Santa Mesa is a district in Manila, Philippines. It is bounded on its southwest side by the Pasig River, and on its south and east sides by the San Juan River. Its land borders include the districts of San Miguel to the west, Sampaloc to the north, and Quezon City to the northeast.
Santa Mesa was formerly a part of the Sampaloc district, from which it was partitioned and separated after it had its own parish in 1903. The parish is now known as Old Sta. Mesa (Poblacion), which extends from Victorino Mapa Street (Calle Santa Mesa) to Magsaysay Boulevard (Santa Mesa Boulevard).
It is also known as the birthplace of Bongbong Marcos, the current President of the Philippines.
Etymology The district's name comes from the Jesuits, who christened the area Hermandad de Santa Mesa de la Misericordia (Spanish for "Brotherhood of the Holy Table of Mercy"). The local parish church had for its titular Sacred Heart of Jesus, which formed part of the phrase the "Center of the Table is the Sacred Heart which all Graces and Mercy flowed down." The Tuason family are the landlords of Santa Mesa during the Spanish colonial period offered an obra pía ("pious work"), and provided social services to the people Doña Albina Tuason also donated the Land where the Church is located even right at this modern days.
A more popular folk etymology is that the name is a corruption of the Spanish term Santa Misa ("Holy Mass").
History
Santa Mesa was situated in the alluvial deposits at the confluence of Pasig and San Juan Rivers. It was owned by a Jesuits religious order during the Spanish era, and it is in this period that Santa Mesa got its name. Santa Mesa is better known for its role in the Philippine–American War, in which the area became a battlefield during the Philippine–American War. The conflict started when Pvt. William W. Grayson shot a Filipino soldier in San Juan Bridge between Santa Mesa and San Juan. In late 2003, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines had determined that the conflict did not happen on San Juan Bridge, but at the juncture of Sociego and Silencio Streets. However, a 2023 study done by Ronnie Miravite Casalmir places the event at the corner of Sociego-Arguelles, not at Sociego-Silencio where they erroneously have the marker.http://www.philamwar.com/thefirstshotofthephilamwarwasnotonsociegosilencio.html The Ronnie Miravite Casalmir Study debunks the previous findings of Dr. Benito Legarda which was the basis for the erroneous placement of the marker at Sociego-Silencio.http://www.philamwar.com/thefirstshotofthephilamwarwasnotonsociegosilencio.html According to Ronnie Miravite Casalmir, the smoking gun for the Sociego-Arguelles corner is the presence of Blockhouse 7 in the background of Grayson's reenactment photo. The orientation of this Blockhouse 7 image lines up with the corner of Sociego and Arguelles when compared with the known photo of Blockhouse 7 taken from the same direction.http://www.philamwar.com/thefirstshotofthephilamwarwasnotonsociegosilencio.html In addition, the distance estimate of Lieut. Whedon placed the 100-yard distance from Santol at Sociego-Arguelles, not Sociego-Silencio.http://www.philamwar.com/thefirstshotofthephilamwarwasnotonsociegosilencio.html This meant that when Lieut. Whedon ordered the detachment at Santol to patrol 100 yards, he meant them to patrol all the way to Sociego-Arguelles. Col. Stotsenburg corroborated Lieut. Whedon's distance estimate.http://www.philamwar.com/thefirstshotofthephilamwarwasnotonsociegosilencio.html Prof. Ambeth R. Ocampo calls the evidence presented by Ronnie Miravite Casalmir as new and compelling.https://opinion.inquirer.net/189453/same-street-different-corner Prof. Ocampo agrees that this evidence shows that the marker should be moved one block away, from Sociego-Silencio to Sociego-Arguelles.http://www.philamwar.com/thefirstshotofthephilamwarwasnotonsociegosilencio.html Maj. Lillian A. Pfluke (Ret.), West Point Class of 1980, and founder of the American War Memorials Overseas Inc. also agrees and has a note on their U.S. War Memorials website that the proper placement of the marker should be at the adjoining intersection of Sociego Street and Arguelles Street where the incident actually occurred.https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=2286&MemID=2999
Up until the early American period, Santa Mesa was one of the barrios that comprised Sampaloc, which was a town of the defunct province of Manila before it was absorbed by the city of Manila upon its chartering in 1901. In 1903, Santa Mesa became a separate religious district out of Sampaloc when the first and oldest parish in the Philippines in honor of its titular, the Sagrado Corazon de Jesus del Misericordia, was established. It also became the cradle of devotion to the Sagrado Corazon in the Archdiocese of Manila. The parish is now known as the Old Santa Mesa, extending from V. Mapa to Santa Mesa Boulevard. The neighborhood was composed of wealthy and aristocratic Spanish and Filipino families who built summer houses, examples of which are the Sociego Mansion, formerly home of the Tuason family, and the Carriedo Mansion (currently known as the Antique House in Pureza), formerly home of Governor General Francisco Carriedo y Peredo who spearheaded the clean water system of the City of Manila. Affluent families were attracted to Santa Mesa's cooler climate and the picturesque streets that were lined with ylang-ylang trees along Santa Mesa Boulevard. The abundance of these trees started a perfume industry in Santa Mesa—flowers were harvested, pressed and the oil were exported in great quantities to perfumeries in France. However, for political purposes, Santa Mesa remained part of Sampaloc.
The small community became the location of the hospital to treat the wounded during World War II. The town experienced its growth after the war. Santa Mesa was the site of a 1950s suburban development because of its proximity to central Manila. The Santa Mesa Market was constructed around this period. It was a big shopping complex, and became popular for the selling of Post eXchange or PX Goods from U.S. bases in the Philippines, which is why it was called Stop & Shop.
