Bulakan

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Bulakan
Bulacan

Municipality

Town hall of Bulakan, Bulacan

Flag

Seal

Map of Bulacan

Bulakan
Location within the Philippines

Coordinates:

1447N 12052ECoordinates:

1447N 12052E

Country

Philippines

Region

Central Luzon (Region III)

Province

Bulacan

District

1st District

Founded

1572

Barangays

14

Government[1]
Mayor

Patrick Neil F. Meneses (NUP)

Vice-Mayor

Alberto G. Bituin (NUP)

Area[2]
Total

72.9 km2 (28.1 sq mi)

Highest elevation

30 m (100 ft)

Population (2015 census)[3]

Total

76,565

Density

1,100/km2 (2,700/sq mi)

Poverty rate

5.7%

Time zone

PST (UTC+8)

ZIP code

3017

IDD:area code

+63(0)44

Income class

1st class

Electricity

Manila Electric Company

Consumption

23.71 million kWh (2003)

Bulakan is a first class partially urban municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According
to the 2015 census, it has a population of 76,565 people.[3] It is 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Manila.
Bulacan, which is one of the oldest towns in the Philippines, became the encomienda or capital of
the Provincia de la Pampanga, and later became the first capital of the Province of Bulacan before it
was moved to Malolos shortly after the American occupation. With regards to whether to use the
letters "c" or "k" to refer to the municipality of Bulakan, the New Provincial Administrative Code of
Bulacan (Ordinance no. C-004) of 2007 states on Chapter 2, Section 15 that the word "Bulakan"
stands for the municipality and first capital of the province while "Bulacan" refers to the province
itself.[4]
Contents
[hide]

1Geography
o 1.1Barangays
2history
3Demographics
o 3.1Number of households
o 3.2Sex and age structure
o 3.3Religion
o 3.4Language
o 3.5Literacy rate
4Municipal government
5Education
6Our Lady of Assumption Church
7Notable people
8See also
9References
10External links

Geography[edit]
The municipality of Bulakan lies in the south-western part of the province of Bulacan and is
surrounded by a number of municipalities. It is bounded on the North by the Municipality of
Guiguinto, on the South by the Manila Bay, on the East by the Municipality of Bocaue, on the West
by the City of Malolos, on the Northeast by the Municipality of Balagtas and on the Southeast by the
Municipality of Obando. It is about 35 kilometers away from the City of Manila. Approximately, 72.90
square kilometers or 2.7284% of the total land area of the entire Province. It ranks tenth (10th) in
terms of land area among other municipalities in the province.

Barangays[edit]
Bulakan is politically subdivided into 14 barangays. NSO classified Barangay San Jose and
Bagumbayan as urban barangay, the rest are rural.[2]

Bagumbayan
Balubad
Bambang
Matungao
Maysantol (Cupang)
Perez
Pitpitan
San Francisco
San Jose (Poblacion)
San Nicolas
Santa Ana
Santa Ines
Taliptip
Tibig

history[edit]
The name "Bulakan" is derived from the Tagalog word "bulak", which means "cotton". The town was
named Bulacan due to the abundance of cotton plants growing in the region. The town is one of the
oldest in the country.
The Augustinians founded Bulakan as one of the visitas of Convento de Tondo in 1575 under its
minister Fray Alonzo Alvarado OSA and in 1578 it became Town Parish and Convent dedicated it
under the patronage of Nuestra Seora de la Asuncin with Caluya (became town in 1599) and
Guiguinto (became town in 1641) as its visitas.[5] According to local records, Father Agustin del
Alburqueque, OSA is the first Prior of the Town.[6]
In a census of June 1591, the Provincia of Bulacan had 1,200 tributes or 4,800 persons, one
Augustinian convent, One Gobernadorcillo and one Alcalde mayor (present day governor) who had
jurisdiction over the Towns of Bulakan (then capital)
Malolos,Calumpit,Guiguinto,Caluya,Meycauayan.In the heart of the town stands the centuries-old
adobe church of Our Lady of the Assumption (Nuestra Seora de la Asuncin). In front of the church
stands the municipal hall and a park named "Plaza del Pilar", which is dedicated to Revolutionary
General Gregorio del Pilar who hailed from Brgy. San Jose, Bulakan.
The Parish Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, the second oldest Roman Catholic church in the
province, and the longest and widest in terms of aisle length and span respectively. It has a
baptismal book entry as early as 1578. On the first page of the book, written was the name of the
barrio of the town of Bulacan, Bagio, Bulacan (Camino Real), Daan Estacion, Matungao, Cupang,

