Santa Maria ( , ), officially the Municipality of Santa Maria (), is a municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the , it has a population of people.
Located on the banks of the Santa Maria River, Santa Maria has been a thriving settlement for almost four centuries. It was founded as a barrio of Bocaue in the early 17th century until it was established as an independent municipality on November 26, 1793, by the Spanish friar Francisco Dominguez Javier OFM. Known before as Santa Maria de Pandi (), it is named under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception (also known as La Purisima Concepcion). Its administrative center, the Poblacion, forms the historic core of the municipality. It is surrounded by four rivers and it still largely retains its 2.88 square-kilometer boundaries since the Spanish Colonial Era.
Santa Maria, with a population of 322,525, remains by a significant margin the most populous municipality in Central Luzon, as well as the 7th most populous municipality in the Philippines. It is also the 2nd most populous local government unit in Bulacan next to San Jose del Monte. The projected population for 2025 was 305,668. There are 142,380 registered voters in the municipality. In the last 2022 election, voter turnout rate is at 88.91%.Statistics comelec.gov.ph The said voter turnout rate in the 2022 national elections is the fourth highest among the municipalities in the province of Bulacan.
Its downtown area consists of three highly urbanized barangays: Poblacion, Bagbaguin, and Sta. Clara. It is one of the biggest and busiest commercial centers in the province as it accounts for more than half of all economic activities in the municipality. It is also one of Bulacan's leading financial centers. According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC), Santa Maria's total bank deposits reached PHP 31.27 billion as of December 2021, this accounts for almost 75% of Eastern Bulacan's total bank deposits. Likewise, Santa Maria is the richest municipality in Bulacan with an assets totaling to PHP 1.87 billion and revenues reaching an all-time high of PHP 1.206 billion as of the 2022 report from the Commission on Audit (COA). It has a relatively high standard of living, with only 4% of the population living in poverty which is one of the lowest in the country (19 out of 1,489 municipalities).
Santa Maria was the home town of José Corazón de Jesús, a Filipino poet popularly known as "Huseng Batute", who started composing his verse as a child. Another native of Santa Maria is Francisco Santiago, a composer who wrote "Nasaan Ka Irog" and other kundiman songs. In the political arena, Santa Maria has produced three Bulacan governors: Jose Serapio (1900–1901), Trinidad Icasiano (1912–1916), Fortunato Halili (1943–1944 and 1946–1951); and three representatives of the second, fourth district, and sixth district: Rogaciano Mercado (1953–1972, 1987-1989), Reylina Nicolas (2001–2010) and Salvador "Ka Ador" Pleyto (2022 to present).
Etymology
Santa Maria got its name from the Immaculate Conception (also known as La Purisima Concepcion). Formerly known as Santa Maria de Pandi, the second name Pandi was derived from pande, Kapampangan word of "blacksmith," cognate of Tagalog word "panday."
History
Pre colonial (before 1521)
Before the Spaniards came to the Philippines, Santa Maria was just a vast wilderness, inhabited by wild animals and covered by thick and lush rainforests. Aetas and Dumagats are also known to inhabit the place a long time ago.
Spanish Era (1521–1898)
Santa Maria's existence can be traced as early as 1647 when it was still a barrio (village) of Bocaue. The barrio was believed to be established on the same period when the Dominicans founded the vast Hacienda de Lolomboy that extends up to the Angat River on the north, Bocaue River on the west, Marilao River on the south and the Pulo River (Pulong Buhangin) on the east.
Santa Maria was founded as an independent town by the Franciscan Fray Francisco Dominguez Javier on November 26, 1793. He began constructing the church which was completed in the early 1800s by Fray Tomas Marti. The construction of the church was viewed as the foundation of the spiritual crusade in the said locality. Natives were converted into Christianity and more people began to inhabit the place. Civil affairs started to take shape and the appointment of the first Capitan del Barrio, Andres dela Cruz, paved way for the permanent establishment of Poblacion, which was the seat of Spanish colonial government. People in those days were just renting their pieces of land. They paid their rents to the friars who were stationed in what is now known as Sta. Clara, a barangay where at present one can see the ruins of a big convento of friars. People from other nearby places such as Bigaa, Pandi, Santa Maria, and San Jose del Monte, paid their rents in this convento. Santa Maria at that time was then called "Santa Maria de Pandi". The people acquired their lands after paying certain sum to the friars and the land became "Lupang Tagalog". The 1818 Spanish census recorded the area having 1,588 native families and 17 Spanish-Filipino families.Diccionario Geográfico, Estadístico, Histórico, de las Islas Filipinas By Fr. Manuel Buzeta and Fr. Felipe Bravo, Volume 1, Published Madrid :(Impr. de J.C. de la Peña) 1850-1851.
There were 82 capitanes who served the Spanish colonial administration from 1793 to 1899.
American Era and Japanese Occupation (1898–1946) Under the Americans, the title "captain" was changed to "presidente". The first to hold the position was Maximo Evidente, who served from 1899 to 1900. Of the 12 others who succeeded him, the most popular were Agustin Morales (1928–34) and Fortunato F. Halili (1934–37). Morales was responsible for the construction of the first main water system in the town. Halili, who never drew his salary as executive, later on became Governor of Bulacan. It was during Halili's term as provincial governor when the Capitol building at Malolos was heavily damaged in World War II. He decided to take over and resurge Casa Real de Malolos as a temporary Gubernatorial Office during the period when the Capitol building was severely damaged. It was his effort to rebuild and to reconstruct the Capitol building into its original structure.
