Mabalacat, officially the City of Mabalacat ( pam, Lakanbalen ning Mabalacat; fil, Lungsod ng Mabalacat), is a 3rd class

component city A city ( fil, lungsod/siyudad) is one of the units of local government in the Philippines. All Philippine cities are chartered cities ( fil, nakakartang lungsod), whose existence as corporate and administrative entities is governed by their own ...

in the

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

Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga ( pam, Lalawigan ning Pampanga; tl, Lalawigan ng Pampanga ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 293,244 people.

Etymology

The town's name was derived from indigenous

Negrito The term Negrito () refers to several diverse ethnic groups who inhabit isolated parts of Southeast Asia and the Andaman Islands. Populations often described as Negrito include: the Andamanese peoples (including the Great Andamanese, the O ...

word ''mabalacat'' meaning "forest of balacats".

Geography

Mabalacat has a land area of . It is from Manila, from Angeles, and from the provincial capital, San Fernando. The soil is charcoal black and shiny, a sign of fertility, and is suitable for growing rice, sugarcane and other rootcrops. Like the neighbouring cities of Angeles and San Fernando and the towns/municipalities of

Porac Porac, officially the Municipality of Porac ( pam, Balen ning Porac; fil, Bayan ng Porac), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 140,751 people. The Subic–Cl ...

, Bacolor, Santa Rita,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Magalang Magalang, officially the Municipality of Magalang ( pam, Balen ning Magalang; tl, Bayan ng Magalang), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 124,188 people. Mag ...

and Arayat, this city rarely gets inundated by floods from heavy rains and typhoons because it is situated on an elevated, well-drained part of the Central Luzon plains known as the "Upper Pampanga".

Barangays

Mabalacat is politically subdivided into 27

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 metropolita ...

s. * Atlu-Bola (PB: Kap. Benjamin Pangan) * Bical (PB: Kap. Rolando Liwanang * Bundagul (PB: Kap. Manny Tolentino) * Cacutud (PB: Kap. Arnold Reyes) * Calumpang (PB: Kap. Armando Yalung) * Camachiles (PB: Kap. Edgar Garcia) * Dapdap (including Madapdap Resettlement) (PB: Kap. Javier Taruc) * Dau (PB: Kap. Derrick Llanos Dee) * Dolores (PB: Kap. Jerry Tanglao) * Duquit (PB: Kap. Irene Villanueva) * Lakandula (PB: Kap. Fernando De Guzman) * Mabiga (PB: Kap. Elmer Calaguas) * Macapagal Village (PB: Kap. Lamberto Dizon) * Mamatitang (PB: Kap. Jayson Viray) * Mangalit (PB: Kap. Fernando Maglalang) * Marcos Village (PB: Kap. Archiebon Estanislao) * Mawaque (Mauaque) (PB: Kap. Noel Dimarucut) * Paralayunan (PB: Kap. Rey Pineda) * Poblacion (PB: Kap. Elmer Mendiola) * San Francisco (PB: Kap. Robert Layson) * San Joaquin (PB: Kap. Davidson David) * Santa Ines (PB: Kap. Noel Sicat) * Santa Maria (PB: Kap. Enrico Espino) * Santo Rosario (PB: Kap. Jomer Ong) * Sapang Balen (PB: Kap. Gener Lagman) * Sapang Biabas (PB: Kap. Soraida Cabuang) * Tabun (PB: Kap. Danilo De Leon) The largest barangay is Dau, which became a barrio in 1936 by virtue of ''Presidential Proclamation No. 1''. It is now a business center whose commercial output runs parallel to that of downtown. A former terminus of the

North Luzon Expressway The North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), signed as E1 of the Philippine expressway network, partially as N160 of the Philippine highway network, and R-8 of the Metro Manila arterial road network, is a limited-access toll expressway that connects ...

, it is the most urban and most populous area in Mabalacat, home to roughly 23% of the city's population. San Francisco, the second largest barangay, along with San Joaquin, Santa Ines, Poblacion, Calumpang and other barangays are categorized as urban in view of their proximity to the city proper. Sapang Balen, with a population of 166 persons, is the smallest barangay.

Climate

History

Prior to 1712, Mabalacat was a barrio (

) of Bambang, now

Bamban, Tarlac Bamban, officially the Municipality of Bamban ( pam, Balen ning Bamban; fil, Bayan ng Bamban), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 78,260 people. The municipali ...

