Sariaya

Sariaya, officially the Municipality of Sariaya, is a municipality in the province of Quezon, Philippines. According to the, it has a population of people, making it the second most populous local government unit in Quezon after the capital city of Lucena, and the most populous municipality in the said province.
As the only Mount Banahaw town in both Quezon and Laguna Provinces that has a sea coast, the town is famous for its pristine beach resorts and nature-trekking activities that lead adventurous hikers to the peak of mythical Mount Banahaw. With more than a hundred of cultural properties and ancestral houses mostly built in Art Deco architecture within the municipality, Sariaya is considered as the Heritage Town of Quezon and the Art Deco Capital of Southern Luzon. This heritage town has been branded by various cultural experts as a 'cultural gem worthy of a UNESCO designation.' The local government of the municipality with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines were designated to work for the heritage town's inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Etymology

The origin of the word Sariaya was allegedly came from the word Sadyaya — one of the town's numerous rivers, but words of the great ancestors and legends have it that it was named after Saria, a supposedly 'illiterate' woman who encountered the first Spaniards in the town who were asking the name of the settlement. Saria could not understand the question as it was in Spanish, which was foreign and unknown to everyone in the area during that time. She was thus branded as illiterate by the Spanish despite being highly educated through Tagalog traditional knowledge.
The woman gave her name as answer to the Spanish, assuming that they were asking her name. The Spaniards wrote "Saria" on their notebooks as the name of the settlement. And while the Spaniards were talking with each other, the natives heard them utter the words "Saria-ya". Hence, the words traveled from mouth to mouth and became a common saying until the two words were combined.

History

The beginning of Sariaya's documented history occurred with the arrival of Augustinian missionary priests in a Tagalog seaside settlement in what is now Barangay Castañas on the shores of Tayabas Bay. They discovered a thriving native people and converted the majority of them to Christianity.
After years of being part of Tayabas, Sariaya became a separate town in 1631 and was transferred northwards to avoid Moro pirates.
A strong earthquake in 1743 caused the bell tower of the Tumbaga church to collapse. As a result, the fragile southwest ridge of Mount Banahaw's crater lake collapsed, destroying the ancient community referred to as "Lumangbayan," or Old Town. The surviving settlers relocated further north. A more durable combination of materials was used in the construction of the current church. These components consist of bricks, adobe blocks, albumin or egg white, stones, and masonry. In addition to being a house of worship, the church and its four-story belfry served as a lookout point for the surrounding fields and mountains as well as a citadel or last line of defense for the residents.
On May 17, 1902, Candelaria was merged with Sariaya by virtue of Act No. 402. On September 20, 1907, Candelaria was separated from the municipality to regain its independent status.

Geography

Sariaya is an inland municipality in the province of Quezon, located south of Metro Manila and from the provincial capital Lucena. The municipality is bordered by Tayabas on north-east side, Lucena on its southeast, the municipality of Candelaria on its west, and the town of San Juan in Batangas on its south-west. Mount Banahaw flanks it on the north and Tayabas Bay on the south side. It has a total land area of.

Barangays

Sariaya is politically subdivided into 43 barangays, as indicated in the matrix below. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
Currently, six barangays are urban barangays located at the Poblacion, one barangay is classified as sub-urban and six barangays are coastal barangays.
Hereunder is the list of Barangays in Municipality of Sariaya and its land area:

Topography

Sariaya is situated on a flat land except for a portion on the north occupying a part of the foot of Mount Banahaw. The municipality has the highest point of elevation on above sea level at Barangays Concepcion Banahaw and Sampaloc Bogon.

Climate

Sariaya falls under Type III of the PAGASA's climatic classification system this is because it is situated on the southern portion of the province's mountain ranges characterized by seasons not very pronounced, relatively dry from December to April and wet during the rest of the year. The maximum rain periods are not very pronounced with the short dry season lasting from two to four months.

