GASAN "TIANGGES"

September 01, 2023

One of the things that make Gasan distinct from other towns of Marinduque is the tiangge or street markets. Gasan holds tiangges twice a week, Tuesdays and Saturdays.

The Tuesday tiangge is traditionally held beside the public market. During the 70s and 80s, the tiangge was held in Zamora Street, the street where the old market was located, parallel to the shore line. In the 90s, when a strong typhoon devastated the old market, the venue for the tiangge was temporarily transferred to Del Pilar street, the road going to Barangay Tiguion and Kawilihan Park. Later, after a new public market building was constructed, the tiangge was held beside the public market again, located in Barangay Dili, and until now is held there.

The other tiangge is held in Barangay Libtangin every Saturday, in an open space near the Libtangin River. Barangay Libtangin is halfway to the capital town Boac and during the time when no bridge was built there yet and during inclement weather, the place served as the exchange point of goods for people from the two towns. The tiangge in Libtangin apparently started after the war, during the 50s, old townspeople said.

Unlike the Tuesday tiangge where the sellers are mostly from Gasan, the sellers of the Saturday tiangge came not only from the town but also from other towns such as Mogpog, Boac, Buenavista and Torrijos. The Saturday tiangge offers a wider selection of goods and products that include varieties of local kakanin, vegetable and fruit harvests, fresh meat such as pork, beef, carabeef and sometimes venison (wild deer meat) and chicken. They also sell fish and other catch from the sea. Some sell low-priced clothing apparel and hardware items.

During the 80s, the live chicken sold at Libtangin can be exchanged for puppies.

Now with the proliferation of banchettos and night market (especially in Boac), the Libtangin tiangge now holds a Friday night sale.

In a place bereft of chic shopping malls and grocery stores, tiangges provide satisfaction and social interaction to sooth the people's simple provincial life.