Gainza, Camarines Sur
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Gainza, officially the Municipality of Gainza ( bcl, Banwaan kan Gainza; tl, Bayan ng Gainza), is a 4th class
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in the
province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
of
Camarines Sur Camarines Sur ( bcl, Habagatan na Camarines; tl, Timog Camarines), officially the Province of Camarines Sur, is a province in the Philippines located in the Bicol Region on Luzon. Its capital is Pili and the province borders Camarines Norte and ...
,
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 11,584 people. Gainza is one of the oldest municipalities in Camarines Sur. Gainza is a part of Metro Naga Urban Area


History

The town is not a young
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
neither it can be counted among the
ancient Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian language, Sumerian c ...
towns and
cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
in the Bicol Region. However, its origin is as old as “Ciudad de Caceres” – Naga City today. The municipality was formerly a barrio of Ciudad de Cacares founded by Captain Pedro de Chavez. The barrio of Ciudad de Caceres was called Sto. Domingo, after its patron saint, Sto. Domingo de Guzman. Because the natives of this farming and
fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
village had progressively clung to the fertile lowland
soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...
and fish- rich meandering rivers and creeks in the central part of the province, its people earned the benevolence and recognition of Bishop Francisco Gainza, O.P. of Nueva Caceres. On December 10, 1863, the Bishop gave the village of Sto. Domingo its Ecclesiastical Charter as a municipality. The feast of the parish patron saint, St. Dominic of Guzman is celebrated annually on 8 August. It was named after the late bishop of
Nueva Caceres Nueva is the Spanish feminine form of the word for "new" and may refer to: * Isla Nueva, an uninhabited island in Chile * The Nueva School, a school in Hillsborough, California, USA. * Nueva (Llanes) Nueva is one of 28 parishes (administr ...
, Francisco Gainza of the Dominican Order. He selected the barrio Sto. Domingo for the construction of a canal or passageway originally planned by two Franciscan Friars and by Governor
Norzagaray Norzagaray, officially the Municipality of Norzagaray ( tgl, Bayan ng Norzagaray), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 136,064 people. It is the location of A ...
as early as the first half of the 17th Century. The canal was to serve two purposes: one to connect the river of
Naga Naga or NAGA may refer to: Mythology * Nāga, a serpentine deity or race in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions * Naga Kingdom, in the epic ''Mahabharata'' * Phaya Naga, mythical creatures believed to live in the Laotian stretch of the Mekong Riv ...
to the sea of Pasacao which would shorten the route from Naga City to
Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
avoiding the treacherous San Bernardino Strait, and the other is to serve as another outlet for the flood waters of the lower plains of the province. If the Bicol River Basin Development Program had pushed through the building of the canal, the flooding of towns along the
Bicol River The Bicol River is the eighth largest river in the Philippines in terms of drainage basin size with an estimated catchment area of . The river drains a large part of southwestern Bicol Peninsula of the island of Luzon and passes through Camarines S ...
could have been avoided. The death of the bishop overcame the ambitious project shortly after the work begun. This canal was called “Via Gainza” in honor of the courageous builder in whose name the town of Gainza was named. This canal is still discernible at present, and it is called in the place “napuhong salog” (abandoned canal). His death also meant the end of its development. For political reasons (there were few voters) the town had been neglected in the matter of road building. After three centuries, a good road connecting this town to Naga City was never developed.


Geography


Barangays

Gainza is politically subdivided into 8
barangay A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...
s: * Cagbunga * Dahilig * Loob * Malbong * Namuat * Sampaloc * District I (
poblacion ''Poblacion'' (literally "town" or "settlement" in Spanish language in the Philippines, Spanish; ) is the common term used for the administrative center, central, downtown, old town or central business district area of a Philippines, Philippi ...
) * District II (poblacion)


Climate

Gainza borders Milaor to the south, Pamplona to the west, Canaman to the north, Camaligan and Naga City to the east. Gainza generally is in a plain land.


Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Gainza, Camarines Sur, was 11,584 people, with a density of .


Economy

Majority of the land is devoted to rice, vegetables and other root crops. Agricultural Sector: ▪ Rice (44%) ▪ Carrots (3%) ▪ Cabbages (25%) ▪ Root crops (28%) Urban areas have small businesses and also fishing like rural areas do.


Infrastructure

The new bridge that connects Sampaloc to the rest of Gainza is currently under construction. As of now to access far flung barangays are either by boat or a suspension bridge. It has a road that connects with Camaligan, Naga City, and Milaor.


Healthcare

* Rural Health Center 1 (Cagbunga) * Rural Health Center 2 (Sampaloc) * Rural Health Center 3 (Malbong)


Gallery

File:Gainza Monument, Camarines Sur, June 2021.jpg, Bishop Francisco Gainza Monument File:Gainza Church, Camarines Sur, June 2021.jpg, St. Dominic of Guzman Parish Church


References


External links

*
Philippine Standard Geographic Code The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
br>Official Site of the Province of Camarines Sur
{{Bicol Region Municipalities of Camarines Sur Metro Naga