Minalin, Pampanga is a small but urbanized municipality in the coastal province of Pampanga which produces 1 million chicken eggs every day, earning its title of “Egg Basket of Central Luzon.”
The large-scale egg production of the area which became known nationwide prompted the locals to exhibit their capacity by hosting the very first egg festival in the country in 2008. Here, thousands of eggs were displayed, boiled, and enjoyed by the locals together. Minalin poultry raisers also donated almost 100,000 eggs to typhoon victims that year in different areas.
Minalin also proudly bears the 408-year-old Santa Monica Church who sits on the town’s highest ground and was founded in 1614. It was declared as a National Cultural Treasure (NCT) by the National Museum on August 27, 2011.
The old church is a main year-round attraction whose designs show its central theme of pre-Hispanic faith and culture with old Kapampangan sacramental figures carved in native murals such as bulig (mudfish), naga (dragon) and dapu (crocodile).
It measures 52 meters (171 ft) long, 13 meters (43 ft) wide and 11 meters (36 ft) high and has already been renovated and reconstructed to allow it to still stand firmly until today.
One of the reasons why it was deemed as a National Cultural Treasure is because of its original four capilla posas, concrete arched stations for oratorium, which are fully preserved until today. This distinguishes the Santa Monica Church as the only church in the country that has retained its capilla posas.
During the time of Spanish colonization, these capilla posas where the only religious ground that Filipino locals, Spaniards termed them as Indios, could go to and use for their religious activities as the interior of the church can only be used by peninsulares, full-blooded Filipino-Spaniards, that time.
The church houses the highly valued old painting of Our Lady of Consolation which shows the Blessed Virgin Mary holding Jesus and she is notably wearing a cord that represents the belt she gave to St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine. The feast of Our Lady of Consolation is celebrated every September 4.
Minalin has a unique New Year’s celebration that they call “Aguman Sanduk” that shows the camaraderie and generosity of each member of the town. In this annual display, straight men of the town present themselves as beauty queens as they cross-dress and ride around town in festive float displays.
It is also titled as the “Belles of Minalin” but natives prefer the original name as its meaning, “Association of the Ladle,” describes more what the festivity is about. It also displays the beautiful dresses in the land and women’s makeup expertise. The theme intends to bring joy to locals as they start the new year together.
It is established by the locals that the celebration is not about a statement of gender, and thus differentiates it from gay pride parades.
Minalin was originally a part of its mother town Macabebe but was separated and, thus, was named Minalis which is a Kapampangan word ‘to move to.’ A group of Spaniard soldiers were exhibiting through Minalis and found a lot of beautiful women from the town. They then termed the municipality Minalin as derived from “Mina Linda de las Mujeres” which translates to “mine of beautiful women.”
The town is one of the fastest growing economies in Pampanga with its rich produce and tourism. Minalin, although small and simple in the eyes of nonnatives, is really a land full of celebration and hard-working people.
