Santo Tomas, officially the City of Santo Tomas ('), is a component city 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 ...

Batangas Batangas, officially the Province of Batangas ( ), is a first class province of the Philippines located in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Calabarzon region. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 2,908,494 people, making ...

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 218,500 people. Santo Tomas got its name from Spanish for

Saint Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest, the foremost Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the Western tradition. A Doctor of the Church, he wa ...

, a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

saint whose patronal feast day is celebrated every March 7. It is also the hometown of

Philippine Revolution The Philippine Revolution ( or ; or ) was a war of independence waged by the revolutionary organization Katipunan against the Spanish Empire from 1896 to 1898. It was the culmination of the 333-year History of the Philippines (1565–1898), ...

and

Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War, known alternatively as the Philippine Insurrection, Filipino–American War, or Tagalog Insurgency, emerged following the conclusion of the Spanish–American War in December 1898 when the United States annexed th ...

hero

Miguel Malvar Miguel Malvar y Carpio (September 27, 1865 – October 13, 1911) was a Filipino general who served during the Philippine Revolution and, subsequently, during the Philippine–American War. He assumed command of the Philippine revolutionary forc ...

, the last Filipino general to surrender to the Americans.

History

Santo Tomas was founded in 1666, with Manuel Melo as its first head. Originally, it was composed of a large ''poblacion''. When the Spanish friars arrived, their first and foremost objective was to construct a church near the river to satisfy their inclination for water. Thus, the present site of a Roman Catholic church was chosen near the San Juan River. As years went by, more houses were built around the church. This became the center of the ''poblacion''. Other groups of houses were scattered all over the area. They were given such odd names as "Kabaong", because of coffin-shaped stones along the road; "Putol" because the trail was cut short by

Mount Makiling Mount Makiling (also spelled Maquiling) is an inactive stratovolcano located in the provinces of Laguna and Batangas on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The mountain rises to an elevation of above mean sea level and is the highest feat ...

; "Aptayin", because "apta" or fine shrimps were found in the brook; "Biga", because biga trees abounded there; and "Camballao", as in "kambal" (twin) because twin rivers divided the place. These different unit groups comprised the barrios of the town. The natives were by nature God-fearing, peaceful and obedient. Colonial officials did not much have difficulty enforcing decrees and orders. One such irrevocable decree was to change the original names of the ''barrios'' to the names of saints in the Catholic calendar and to place each them under its ''patrotonio''; the former "Pook" and "Aptayin" were joined and called San Bartolome, "Kabaong" was changed to San Vicente, "Biga" to Santa Anastacia, and "Camballao" to San Isidro Sur and San Isidro Norte. The whole town was given the name of ''Santo Tomas de Aquino'', after a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

of the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

to where most of the first friars belonged. As time went by, more barrios were added to the list each with an assumed name of a saint. From the year 1666, the head of the town had different titles, variously known as ''captain'' from 1666 to 1782, ''alcalde'' from 1783 to 1788, ''gobernadorcillo'' from 1789 to 1821, ''presidente local'' from 1822 to 1899, ''presidente municipal'' from 1900 to 1930, and ''mayor'' from 1931 to present.

Cityhood

In 2016, Nelson P. Collantes, the then-representative of Batangas's 3rd District, filed a House bill to convert Santo Tomas into a component city. After few years, with a unanimous vote of 19–0, the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

approved a bill for the municipality's conversion into a city on March 19, 2018. On October 5, 2018,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...

signed Republic Act No. 11086, making Santo Tomas the first municipality to be converted into a city under his administration. It was effectively ratified on September 7, 2019 through a plebiscite wherein majority of residents who voted approved the cityhood.

Geography

Santo Tomas is located at . It is situated at the foot of

and is 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 Batangas City. The city is part of Mega Manila resulting from the continuous expansion of

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...

. It borders the cities of Calamba to the north, Los Baños to the north-east, Alaminos to the east, Tanauan and Malvar to the west, and Lipa to the south. According to the

Philippine Statistics Authority The Philippine Statistics Authority (; PSA) is the central statistical authority of the Philippine government that collects, compiles, analyzes, and publishes statistical information on economic, social, demographic, political affairs, and gene ...

, the component city has a land area of constituting of the total area of Batangas.

Barangays

Santo Tomas is politically subdivided into 30

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 in the matrix 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 ...

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, Santo Tomas had a population of 218,500. The population density was .

Economy

The First Philippine Industrial Park which is owned by the Lopez Group of Companies is located in the city. Most of the city is residential with a lot of farmlands. There are also some developed subdivisions along the city like the San Antonio Heights in Barangay San Antonio which was developed by Avida Land, a division of Ayala Land, Camella Homes, and Terrazza de Santo Tomas in Barangay San Roque which was developed by Ovialand. The city is well known for an entire strip of '' bulalo'' (bone marrow soup) restaurants and to a hospital named Saint Cabrini Medical Center which is located inside the city center. Aside from various real estate development in the city, Santo Tomas also has a popular lifestyle and commercial complex in the locality. The Lifestyle Strip, AllHome Santo Tomas, Liana's Junction Santo Tomas, and SM City Santo Tomas are known shopping destinations that operate in the city and soon. S&R Membership Shopping Santo Tomas will also be opened by the second half of 2024.

Transportation

Roads

The

Pan-Philippine Highway The Pan-Philippine Highway, also known as the Maharlika Highway (; ), is a network of roads, expressways, bridges, and ferry services that connect the islands of Luzon, Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao in the Philippines, serving as the country's p ...

or Maharlika Highway connects the city with Calamba, the rest of Laguna, with the highway reaching as far as

Bicol Region The Bicol Region, designated as Region V, is an administrative region of the Philippines. It comprises six Provinces of the Philippines, provinces, four on the Bicol Peninsula (the luzon#Southeastern Luzon, southeastern end of Luzon): Albay, Ca ...

