Special Feature: Municipality of Vinzons, Camarines Norte

Vinzons: Center of religion and politics? It has produced the most number of priests and nuns in the province; and the most number of provincial elective officials!

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, with data update from the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) and additional information from Alot Barbin-Arcilla.

Vinzons is a 3rd class, partially-urban municipality in the province of Camarines Norte. It has a population of 37,893 people in 7,407 households (based on 2000 Census). It has a land area of 9,060 hectares.

The first recorded name of Vinzons was Tacboan and was later changed to Indan. The town was renamed "Vinzons" in honor of Wenceslao Q. Vinzons, a former governor of the province. youngest delegate to the Philippine Constitutional Convention of 1935, and a guerilla leader martyred by the Japanese during World War II.

The town was established in 1581 by the Franciscan Fathers without a patron saint and without a church. It was not until 1611 that the Church was built with Saint Peter as its Patron Saint. The Church is now the oldest in Camarines Norte, and one of the oldest in the country. Vinzons is known for the religiosity of its inhabitants, contributing priests and nuns to the Catholic Church more than any other town in the province. And several of the priests became bishops.

Curiously, the town has always been known as the town of politicians having had more provincial elective officials than in any other town in the province. The late former Congressman Jessie Pimentel came from Vinzons. He sat as Congressman for three terms, after which, he got elected as Governor. Now all three current Board Members of Camarines Norte are all from Vinzons - Dr. Ruth Ferrer, ex-Mayor Segundo, and Jonas Pimentel.

There was a time, in fact, when all three candidates for governor hailed from Vinzons as when Dominador Asis, Fernando V. Pajarillo, and Wenceslao G. Vinzons, Jr. ran for governor in the elections of 1964. Before that, majority of the provincial governors came from Vinzons: Carlos Balce (1928-1931) Wenceslao Q. Vinzons (1937-1940), Carlos Ascutia (1944-1946), Regino Z. Guinto (1946-1947), Cayetano Vinzons (1958), Dominador Asis (1959-1963), Wenceslao G. Vinzons, Jr. (1964-1968), Fernando V. Pajarillo,(who died while in office).

Education is likewise valued by the inhabitants in that every family would attempt to send their children to study in Manila despite the prohibitive costs of lodging and tuition. It is the only town where in a single year, four lawyers passed the Bar examinations in 1978: Oscar G. Raro, Fernando Saludes, Dominador Ferrer, Jr., and Joseph Balce.

Several successful businessmen also hail from Vinzons. The owners of PVP and MGP buses plying the Daet-Metro Manila route are the Pajarillo and Penalosa families, who are both from Vinzons.

What is it in the values or psyche of the Vinzonians that make them successful in various fields?

Vinzons is politically subdivided into 19 barangays.
Aguit-It
Banocboc
Cagbalogo
Calangcawan Norte
Calangcawan Sur
Guinacutan
Mangcayo
Mangcawayan
Manlucugan
Matango
Napilihan
Pinagtigasan
Barangay I (Pob.)
Barangay II (Pob.)
Barangay III (Pob.)
Sabang
Santo Domingo
Singi
Sula

For pictures of Vinzons, visit the photo gallery: http://picasaweb.google.com/gold50/VinzonsPictures



These are not our original pictures. They were mostly downloaded from the blogsite of Ivan Henares: http://ivanhenares.blogspot.com/ and from the public gallery of http://www.flickr.com/.

We still hope to get original pictures from Alot that we can add to our photo gallery.