San Leonardo, officially the Municipality of San Leonardo (), 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 ...

Nueva Ecija Nueva Ecija, officially the Province of Nueva Ecija ( ; ; ; ), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Palayan, while Cabanatuan, its former capital, is the largest Local gove ...

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 68,536 people.

History

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Imperial Japanese The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From 1910 to 19 ...

forces sacked San Leonardo during the opening stages of the Japanese Occupation. Novo Ecijano and

Hukbalahap The Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon (), better known by the acronym Hukbalahap, was a Filipino communist guerrilla movement formed by the farmers of Central Luzon. They were originally formed to fight the Japanese, but extended their fight int ...

Communist guerrilla resistance groups from 1942 to 1944 in the town fought the invaders, until the town's liberation in 1945. From January to April 1945, the combined military force of the Philippine Commonwealth Army,

Philippine Constabulary The Philippine Constabulary (PC; , ''HPP''; ) was a gendarmerie-type military police force of the Philippines from 1901 to 1991, and the predecessor to the Philippine National Police. It was created by the Insular Government, American occupat ...

, and the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

recaptured and liberated the town. The joint forces assisted the Novo Ecijano and Hukbalahap Communist resistance groups in defeating the soldiers and officers of the Imperial Japanese armed forces and the Makapili soldiers. Thus began the Battle of San Leonardo and the Battle of Gapan between the Japanese and the combined American and Philippine Commonwealth troops on January to April 1945.

Geography

The municipality has a land area of 151.90 square kilometers or 58.65 square miles which constitutes 2.67% of Nueva Ecija's total area. This represented 2.97% of the total population of Nueva Ecija province, or 0.55% of the overall population of the Central Luzon region. Based on these figures, the population density is computed at 451 inhabitants per square kilometer or 1,169 inhabitants per square mile. San Leonardo is located between

Gapan Gapan , officially the City of Gapan (, Ilocano: ''Siudad ti Gapan'', Kapampangan: ''Ciudad/Lakanbalen ning Gapan''), is a component city in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 1 ...

and Santa Rosa along the Maharlika Highway. It is from

Cabanatuan Cabanatuan, officially the City of Cabanatuan (; ; kapampangan language, Kapampangan: ''Lakanbalen/Ciudad ning Cabanatuan''), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. Acco ...

, from Palayan, and from

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 ...

Barangays

San Leonardo is politically subdivided into 15

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 shown 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 ...

. *Bonifacio (Población) *Burgos (Población) *Castellano *Diversion *Magpapalayoc *Mallorca *Mambangnan *Nieves *Rizal (Población) *San Anton *San Bartolomé (Población) *San Roque *Tabuating *Tagumpay *Tambo-Adorable

Climate

Demographics

Religion

A majority of the populace is

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. Other religious groups, mostly

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, have churches and places of worship in the municipality. *St. Bartholomew the Apostle Parish Church *St. John Marie Vianney Parish *St. Jude Thaddeus of Nueva Ecija *Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Chapel - Magpapalayoc *Bethel United Methodist Church *Iglesia Ni Cristo - Lokal ng Castellano *Iglesia Ni Cristo - Lokal ng Nieves *Iglesia Ni Cristo - Lokal ng San Leonardo *Jesus Christ to God be the Glory Church International *Leap of Faith Christian Church *Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ (4th Watch) *United Pentecostal Church - San Leonardo *Victory Churches of Asia, Incorporated

Economy

Primarily depends on rice cultivation, vegetable production, poultry, piggery & commercial fishery. The area has a farming economy. San Leonardo has vast rice fields and land for growing vegetables and poultry products.

Education

Public elementary schools

* C.I. Villaroman ES (Formerly Magpapalayok Elementary School) * Castellano Elementary School * Mallorca Elementary School * Mambangnan Elementary School * Nieves Elementary School * San Anton Elementary School * San Leonardo Central School * San Roque Elementary School * Tagumpay Elementary School * Tambo North Elementary School * Tambo South Elementary School

Public high schools

* Magpapalayok National High School * Mallorca National High School * Mambangnan National High School * San Anton National High School * San Leonardo National High School * Tagumpay Nagaño High School * Tagumpay Integrated School

Tertiary

* Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology - San Leonardo Campus

Private schools

* Akarui Technical School Foundation * Clever Lane Montessori School * Dr. Gloria D. Lacson Foundation Colleges * Lasaltech Academy * San Leonardo Academy * San Lorenzo Ruiz Diocesan Academy * Seraphin Learning Center * Trinity Christian School (TCS)

Healthcare

Hospitals and clinics can be found for their check up and treatment. *Dr. Gloria D. Lacson General Hospital *Nueva Ecija Medical Center * South Ecija Doctors Hospital

Gallery

File:San Leonardo Town Hall in Nueva Ecija.jpg, Town hall File:San Leonardo Nueva Ecija covered gymjf.jpg, Municipal covered courts File:St. Bartholomew Parish Church San Leonardo Nueva Ecijajf.jpg, St. Bartholomew the Apostle Church File:San Leonardo Public Market in Nueva Ecija.jpg, Public market File:San Leonardo Nueva Ecija gymnasiumjf.jpg, Biggest gymnasium in Nueva Ecija

References

External links

The Official Website of San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija
* Philippine Standard Geographic Codebr>Philippine Census InformationLocal Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control Municipalities of Nueva Ecija Populated places on the Pampanga River