During the Japanese Occupation, Dr. Teofilo Santiago, dubbed as Dr. Kamoteng Kahoy for his widespread campaign among the town's citizenry to plant cassava, became mayor of Santa Maria. Santiago was also responsible for the launching of the poultry industry – a livelihood project which earned for the town the distinction of being "The Egg Basket of the Philippines". He was also the "Father of Santa Maria Dairy Plant". After the Liberation, Capitan Ireneo Hermogenes was appointed Municipal Mayor from March 20, 1945, to October 1945. He was succeeded by Marciano Bautista.
From the American colonial rule until the restoration period after World War II, Santa Maria was administered by 12 Presidentes from 1899 to 1937 and 4 Alcaldes from 1938 to 1947.
Liberation period (1947–present) The post-liberation period saw Conrado Ignacio as the first elected Mayor of Santa Maria (1947–1955). He was succeeded by prominent personalities in Santa Maria local politics such as Ricardo G. Nicolas Sr. (1956–1959/1964–1967), Eriberto Ramos, Sr. (1960–1963), Paulino M. Luciano Sr. (1968–1971), Ricardo D. Nicolas, Jr.(1972–1978) and Paulino Luciano, Jr. (1979–1986).
After the People Power Revolution in February 1986, President Corazon Aquino appointed Dr. Alfredo Perez, who was then the vice mayor of the town, as Officer-in-Charge of the municipality until May 1986, when he was replaced by Ricardo Nicolas, Jr. In December 1986, however, Nicolas was appointed OIC Vice Governor of Bulacan and was succeeded by Benjamin G. Geronimo (1987–1988) and Atty. Ramon H. Clemente (1988).
During the 1988 elections, Eriberto Ramos was elected Mayor and served until June 30, 1992. On July 1, 1992, he was succeeded by Reylina G. Nicolas. Her three terms of leadership gave the municipality various awards and citations. On July 1, 1993, the municipality rose from to second-class municipality and July 1, 1996, the income level of the municipality rose again from second-class municipality to first-class municipality. In the 2001 elections, Nicolas ran for Representative of the 4th Congressional District of Bulacan and won a landslide victory with more than 80,000 votes over her closest rival. Nicolas was succeeded by Bartolome R. Ramos.
During the 2004 elections, Jesus Mateo defeated the incumbent Ramos and became mayor of the municipality until 2007. One of Mateo's accomplishments as mayor of Santa Maria was the establishment of the Santa Maria extension campus of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in 2005. In 2007 elections, Bartolome R. Ramos defeated Mateo and became mayor of the municipality again.
Geography
Santa Maria lies north-east of Manila and away from Malolos City; it is located at the eastern portion of Bulacan. The town is bounded to the north by the municipalities of Angat and Pandi; a portion of San Jose del Monte City to the south; Norzagaray and other portions of San Jose del Monte to the east; and the municipalities of Marilao and Bocaue to the west.
Santa Maria has a land area of about . The town is generally plain although hilly at the northern portion. It has a lone body of water – the Santa Maria River.
The topography of Santa Maria is generally flat, however, it is becoming hilly towards the north. This area covers the barangays of Silangan, Mag-asawang Sapa, Pulong Buhangin and some parts of Balasing with landscape ranging from 8 to 18 percent slope. The rest of the barangays have a slope range from level to undulating.
Most of the barangays in the municipality of Santa Maria have low susceptibility to flooding. Those with portion with moderate to high susceptibility to flooding are located along the Santa Maria River and near or adjacent to creeks that are tributaries of the Santa Maria River.
There are 18 barangays with low susceptibility to flooding in the municipality (Manggahan, Santa Cruz, Cay Pombo, Caysio, Pulong Buhangin, Mag-asawang Sapa, Silangan, Balasing, Parada, Tumana, Mahabang Parang, Bulac, Catmon, San Vicente, Camangyanan, Tabing Bakod, Buenavista and San Gabriel). The barangay centers and populated areas in the barangays have low susceptibility to flooding. The portions of the barangays usually inundated are the generally low-lying areas and catchment areas of the barangays and near active creeks and rivers.
Historically, Santa Maria belonged to the Fourth Legislative District of Bulacan from the ratification of the 1987 Constitution until the congressional reapportionment enacted through Republic Act No. 11546. Prior to the reapportionment, the district consisted of Santa Maria, Marilao, Meycauayan, and Obando. With the establishment of the Sixth Legislative District, Santa Maria was grouped with the municipalities of Angat and Norzagaray, thereby forming a new congressional district designed to enhance legislative representation and accommodate the province's growing population. The new district was first represented in the House of Representatives following the 2022 national and local elections.
Land use Basically agricultural, about or 30.54% of the town's land area is devoted to crop production. Approximately of riceland in Santa Maria are rain-fed and are irrigated. An area of are classified as non-productive agricultural area or open grasslands.
Natural resources