Balaoan

Balaoan is situated north of Bacnotan, south of Bangar, east of Luna and west of Santol. Located 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of San Fernando City, the provincial capital of La Union and the regional capital of Region I. Balaoan is 299 kilometres (186 mi) north of Metro Manila. Barangay Paraoir is Balaoan's pristine coastal community on the South China Sea.

Balaoan can be reached from Manila using the MacArthur Highway, or by airplane via Canaoay Airport in San Fernando City.

Its land area of 6,870 hectares (17,000 acres) consists mostly of agricultural lands. It occupies 4.3% of the total area of the province.

According to William Scott, "Balaoan itself was an emporium for the exchange of Igorot gold."[6]

Balaoan, formerly "Puraw" (meaning "white') was originally part of Ilocos Sur. The town's present name originated during the Spanish colonial era. A group of Spanish soldiers were on patrol and went on to rest on a sitio. The villagers were curious about the soldiers because of their unusual descent and fair skin color. They flocked the soldiers touching their guns, too afraid that the guns might explode accidentally, one villager asked the soldier in a local vernacular.. "Aoan bala?" (meaning "No bullets?"). The soldier did not understand what the villager meant, he uttered the last word first, and remembering the last, he said "Bala-aoan".

During the Spanish colonization of the Philippines, a secret society of insurrectos was organized in the municipality. Its purpose was to fight and revolt against the Spanish Government in the area. On the eve of the revolution, a traitor told the Spanish of their plan. The Spanish soldiers, without any investigation, arrested seven members of the secret society and executed them the same night. Only one, Fernando Ostrea, escaped with leg wounds. He informed the people about what has happened. In memory of the seven Martyrs, a masonic lodge, Siete Martires Lodge No. 177, was organized.

Balaoan is one of the oldest municipalities in La Union, having been founded in 1704. Its first Capitan is Ignacio Duldulao.

In the 2015 census, the population of Balaoan was 39,188 people, [3] with a density of 570 inhabitants per square kilometre or 1,500 inhabitants per square mile.

The dominant language spoken in Balaoan is Ilocano.

The church of Balaoan is under the advocacy of the town's patron saint, St. Nicholas of Tolentino, whose feast day is celebrated on September. Balaoan's town fiesta is celebrated every December 21 to 23 of the year.

• Camilo Osías, former Senator
• Magnolia Antonino, former Senator

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  Welcome arch
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  Municipal hall
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  Public market
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  Street view
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  Tricycle terminal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Balaoan, La Union.

• Balaoan Profile at PhilAtlas.com
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Philippine Census Information
• Local Governance Performance Management System