Banban, Dapdap, Parian, Balubad, Pitpitan, Maysantor, Acsajo, Paniqui, San Nicolas, Nagdasig,
Calungusan, Taliktik and Sta Ana.
After 400 long years, changes have been made to the old barrios that consist the town, Bagio
become part of Bagumbayan in 1731, Tibig exist in 1735, Dapdap was renamed Sta. Ana in 1741,
Nagdasig become part of Tab-Ang in 1744 and now San Francisco, Parian was renamed Sta. Inez
in 1765, Bulacan (Camino Real), Daan Estacion, Paniqui and Calungusan was created into one
barrio and was named San Jose, Barrio Pitpitan occupied Acsajo, Cupang was joined to Maysantor
now Maysantol, Banban became Bangbang and now Bambang, Perez exist as separate Barrio of
Taliktik now Taliptip, and with the same old name of Barrio's San Nicolas, Matungao and Balubad.
The early Bulaqueos, the residents of Bulakan, were engaged in farming, fishing and handicrafts,
especially weaving.
The town of Bulakan, being the first capital of the province, gave the name to the province as
customary to the other provinces of the early Philippines (like Cavite, Cavite; Tayabas, Tayabas
(now Quezon) or Batangas, Batangas). It was the hub of economic activities and the inhabitants
enjoyed excellent trade with Manila, primarily due to its proximity to the city and accessibility through
its wide and navigable river.
Bulakan was also the scene of battle between the Spaniards led by Simn de Anda y Salazar and
the British led by Captain Slay during the short British occupation of Manila. The British sent an
expedition of 400 British, 300 Malabar Negroes and 2,000 Chinese allies. The Spaniards with the
native of Bulacan made a gallant stand but were defeated. Captain Slay eventually took over the
town but did not last long. A huge group of about 8000 Filipino guerillas led by Spanish Jose Pedro
Busto made a nine long days battle in front of the church up to the foot bridge against Captain Slay.
They made Captain Slay to retreat to Manila. On this fight Bulakeos have shown for the first time
an extraordinary martyrdom. The British attempt of conquering the rest of the country was gone
astray because of the marvelous fight made by Bulakeos.[citation needed]s
The Church of Nstra Snra de la Asuncion is the birthplace of Flores de Mayo, a feast for the Virgin
Mary, held throughout the Philippines in the month of May. it is also the birthplace of the traditional
song, Dalit: a poetic chant for the patrons of a certain barrio or town. For centuries, the Church of the
Our lady of the Assumption served as the bastion of the Catholic faith all over the province. it served
as the central church: a cathedral-like church serving as a primus inter pares among the poblacion
churches of Bulakan. after the erection of the Diocese of Malolos, its former glory slowly faded as
the focus turned to the Cathedral of the neighboring town, Malolos: a church erected 2 years later in
1580. As the former capital of the secular rule, as well as the fortress of Christianity, it is due to give
honor to this century-old church. thus, the faithful along with the incumbent parish priest, Rev. Fr.
Manuel Manicad, petitioned a request to the bishop, His Excellency Jose Francisco Oliveros, Bishop
of Malolos, to declare the church as a Diocesan Shrine. Up until now, there is no response from the
Diocesan Curia. The town still enjoys trade and commerce with the neighboring towns and Manila
with whom she shares a coastline, a place that is replete with historical and glorious past.

Demographics[edit]
Population census of Bulakan
Year

Pop.

% p.a.

1990

48,770

1995

54,236

+2.01%

2000

62,903

+3.23%

2007

72,289

+1.94%

2010

71,751

0.27%

2015

76,565

+1.24%

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[3][7]

In the 2015 census, the population of Bulakan, was 76,565 people,[3] with a density of 1,100
inhabitants per square kilometre or 2,800 inhabitants per square mile.
In the 2010 census, the Municipality of Bulakan had a total population of 71,751. Barangay
Bambang is the most densely populated with 13,566. It is followed by Barangay Matungao and
Barangay Sta. Ana with 9,699 and 7,685 respectively, on the other hand, the least populated
barangay are Barangay Perez and Barangay Santa Ines with 2,152 and 2,682 respectively.[7]
Compared with the Municipality's population in 1995 which was 54,624, it shows an increase of
10,060 persons from 1995 to 2004. An annual growth rate of 1,117 or an average increase of
18.42% in the span of nine (9) years.
The highest percentage changes in population from 1995-2004 was exhibited in Barangay Perez,
Pitpitan, Sta. Ines, Tibig, Bagumbayan with an increase of 56.33%, 54.74%, 39.73%, 34.66%, and
33.46% respectively.
On the other hand, barangays that shows the least percentage change in population are Barangay
San Francisco, Matungao, and Bambang with only an increase of 0.4%, 2.95% and 7.57%
respectively.

