History of Barangay Liñaga
Towards the close of the 19th century, when much of Canaman had already become deforested, enterprising natives began to move out of the central settlement. It wa around this time that settlers began to trickle into the locality and Liñaga came into being. Liñaga therefore may have been contemporaneous to Fundado, although its development was much slower than the latter’s. In the 1892 census for instance, Liñaga, unlike burgeouning Fundado, was not yet a barrio.
The original big landholdings in the locality belonged to Clemente Ruero, Juan de las Merras, Hugo Gomez, and the de Castro and Ayala families.
Official evidence of Liñaga’s legal existence as a barrio first appear in the 1903 census, where it is listed as having a population of 34 persons. For the next decade and half, the barrio appears to have had near-zero population growth: 15 years later, in 1918. Liñaga’s population had increased by only 12 persons to 46. This curious patern of population growth over this particular time period parallels that of Fundado. But by the next censal year, 1939, the barrio’s residents had quadrupled. During the last war, as liberation drew near, the TVGU established Camp Liñaga in the barrio.
Liñaga has San Isidro for its patron saint. Farming remains the principal industry in the barangay.
(Taken from: Canaman Through the Centuries by Jose V. Barrameda, Jr.)
Physical Characteristics
Barangay Liñaga is located in the central-western portion of the municipality of Canaman. It is traversed by the Canaman River and is just about 5 kilometers from the poblacion (town proper). It has an aggregate area of 314.8362 has. or 7.28% of the total land area of the municipality. Of the entire 24 barangays of the municipality, Liñaga is the fifth largest based on land area. It is made up of three puroks namely Zone 1, Zone 2 and Zone 3.
It is bounded on the North by Barangay San Roque, on the West by Barangay San Francisco, on the South by Barangays San Jose East and Poro with the Canaman River as the natural boundary, and on the East by Barangay Poro. The barangay’s terrain is generally flat with slope of 0-3%. It is predominantly an agricultural area with around 80% of its land devoted to rice farming. Fishing is also undertaken in the Canaman River and its tributaries.
Educational, Health and Service Facilities
Immediate need for health services in the barangay is undertaken by 3 Barangay Health Workers and supplemented by twice a month visitation by the Municipal Midwife. The residents can also access the services of the Municipal Health Office located in the town proper situated 5 km from the barangay. Serious cases can be brought directly to Naga City which is about 9.5 kilometers from the barangay.
The barangay is served by the Liñaga Community School that provides combination classes for elementary school children up to Grade IV. Complete public elementary is offered in the neighboring barangays of Poro (about 2 kms away) and San Jose East (about 1.5 kms).
The nearest High School is located in Barangay Sta. Cruz, Canaman which is about 5 kilometer from the barangay while Tertiary Education facilities can be found in Barangay Baras (about 6.5 kms. from the barangay) and Naga City (about 9.5 kms from the barangay).
A Day Care Worker (funded by the barangay with municipal counterpart) provides day care services to the children aged 3-5 years old in the barangay.
Mode of Public Transportation
Before the place was reached by farm-to-market roads, going to and from the barangay is thru water transportation. However, in the advent of the farm-to-market roads, people in Liñaga use tricycles and motorized padjacks as their means of public transportation (P12.50 per person from poblacion to Liñaga). However, it is worthy to mention that the people in Liñaga have to walk a relatively short distance since only a concrete footbridge connects the barangay to the main road. The barangay road network is likewise narrow but motorcycles can easily traverse the bridge and the barangay road networks.
Credit Institutions
The barangay is served by several credit institutions (private and government) including those offered by private individuals. The Municipal Government also offers micro-lending services to identified sectors, including the micro entrepreneurs and farmers. Private individuals (5-6 or bumbay type) and compradors also offer credit services to individuals in the barangay.
Water & Electric Supply
All the three puroks of the barangay has electrical facilities through CASURECO II. However, there are still several households (27 households) with no electrical connections due to economic reasons or that they are very far from the electric posts.
Barangay Liñaga is reached by the Metro Naga Water District pipeline thru 2 communal faucets. However, most of the people in the barangay do not use the water from the pipeline for drinking – most of them get their drinking water from water lorry for a fee (at P6 per 16 liter container). It can also be mentioned that the during day time, the water pressure in the barangay is very low. The residents said that they only get good flow of water from the stand faucets during the wee hours of the night.
This situation is echoed by the CBMS results which revealed that 98.1% or 105 of the total 107 households in the barangay have no access to safe water.
Waste Management
The barangay has no Materials Recovery Facility and no established waste management system. Most of the residents dispose their wastes thru burning or in open pits. Some irresponsible residents throw their garbage in the river. It can be mentioned that the barangay is reached by roving “Bote-Bakal-Plastic” buyers.
Peace and Order
The barangay is generally peaceful. Peace and order in the barangay is handled by the Barangay Tanods with regular detail duties and foot patrol every night. CBMS 2009 data shows that 4 households said that t hey were victimized by crime against property.
Barangay Officials
Barangay Sta. Teresita has the following Barangay Officials, to wit:
Punong Barangay: Jaime
Barangay Kagawads:
1. Erlinda B. Lopez
2. Efren C. Tesoro
3. Joel C. Pablo
4. Igmedio V. Romanillos
5. Ruben B. Sayson
6. Gil R. Rivera
7. Orencio D. Agorita, Jr.
8. Raymart O. Mallo – SK Chairman
Barangay Secretary: Cynthia S. Ibarbia
Barangay Treasurer: Menchi E. Sayson