) from the provincial capital Lingayen, and 205.42 kilometres (127.64 mi) from the country's capital city of Manila.

Poverty incidence of Mapandan

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority^{[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]}

Mapandan is practically rural in terms of its area. It is composed of farming areas and cattle ranch farms. It has a little part of Bued river in northern part and an irrigation project also known as Payas irrigation project, which aims for a standard irrigation for farming areas in the municipality.

The Mapandan Schools District Office governs all educational institutions within the municipality. It oversees the management and operations of all private and public elementary and high schools.^[38]

These are cities Mapandan are associated with:

• Hong Kong, China
• Ontario, Canada