Jasaan Day in the Philippines Date in the current year: September 1, 2024

Jasaan is a second-class municipality in Misamis Oriental, situated about 17 miles east of the provincial capital of Cagayan de Oro. Its name, like many other town and city names in the Philippines, is the result of a misunderstanding between the Spanish and the natives.

As the story goes, a Spanish missionary once encountered a local man sharpening his bolo knife. The missionary asked what this place was called, but the native thought he was asking what he was doing, so he replied, “Ag-hasaa” (“I am sharpening my bolo”). The missionary naturally though that “Ag-hasaa” was the name of the place. Since it was difficult for him to pronounce, he called it “Hasaan”. Over time, the name was transformed into Jasaan.

People have been living near what is now Jasaan for a long time, but it wasn’t established as a separate mission from Cagayan de Oro until the early 19th century. The Jesuits began the construction of a church in Jasaan in 1723, but it took more than a century to build. The church was finally finished and consecrated in 1830. It was the predecessor of the present-day Immaculate Conception Parish Church that was built in the late 19th century.

Jasaan is believed to have already been a municipality at the time of the establishment of the parish. However, after the defeat of the Philippines in the Philippine-American War the new government downgraded its political status from a municipality to a barrio (neighborhood) of Balingasag in 1903. The residents of Jasaan campaigned for its restoration as a municipality, but it didn’t happen under the American administration.

Jasaan regained its municipal status after the end of World War II and the independence of the Philippines from the United States. President Elpidio Quirino signed an executive order reinstating Jasaan as a municipality on August 18, 1948, the order went into effect on September 1, and the official inauguration ceremony took place on November 10. The anniversary of the day the order went into effect is now celebrated as Jasaan Day.

Today, Jasaan is has a population of more than 57,000 people; most of the population are descendants of those who settled in the area in the mid-19th century. The municipality consists of 15 barangays, eight of which are coastal, and the remaining seven are inland. It is an agro-industrial municipality, as well as a resort town thanks to its springs that attract visitors from neighboring areas.