Pili, officially the Municipality of Pili (, Rinconada Bikol: Banwaan ka Pili, ) is a municipality and capital of the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. According to the , it has a population of people.
It is widely known for its pili nuts, a local product associated with Bicolano culture, used in food products such as candied pili, pili tarts, and pili butter.
History
The first recorded history of Pili started during the promulgation of Christianity in the early 1770s by the Spanish missionaries, when the town houses the Cimarrones or the Remontados who resisted the foreign rule of the neighboring Hispanic city of Nueva Caceres. The early center of settlement in the town was located in "Binanuaanan" (from banwaan which means town in the Bikol language) until missionaries transferred it to the present site of the town proper where the St. Raphael Archangel Church is located.
The Americans established the town of Pili in 1901. The name of the town has many disputed etymologies, either it came from the Bicol Region's Pili nut (Canarium ovatum) or from the Bicol word “pili” or “to choose”. The latter is because the Americans wanted to make the town as the new provincial urban center due to the fact that Naga which the Spaniards had developed was prone to major floods. The town is also a very strategic location for the Americans. Pili connects the major districts of the province: the Bikol Naga-speaking towns of the North, Partido Area, and the Rinconada Area. It was here where they build the current Naga Airport and the Camarines Sur Agricultural School in 1918 which is now the main campus of the Central Bicol State University of Agriculture. Pili was formally established in 1919 as a municipality.
When World War II broke out in 1941 the Imperial Japanese Army sent 3,000 soldiers to Pili due to the concentration of American developments in the town. They built tunnels, manmade caves, and foxholes all over the town which are still existent in the town today. The infrastructures of the war were mostly in the barangays of Cadlan, Curry, San Jose and even in the Centro area. When the Japanese started to lose, they flee to Mount Isarog to hide. They created a lot of holes in Mount Isarog and used the mountain as their last stand in the Bicol Region. In the present, the heroes of the war were remembered through Filipino-Japanese Friendship Historical Landmark in Sitio Bongcao, Curry at the foot of Mount Isarog.
When Naga was declared as a chartered city, there is a need to search for the next provincial capital. Former Governor Juan F. Trivino chose the Pili as its capital. Finally on June 6, 1955, Pili was declared as the provincial capital by virtue of R.A. 1336, replacing Naga. The new site for the provincial capitol was the lot donation of Don Susano Rodriguez in the barangay of Cadlan.
Geography The town is from the country's capital city of Manila.
Barangays Pili is politically subdivided into 26 barangays."Municipalities and Cities" . PSGC Interactive. Retrieved on May 23, 2012. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
Barangay Class Population (2020) Population (2024) Annual growth rate(2020–2024) 051728001 Anayan Urban 3,379 2,943 −3.39% 051728002 Bagong Sirang Rural 3,277 3,157 −0.93% 051728003 Binanwaanan Rural 5,188 4,931 −1.26% 051728004 Binobong Rural 2,780 2,776 −0.04% 051728005 Cadlan Urban 6,000 6,069 0.29% 051728006 Caroyroyan Urban 7,594 6,225 −4.85% 051728007 Curry Rural 2,584 2,914 3.05% 051728008 Del Rosario Rural 3,090 3,853 5.67% 051728009 Himaao Urban 4,832 4,482 −1.86% 051728010 La Purisima Urban 3,210 3,212 0.02% 051728011 New San Roque Urban 3,946 3,737 −1.35% 051728012 Old San Roque Urban 942 1,027 2.18% 051728013 Palestina Urban 6,024 4,747 −5.78% 051728014 Pawili Rural 2,418 3,136 6.72% 051728015 Sagrada Rural 3,294 3,436 1.06% 051728016 Sagurong Rural 2,765 3,141 3.24% 051728017 San Agustin Urban 5,722 5,880 0.68% 051728018 San Antonio Rural 1,339 1,761 7.09% 051728019 San Isidro Urban 2,244 2,063 −2.08% 051728020 San Jose Urban 13,339 17,519 7.05% 051728021 San Juan Rural 2,096 1,622 −6.21% 051728022 San Vicente Urban 2,116 2,281 1.89% 051728023 Santiago Urban 2,511 2,498 −0.13% 051728024 Santo Niño Rural 1,249 1,398 2.86% 051728025 Tagbong Urban 3,872 4,250 2.36% 051728026 Tinangis Rural 3,385 2,610 −6.29% TOTAL 99,196 101,668 0.61%
Climate
Demographics
In the 2024 census, the population of Pili was 101,668 people, with a density of .
Languages There are two dialects of the Bikolano language which is used all over the municipality. The Naga variant of Central Bikolano on the northern part, and Riŋkonāda or Rinconada Bikol on the south. However, the Naga variant of Central Bikolano is the lingua franca which is used all throughout for communication. Tagalog and English language are also widely understood.
Religion Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion in the municipality, where the town is under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Caceres in Naga City. Known churches in the town includes St. Raphael the Archangel Parish in Poblacion district and Our Lady of Remedies Parish Church in the uptown Barangay Curry. It is followed by Born-Again Christian denominations, Iglesia ni Cristo, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc.
Culture
Aside from the feast of every barangay and sitios, there are two major festivals being celebrated in the town. The municipal government hosts the religious-based town fiesta in the Centro district, while the provincial government has its own festival for its foundation.
