Santa Cruz, officially the Municipality of Santa Cruz (; ; ), 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 ...

Zambales Zambales, officially the Province of Zambales (; ; ; ; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region. Its capital is Iba, Zambales, Iba, which is located in t ...

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 63,839 people. Santa Cruz is from

Olongapo Olongapo (), officially the City of Olongapo (; ; ; Kapampangan: ''Lakanbalen/Ciudad ning Olongapo''), is a highly urbanized city in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 260,317 peo ...

, from Iba, 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 ...

Geography

Barangays

Santa Cruz is politically subdivided into 25

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 ...

. * Babuyan * Bangcol * Bayto * Biay * Bolitoc * Bulawon * Canaynayan * Gama * Guinabon * Guisguis * Lipay * Lomboy * Lucapon North * Lucapon South * Malabago * Naulo * Pagatpat * Pamonoran *

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 ...

North * Poblacion South * Sabang * San Fernando * Tabalong * Tubotubo North * Tubotubo South

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Santa Cruz, Zambales, was 63,839 people, with a density of .

Economy

The banking and financial sectors are well developed in this town. Several banks such as

Philippine National Bank The Philippine National Bank (PNB, ; ; Hokkien in the Philippines, Hokkien ) is a major Filipino bank based in Pasay in the Philippines. It was established by the Philippine government on July 22, 1916, during the Insular Government, America ...

Bank of Commerce Bank of Commerce (), commonly known as BankCom, is a universal bank in the Philippines and licensed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). BankCom is the banking arm of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corporation (SMC). It has a total ...

, BDO Network Bank, and some rural banks are in place, as well as remittance centers including Palawan Pawnshop, Cebuana Luillher,

Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Denver, Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the co ...

and LBC Express including other local pawnshops. Convenience store, local department stores, grocery stores and pharmaceutical shops serve the public. Two cinema houses (the Ebido and Mose) previously served the locals but due to the high availability of recording media such as online movies, the cinema houses eventually closed. Cable television services, the

PLDT PLDT, Inc., formerly known as the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (), is a Philippine telecommunications, internet and digital service company. PLDT is one of the Philippine's major telecommunications providers, along with Globe Te ...

Telephone/Fiber network (previously Digitel) and more recently

Converge ICT Converge ICT Solutions Inc., doing business as Converge (also known as ComClark in Pampanga), is a telecommunication service provider in the Philippines. It operates fiber optic broadband networks, Internet Protocol television (marketed as Co ...

have been supplemented by the internet.

Education

The town has both public and private educational institutions, including those run by religious organizations, foundations and individuals. The President Ramon Magsaysay State University (PRMSU) Sta Cruz Canpus is part of the PRMSU system operating in the whole of Zambales Province, offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in teaching and other courses. Columban College - Santa Cruz campus is part of the Columban College System controlled by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Iba, headed by the Bishop of Diocese of Iba. Micro Asia College of Science and Technology - Santa Cruz campus offers primary, junior and senior high school, and college degrees in computer science and computer engineering, as well as TESDA courses. Santa Cruz Academy is a parochial secondary school operated and controlled by St. Michael the Archangel Parish of Santa Cruz. The Santa Cruz High School is operated by the local government alongside Lipay High School, Santa Cruz South High School, Don Marcelo Marty High School, San Fernando High School, Acoje Mines High School, Mena Memorial Higj School and Guisguis National High School. St. Michael School is a private school that caters Preparatory, Elementary, and High School Education. Children of Zion Montessori School inc. is a private school that caters preparatory up to elementary. Santa Cruz has plentiful primary education wherein every barangay has its own elementary schools and some have high school departments established.

References

External links

* Philippine Standard Geographic Codebr>Philippine Census Information
{{Authority control Municipalities of Zambales 1612 establishments in New Spain