CATANAUAN
Bayan kong Sinilangan
Bayan kong babalikan
Province of Quezon
Elevation: Not Available
Chris Ferrer
C atanauan
"Where is that Place"The usual Reaction from People i meet whenever i
tell them where im from...This is a place where the time is slow where Bayanihah is still practiced the sky meets the sea in the horizon the mountains are green...and wildbirds still flourished this is where i learned and honed my skills in outdoors and devotion to conservation...my teacher is my beloved tatay "Kang punong" to others.
Catanauan is a coastal town bounded on the north by the municipality of
Lopez, Buenavista on the northeast, Mulanay on the east and southeast and
General Luna on the west and northwest.
It became a municipality under the name �Nabatasan� a barrio which was a
little further north of the present town site. During the early part of the
seventeenth century,
H istory
the Moros, now, Muslim used to raid the place. Tired of Being caught
unaware by the pirates, the people erected watchtower, (Tanuan) on the
beach called � PUNTA� by the natives. An approaching vinta or sailboat
could readily be seen at a distance, out on the sea .Later on, out of these
watchtower a typical Spanish fort called �Pinagkastilyuhan� meaning Spanish
castle was built sometimes in 1700.
There were two Franciscan priests who came from Mulanay in order to convert
the people to Christianity. Endowed with the missionary zeal to win the
people to Catholicism, they began to list down all the headmen or capitanes
of the village. Among them was one named Luis de Las Casas who headed the
Barangays in 1713-14.
Because the villages was no longer bothered by the Muslim and it being
safe. The people grew in number. People from nearby places like Marinduque,
Batangas, and Bicol Region began to settle in the villages. Houses were
built, streets were formed, a nipa church was erected and the primary
school was opened with the Spanish missionaries as maestro.
Another story behind this was a narration of a folk thus: During the latter
part of the eighteenth century, Spanish galleon frequented this place.
One of the commanders of the ship was Spanish navigator, named Manuel del
Gallego. During his voyage, he caught sight of an island a very white beach
reflecting along the horizon. Anxious to discover a land, the captain of
the ship landed on it. Gallego then hastily reported to his companion that
this would be a nice place to settle upon. So he traced it on the map. It
is in the Central part of Banton Island, Marinduque and Romblon. Due to its
favorable location he named it �MAGTANAUAN� later on with the coming of the
American in the early part of the nineteenth century �KA� was affixed to
Tanuan thus the name �CATANAUAN� comes.