Pulilan, officially the Municipality of Pulilan (, Kapampangan: Balen ning Pulilan), is a municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the , it has a population of people.
The town is famous for its Carabao Festival where carabaos are paraded and kneel as they pass through San Isidro Labrador Parish Church, in honor to the town's patron saint, San Isidro Labrador.
Many years ago, Pulilan was primarily a little-known rural town in the northern part of Bulacan where its economy heavily dependent on farming and poultry raising. Most of the population committed their entire lives on farming as their livelihood. Today, the town is moving towards commercialization and industrialization as it is becoming one of the major growth-rate area and center of commerce and industry in the province.
Because of the major economic growth, due to presence of commercial establishments, real estates, industrial plants and major road projects. Pulilan has experienced increased in the total gross income in the past few years. The town's income in year 2016 was P323.86 million, an increase of P69.27 million from its previous income in 2014. It surpass the income of fifteen municipalities in Bulacan such as San Miguel, Bocaue, Plaridel, Hagonoy and Calumpit.
With the continuous expansion of Metro Manila, Pulilan is part of Manila's built-up area which reaches San Ildefonso, Bulacan at its northernmost part.
Etymology Pulilan was originally a marshy swampland which forms part of Pampanga, along the Candaba Bay. Because of the vastness of its area, Pulilan was created out of the districts of Baliuag and Quingua (now Plaridel) and coming from the Pampango word "Kengwa", meaning on the other side of the shore or kabilang ibayo.
In 1794, the place was named San Isidro by the missionary Augustinian friars in honor of San Isidro Labrador, the patron saint of the farmers. On January 20, 1796, it was called Pulilan. There are no written records how the place is named Pulilan; but legend has it that is derived from Pulo ng Ilan, literally, clusters of small communities or isles.
According to Antoon Postma in his "The Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI) – A Valuable Philippine Document" this copperplate with inscription discovered at Lumbang River near the Laguna Lake area in Laguna dates back to 900 A.D. In this inscription was mentioned the name Puliran, as the old name for southeastern lake area. The toponyms or place names Puliran is Pulilan, Bulacan and Pulilan is in Laguna de Bay. However, Postma is convinced in his studies that Pulilan in the LCI is the Pulilan along the Angat River in Bulacan, north of Manila.
History
The first time Pulilan was settled was unknown but if existing records of the towns of Calumpit and Baliuag, between which the town lies, be made a basis, it could be deduced that in the early part of the 17th century it could have had a sprinkling of settlers. However, the ancient town of Pulilan was first documented as Puliran in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, a pre-colonial oldest document of Philippines written in 900 A.D in Indianized script. The native population at the time of the document were ruled by the sovereign Lord Ka-Sumuran.
During Spanish regime, an Augustian friar, Fray Vicente Villamanzaro, was made to declare the settlement of a town on January 20, 1796. It was assigned a patron saint, San Isidro Labrador, after whose name he wanted the town identified. On this time, the head of the town was called Kapitan. It was only in 1819 that Pulilan has as its first Kapitan, Kapitan Francisco Paltao. In 1898, the first Presidente Municipal was Froilan Cahiwat. In 1904, when Anacleto Batongbacal was the Presidente Municipal, Pulilan was annexed to Quingua and became its sitio. In 1908, as the Pulilenos rallied behind the candidacy of their son Adriano Salvador, he was elected Presidente Municipal of Quinqua. Then in 1909, representations were made by Eugenio Tiangco, Hilario Esguerra, Adriano Salvador and others with Governor Teodoro Sandico to separate Pulilan from Quingua. It was granted. Pulilan then became a town, with Tiangco as its Presidente. In 1946, Catalino Flores was appointed as the first Mayor of Pulilan.
Third Republic Former government official Paquito Ochoa Sr. ran as a Liberal candidate for mayor in 1967 and won, defeating Nacionalista candidate Arsenio Sulit. On August 21, 1971, senator Ninoy Aquino attended Ochoa's birthday celebration in Pulilan, which resulted in Aquino avoiding the Plaza Miranda bombing that occurred on the same day in Manila where his partymates were.
Geography Topography Pulilan is one of the 21 towns of Bulacan province, located in about its center—from north to south. It lies north-west of Manila, the national capital, from Malolos, the provincial capital, and from Plaridel. It has an area of about 4,073 hectares (40.73 sq. kilometers). It is bounded on the north by Apalit in Pampanga; on the east by Baliwag; on the south by Plaridel; and on the west by Calumpit. The Angat River cutting its way through the eastern edge of Baliwag, and the southern fringes of Pulilan down to the tributary of Manila Bay south-west of Calumpit, serves as the boundary with Plaridel.
The municipality is generally of flat topography. Eleven (11) of its barangays are bounded by the Angat River. The rest are flat irrigated rice lands. Soil types vary from sandy loam to clay loam which makes the municipality suitable to a wide range of agricultural products.
Most of the barangays in Pulilan have low susceptibility to flooding. Those portion with moderate to high susceptibility to flooding are barangays that are near or adjacent to creeks that are tributaries of the Angat River and barangays that are low-lying such as Dulong Malabon and Inaon.
Land use Most of the existing municipal land use area is for agricultural purposes, about 27.92 square kilometres (10.78 sq mi) or 68.55% of the town's land area is primarily for crop production. While the 12.8076 square kilometres (4.95 sq. mi) or 31.45% of available land is dedicated for residential, commercial, industrial and institutional purposes.
