FRINZ S.

NARCISO SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

GENERAL SOCIOLOGY

MUNICIPALITY OF ORION
BRIEF HISTORY

Legend
People of this town had known many stories of how Orion got its name. Some
folks say that Udyong was the first name adapted by this town. It came from the words
“lu-ad” and “uryong” which meant muddy, because of the fact that the place was muddy
and swampy during those times.
Another popular story was that during the Spanish regime, some Spanish
soldiers happened to pass by this town. They did not know the name of the place so
they asked the people they saw in the rice fields. One of the soldiers pointed his finger
to the ground and asked “Que es el llama pueblo”. Not understanding Spanish the
people thought that the soldier was referring to something he saw on the ground that
happens to be a worm. The hurriedly answered “uod yon”, referring to the worm. When
the soldiers heard the word, they thought that the citizens were referring to the name of
the town, and left the place numbling to themselves. “Uod, uod yon”. Thus, the town
was known as Udyong and was later changed to Orion.

Background
The date of official recognition of the municipality of Orion could not be
ascertained, however, records showed that this municipality was founded by a
Dominican on April 30, 1667. On September 16 , 1852, a strong earthquake shook the
whole archipelago and caused the destruction of the parochial church and was later
rebuilt by Fr. Ulpiano Herrera, the parish priest of the place at that time. In 1892, forty
years later, a big fire practically burned the whole town, that only three houses remained
safe. It was Fr. Jose Campomanes who tried to reconstruct the town from the ashes
and ruins of the fire and transformed it into a beautiful and prospers one. This was the
beginning of the progress.

PRESENT
The town of Orion has contributed a great man to the country in the form of Don
Cayetano Arellano, The first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, how was born in this
town on March 2, 1847.
Another hero was Francisco Balagtas, greatest Filipino poet and author of the
renowned “Florante at Laura”. He married Juana Tiambeng, a pretty lass of Orion, and
lived here from July 1842 to February 1862.

FAST FACTS
It is 132 kilometers from Manila and approximately 31.2 nautical miles across
Manila Bay. It is about 8 kilometers from Balanga, the provincial capital, and bounded
on the north by Pilar and Limay on the south.
Has a total land area of 6,540 hectares and covers 23 barangays.
As of September 1995, Orion recorded a total population of 39,537. About 65%
of these belong the labor force, of which 7,100 are skilled workers and 4,700 are semi-
skilled.