MANILYN S.

FERNANDEZ
I-BSED FILIPINO
GE2/ Readings in Philippine History
Reaction Paper No. 1

The Place Which Became a Town

The reaper of wealth in the legendary depths of the sea is no other than Binmaley Pangasinan.
Like a blue and crystal color of the seawater where the richness of the abyss happily dances to the
accompaniment of the waves, Binmaley has also a colorful history.The Municipality of Binmaley was
formerly part of the town of Binalatongan, now San Carlos City. It was founded in the year 1591 and
became a regular parish in 1613 while the first civil government of Binmaley was established in 1900. In
the Pangasinan dialect, Binmaley is “nanmaliw ya baley”, which means “a place that became a town”.
Binmaley it is a first-class Municipality located at the Second District of Pangasinan, sub-divided into
thirty-three (33) Barangays, with a population of 83,052 based in 2015.

Since I was young the town is famous mainly because of its three major attractions. First for its
bangus (milkfish) aqua-culture, due to the existence of its numerous fishponds (pokok in the Pangasinan
language). However, because of constant siltation over the past several years from mine tailings
upstream from Agno River (due to mine operations in neighboring Benguet Province), and the overuse
of artificial fish feeds, the bangus industry has suffered from fishkill, fewer viable fishponds and lower
harvests. As a result, many formerly productive fishponds have been converted into large commercial
and residential lots. This phenomenon is beginning to seriously threaten the unique Binmaley fishpond
industry. Second the beautiful Baroque Cathedral dating back to the 17th Century, located at the town
center and the third one is the lucrative woodcraft and furniture industry located in Barangay
Malindong.

Every year our town celebrate a festival which is famously known for its "Sigay Festival". The
Sigay Festival is a oneweek celebration from January 15 to February 2 which will give tribute to the
aquaculture industry of the town, which is the number one source livelihood of the community of
Binmaley. Sigay is a Pangasinan dialect word which means harvest. And sigay is my favorite festival.
As a citizen who belongs to a community, it’s good to know that my town is one of the worderful place
in this world.