Santo Tomas, officially the City of Santo Tomas (Filipino: Lungsod ng Santo Tomas), is a component city in the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 218,500 people.[4]
Santo Tomas was founded in 1666, with Manuel Melo as its first head. Originally, it was composed of a large poblacion. When the Spanish friars arrived, their first and foremost objective was to construct a church near the river to satisfy their inclination for water. Thus, the present site of a Roman Catholic church was chosen near the San Juan River. As years went by, more houses were built around the church. This became the center of the poblacion.
Other groups of houses were scattered all over the area. They were given such odd names as "Kabaong", because of coffin-shaped stones along the road; "Putol" because the trail was cut short by Mount Makiling; "Aptayin", because "apta" or fine shrimps were found in the brook; "Biga", because biga trees abounded there; and "Camballao", as in "kambal" (twin) because twin rivers divided the place. These different unit groups comprised the barrios of the town.
The natives were by nature God-fearing, peaceful and obedient. Colonial officials did not much have difficulty enforcing decrees and orders. One such irrevocable decree was to change the original names of the barrios to the names of saints in the Catholic calendar and to place each them under its patrotonio; the former "Pook" and "Aptayin" were joined and called San Bartolome, "Kabaong" was changed to San Vicente, "Biga" to Santa Anastacia, and "Camballao" to San Isidro Sur and San Isidro Norte. The whole town was given the name of Santo Tomas de Aquino, after a saint of the Dominican Order to where most of the first friars belonged. As time went by, more barrios were added to the list each with an assumed name of a saint.
From the year 1666, the head of the town had different titles, variously known as captain from 1666 to 1782, alcalde from 1783 to 1788, gobernadorcillo from 1789 to 1821, presidente local from 1822 to 1899, presidente municipal from 1900 to 1930, and mayor from 1931 to present.[6]
In 2016, Nelson P. Collantes, the then-representative of Batangas's 3rd District, filed a House bill to convert Santo Tomas into a component city.[7] After few years, with a unanimous vote of 19–0, the Senate approved a bill for the municipality's conversion into a city on March 19, 2018.[8] On October 5, 2018, PresidentRodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11086,[9] making Santo Tomas the first municipality to be converted into a city under his administration.[10] It was effectively ratified on September 7, 2019 through a plebiscite wherein majority of residents who voted approved the cityhood.[1]
Geography
Mount Makiling, Light Industry and Science Park III and Pueblo de Oro as seen from South Luzon Expressway
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the component city has a land area of 95.41 square kilometers (36.84 sq mi)[11] constituting 3.06% of the 3,119.75-square-kilometer (1,204.54 sq mi) total area of Batangas.
Barangays
Santo Tomas is politically subdivided into 30 barangays.[12] Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
In the 2020 census, Santo Tomas had a population of 218,500.[4] The population density was 2,300 inhabitants per square kilometer or 6,000 inhabitants per square mile.
Most of the city is residential with a lot of farmlands. There are also some developed subdivisions along the city like the San Antonio Heights in Barangay San Antonio which was developed by Avida Land, a division of Ayala Land,[27] Camella Homes,[28] and Terrazza de Santo Tomas in Barangay San Roque which was developed by Ovialand. The city is well known for an entire strip of bulalo (bone marrow soup) restaurants and to a hospital named Saint Cabrini Medical Center which is located inside the city center.
Aside from various real estate development in the city, Santo Tomas also has a popular lifestyle and commercial complex in the locality. The Lifestyle Strip, AllHome Santo Tomas, Liana's Junction Santo Tomas, and SM City Santo Tomas are known shopping destinations that operate in the city and soon. S&R Membership Shopping Santo Tomas will also be opened by the second half of 2024.[29][30]
Jeepneys (Filipino: "dyip") connect the city with Calamba to the north, Tanauan to the south, and San Pablo to the east. Buses from Manila to Batangas City, Lucena, or Bicol serve the city. UV Express service also connects Santo Tomas with San Pablo, Santa Rosa, Lipa, and Dasmariñas. Tricycles provide transportation within the barangays.
Nikiesha's Interactive Camp Child Development Center Inc.
Pedagogia Children's School (Santo Tomas)
San Bartolome Adventist Elementary School
Saint Thomas Academy
Saint Thomas Montessori Learning Center
The Golden Child Literacy Place
Mythology
In Philippine mythology, the homeland of the anggitays is believed to be somewhere in Santo Tomas, Batangas. The anggitays are creatures resembling centaurs but have a single horn on the forehead and are generally female.[35]
.jpg)
.svg)
.jpg)
.svg)
