What is "calmay"

Calmay is one of the 22 barangays of Laoac in the Province of Pangasinan.

Etymologically, Calmay got its name from a tropical tree called "carmai" which was so abundant in the place until such time it vanished due to increase in settlements which resulted to the clearing of forested areas.

Calmay is the second largest barangay of Laoac after Barangay Cabilaoan. It is located south-west of Laoac. It is separated by a long but narrow, man-made irrigation canal from Barangay Inmanduyan in the north; the Angalacan River serves as its natural boundary in the western side separating Laoac from Manaoag; a wide and a long, man-made irrigation canal serves as its boundary in the eastern side separating it from Barangay Nanbagatan; and, a small creek serves as its boundary in the south.

Agriculture is the major source of livelihood. Seventy percent (70%) of its total land area is being farmed and suited for all kinds of tropical crops.

According to its unwritten history, the first settlers were migrants from the Ilocos provinces. They occupied the central portion of the land where a creek dividing the entire area into two, the western and the eastern. They cultivated the land and established their first community of purely of their relatives, particularly the Galas and the Cuaresma's.

Calmay is considered as one of the major crossroads between Manaoag and Laoac.