. It became a town in 1792, and was named after the abundant Balacat tree (''

Ziziphus talanai ''Ziziphus talanai'', with common names are balakat, aligamen, and talanai, is a species of tree in the family Rhamnaceae. Distribution ''Ziziphus talanai'' is endemic to Luzon and Visayas, in the Philippines, The tree is found in the Philippi ...

''), a fourth class timber tree with bark that possess antimicrobial properties. Once a settlement of an

Aeta The Aeta (Ayta ), Agta, or Dumagat, are collective terms for several Filipino indigenous peoples who live in various parts of the island of Luzon in the Philippines. They are considered to be part of the Negrito ethnic groups and share common ...

tribe, the area was a virtual forest of balacat trees. "''Ma-balacat''" in the native

Kapampangan language Kapampangan or Pampangan is an Austronesian language, and one of the eight major languages of the Philippines. It is the primary and predominant language of the entire province of Pampanga and southern Tarlac, on the southern part of Luzon' ...

means "full of Balacats." Mabalacat in

Maranao The Maranao people (Maranao: mәranaw Filipino: ''Maranaw''), also spelled Meranao, Maranaw, and Mëranaw, is the term used by the Philippine government to refer to the southern indigenous people who are the "people of the lake", a predomi ...

is "Mababaapalaqat" (Palacat), which means "maiksing hagdan" in Tagalog. In 1853 Mabalacat had a population of 2,611 and four barangays, namely, Babangdapu, Duquit, Malabni, and Paglimbunan. By 1903 its population increased to 7,049 in 19 barangays. These were Bical, Bundagul, Dapdap, Dau, Dolores, Iba, Mabiga, Mamatitang, Mangalit, Matas, Mawaque, Paralayunan, Poblacion, Quitangil (later renamed to San Francisco), San Joaquin, Santa Ines, Santa Maria, Sapang Balen, and Sapang Biabas. In 1948, Mabalacat's barangays increased to 20 with the addition of

Fort Stotsenburg Fort Stotsenburg, during the World War II era, was the location of the Philippine Department's 26th Cavalry Regiment, 86th Field Artillery Battalion, and 88th Field Artillery Regiment; along with the Philippine Division's 23rd and 24th Fie ...

. In 1860 a military command was established by authorities of the Spanish Governor-General due to the lawlessness and depredations perpetrated by the negritos (Aetas, or derogatorily called ''balugas''). The Pampanga towns of Bamban,

Capas Capas, officially the Municipality of Capas ( pam, Balen ning Capas; tgl, Bayan ng Capas), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines, and one of the richest towns in the province. The town also consists of numerous su ...

, Concepcion,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Tarlac Tarlac, officially the Province of Tarlac ( pam, Lalawigan ning Tarlac; pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Tarlac; ilo, Probinsia ti Tarlac; tgl, Lalawigan ng Tarlac; ), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. It ...

, and Floridablanca and Mabalacat were created into what was called a ''Commandancia Militar''. However, in 1873 the Military Command returned Mabalacat together with the towns of Magalang, Floridablanca, and Porac to the parent province, Pampanga.

Cityhood

The former

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 ...

was officially upgraded to a city following a referendum on July 21, 2012, and became the third in Pampanga after

Angeles City , anthem = Himno ning Angeles (Angeles Hymn) , subdivision_type3 = District , subdivision_name3 = , established_title = Settled , established_date = 1796 , established_title1 = Chartere ...

and San Fernando. It is home to roughly most of the

Clark Freeport Zone The Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone (CFEZ), often shortened to Clark, refers to an area in Central Luzon, Philippines. The CFEZ in Pampanga covers portions of the cities of Angeles and Mabalacat and portions of the town of Porac whil ...

, the rest in nearby Angeles, where the main gate is located. The

Clark International Airport Clark International Airport ( pam, Pangyatung Sulapawan ning Clark; fil, Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Clark; ), known as Diosdado Macapagal International Airport from 2003 to 2012, is an international airport covering portions of the cities of ...

, as well as the numerous hotels, casinos, golf courses, and resorts in Clark Freeport, are mostly situated in Mabalacat.

