Victoria, officially the Municipality of Victoria (), is a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
in the
province
A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
Laguna,
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 43,408 people.
Duck Raising Capital of the Philippines, or Victoria, is a municipality offering some of the most bizarre yet delicious dishes including goats’ and ducks’ meat. Following the town's nickname, the Itik Festival is celebrated, along with the town's founding anniversary, to give honor and to know more about the products that come from itik (duck). Through ''Presidential Proclamation 663'', October 14, 2024 was declared a
special non-working day in celebration of its 75th Founding Anniversary and the 23rd Itik Festival.
Etymology
The name of Victoria means "victory" in
Spanish. It got its name from
Victoria Quirino, the daughter of former President
Elpidio Quirino
Elpidio Rivera Quirino (; November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was a Philippine nationality law, Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 6th President of the Philippines from 1948 to 1953.
A lawyer by profession, Quirino entered p ...
under whose presidency the municipality was established. The younger Quirino also served as the
First Lady as her father was a widower.
History
Prominent citizens and civic leaders found new hope to make Nanhaya, then a barrio part of
Pila, a town, when the Americans granted the Philippines Independence in 1946. They revived the move to separate from Pila. During this time, citizens proposed to name the town Trinidad, after the young republic's
First Lady, the wife of then-President
Manuel Roxas
Manuel Acuña Roxas (; January 1, 1892 – April 15, 1948) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the fifth president of the Philippines from 1946 until his death in 1948. He served briefly as the third and last President of the ...
. Strong oppositions shelved the proposal once more.
After Roxas's death,
Elpidio Quirino
Elpidio Rivera Quirino (; November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was a Philippine nationality law, Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 6th President of the Philippines from 1948 to 1953.
A lawyer by profession, Quirino entered p ...
took over the presidency. Nanhaya's residents remained undaunted. They tried once more, intensifying the campaign. Most prominent and wealthiest family of the town is the Fernandez clans, Judge Jose Fernandez, then Mayor Alejandro Fernandez, Atty. Ramon H. Fernandez Sr., Andres Franco, Dr. Agrifino Oca, Gregorio Herradura, and Leonardo Rebong stood for the proposal. On November 15, 1949, President
Elpidio Quirino
Elpidio Rivera Quirino (; November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was a Philippine nationality law, Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 6th President of the Philippines from 1948 to 1953.
A lawyer by profession, Quirino entered p ...
signed into effect Executive Order No. 282, segregating barrios Nanhaya, Bancabanca, Daniw, Masapang, San Benito, San Felix, San Francisco, and San Roque from Pila and formed a new independent municipality.
After
Pateros became highly urbanized and densely populated, Victoria became a destination of
balut traders and became the "
Duck
Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...
Raising Center of the Philippines". The town was featured as the detour challenge of Leg 11 of the
5th Season of ''
The Amazing Race
''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality competition franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. ''The Amazing Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselv ...
''. Victoria celebrates the ''Itik Festival'' every second week of November.
The municipal seat of Pila was once located in Barangay Pagalangan, now one of Victoria's barangays. The remains of Pila's original parish church can still be found in Pagalangan, which in the past made that community a target of treasure hunters seeking antiques. Pagalangan ceased to be Pila's capital when the town center was relocated due to frequent flooding.
Geography
Victoria is southeast of
Laguna de Bay, south of
Manila
Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
and from
Santa Cruz. It is bordered by the Municipality of
Calauan to the south-west,
Nagcarlan to the southeast and
Pila to the north-east.
Barangays
Victoria is politically subdivided into 9
barangay
The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...
s, as indicated below. Each barangay consists of
purok
A ''purok'' () is an informal division within a barangay in the Philippines. While not officially considered a local government unit (LGU), a ''purok'' often serves as a unit for delivering services and administration within a barangay. ''Pur ...
s and some have
sitios
A ''sitio'' (Spanish language, Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own bar ...
.
Currently, there are two barangays which are classified as urban.
(highlighted in bold).
* Banca-banca
* Daniw
* Masapang
* Nanhaya (
Poblacion
''Poblacion'' (from Spanish '' población'', meaning "population"), sometimes abbreviated as Pob., is a term used in the Philippines to refer to the administrative center, downtown, old town, or commercial area of a city or municipality. It ...
)
* Pagalangan
* San Benito
* San Felix
* San Francisco
* San Roque (
Poblacion
''Poblacion'' (from Spanish '' población'', meaning "population"), sometimes abbreviated as Pob., is a term used in the Philippines to refer to the administrative center, downtown, old town, or commercial area of a city or municipality. It ...
)
Demographics
In the 2020 census, the population of Victoria, Laguna, was 43,408 people, with a density of .
Economy
Government
Elected officials
References
External links
*
Philippine Standard Geographic Codebr>
Philippine Census InformationLocal Governance Performance Management SystemHistory of Pila: A Secular and Spiritual History of the Town 900 A.D. to Present
{{Authority control
Municipalities of Laguna (province)
Populated places on Laguna de Bay
1949 establishments in the Philippines
Political divisions established by Philippine executive order