Peñaranda, Nueva Ecija


Peñaranda, officially the Municipality of Peñaranda, is a municipality in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. According to the, it has a population of people.
In 2012, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the ICHCAP of UNESCO published Pinagmulan: Enumeration from the Philippine Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The first edition of the UNESCO-backed book included Nueva Ecija's Arakyo, signifying its great importance to Philippine intangible cultural heritage. The local government of Nueva Ecija, in cooperation with the NCCA, is given the right to nominate the Arakyo in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.

Etymology

The area was originally called Mapisong and was a part of the municipality of Gapan. It was organized into a municipality by José Maria Peñaranda, a Spanish engineer, and subsequently named after him.

Geography

The municipality of Peñaranda is bounded by the municipalities of General Tinio and San Leonardo and the city of Gapan.

Barangays

Peñaranda is politically subdivided into 10 barangays, as shown below. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
  • Callos
  • Las Piñas
  • Poblacion I
  • Poblacion II
  • Poblacion III
  • Poblacion IV
  • Santo Tomas
  • Sinasajan
  • San Josef
  • San Mariano

    Climate

Demographics

Religion

Majority of the people is Roman Catholic. Other religious groups have churches and places of worship in the municipality.

Economy

Primarily depends on rice & vegetable farming, poultry and piggery. Peñaranda was once known for its high-quality crop called ikmo, a plant used by older Filipinos as a chewing substance. Recently however, the crop is on the brink of extinction. Rice remains a flourishing farm produce.

Culture

Every May, Peñaranda residents stage a musical drama called "Araquio", a re-enactment of Christians' quest led by Queen Helena and King Constantine for the Holy Cross where Jesus Christ was nailed. Actors and actresses garbed in colorful and cute costumes dramatize this century old tradition which features sword fights between the Christians and Moros.
Peñaranda is also known for its mouth-watering, native rice cakes such as espasol, putong puti and sapin-sapin.

Education

The Peñaranda Schools District Office governs all educational institutions within the municipality. It oversees the management and operations of all private and public, from primary to secondary schools.
Nueva Ecija [University of Science and Technology] Peñaranda Off-Campus opened in 2005. This is a joint undertaking of the Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology and the Local Government Unit of Peñaranda. It is located at the vicinity of the Peñaranda National High School.

Primary and elementary schools

  • God's Family Christian Academy
  • Kapt. Pedro Villanueva Elementary School
  • Peñaranda Central School
  • Peñaranda North Central School
  • San Josef Elementary School
  • San Mariano Elementary School
  • St. Andrew Christian Academy
  • St. Francis Development Center
  • Sto. Tomas Elementary School
  • Westside Montessori Centrum

    Secondary schools

  • Callos Integrated School
  • Las Piñas Integrated School
  • Peñaranda National High School