When the congressional districts of Manila were created, Santa Mesa was effectively separated from Sampaloc, falling to the jurisdiction of the 6th District. The national census still considers Santa Mesa as a part of Sampaloc for statistical purposes.
Geography Santa Mesa is located in the eastern section of the City of Manila. It is bounded to the west by Lacson Avenue, separating it from San Miguel; by Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard to the north, bordering it from Sampaloc. The northeast boundary of Santa Mesa is west of SM City Sta. Mesa. Although the mall has "Santa Mesa" on its name, it is located in Quezon City very near the city limits of Manila."Metro Manila Malls - SM City Sta. Mesa". SM Prime. Retrieved on 2014-11-23. Originally, Santa Mesa extended all the way up to Santa Mesa Heights and Barrio Matatalaib, which is now known as Barangay Santo Domingo.
The southwestern side of Santa Mesa is along the Pasig River while the southern and eastern sides are along the San Juan River. Across the San Juan River are the cities of San Juan to the east and a small portion of Mandaluyong to the southeast. Across the Pasig River are the Manila districts of Santa Ana to the south and Pandacan to the southeast.
The topography of the area is relatively flat as some of the natural variations in elevations have been evened out due to urbanization.
Sites of interest
Bacood Banda Kawayan Pilipinas (Bamboo Band Philippines) United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP - Bacood) Philippine Independent Church Bacood (Good Shepherd Parish) Mabini Shrine (Manila), former home of Apolinario Mabini, Philippines Revolution hero, located inside PUP. Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Polytechnic University of the Philippines Recurso de Madriaga Pescado Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic School Carriedo Mansion ( former home of the Governor General Don Francisco Carriedo y' Peredo who made the water system project of Manila)
Churches Churches of Santa Mesa Name Image Location / GPS Coordinates Denomination Notes Baptist Bible Church Sociego Street Baptists Gloria Dei Lutheran Church Old Santa Mesa Street Lutheran Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall Old Santa Mesa Street Jehovah's Witnesses Nuestra Señora de Salvacion Parish Church Anonas Street cor Hipodromo Street Roman Catholic Our Lady of Fatima Parish Church Lubiran Street cor. Mag. Jose Abad Santos Street Roman Catholic Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish Church Old Santa Mesa Street Roman Catholic Sambahan sa Banal na Hapag (IEMELIF Church) Magsaysay Boulevard Methodist Seventh-day Adventist Church Hippodromo Street Adventist SM Valenzuela (IEMELIF Church) Old Santa Mesa Street Methodist Abundant Life Ministry Inc. Teresa Street Born Again
Parks and plazas Parks and plazas in Santa Mesa Name Image Location / GPS Coordinates Notes Bacood Park Valenzuela Street Paraiso ng Batang Maynila Bataan cor. Leyte Streets, Bacood PUP Lagoon PUP Mabini Campus, Anonas Street PUP Linear Park PUP Mabini Campus, Anonas Street PUP Nemesio E. Prudente Freedom Park (Freedom Plaza) PUP Mabini Campus, Anonas Street
Barangays
Santa Mesa is made up of 51 barangays, grouped into seven zones of the City of Manila. For statistical convenience for housing and population, the data for Santa Mesa is grouped with the data of Sampaloc.
Zones Zone 58: Barangays 587 to 593 Zone 59: Barangays 594 to 601 Zone 60: Barangays 602 to 606 and 610 to 613 Zone 61: Barangays 607 to 609 and 614 to 618 Zone 62: Barangays 619 to 625 Zone 63: Barangays 626 to 630 Zone 64: Barangays 631 to 636
Barangays BarangayLand area (km2)Population (2024) Zone 58Barangay 5870.07333 km22,685Barangay 587-A0.02194 km21,227Barangay 5880.01947 km21,037Barangay 5890.03283 km2559Barangay 5900.03619 km22,854Barangay 5910.06667 km22,085Barangay 5920.03228 km22,119Barangay 5930.04383 km21,628 Zone 59Barangay 5940.03035 km2686Barangay 5950.04867 km24,229Barangay 5960.02226 km22,467Barangay 5970.03043 km21,544Barangay 5980.07679 km210,510Barangay 5990.03596 km24,577Barangay 6000.06367 km26,276Barangay 6010.1163 km27,765 Zone 60Barangay 6020.1353 km22,027Barangay 6030.04759 km2739Barangay 6040.02000 km21,581Barangay 6050.03845 km22,242Barangay 6060.03072 km2443Barangay 6100.02922 km2991Barangay 6110.03176 km2774Barangay 6120.02191 km2718Barangay 6130.02612 km2579 Zone 61Barangay 6070.04699 km21,443Barangay 6080.02579 km2821Barangay 6090.02867 km2859Barangay 6140.01654 km2406Barangay 6150.02034 km21,875 Barangay 6160.03139 km21,117Barangay 6170.03125 km21,300Barangay 6180.04016 km2749 Zone 62Barangay 6190.2010 km21,288 Barangay 6200.02244 km2736Barangay 6210.07931 km22,070Barangay 6220.02481 km21,229Barangay 6230.02529 km2980Barangay 6240.02421 km21,510Barangay 6250.03206 km2794 Zone 63Barangay 6260.03282 km21,502Barangay 6270.04027 km21,618Barangay 6280.1839 km216,279Barangay 6290.03937 km21,640Barangay 6300.2551 km26,552 Zone 64Barangay 6310.04890 km21,045Barangay 6320.01467 km2576Barangay 6330.01554 km2548Barangay 6340.05924 km2960Barangay 6350.05317 km2723Barangay 6360.08512 km22,025
Notable Bongbong Marcos, 17th President of the Philippines Sharon Cuneta (Megastar), actress, singer
References
External links
City of Manila – Official website