Sasmuan, officially the Municipality of Sasmuan (, ; ), formerly known by its

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

name Sexmoán (pronunciation: ses-mo-wan), is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga (; ; ), is a province in Central Luzon in the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac to the north, Nueva Ecija to the northeast, Bulacan to the east, ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 29,076 people, making it the least populated municipality in the province.

Etymology

It was known as Sexmoán until January 15, 1991. The town's former name in

was Sexmoán, as was initially transcribed by Spanish friars. In Spanish, the letter used to be pronounced as a

voiceless postalveolar fricative A voiceless postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some Speech, spoken languages. The International Phonetic Association uses the term ''voiceless postalveolar fricative'' only for the sound #Voiceless palato-alveolar frica ...

/ʃ/, identical to the digraph "sh" in English. It was derived from the ancient Kapampangan root word ''sasmo'', which means to meet, according to a 17th-century Kapampangan dictionary. ''Sasmuan'' therefore is synonymous with "''pitagmuan''" or "meeting place of the

datu ''Datu'' is a title which denotes the rulers (variously described in historical accounts as chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs) of numerous Indigenous peoples throughout the Philippine archipelago. The title is still used today, though no ...

s" or "meeting point". It was named "Sasmuan" because it is where the Pampangos meet when they were at war with the Chinese in Guagua. In 1991, the spelling was unanimously changed into Sasmuan, due to perceived sexual connotations of the former name.

History

Sasmuan already had a well-developed system of government well before the era of Spanish colonization. It was one of the major towns of Pampanga in the 16th century. The Santa Lucia Church was one of the first Roman Catholic churches built in the Philippines by the Spaniards with the political and financial support of the Principalia.

Geography

Sasmuan is located in the southern part of Pampanga. It is bounded to the north by the municipalities of Guagua and Minalin; to the east by the municipality of Macabebe; to the west by the municipality of Lubao; and, to the south by

Manila Bay Manila Bay (; ) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the Manila, capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Philippines and ...

. Most of the town's area is covered by fishponds. It is one of the three coastal towns in Pampanga along with Lubao and

Macabebe Macabebe, officially the Municipality of Macabebe (; ), is a municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 78,151 people. Etymology The town was named Macabebe because it is locat ...

Barangays

Sasmuan is politically subdivided into 12

barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...

s, as shown below. Each barangay consists of

purok A ''purok'' () is an informal division within a barangay in the Philippines. While not officially considered a local government unit (LGU), a ''purok'' often serves as a unit for delivering services and administration within a barangay. ''Pur ...

s and some have

sitios A ''sitio'' (Spanish language, Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own bar ...

. * Batang 1st "San Vicente" * Batang 2nd "Sto. Nino" * Mabuanbuan "Sagrada Pamilya" * Malusac "Sto Rosario" * San Antonio * San Nicolas 1st * San Nicolas 2nd includes Sitio Remedios (Dakung) * San Pedro * Santa Lucia * Santa Monica includes Sitio San Francisco (Cutud) * Santo Tomas includes Sitio Santa Cruz * Sebitanan "Sto Cristo"

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Sasmuan, Pampanga, was 29,076 people, with a density of .

Economy

Sasmuan has a unique geography in that it is surrounded by

fish pond A fish pond or fishpond is a controlled pond, small artificial lake or retention basin that is stocked with fish and is used in aquaculture for fish farming, for recreational fishing, or for ornamental purposes. Fish ponds are a classical g ...

s. Aquaculture has been the main industry that drives the local economy. The fish from ponds and other areas are sold at the Fish Port. The town has 2 prime business ventures and both are in the food industry. These two are Sasmuan Delicacies which was founded in 1990 and Aiza's Sweets which was started in 2000. For Sasmuan Delicacies, their products are being sold in many big supermarkets and malls in the Philippines, including SM City Malls. Aiza's Sweets on the other hand, has SM City Malls as one of their primary customer, but they also sell to several popular local shops such as Susie's Sweets, Nathaniels, etc. Also, Aiza's Sweets exports to the United States and Canada.

Santa Lucia Parish Church

The Santa Lucia Parish Church in Sasmuan is the first church in the province built by Augustinian priests. It stands right beside the Río Grande, a river that connects Pampanga to Manila Bay. The structure is said to have been built by Jose Duque in the 17th century, was rebuilt in the early 1800s, and was reinforced by Toribio Fanjul in 1884. The edifice has decorative floral carvings on its main entrance. The old town church is one of the few, if not the only church in the country where the single belfry is situated between the church and the convento. The church, which measures long, wide, and high, also features a grotto of Our Lady of Fatima. Devotees from all over the province flock here to honor Saint Lucy, believed to be a miraculous saint. Founded in 1590, Santa Lucia is a parish of the Vicariate of St. Joseph in the Archdiocese of San Fernando. The parish celebrates the feast day of its titular patron on December 13.

Notable People

* Jose Montemayor Jr., a candidate for the

2022 Philippine presidential election Presidential elections in the Philippines were held on May 9, 2022, as part of the 2022 Philippine general election, 2022 general election. This was the 17th direct presidential election and 15th vice presidential election in the country since 19 ...

. * Japeth Aguilar, Filipino basketball player

Gallery

File:Sasmuanjf.JPG, Welcome Marker at Lubao-Sasmuan Road File:Asasmuan2jf.JPG, St. Lucy School of the Archdiocese of Pampanga File:Bsasmuan2jf.JPG, Covered court and gymnasium

References

External links

Sasmuan Profile at PhilAtlas.com
* Philippine Standard Geographic Codebr>Philippine Census InformationLocal Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control Municipalities of Pampanga Populated places on Manila Bay Naming controversies