LUBAO

Festivals

Sampaguita Festival

The Parish of Saint Augustine celebrated its 440th Founding Anniversary on May 5, 2012, with the launching of the 1st Sampaguita Festival; participated by the six parishes of Lubao. Parish of St. Augustine de Hippo bagged the Over-All Champion trophy.2nd Sampaguita Festival was held on May 5, 2013, participated by the 10 secondary public schools of Lubao. San Vicente National High School emerged as the Over-All Champion of the festival.The 3rd Sampaguita Festival was celebrated on May 4, 2014, and participated by the 7 clustered barangays of Lubao. Cluster 6 (Cluster Malagu - Barangay Santo Domingo, San Miguel, Concepcion, San Francisco, San Vicente.

Philippines International Balloon Festival

The 1st ever Philippine International Balloon Festival was held on April 10–13, 2014 in Barangay Prado Siongco, Lubao, Pampanga. It was organized by Pilipinas International Balloon Festival, Inc. (PIBF) in cooperation with the Arts, Culture and Tourism Office of Pampanga (ACTO) with the theme "It's More Than Just Hot Air"

Lubao International Balloon Festival

The 2nd Lubao International Balloon Festival was held on March 26 to 29, 2015 in Pradera Verde, Prado Siongco, Lubao, Pampanga. It was organized by Forthinker Inc. Philippines.It was touted as the biggest annual hot air balloon festival in Southeast Asia that featured more than forty (40) colorful hot air balloons from different countries all over the world, fourteen (14) of which are special shaped balloons like Darth Vader, Yoda, Humpty Dumpty and Frog.The 3rd edition of Lubao International Balloon Festival was held on April 14–17, 2016 in Pradera Verde, Prado Siongco, Lubao, Pampanga.

Lubao International Balloon and Music Festival

April 6 to 9 2017 Lubao International Balloon and Music Festival. For the 4th year in a row, 35 balloons showered the skies of Lubao, Pampanga with their magnificent design and beautiful colors while wonderful music from international artists (Alex Aiono and Redfoo) and local artists (Sponge Cola, Gloc 9, Parokya ni Edgar, Moonstar88, Yeng Constantino and Bamboo) graced the event.

History

Lubao is a first class municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines.The name Lubao was derived from the indigenous word “lubo” which means low. “Lubo” is characteristically muddy and flooded; later, the term evolved into “lubao,” which is the town’s present name. The Austronesian word is associated with the low or depressed elevation of the town. Hence, Lubao is synonymous to its ancient name Baba.The aborigines of Lubao are the Aytas who are also popularly known baluga to the lowlanders. The Aytas were nomadic, hunters, superstitious and paganistic. They first settled in Lubao via the Gumain River, a major tributary, which gets its water from Mounts Abu, Cabusilan and Pinatubo and then streams to the Balukeke River in San Pablo Matua until it finally empties at the present day Calangain River along the Pampanga and Manila Bay areas.

As the settlement flourished, the early pangpangans (later Kapampangans) of Lubao strategically concentrated themselves in Caongutan or Lalam Ungot (a swampy hamlet in Sta. Cruz). Hence, the cosmogenesis of the Kapangpangan realm.Soon, intrepid Austronesians (Malays) started to amalgamate with the natives and taught them trade, education, government and religion. Barter was the mode of exchange, Sanskrit the orthography; monarchy the government, and Islam the religion. It was in the same area where they politically organized themselves and the ancient pagaga (cemetery) was located.

Shortly, Lubao was the trading emporium of the kapangpangans (riverbank people) that shaped Lubao as the Cradle of Kapampangan Civilization. Similarly, Lubao or Baba became synonymous to Kababan because it was the center point of trading and enterprises in the Kapampangan sphere. Its ancient port was believed to have direct trade links with Brunei, Malacca, Sumatra and Guangshou (China).The thriving trade in Lubao attracted mostly the Chinese merchants in trading their clothes, earthen wares, iron, camanguian and other stuffs in exchange for gold and rice of the natives. The Chinese called the place Liu Bao, which refers to the six treasures in Chinese geomancy: gold, wood, water, fire, earth and air that suggest Lubao’s abundance and immensity of these treasures. The Lubao-China trading relation is evident among the earthen ware materials (kapsa) that are commonly scattered in the environs of the ancient Lubao trading post in Lalam Ungot.