Demographics

Economy

Mabalacat has an average annual income of as of 2011 derived mostly from municipal license fees, land tax, Internal Revenue allotment, roads and bridges fund. In 1997, there were 2,447 business establishments registered in the Mabalacat City, consisting of 79 manufacturers mostly involved in sash factory, iron works, ceramics, bakery and 1,806 trading companies. The financial needs are served by eleven banks, mostly concentrated in Dau. Public utilities include the Mabalacat Water System, Pampanga Electric Corporation II (PELCO II), three telephone companies namely, Datelcom Corporation (DATELCOM),

Smart Communications Smart Communications Inc., commonly referred to as Smart (and officially stylized/ self-styled as SMART), is a wholly owned wireless communications and digital services subsidiary of PLDT Inc., a telecommunications and digital services provid ...

(SMART) and

Digital Telecommunications Philippines Digital Telecommunications Phils., Inc., commonly known as Digitel, was the second-largest fixed-line and the third-largest mobile telecommunications company in the Philippines. It was also the company that owned Sun Cellular, a mobile phone se ...

, Incorporated (DIGITEL) and one cable television network (PRO-SAT) which runs solely for Mabalacat. The city is also a major transportation hub; a number of major road networks including the

Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway The Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), signed as E1 and E4 of the Philippine expressway network and R-8 of the Metro Manila arterial road network, is controlled-access toll expressway in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Fro ...

, and

MacArthur Highway The MacArthur Highway, officially the Manila North Road (MNR or MaNor), is a , two-to-six lane, national primary highway and tertiary highway in Luzon, Philippines, connecting Caloocan in Metro Manila to Aparri in Cagayan. It is the second l ...

cut across the region. At the southern part of the city is the Dau Bus Terminal, which caters to passengers bound for

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the seat of government and one of three defined metropolitan areas in ...

and provinces in

Northern Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

such as

, Pangasinan,

Ilocos Norte Ilocos Norte, officially the Province of Ilocos Norte ( ilo, Probinsia ti Ilocos Norte; tl, Lalawigan ng Ilocos Norte), is a province of the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region. Its capital is Laoag City, located in the northwest corner ...

Ilocos Sur Ilocos Sur, officially the Province of Ilocos Sur ( ilo, Probinsia ti Ilocos Sur; tl, Lalawigan ng Ilocos Sur), is a province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region in Luzon. Located on the mouth of the Mestizo River is the capital o ...

Nueva Ecija Nueva Ecija, officially the Province of Nueva Ecija ( tgl, Lalawigan ng Nueva Ecija , also ; ilo, Probinsia ti Nueva Ecija; pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Nueva Ecija; Kapampangan: ''Lalawigan/Probinsia ning Nueva Ecija''), is a landlocked province ...

, La Union,

Bataan Bataan (), officially the Province of Bataan ( fil, Lalawigan ng Bataan ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the enti ...

, and

Zambales Zambales, officially the Province of Zambales ( fil, Lalawigan ng Zambales; ilo, Probinsia ti Zambales; Pangasinan: ''Luyag/Probinsia na Zambales''; xsb, Probinsya nin Zambales), is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon re ...

Government

Mabalacat City Government is composed of a Mayor as a Chief Executive and Sangguniang Panlungsod headed by the City Vice Mayor and 10 Sangguniang Panlungsod members with 3 ex-officio. The following are the elected officials of Mabalacat City who assumed office on the noon of June 30, 2022 ''(except for the Ex-Officio members)''

Mayor

Crisostomo C. Garbo (NPC)

Vice-Mayor

Atty. Gerald Guttrie P. Aquino (NPC)

Sangguniang Panlungsod

# Marcos Castro Jr. (NPC) # Cherry Manalo (NPC) # Timothy Paul Dee (NPC) # Marjorie Grace Sambo (NPC) # Dr. Victor Tiglao III (NPC) # Noelito Castro (NPC) # Elizabeth Pineda (NPC) # Roland Peña (NPC) # Jerry Magsino (NPC) # Francis Carlo Dizon (NPC) Ex-Officio Members: # ABC President Elmer Mendiola (Non-Partisan) # SK President Hans Christian Balingit (Non-Partisan) # Ruvielline Margarito (Non-Partisan) Mayor Garbo

City Fiesta

Legend tells us that when the early settlers were clearing the forests, Cabezang Laureana's workers found, hidden among the bushes, a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary with baby Jesus sitting on her lap. On February 2, the statue was presented by Caragan as a gift to Padre Maximo Manuguid, the priest of the early Mabalacat Church that was made of ''sawali'' and cogon grass. From then on, the city fiesta was observed on the second of February.