The Pili Town Fiesta is for the celebration of the feast of St. Raphael the Archangel, the patron saint of Pili. It is celebrated annually every October 23–24 since the foundation of the parish in 1819. The Cimarrones Festival is an annual cultural festival held on the whole month of October in Pili, which is celebrated by the six barangays of the Pili Centro District. The festival has three popular major events in the capital town: Street Dancing Competition, Musical Night, and Miss Capital Town. Through Presidential Proclamation 685, October 24, 2024 was declared a special non-working day to commemorate the Cimarrones Festival.
Economy
Pili is an agriculture-based economy supported by a thriving government sector and a budding tourism sector. Its primary economic activities revolve around agriculture. Pili nuts, coconut, rice, corn and vegetables are major income sources for its residents. The town with its giant warehouses and milling plants was designated Bicolandia's Agro-Industrial Center.
As the capital town of Camarines Sur, Pili hosts a number of provincial offices, the most notable of which is the Provincial Capitol. The barangays of Cadlan and San Jose, located at the northern part of the town, host most of these agencies. In addition, Camarines Sur Freedom Sports Complex in San Jose hosts provincial and regional sports events. The Camsur Watersports Complex, opened in 2006, has become a popular destination for watersport enthusiasts.
Due to the increase of economic activities in the town, Pili is now classified as a 1st class municipality in terms of income classification. Attaining a steady progress through time, the capital town is now preparing to be the next chartered city in the province of Camarines Sur. This is through the Executive Order No. 24, Series of 2020 on June 1, 2020, which created the "Pili Cityhood Committee" headed by Mayor Tom P. Bongalonta Jr. The committee is tasked to evaluate, study, prepare, and propose the necessary requirements of the law to convert Pili into a component city.https://web.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=918009251998069&id=100013670074486
The municipality is the third largest commercial center in Camarines Sur (after Naga and Iriga) and the 10th largest commercial center in the Bicol Region. The commercial and business center is the town proper, which the locals called "Pili Centro", and is the densest part of the town. The "Daang Maharlika" or the national road is the main road of the town proper, where it stretches from San Isidro to Santiago. Markets in the district includes the Pili Public Market, SM Savemore Market, and the LCC Supermarket. Multiple department stores also made their way to the town.
Agricultural and agro-industrial developments The town of Pili has a plain and elevated geography, making it very ideal for agriculture. Majority of the farmlands are in the area between the Uptown and Downtown Area. Rice, sugarcanes, and corn are the primary products.
Pili is also the regional center of agricultural administration in the Bicol Region. In barangay San Agustin, the Department of Agriculture - Regional Office, the Central Bicol Experiment Station, and the Agricultural Training Institute are located.
Old agro-industrial zone
The old agro-industrial zone of the town is concentrated at the southwest portion of the town, and stretches along the Pili Diversion Road and south of the poblacion district (New San Roque, Anayan, etc.).
The Co Say and Company Inc. was the pioneer in the agro-industrial development of the town. It has an Oil Milling Plant which produces crude coconut oil at La Purisima near the Pili Diversion Road, and its former Rice Milling Plant at Tagbong. Now, the area also hosts the Partido Rice Mill, Bicol Biomass Energy Corporation (the first rice husk-fired power plant in Southern Luzon), B-Meg Plant - Southern Luzon Feedmill Inc. (SLFI), Penafrancia Sugar Mill (Pensumil), and giant warehouses of WL Foods Corporation, etc.
Santa Rita Industrial Park
The Santa Rita Industrial Park, developed by the Santa Rita Ecozone Corporation, is located in Barangay San Jose and Sagurong. It has a land area of 219 hectares. Notable landmarks in the economic zone includes the Bicol JL Agri Corporation and the Pili Water District.
Isarog Heights Special Economic Zone
It is a planned new economic zone in the town. It will be developed by the Manubay Agro-Industrial and Development Corporation with an estimated project cost of 799.26 million pesos. It has a land area of 124.3 hectares in the barangay of Cadlan, which has preferred industries in food processing and manufacturing.
Housing developments As Naga’s urban development extended beyond its administrative borders, Pili experienced rapid urbanization. New housing developments have sprouted along the areas closer to Naga, ranging from middle to high-class ones especially. Barangay Palestina is ideal for housing developments as it is the nearest barangay to the city. Housing developments in Palestina includes the Amaia Scapes, Lumina Homes, St. Paul Subdivision, Pamon Village, etc. In the barangay of Cadlan, there is the Camella Homes and Lessandra Pili.
Eco-tourism
At the foot of the mountain, the highland area of Mt. Isarog includes the barangays of Tinangis, Curry, and Santo Nino. Landmarks in this area includes the Filipino-Japanese Friendship Monument declared as a National Historical Landmark in Sitio Boncao, Barangay Curry, White Cross at the entrance of Tinangis, and the Jose Velarde Race Track (Curry). The Mt. Isarog National Park is not only known for its biodiversity and beauty; it is also famous for its clean and cold flowing water. The natural waterfall in Pili includes Tinagrawan Falls at Tinangis and the “Eight Waterfalls in One River of Sitio Boncao, Curry” which includes the Slide Falls and the Balang (Shower) Falls.
One natural waterfall which is visible from the downtown especially during rainy weather is the Maati Falls. It came from the Bicol word "ati" or "loses a certain amount for a fluid", because the falls was perceived to vanish during a sunny weather and appear again during a rainy weather. However, it was believed that reaching the Maati Falls is very difficult.
Mt. Isarog serves as the source of drinking water throughout the town of Pili via the Pili Water District.
Government