. The Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR Tollway) and South Luzon Expressway start at the city connects the city with Batangas City and

, respectively. The Jose P. Laurel Highway connects the city with Tanauan City, Lipa and Batangas City.

Public transport

Jeepney A jeepney (), or simply a jeep (), is a type of Public transport, public utility vehicle (PUV) that serves as the most popular means of Transportation in the Philippines, public transportation in the Philippines. Known for its crowded seating ...

s (Filipino: "dyip") connect the city with Calamba to the north, Tanauan to the south, and San Pablo to the east. Buses from Manila to Batangas City,

Lucena Lucena (, American Spanish: , European Spanish: ), officially known as the City of Lucena (), is a highly urbanized city situated in the Calabarzon region (Region IV-A) of the Philippines. The city is the largest urban center and capital of ...

, or Bicol serve the city.

UV Express Utility Vehicle (UV) Express (formerly known as FX, Metered Taxi, and GT or Garage-to-Terminal Express) is a license to operate utility vehicles, particularly vans, as an alternative mode of public transport in the Philippines. The term also refe ...

service also connects Santo Tomas with San Pablo, Santa Rosa, Lipa, and Dasmariñas.

Tricycles A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a human-powered (or gasoline or electric motor powered or assisted, or gravity powered) three-wheeled vehicle. Some tricycles, such as cycle rickshaws (for passenger transport) and freight trikes, ...

provide transportation within the barangays.

Government

Local government

* Mayor: Arth Jhun A. Marasigan * Vice Mayor: Catherine J. Perez * Councilors: ** Ross Allan D. Maligaya ** Leovino M. Villegas ** Raquel M. Maloles-Salazar ** Danilo P. Mabilangan ** Arlene F. Manebo ** Arturo U. Pecaña ** Gerardo M. Malijan ** Helengrace P. Navarro ** Victor O. Bathan ** Adrian C. Carpio * ABC President: Ladislao M. Malijan * SK Federation President: Angel Faye Parra

Education

Universities

The

Polytechnic University of the Philippines The Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP; ) is a public, coeducational, research university in Santa Mesa, Manila, Philippines. It was founded on 19 October 1904, as the Manila Business School (MBS) and as part of Manila's public sch ...

has one

campus A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a corp ...

in Santo Tomas. It is a constituent branch of the PUP System and the only institution of higher learning in Santo Tomas that serves the city and neighboring cities.

Public high schools

The city has 5 public high schools, all overseen by the Schools Division Office (SDO) of Sto. Tomas City. * San Jose National High School * San Pedro National High School * Santa Clara Integrated National High School (JHS and SHS) * Santa Anastacia-San Rafael National High School * Sto. Tomas City National High School * Santo Tomas Senior High School (SHS only)

Public elementary schools

There are 27 public elementary schools within Santo Tomas, all overseen by the SDO of Sto. Tomas City.

Santo Tomas North District

A. Zone 1 * Santo Tomas North Central School * San Roque Elementary School * Santa Cruz Elementary School B. Zone 2 * San Antonio Elementary School * Santiago Elementary School * Santa Anastacia Elementary School C. Zone 3 * Doña Tiburcia Carpio Malvar Elementary School * San Bartolome Elementary School * San Vicente Elementary School

Santo Tomas South District

A. Zone 4 * Santo Tomas South Central School (formerly San Pedro Elementary School) * San Francisco Elementary School * San Isidro Elementary School * Santa Elena Elementary School * Santa Maria Elementary School * Gerardo A. Masarap Elementary School B. Zone 5 * San Agustin Elementary School * San Felix Elementary School * San Jose Elementary School * San Juan Elementary School * San Pablo Elementary School * Santa Ana Elementary School C. Zone 6 * San Fernando Elementary School * San Joaquin Elementary School * San Luis Elementary School * Santa Clara Elementary School * Santa Teresita Elementary School

Private schools

There are 18 private schools within the Santo Tomas. * Almond Academy Foundation Inc. * AMS Learning School * Blue Isle Integrated School * Clareville School * Elyon Academia Foundation, Inc. * Greenville Academy of Santa Clara * His Care Learning Center of Santa Maria * Hope Christian Academy of Santo Tomas * Kids for Jesus Academy Inc. * Maranatha Christian Academy of Santo Tomas * Maranatha Christian Academy of Blue Isle * Mother Barbara Micarelli School * Nikiesha's Interactive Camp Child Development Center Inc. * Pedagogia Children's School (Santo Tomas) * San Bartolome Adventist Elementary School * Saint Thomas Academy * Saint Thomas Montessori Learning Center * The Golden Child Literacy Place

Mythology

Philippine mythology Philippine mythology is rooted in the many indigenous Philippine folk religions. Philippine mythology exhibits influence from Hinduism, Hindu, Islam, Muslim, Buddhism, Buddhist, and Christianity, Christian traditions. Philippine mythology ...

, the homeland of the anggitays is believed to be somewhere in Santo Tomas, Batangas. The anggitays are creatures resembling centaurs but have a single horn on the forehead and are generally female.

Notable personalities

– Filipino

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...

general

References

External links

* * Philippine Standard Geographic Code
Santo Tomas, Batangas Wordpress
{{Authority control 1666 establishments in the Philippines Component cities in the Philippines Cities in Batangas