San Miguel, Bulacan

The municipality of San Miguel de Mayumo was established in 1763 by Carlos Agustin Maniquiz, his wife Maria Juana Puno, and Miguel Pineda, with Pineda as the first town mayor of San Miguel. Miguel Pineda was a native of Angat, Bulacan who decided to settle permanently in the barrio of San Bartolome (now named Barangay Tartaro). He found the place ideal for hunting and was later chosen as the leader of other settlers. He formed an alliance with Mariano Puno, the recognized leader of the adjacent prosperous village called Santo Rosario (now named Barangay Mandile).

The town was previously part of Pampanga, hence San Miguel's culture having Kapampangan influence; it was separated from Candaba. In 1848, the town and the neighboring barrios, which were then part of Pampanga, were added to the territory of the Province of Bulacan.^[6]

The Pact of Biak-Na-Bato

During the Philippine Revolution in 1897, newly appointed Governor-General Fernando Primo de Rivera decided to crush Emilio Aguinaldo and his troops in Cavite, but Aguinaldo fled to Batangas and joined forces with Gen. Miguel Malvar. The Spaniards continue their pursuit but the troops outwitted them by going to the district of Morong (now Rizal) and finally to Biak-na-Bato in San Miguel, Bulacan. Aguinaldo made the mountain caves into his headquarters.^[7][8]

Biak-na-Bato (21.17 km² (8.17 sq mi) in the villages of Kalawakan and Talbak in Doña Remedios Trinidad town and the villages of Biak-na-Bato and Sibul) served as one of the camps of the revolutionary Katipunan forces during the Philippine Revolution. It was declared a national park by Manuel L. Quezon on November 16, 1937, through Proclamation No. 223.^[9]

Between 1903 and 1906, the adjacent town of San Ildefonso was consolidated with San Miguel due to the former's low income and inability to finance its expenditures in operating the local government.^[10] It was later separated from the town to become an independent town of its own when it became capable of meeting its expenses.^[11]

During World War II, Japanese Imperial ground troops entered and occupied the town municipality of San Miguel on 1942. Soldiers of the Philippine Commonwealth Army and Philippine Constabulary units retreated into the nearby mountains to become the Bulakeño guerrilla resistance against the Japanese occupation forces until the province's liberation.

San Miguel was the largest town in the province of Bulacan until September 13, 1977, when Doña Remedios Trinidad, currently the largest municipality of Bulacan, was established under Presidential Decree No. 1196 during the term of President Ferdinand Marcos. Barangays Camachin, Kalawakan, and Talbac were ceded to the new municipality.^[12]

On August 26, 2007, residents at the foot of the Biak-na-Bato mountains petitioned president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to declare the mountains protected areas to stop marble quarrying and mining in the area.^[13]

In August 2014 during a field trip to the Madlum Cave, seven students of Bulacan State University died after they were swept away following heavy rains which triggered a flash flood while crossing the Madlum river.^[14]

The prevailing climatic conditions in the municipality is categorized into two types: Wet season and dry season.

• Wet Season - (Rainy season or Monsoon season)
• Dry Season - (Summer season)

San Miguel is politically subdivided into 49 barangays, as shown in the matrix below.^[16] Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios

There are 11 urban and the rest rural barangays in the town.

The municipality, along with two other municipalities (Remedios Trinidad and Norzagaray) and one city (San Jose del Monte) of Bulacan, is the homeland of the Alta Kabulowan, the first inhabitants of Bulacan, whose language is also called Alta Kabulowan. Their language is currently endangered and is in dire need of local government intervention. The majority of residents in the town are native speakers of the Tagalog language. Due to its proximity with Pampanga towns and it was part of Pampanga, some residents also speak the Kapampangan language.

Currently, San Miguel is divided into four parishes and a large number of visitas, all of which are under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Malolos. These are Diocesan Shrine and Parish of San Miguel Arcangel located in Brgy. Poblacion; San Jose Esposo de Maria Parish located in Brgy. San Jose; Nuestra Señora delos Remedios Parish located in Brgy. Sibul Springs; and Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish located in Brgy. Salacot.

The traditions are very alive and well-preserved in San Miguel, as shown by the Holy Week processions in the mother church, which include about 60 carrozas. Numerous images of our Lord, the Blessed Mother, and saints, visited this church, such as the Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno of Quiapo and La Purisima Concepcion de Santa Maria. Every May 8, San Miguel holds its town fiesta, and every September 29, it celebrates its Pistang Patron celebration.

The tradition of Los Desposorios or the Betrothal of Mary and Joseph is very alive at San Jose Esposo de Maria Parish in Brgy. San Jose. The said parish celebrates its fiesta every 26 November, the traditional date which the Augustinians celebrates the feast of the Betrothal. It will start with Procesion de los Desposorios and after that, the antique image of Saint Joseph and Our Lady meets at the patio of the parish and the rite of the Renewal of Vows will be conducted.

• Municipal Mayor: John "Bong" A. Alvarez (Lakas-CMD)
• Municipal Vice Mayor: Gerome "Jhong" D. Reyes (NUP)
• Sangguniang Bayan Members:

1. Christopher Tolentino Beltran (Lakas-CMD)
2. Pol David Roura Buencamino (PFP)
3. Sarah Jane Dela Cruz Gatchalian (Lakas-CMD)
4. Joseph Noel Perez De Guzman (Lakas-CMD)
5. Mary Joy Ann Salimbao Chico (PFP)
6. Emmanuel Dela Cruz Magtalas (Lakas-CMD)
7. Romeo Catiis Magat (PFP)
8. Wilfredo De Leon Dela Cruz (PFP)