My Hometown - Casanayan - About Casanayan

CASANAYAN MY HOMETOWN

    Casanayan is situated in the Municipality of Pilar province of Capiz. Pilar is a forth class municipality, and Casanayan is one of the two barangay who serves as its satellite villages Dulangan is the other. There are two ways of going there, first if you're from Iloilo it will take you 2 to 3 hours of land travel and an hour and a half if you are coming from Roxas City the capital of the province.
    On your way to the village you will be greeted by the beautiful scenery of vast rice fields and sugarcane plantation. It will only take you 15 to 30 minutes by motorcycle (Tricycle) trip from its two major entrances from the highway, namely, Santa Fe and San Nicolas. The moment you arrive, you will never think that the village has its own beach with the beautiful fine gray sand along its coastline, and the people there will greet you with the wonderful smiles on their faces as if they know you for a very longtime.
    The village is very blessed by having its own Elementary and Secondary school, not to mention the wonderful teachers in the school who sacrifices their own ambition just to help the youth who is enrolled despite of the low and delayed salary of the government employees. Both elementary and high school also cater to the children of the nearby villages like San Antonio, Dayhagan and Balogo. Being one of the students before, Casanayan Elementary School is one of the best school I've ever attended and I can personally tell that the teachers is one of the most intellectual professional who never surrender in one of the hardest battles in life called “Teaching”. At the school, students will not only learn academically but they will also learn the good moral and tradition of the Casanaynons who were passed from generation to generation. Many of the Alumni of both Elementary and High school is now professional and successful in their respective fields, not to mention the graduates who are successful in Manila and in Foreign Countries like United States of America, United Kingdom and a lot more.
    Having its own Parish, the village is celebrating the feast of its Patron, Saint Vincent Ferrer every April 5 or after the Holy week. The Casanaynons celebrate it in a week long event focusing on the religious, social and political aspect of the event from the procession of Saint Vincent Ferrer, street dances participated by both Elementary and High School students and the “Binayle sa plaza” or the Disco at the plaza. The event will end up with the annual coronation of the Barangay Queen. At the event you will enjoy the spectacle song and dance numbers by the locals or even from a tourist. You will also enjoy the short fireworks display courtesy of the Queen's parents.
    Casanayan is also gifted with a bizarre phenomenon of a dead lady who's her body refuses to decay after her death. Maria Basanes died at the age of 47 from a heart attack way back in 1829. When her body was exhumed ten years after her death, it was found intact and well preserved which was surprising because her embalming was supposedly good for only 3 days. Now, the dead body, the brownish black and hard as wood, stands inside a small hand me down. Her forehead has a portion of where its skin was peeled off surreptitiously by men who believed it could be a lucky charm in fishing.
    Finally, during your visit in Casanayan, you can either hangout with the locals or visit its famous “Seaside Restaurant” located along the coast line and enjoy the beautiful sunset, or you can even walk along the shore and if your lucky enough you can even play or pay a little walk in what they call “Pacil” if its low tide. Lastly, if you really want to explore the beauty of the ocean you can either go swimming or even rent a motor boat or as the local say “pumpboat” to one of the motor boat owners.