Santo Tomas, Batangas

Nickname: Motto(s): Anthem: Ako ay Tomasino (I am a Tomasino)14°05′N 121°11′E / 14.08°N 121.18°E / 14.08; 121.18CountryPhilippinesRegionCalabarzonProvinceBatangasDistrict 3rd districtFounded7 March 1666CityhoodSeptember 7, 2019^[1]Named forSt. Thomas AquinasBarangays30 (see Barangays)Government • TypeSangguniang Panlungsod • MayorArth Jhun A. Marasigan • Vice MayorCatherine J. Perez • RepresentativeMa. Theresa V. Collantes • City Council • Electorate111,393 voters (2022)Area • Total95.41 km² (36.84 sq mi)Elevation239 m (784 ft)Highest elevation1,094 m (3,589 ft)Lowest elevation5 m (16 ft)Population • Total218,500 • Density2,300/km² (5,900/sq mi) • Households59,686Economy • Income class1st city income class • Poverty incidence% (2018)^[5] • Revenue₱ 1,238 million (2020) • Assets₱ 3,045 million (2020) • Expenditure₱ 900.4 million (2020) • Liabilities₱ 471.8 million (2020)Service provider • ElectricityManila Electric Company (Meralco)Time zoneUTC+8 (PST)ZIP codePSGCIDD : area code +63 (0)43Native languagesTagalogPatron saintSt. Thomas AquinasWebsitehttps://cityofstotomas.gov.ph/

Sto.Tomas, officially the City of Sto.Tomas (Filipino: Lungsod ng Sto.Tomas), is a 1st class component city in the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 218,500 people.^[4]

The city is part of Mega Manila resulting from the continuous expansion of Metro Manila. 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.

Santo Tomas is the hometown of Philippine Revolution and Philippine–American War hero Miguel Malvar, the last Filipino General to surrender to the Americans.

Etymology

Santo Tomas got its name from Spanish for Saint Thomas Aquinas, a Catholic saint whose patronal feast day is celebrated every March 7.

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; "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 of the Dominican Order 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.^[6]

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.^[7] After few years, with a unanimous vote of 19–0, the Senate approved a bill for the municipality's conversion into a city on March 19, 2018.^[8] On October 5, 2018, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11086,^[9] making Santo Tomas the first municipality to be converted into a city under his administration.^[10] It was effectively ratified on September 7, 2019 through a plebiscite wherein majority of residents who voted approved the cityhood.^[1]

Geography

Santo Tomas is located at 14°05′N 121°11′E / 14.08°N 121.18°E / 14.08; 121.18. It is situated at the foot of Mount Makiling and is 61 kilometers (38 mi) south of Manila and 44 kilometers (27 mi) from Batangas City.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the component city has a land area of 95.41 square kilometers (36.84 sq mi) ^[11] constituting 3.06% of the 3,119.75-square-kilometer (1,204.54 sq mi) total area of Batangas.

Barangays

Santo Tomas is politically subdivided into 30 barangays.^[12] Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

PSGC	Barangay	Population			±% p.a.
		2020[4]		2010[13]
041028001	Barangay I (Poblacion)	0.8%	1,846	1,766	▴	0.44%
041028002	Barangay II (Poblacion)	1.3%	2,777	2,291	▴	1.94%
041028003	Barangay III (Poblacion)	1.2%	2,543	1,933	▴	2.78%
041028004	Barangay IV (Poblacion)	1.6%	3,542	2,806	▴	2.36%
041028005	San Agustin	1.1%	2,400	2,374	▴	0.11%
041028006	San Antonio	5.3%	11,657	9,085	▴	2.52%
041028007	San Bartolome	3.3%	7,205	5,897	▴	2.02%
041028008	San Felix	2.5%	5,548	4,388	▴	2.37%
041028009	San Fernando	1.1%	2,507	2,174	▴	1.44%
041028010	San Francisco	1.2%	2,623	2,469	▴	0.61%
041028011	San Isidro Norte	1.0%	2,289	1,663	▴	3.25%
041028012	San Isidro Sur	1.2%	2,653	2,309	▴	1.40%
041028013	San Joaquin	2.0%	4,417	3,844	▴	1.40%
041028014	San Jose	1.3%	2,785	2,160	▴	2.57%
041028015	San Juan	1.5%	3,177	3,012	▴	0.53%
041028016	San Luis	1.3%	2,932	2,414	▴	1.96%
041028017	San Miguel	4.6%	10,087	6,550	▴	4.41%
041028018	San Pablo	2.8%	6,083	5,057	▴	1.86%
041028019	San Pedro	2.6%	5,741	5,202	▴	0.99%
041028020	San Rafael	5.3%	11,654	6,632	▴	5.80%
041028021	San Roque	4.5%	9,745	8,909	▴	0.90%
041028022	San Vicente	5.7%	12,360	8,606	▴	3.69%
041028023	Santa Ana	0.7%	1,432	1,358	▴	0.53%
041028024	Santa Anastacia	6.7%	14,666	7,555	▴	6.86%
041028025	Santa Clara	3.3%	7,231	5,046	▴	3.66%
041028026	Santa Cruz	1.1%	2,504	2,104	▴	1.76%
041028027	Santa Elena	1.1%	2,358	1,638	▴	3.71%
041028028	Santa Maria	12.7%	27,843	10,169	▴	10.60%
041028029	Santiago	2.7%	5,978	4,277	▴	3.40%
041028030	Santa Teresita	0.6%	1,261	1,052	▴	1.83%
	Total		218,500	124,740	▴	5.76%

Climate

Demographics

Population census of Santo Tomas

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1903	9,488	—
1918	13,125	+2.19%
1939	16,544	+1.11%
1948	17,022	+0.32%
1960	22,716	+2.43%
1970	31,935	+3.46%
1975	37,452	+3.25%
1980	43,010	+2.81%
1990	58,209	+3.07%
1995	65,759	+2.31%
2000	80,393	+4.40%
2007	113,105	+4.82%
2010	124,740	+3.63%
2015	179,844	+7.22%
2020	218,500	+3.90%
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[15][13][16][17]

In the 2020 census, Santo Tomas had a population of 218,500.^[4] The population density was 2,300 inhabitants per square kilometre (6,000/sq mi).

Economy