Pastorella

The pastorella ( Misa de Pastores in honor of the shepherds at the birth of Jesus Christ - a set of

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

hymns A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

of the 9-day Christmas Masses) ceased in

towns for 40 years after

Vatican II The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

. In Mabalacat, however, at Our Lady of Divine Grace Parish and San Rafael Arkanghel Parish, pastorella lives on: In the 4:30 a.m. mass on Monday, the pastorella repertoire includes the

Kyrie Kyrie, a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of (''Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the Kyrie eleison ( ; ). In the Bible The prayer, "Kyrie, eleison," "Lord, have mercy" derives f ...

(Lord, Have Mercy), Gloria (Glory to God in the Highest),

Credo In Christian liturgy, the credo (; Latin for "I believe") is the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed – or its shorter version, the Apostles' Creed – in the Mass, either as a prayer, a spoken text, or sung as Gregorian chant or other musical sett ...

(Nicene Creed),

Sanctus The Sanctus ( la, Sanctus, "Holy") is a hymn in Christian liturgy. It may also be called the ''epinikios hymnos'' ( el, ἐπινίκιος ὕμνος, "Hymn of Victory") when referring to the Greek rendition. In Western Christianity, th ...

(Holy) and

Agnus Dei is the Latin name under which the " Lamb of God" is honoured within the Catholic Mass and other Christian liturgies descending from the Latin liturgical tradition. It is the name given to a specific prayer that occurs in these liturgies, and ...

(Lamb of God). The hymns are in Latin, except for Kyrie, which is in Greek."Inquirer.net, Latin hymns sung in masses in Pampanga

Education

There are 31 educational institutions in Mabalacat: one state college, one private college, one technical training school, two secondary public, two private high schools and 25 public elementary schools divided into two districts, Mabalacat North and Mabalacat South.

Technical Education and Skills Development Authority The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA ; fil, Pangasiwaan sa Edukasyong Teknikal at Pagpapaunlad ng Kasanayan) serves as the Philippines' Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) authority. As a government a ...

(TESDA) accredited institutions offering vocational-technical skills abound in the area.

State University

The University of the Philippines - Diliman Extension Program in Pampanga (Clark) is located in a portion of Clark Freeport Zone that is located in Mabalacat City. It offers undergraduate courses such as BA Applied Psychology, BA Business Economics and BS Business Management. It also offers a non-thesis graduate course, Master in Management (MM) (University of the Philippines Diliman - Extension Program in Pampanga, 2020).

Private schools

Private schools in Mabalacat listed with the Department of Education are Livingstone International School, Athena's Cradle Center, Inc., Brightstone Learning Center, Children of Fatima School, Inc., Christian Vision Academy Madapdap, Dee Hwa Liong College Foundation, Don Bosco Academy Pampanga (originally from Bacolor; moved to Mabalacat after lahar struck the old campus), Don Teodoro V. Santos Institute, Doña Asuncion Lee Integrated School, Great Shepherd Christian Academy, Immanuel Montessori School, Inc., Clark College of Science and Technology, Jose C. Feliciano College, Mabalacat Christian Academy, Mary Help of Christians School, Inc., Montessori School of St. Nicholas, Nehemiah Christian School, Inc., School of the Infant Jesus the Empowered Zone for Excellence in Education, Inc. Dau, Shield of Victory Christian School, St. Anthony College of Technology, St. Mutien College, and Divine Grace Academy, FDSA Aviation College of Science and Technology Inc. Listed with and accredited by TESDA is the Asian Institute of Computer Studies (AICS), a private technical school offering I.T. courses.

Gallery

File:Our Lady of Grace Parish Church, Mabalacat City, Pampanga.jpg, Our Lady of Grace Parish File:Mabalacat 2.JPG, Entering Mabalacat File:Jomafer Supermarket, Xevera, Mabalacat City, Pampanga, Philippines.JPG, Robinsons Supermarket File:The Risen Lord United Methodist Church in Mabalacat, Pampanga (Dec, 2020).jpg, The Risen Lord United Methodist Church File:3691ajfChrist Prince Peace Parish Mabalacat Pampangafvf 04.JPG, Parish of Christ the Prince of Peace located at Mauaque Resettlement, Sapang Biabas

References

External links

* Philippine Standard Geographic Codebr>Philippine Census InformationLocal Governance Performance Management System
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