Oas, Albay Etymology

Two stories purport to tell the origin of the name of Oas:

a) A dam is 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, calling the people (in times of this kind of emergency) for immediate action in groups. From then on, the natives coined this name for the place and later shortened it to its present form.

b) Early Spanish colonizers reaching this particular section of the Bicol Peninsula asked the name of the place from the about 600 natives living there, "¿Cómo se llama este sitio?" The natives mistakenly thought the question to be "Onan kading lugar kadi, maiwas?" ("What place is this, it's very big?") in their native language. 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.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oas,_Albay

Special credits: https://www.facebook.com/govalbichara

https://www.facebook.com/trinityislands

Church in town: 𝐒𝐭. 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 - 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨 𝐏𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐎𝐚𝐬, 𝐀𝐥𝐛𝐚𝐲 (𝐃𝐢𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐩𝐢)

Saint Michael the Archangel Parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Legazpi was established on --. It is located in Brgy. Iraya Norte, Municipality of Oas, Province of Albay. The Parish Fiesta is celebrated every 8th day of May.

Source: https://www.parishph.com/.../saint-michael-archangel...

𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐎𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲

Oas 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.

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐎𝐚𝐬:

- Saint Michael the Archangel Parish

- Trinity Islands

- Sabando Ocampo Beach Resort

- Skyland Beach Resort

- Imacoto White Beach

𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐎𝐚𝐬:

- None in the list

𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐲 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐎𝐚𝐬:

- Catriona Gray (Filipino beauty queen and media personality best known for winning the title of Miss Universe 2018. The fourth Filipina to win Miss Universe, Gray was previously crowned Miss World Philippines 2016 and Miss Universe Philippines 2018, and reached the top five at Miss World 2016.)

- Sunday Reantaso ( Filipino-American actor, singer, comedian, and stage director who introduced vaudeville (later called "bodabil") to the Philippine audience in 1916. He migrated to Hawaii, where he became a social welfare worker and a Filipino community leader.)