Climate Based on the Köppen climate classification system, the climate is tropical in Pulilan. During most months of the year, there is significant rainfall in Pulilan. There is only a short dry season. According to Köppen and Geiger, this climate is classified as Am. The temperature here averages 27.2 °C. The average annual rainfall is 792 mm. The driest month is February. There is 4 mm of precipitation in February. Most precipitation occurs in July, with an average of 151 mm. With an average of 29.2 °C, May is the warmest month. In January, the average temperature is 25.5 °C. It is the lowest average temperature of the whole year. The precipitation varies 147 mm between the driest month and the wettest month. The average temperatures vary during the year by 3.7 °C.
Barangays
Pulilan is politically subdivided into 19 barangays, as shown in the matrix below. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
The biggest barangay in terms of land area is Dulong Malabon while the most populated barangay is Poblacion and the least populated barangay is Santa Peregrina.
Land area
Classification Balatong A (South Munland) 1.19 Urban 1,392 Balatong B (North Munland) 1.91 Urban 1,932 Cutcot (Stravengie) 3.22 Urban 2,221 Dampol 1st (Lower Dalapeny) 1.46 Urban 4,129 Dampol 2nd A (Upper Dalapeny) 1.16 Urban3,642 Dampol 2nd B (New Dalapeny) 1.48 Urban3,180Dulong Malabon (Cornerwood) 5.46 Rural720Inaon (Brizzia) 3.50 Urban2,295Longos (Lonivia) 1.19 Urban4,560Lumbac (Valle de Bao) 1.24 Rural3,247Paltao (Shantena) 2.18 Urban3,001Peñabatan (Pineaville) 3.10 Rural644Poblacion (Ciudad Centralle) 2.27 Urban5,326Sta Peregrina (Perigine) 1.51 Urban1,028Sto Cristo (La Croix) 1.54 Urban4,436Taal (Mont Nord) 3.42 Urban2,779Tabon (Tabostan) 2.37 Rural1,839Tinejero (Atiny) 1.29 Urban3,283Tibag (Zorbenia) 1.26 Urban3,087 Total 39.89 2,440
Demographics
The municipality's population grew twice by 49,124 from 48,199 in 1990 to 97,323 in 2015. The continuous increase in the population of Pulilan may not only be attributed to growing population of the natives but also to the influx of migrants from nearby places. In the 2020 census, the population of Pulilan, Bulacan, was 108,836 people, with a density of .
Ethnic groups The original settlers and natives in Pulilan are primarily Tagalog people, one of the most widespread groups of people in the Philippines. Several Kapampangans also started settling here before. The municipality is currently experiencing influx of migrants by being a part of the Greater Manila Area (GMA), so there is also a considerably minor population of Bicolano, Ilocano, Ilonggo, Pangasinense and Visayans.
Languages Like other places in Luzon, the most spoken language in Pulilan is Tagalog. Some of its residents speak and use Kapampangan language due to its proximity to the province of Pampanga. However, in schools and other institutions, English and Tagalog are alternately use as medium of instruction.
Literacy In 2008, the total number of households are 17,002. Ninety-nine percent of the total number of household members are literate. They are able to read and write a simple message in any language or dialect.
Religion
Like other municipalities in the Philippines, majority of the inhabitants of Pulilan are adherents of the Catholic Church. This is evident by their strong faith and devotion to the town's patron saint, San Isidro Labrador. Each barangay and sitio has their own respective chapel where they perform their mass and other liturgical services. The San Isidro Parish Church and Our Lady of Miraculous Medal are the parish churches in the municipality and it is under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Malolos.
Iglesia ni Cristo also holds a strong presence in the municipality by establishing worship centers in barangay Cutcot, Dampol 2nd-A, Inaon and Santo Cristo. These locales are included in the Ecclesiastical District of Bulacan North.
Other religious groups represented include the following: Members Church of God International (Ang Dating Daan), Jesus Is Lord Church, Baptist, Jehovah's Witness, Methodist and other evangelical groups.
Economy
The municipality of Pulilan has basically an agri-based economy. Farming, fishing, swine and poultry raising were the dominant economic industries and livelihood of the natives of the town. Structural changes in the economy become evident due to the rapid rate of urbanization characterized by increasing encroachment of industries and manufacturing establishments on productive agricultural land of the municipality. Now, the municipality is known as one of the emerging centers of trade and commerce in the province of Bulacan and continuously outshining its neighboring municipalities. According to the 2017 COA Annual Financial Report, the municipality has an annual income of 383.60 million, 59.74 million or 18% higher than its previous income. Making it one of the richest municipalities in Bulacan and Central Luzon.
+ 2015–2020 Municipality of Pulilan Financial Highlights (Amounts in Thousand Pesos)20202019201820172016 2015 Assets 656,753 659,863 593,462 524,218 464,106 392,596 Liabilities 153,104 127,294 165,753 162,440 141,525 112,340 Equity 503,649 532,570 427,709 361,778 322,581 280,256 Revenue 498,486 494,989 428,960 383,602 323,861 294,211 Expenses 505,504 394,765 365,286 315,337 282,300 225,064
The major income sources in the municipality come from flowers/ornamental plants, food/food processing, garments and embroidery, gifts/house decors, marble/marble processing, poultry and hog raising, furniture, crop production, and services.
Agriculture