Culturally and territorially, Lubao was a mitochondrion of power that produced the roots of great men of valor that included Soliman (Maynilad) and Lakandula (Tunduk). The aboriginal language evolved which is today the lingua franca of the kapampangan world. Traditionally, its territoriality was believed to include all regions that surrounded it, which later on were detached by the Spaniards to facilitate the collection of tributes and jurisdiction disputes among friars.From a small baluga settlement it developed into a powerful Austronesian (Malay) kingdom that helped shaped the configuration of the great Kapampangan Empire. As a kingdom, it was governed by datu (king) and lupun (council).

Traditions & Culture

The Sagana or Salubong in Filipino is held at dawn on Easter Sunday in barangay san Nicholas 1st in the town of Lubao Pampanga, it is a unique 3-part religious ritual that consists of a procession of the “corrozas followed by the “sagana” stage play and ends with the burning of judas effigy.

Trivia

Municipality

Lubao is one of the twenty two municipalities of the Province of Pampanga. It is located at the western part of the province. It is bounded by the municipalities of Guagua on the north, Sasmuan on the east, Floridablanca on the west and Orani, Bataan on the south. It is about 14o 56’ 07” latitude, and 120o 36’ 04” longtitude.As most cradles of world civilizations took place along riverbanks, Lubao’s strategic location dictates the pattern of how the earliest Kapampangans established their own. Its proximity to the Western Luzon mountain ranges, where the Philippine aborigines (Aytas) were believed to have first settled magnifies the historical process of how ancient movements or migration of people had evolved.Strategically nestled along flat greenfields and prosperous estuarines, Lubao’s location is advantageous and important for agriculture and trade. Historically, Lubao was a vast kingdom that comprised all its surrounding villages or settlements.

Land Areas & Barangay

Lubao has a total land area of 15,731.11 hectares. It is a first class municipality composed of forty four (44) barangays. These barangays are segregated according to the following groupings:

This group of barangays is nestled in the mid-eastern part of the municipality. San Nicolas I serves as the poblacion area and is the seat of the Municipal Hall, the Escolastica Romero District Hospital, the Philippine National Police, and other local government offices. The San Agustin Church, the Lubao Cemetery, and elementary and secondary schools are situated in this barangay. Barangays Sto. Tomas, San Juan, and Sta. Lucia serve as small commercial and trading hub of the town.

Sta. Cruz is the site of the pubic market and is the business center of the town. It also hosts numerous rural banks, commercial and office establishments, food stores and restaurants, the Sta. Cruz Parish Church, elementary and secondary schools and other technical learning centers. The other barangays, which are located along the Mc-Arthur Highway (now Gapan-Olongapo Road) are ancillary spots for resorts, restaurants, hotels, bus stops and terminals, eateries, lumber and hardware stores, small manufacturing industries (furniture, sash factories, etc.), subdivision sites, and memorial parks. The Somascan Minor Seminary administered by the Congregation of the Clerics Regular of Somasca, CRS, is located in barangay Prado Saba.

These barangays are the populated barangays forming around the urban core. They are gradually becoming urbanized. The economy is a mixture of agriculture trading, industries, and general services.

Basically, these are agricultural barangays that mainly produce palay at two to three cropping per year. Piggery, poultry and backyard livestock-raising supplement the livelihood of the residents. Inland fish-farming and vegetable productions are also sources of income for the people.

The average size of each of the island barangays is four to six hectares. Houses are mostly made of nipa and wood. Streets are narrow, partly concreted, and serve as temporary shelters during storms. The barangays are surrounded by large tracts of fishponds, and are enclosed by narrow rivers. The main source of livelihood is fishing.

Tourist & Attractions

Language & Dialect

Members

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About: Kapampangan language. (2018). dbpedia.org. https://dbpedia.org/page/KapampanganlanguageJoseph (2013). Blog nang Joseph. Blogspot.com. http://josephjames007.blogspot.com/.../common-phrases-in...Lubao Province of Pampanga (2022). philatlas.com. https://www.philatlas.com/luzon/r03/pampanga/lubao.html