| CALASIAO: TOWN PROFILE |
| The Municipality of Calasiao is a first-class town in the central part of the province of Pangasinan. It has a total land area of 5,339 hectares with 24 barangays and 31 sitios and is hedged between the cities of San Carlos and Dagupan on the South and North respectively. It is bounded by the towns of Sta. Barbara and Mangaldan on the East and the town of Binmaley on the West. The whole municipality is an unbroken piece of land and the Marosay, Gabon and Sinocalan Rivers disturb its continuity. Flooding occurs in certain portions of the town near the riverbanks and in low-lying areas especially in the barangays of Talibaew, Gabon, San Vicente and Lasip. SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASPECT: The economy of Calasiao is basically agricultural. The town’s major crop is rice followed by corn, vegetables, bananas and mangoes. Approximately 3,836 hectares or 72% of the total land area are farmlands. Many farmers are engaged in piggery and poultry businesses but most are backyard enterprises. As of 2008, Calasiao has a total of 1,266 commercial and industrial establishments and majority of these are into wholesale and retail trades. Lately, big commercial buildings are blossoming along the MacArthur Highway and the Diversion Roads in barangays Nalsian and San Miguel and these sites are most likely to become the commercial belt of the town. Cottage industries abound in the town and are mostly family-based and done in small-scale such as hat and mat weaving, basket and buri ring making, metalcrafts/blacksmithing and food processing which includes bocayo production and the making of the famous native rice cake, the Calasiao puto. EDUCATIONAL ASPECT: All of the barangays have public elementary schools and the town has 3 government and 3 private high school institutions as well as 2 private colleges and 8 private elementary schools. The literacy rate of 91% means that the municipality is assured of an ample supply of work force and labor force that could easily adapt themselves in various services and modern methods of production. The number of professionals in the different fields of occupation is increasing. As of 2003, there are 449 registered professionals who are in the medical and paramedical fields broken into the following: 18 physicians; 37 dentists; 264 nurses; 7 physical therapists; 20 medical technologists; 7 pharmacists; 83 midwives and 6 nutritionists. COMMUNITY SERVICES: The Central Pangasinan Electric Corporation (CENPELCO) supplies the electric power most parts of the town while the Dagupan Electric Corporation (DECORP) supplies a minimal part. The communication facilities are provided by Philpost, PLDT, Digitel, PILTEL, SMART, EXTELCOM and GLOBECOM. The town of Calasiao has no centralized water distribution system and the residents rely on individual or communal deep and shallow wells for their water supply needs. The national and barangay roads are mostly concrete but some barangays still have unpaved roads. Tricycles, jeepneys, minibuses and big buses provide transportation. |