Santo Tomas, officially the Municipality of Santo Tomas ( pag, Baley na Santo Tomas; ilo, Ili ti Santo Tomas; tgl, Bayan ng Santo Tomas), is a 5th class

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Pangasinan Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan ( pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Pangasinan, ; ilo, Probinsia ti Pangasinan; tl, Lalawigan ng Pangasinan), is a coastal province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its capit ...

, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 14,878 people. Santo Tomas is from

Lingayen Lingayen, officially the Municipality of Lingayen ( pag, Baley na Lingayen; ilo, Ili ti Lingayen; tgl, Bayan ng Lingayen), is a 1st class municipality and capital of the province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has ...

and from

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

Geography

Barangays

Santo Tomas is politically subdivided into 10

barangay A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...

s. These barangays are headed by elected officials: Barangay Captain,

Barangay Council The Sangguniang Barangay, also known as the Barangay Council, and formerly as the Rural Council and then the Barrio Council, is the legislative body of a barangay, the lowest form of government in the Philippines. The term is coined from the Tag ...

, whose members are called Barangay Councilors. All are elected every three years. * La Luna * Poblacion East * Poblacion West * Salvacion * San Agustin * San Antonio * San Jose * San Marcos * Santo Domingo * Santo Niño

Climate

Demographics

Religion

St. Thomas Aquinas Parish Church

The 1973 St. Thomas Aquinas Parish (F-1973) Church (Barangay Santo Domingo) is under the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Urdaneta The Roman Catholic Diocese of Urdaneta (Latin: ''Dioecesis Urdanetensis'') is a Roman Rite diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. The diocese was established in 1985 from the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan. Ordin ...

and the Vicariate of Sacred Heart (Vicar Forane is Father Hurley John S. Solfelix). Its Feast Day is January 28, the same feast day of the Church's patron and the town's patron, St. Thomas Aquinas. The current Parish Priest is Father Jun Guerrero Laya. As a parish, Santo Tomas was erected on March 15, 1974, by Archbishop Federico Limon consecrated the Church on March 15, 1974, since before, Santo Tomas Church was merely a "visita” or chapel of

Alcala, Pangasinan Alcala, officially the Municipality of Alcala ( pag, Baley na Alcala; ilo, Ili ti Alcala; tgl, Bayan ng Alcala), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 48,90 ...

, while the town was a barrio of Alcala (from 1898 until the 1901 fusion with Alcala), with former name of Arango (“inarang”, fresh water shells at

Agno River The Agno River, or Pangasinan River, is a river in the island of Luzon, in the Philippines. Traversing the provinces of Baguio and Pangasinan, it is one of the largest river systems in the country, with a drainage area of . The river originate ...

). Before 1898, Santo Tomas was a barrio of Alcala. Arango was its name as a barrio, Such a name derived from “inarang”, a name given to the fresh water shells which abound near the bank of the Agno river. Santo Tomas was recreated as a town in 1908.

Economy

The town's principal products are palay, yellow corn, coconut, tobacco, poultry and livestock.

Government

Santo Tomas, belonging to the fifth congressional district of the province of

, is governed by a mayor designated as its local chief executive and by a municipal council as its legislative body in accordance with the Local Government Code. The mayor, vice mayor, and the councilors are elected directly by the people through an election which is being held every three years.

Elected officials

Guinness World Records

On February 11, 2008, during first Corn Festival of the centennial celebration, Santo Tomas got the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

certificate for longest

barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (informally BBQ in the UK, US, and Canada, barbie in Australia and braai in South Africa) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that use live fire and smoke t ...

(). Residents grilled 93,540 glutinous corn on the long grills (each interconnected grill measured 2.4 meters), traversing its 10

barangays A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...

. Santo Tomas' longest barbecue record beat the previous record of set in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

(grilled red meat). On February 11, 2009, Santo Tomas' Second Corn Festival's 200-meter (stretch of the street) corn grill was held for its 101st founding anniversary. at it previously held its 2007 Santo Tomas Corn Festival. In the "Agew na Pangasinan 2012 Street Dancers Showdown", April 11, 2012

Day amid the Float Parade and Street Dancing Contest, Santo. Tomas Street Dancers demonstrated their Guinness entry: “the biggest grill in the world”. On the 2012 Corn Festival, March 26, Santo Tomas, Pangasinan grilled 6,000 ears of corn for the town's 103rd founding anniversary yesterday.

Gallery

File:SantoTomasPangasinanjf126.JPG, Gate of the Town Hall File:SantoTomasPangasinanjf127.JPG, Santo Tomas Town Hall (Municipio) File:SantoTomasPangasinanjf132.JPG, Health Center File:SantoTomasPangasinanjf136.JPG, Santo Tomas Gymnasium File:SantoTomasPangasinanjf125.JPG, Santo Tomas Elementary School (in front of the Town Hall)

References

External links

Santo Tomas Profile at PhilAtlas.com

Municipal Profile at the National Competitiveness Council of the Philippines

Santo Tomas at the Pangasinan Government Website

Local Governance Performance Management System
* Philippine Standard Geographic Code
Philippine Census Information
{{Authority control Municipalities of Pangasinan Populated places on the Agno River