Demographics

According to the 2020 census of population, Sariaya has a total population of 161,868 people making the second most populous area in Quezon after Lucena. Barangay Santo Cristo is the most populous area in Sariaya with a total population of 9,007 people according to the 2020 census, The Poblacion ranks second and Concepcion Palasan placed in the third rank.

Economy

Commerce

The trade and commerce in Sariaya is heavily concentrated at General Luna Street, which is the town's central business district where majority of the town's commercial establishments are situated such as retail, supermarkets, banks, drugstores, bakeries, merchandising, grocery, hardware, fastfood chains, shopping center, convenience stores and others.

Income

Agriculture is one of the major sources of income in Sariaya. According to the 2016 Competitiveness Index of the National Competitiveness Council or NCC, the municipality belongs to the Top 50 most competitive municipalities in the Philippines. According to the annual Audit Report of Commission on Audit, Sariaya is also one of Quezon's top grossing municipalities when factoring annual income.
The table below shows the list of the total annual income, assets, expenses and equity of Sariaya since 2008:

Year	Total Income.	Assets	Expenses	Equity
2008	₱139.37 million	₱141.48 million	₱112.92 million	₱101.17 million
2009	₱154.89 million	₱198.33 million	₱141.55 million	₱109.66 million
2010	₱164.55 million	₱202.63 million	₱158.44 million	₱101.71 million
2011	₱183.43 million	₱243.13 million	₱172.08 million	₱106.77 million
2012	₱183.59 million	₱237.29	₱181.60 million	₱112.67 million
2013	₱212.08 million	₱239.29 million	₱200.54 million	₱117.99 million
2014	₱243.73 million	₱390.88 million	₱206.07 million	₱152.49 million
2015	₱275.70 million	₱467.81 million	₱248.83 million	₱176.53 million

Culture

Agawan Festival

Celebrated every May 15, this religious festivity pays tribute to San Isidro Labrador, the patron saint of farmers. This much-anticipated feast has close affinity with the 'Pahiyas Festival' of Lucban, Quezon. Pliant bamboo treetops and trellises weighed down by succulent fruits, native candies, rice cakes, and colorful rice krispies called "kiping" are deliberately pulled down on the streets by noisy merrymakers right after the afternoon procession. Festival revelers from the town's barangays, neighboring towns, and other provinces would then scramble to gather as many treats as they can snatch and carry, hence the term "Agawan."

Town Fiesta

On September 14, pious devotees from far and wide pay homage to the miraculous image of the Santo Cristo de Burgos during the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. The Catholic feast is a day-long veneration of the replica of the Crucified Christ at the ancient Cathedral of Burgos, Spain long believed to be a gift of King Philip V of Spain in 1703 to the people of Lumangbayan in Sariaya. People from far-flung barangays flock to the Poblacion to attend the packed fiesta Masses. They also sell their farm products and handicrafts in the public market as they eagerly sample the gaudily-decorated and crowded venue for the annual "perya" for thrilling rides, occasional circus performances, and shows featuring human mutants, trained animals performing tricks, vendors peddling herbal medicines, and "peryantes," those hardy and itinerant peddlers of cheap clothing, toys, and kitchen utensils. The town's basketball tournament also holds its cherished championship game on the eve of this much-awaited day. Sometimes there are hired stage performances at the town plaza that feature some of the nation's stage, television and film celebrities as well as musical stars.

Government

Elected officials

Elected officials for the 2019–2022 term are:

Position	Name
Mayor	Marcelo "Marcing" P. Gayeta
Vice Mayor	Alexander A. Tolentino
Councilors	Arlene Genove
Councilors	Demia Perez- Maghirang
Councilors	Vince Alcala Banta
Councilors	Renz Marcuap
Councilors	Minerva “Miner” Remo
Councilors	Ofelia C. Villapando
Councilors	Haidee Medina- Caringal
Councilors	Mario Medina Medrano
Councilors	-
Councilors	-