Oas, Albay

City of Oas
Municipality
Oas Municipal Hall
Map of Albay showing the location of Oas
Country	Philippines
Region	Bicol (Region V)
Province	Albay
District	3rd district
Barangays	53
Government
• Mayor	Greggy R. Ricarte
Area
• Total	263.61 km2 (101.78 sq mi)
Population  (2010)
• Total	64,785
• Density	250/km2 (640/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	4505
Dialing code	52
Income class	1st class; rural

Oas (Oasnon Bicol: Banwaan nin Oas; Spanish: Ayuntamiento de Oas; English: Municipality of Oas; Filipino: Bayan ng Oas) is a municipality in the province of Albay, Philippines, classified as first-Class. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 64,785 people.

History

The municipality was founded during the early Spanish colonization of the Bicol Peninsula. In 1605, Father Baltazar de los Reyes converted 12 leading natives of the area to Christianity in one day, forming the foundation of the community now known as Oas. Most family names in the town start with "R", like Roa, Ricarte,Raro,Ragas,Resaldo,Racal, Ricafort,Rebanal,Reniva and Reario.

There are three stories that tell the origin of the name of Oas:

1. The existence of numerous lagoons or pools of water abounding it prompted early colonizers to give it the name of "Oasis". The natives soon called the place by this name and later abbreviated it to "Oas".
2. There is a dam across the narrowest portion of a local river. This dam solely irrigates the vast fields of the place including those of the nearby town of Libon and results in a good harvest. People are wary of any cracks or leaks on the dam walls during months of heavy rains. A crier would shout "nawaswas" giving the call to the people (in times of this kind of emergency) for immediate action in groups. From then on, the natives coined this name to the place and later shortened it to present form.
3. Early Spanish Colonizers reaching this particular section of the Bicol Peninsula asked the name of the place from the about 600 natives living there, "Como se llama este sitio?" with gesture of their hands. The natives mistakenly thought the question to be "Onan kading lugar kadi, maiwas?" (What place is this, it's very big?) in their native dialect. In response, the natives answered, "Si, señores. Labi nikading iwas. Labi nikading iwas." (Yes, sirs, this is grand and spacious). From then on the early Spanish colonizers adopted in their official census the existence of "a rich fertile valley with verdant fields of grain" which is the little town of Oas in Bicol.

Sangguniang Bayan

Presiding Officer Vice-Mayor

• Efren Rito Baltazar

Members Councillor

• Domingo Red Escoto Jr
• Everth Raguero Vicera
• Robert Banania Arevalo
• Celso Nocus Rellama
• Raul Remoto Sergio
• Bong Retuerma Ibasco
• Anacleto Copino Casimiro
• Cholita Ricafort Redillas

Barangays

Oas is politically subdivided into 53 barangays, listed here with each Barangay Captain.

3

Demographics

Population census of Oas

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1990	53,061	—
1995	56,536	+1.20%
2000	62,063	+2.02%
2007	63,888	+0.40%
2010	64,785	+0.51%
Source: National Statistics Office

External links

• Municipality of Oas
• Bayan ng Oas Albay
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Philippine Census Information
• Commissions on Elections City/Municipal Elections 2013
• Oas Google Maps
• Oasnon Karaoke Song Kami Taga Oas
• Aerial View of Oas Town Proper