Number of households[edit]
The Community Base Monitoring System (CBMS) survey as of January 2005 showed a total of
14,523 household. In comparison with the total number of household of 12,488 in 2002 an increase
of 2,035 households from 2002-2005 is realized.

Sex and age structure[edit]

Like the rest of the country, the population in Bulakan exhibits a pyramidal age structure. The
population between the age 0-14 accounts for 18,586 or 35% of the total population. On the other
hand, 31,963 or 61% belongs to the 1564 years old age bracket and only 2,103 or 4% are in the
age bracket of 65 years old and above.
In terms of sex distribution the female population slightly out numbered the male population by .47%
in 2002 Census on Population. There were 31,553 male population as against the 31,702 female
population which results to sex ratio of 1 male is to 1.004 female comparatively.

Religion[edit]
The Roman Catholic, remained the dominant religion since its propagation in the town 1572. Out of
the 64,684 total population in 2004, 56,436 or 87.25% were Roman Catholics. Other Christians faith
that have found their way in the town are Members Church of God International more known as Ang
Dating Daan, Iglesia ni Cristo, United Methodist Church, United Church of Christ in the Philippines,
and many others.

Language[edit]

Generally the town of Bulakan is a Tagalog speaking town. About 86.8% speak Tagalog while the
rest speak Kapampangan.

Literacy rate[edit]
The 2005 Community Based Monitoring System Survey shows that the Population of 10 years old
and above are around 38,164 persons and about 37,822 have a literacy rate of 99.10 percent.
The 2005 Community Based Monitoring System Survey also shows that there are only 219 licensed
professionals here, the lowest in the whole province.

Municipal government[edit]

Mayor: MENESES, PATRICK NEIL F.

Vice Mayor: BITUIN, ALBERTO G.
Councilors:
SANCHEZ, REINA RICA CRUZ
TRINIDAD, JAY-RYAN MORALES
MENESES, PICCOLO INIGO FRANCISCO
LAVA, ROSALIE VILLANUEVA
TANSINSIN, JEFF CRUZ
SAN PEDRO, MARILYN FERNANDO
SEVILLA, RODOLFO JR. GALVEZ
NERIC, MA. GLORIA MENDOZA

Education[edit]
Every barangay has its own day-care for pre-elementary pupils and an elementary school. There are
also many private elementary schools situated in different barangays.
The municipality has two public high schools, Taliptip National High School and Doa Candeleria
Meneses Duque Memorial High School, and five private high schools, Assumpta Academy, Doa
Trinidad Mendoza Institute, Bulacan Montessori School, Bulacan Methodist School San Francisco
Xavier High School. Each barangay has public elementary school and several private elementary
school like St. Stephen School of Bulacan, ICSM Annex located at Barangay Bambang, San
Lorenzo Ruiz Montessori School at Barangay Matungao.
On tertiary level education, the Bulacan State University - Meneses Campus is a satellite campus of
Bulacan State University, situated in Barangay Matungao.

Our Lady of Assumption Church[edit]

The facade of the Nuestra Seora de la Asuncion Parish Church

Main article: Our Lady of Assumption Church (Bulakan)

The parish church of the town, Our Lady of the Assumption Church, under the jurisdiction of
the Roman Catholic Diocese of Malolos,[8] is one of the oldest and largest churches in
the Bulacan Province. It is the site where Gregorio Del Pilar distributed the pamphlets made by his
uncle, Marcelo H. Del Pilar who is a member of the Propaganda Movement. The National Historical
Commission of the Philippinesinstalled a historical marker in 2007 that declared the Bulakan Church
as a Marked Historical Structure.

The National Historical Commission of the Philippines marker installed in front of the Nuestra Seora de la
Asuncion Parish Church in 2007

Notable people[edit]

Marcelo H. Del Pilar: Lawyer, Journalist and Activist, he was one of the leaders of
the Propaganda Movement during the Spanish period and served as the second editor-in-chief
of La Solidaridad.
Gregorio Del Pilar: Katipunero nephew of Marcelo H. del Pilar who served as one of the
youngest Generals of the Philippine Revolutionand the First Philippine Republic.