Panagsibuyas (Onion Farming) in Bayambang

Onion farming was introduced in Bayambang in the then barrio of Manambong by a Chinese "boat person" (a refugee from the Chinese communist government) named Ching Tong who married a Filipina named Catalina Vinluan  Sanchez of Manambong Norte.

The year is estimated to be between 1956 to 1958, during the term of Mayor Leo Sagun.

(Could this be the first commercial onion farm in the country?)

The farm was inside an hacienda owned by Mrs. Asuncion Palma Guevara which used to encompass Manambong Norte, Manambong Sur, and Manambong Parte. (Today, a school is named after her, the A.P. Guevara Integrated School, in the place that is now called Barangay Manambong Norte.)

To guarantee a bountiful harvest, it is common practice for farmers to make offerings to God or the spirits in the form of atang. Chickens or pigs are the ones usually sacrificed.

Onion farming -- particularly of the red onion variety -- would become a booming industry in the '80s in the Manambong area and would spread to the other barangays, during which time the farmers of Bayambang abandoned tobacco farming and other less profitable pursuits and cleared their land of coconuts and other native trees to give way to the growing of onions. This caused Bayambang to be dubbed "the onion capital of Pangasinan" and even of Region I.

Today, onion farming remains lucrative, though it is at times challenged by destructive armyworms and perennial flooding. Planting season typically starts in October, with some farmers starting as early as September, while peak harvest season often falls on the period of March to April.

Mappers: students from Bayambang National High School-Junio High School
Adviser: Mr. Christopher Q. Gozum

Main Informants:

Municipal Accountant and Internal Audit Unit head Erlinda Alvarez, adopted child of Mr. Ching and Ms. Sanchez
Municipal Budget Officer Peter Caragan
Zyra Orpiano, Agricultural Technician of Municipal Agriculture Office
Lolita S. Palarca
Wenchie Artacho - Twenty8Eleven