Lubao
Lubao, officially the Municipality of Lubao, is a municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 190,355 people.
The town is known as the birthplace of Diosdado Macapagal, the 9th President of the Philippines.
Etymology
The town's name is derived from the indigenous term lubo which means low or sunken, reflective of the area's muddy and flooded characteristics. Lubao is also known by its Kapampangan language equivalent Baba.According to Spanish records by Fr. Diego Martínez, Lubao was also once called Lubag.
History
Precolonial era
Before the arrival of the Spaniards, Lubao was said to have already been one of the most prosperous major settlements in Pampanga. It is also the oldest as well as the cradle of Kapampangan civilization.By 1571, Lubao was a heavily fortified settlement claimed to be under the rule of Datu Macabulus, the last chieftain of Lubao who was part of the Soliman clan of Lubao. It is also claimed that the Soliman clan were the origin of the rulers of Maynila, such as Lakandula, Rajah Matanda and Rajah Sulayman, although this is not widely mentioned in scholarly works, except by historian John Larkin, who suggested that Rajah Sulayman was possibly from Lubao. Revolutionary leader of Tarlac, Francisco Macabulos, whose father himself was from Lubao, was a descendant of Datu Macabulus.
According to Governor-General Francisco de Sande, Lubao was the site of a major river in Pampanga, which helped the settlement produce large amounts of rice. By 1572, Lubao housed 3,500 people, who were described to be Moros, suggesting that Islam had already reached Lubao by the time of Spanish conquest.
Spanish colonial era
After the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Bangkusay on June 3, 1571 between the Spanish and Visayan mercenary forces of Legazpi and the combined Kapampangan-Tagalog fleet under Rajah Sulayman and Tarik Sulayman of Macabebe, Betis and Lubao remained defiant to Spanish rule, forcing the Spaniards to launch an invasion against them. After the Spanish conquest of Pampanga, Martín de Goiti, together with Lt. Antonio Carvajal and the Augustinian missionaries established Lubao as a Spanish settlement on September 14, 1571 after Datu Macabulus and the Council of Elders received the Spaniards with conciliatory promises of capitulation.Fr. Diego de Herrera first established a convent in the settlement where the locals constructed a brick church called the San Agustin Church in the nearby village of Gato in 1572, marking the beginning of Christianization of Lubao. Gato became a visita of Tondo in May 3 of the same year. In 1579, Fr. Francisco Manrique began his missionary efforts in the town.
In 1583, Kapampangans were forced to work in the goldmines of Ilocos and not allowed to return in time for the planting season, causing a severe food shortage and eventual famine in Lubao, leading to the deaths of 1,000 people in the town by 1584. Due to this aforementioned disaster and the abuses by encomenderos, a mass uprising occurred in Lubao in 1585 and other Kapampangan settlements, but were suppressed afterwards.
In 1589, Philip III of Spain ordered Governor-General Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas in the construction of a fort in Lubao after the recent raids by Sambals from the nearby Zambales region.
In 1591, Lubao was described to be an encomienda along with Betis under the Spanish crown, which housed 5,000 tributes which amounted to 20,000 inhabitants, with four Augustinian convents and an alcalde mayor with a deputy.
After the Francisco Maniago Revolt in October 1660, the people of Lubao was successfully persuaded by Juan Macapagal of Arayat to end their participation in the revolt. As a result of the revolt, Governor-General Sabiniano Manrique de Lara ordered the construction of a fort in Lubao called the Fortaleza de Mamalas, to serve as a garrison fort for any future revolts in the town.
Revolutionary era
On November 17, 1896, the people of Bataan invited the locals of Lubao to join in the attack against the Spanish church in Hermosa. The people of Lubao accepted the invitation, and together with the combined forces of the people from the towns of Lubao, Orani, Hermosa and Hagonoy in Bulacan, they attacked the Hermosa Church and proceeded to behead and mutilate the fingers and genitals of Fr. David Varas. Other parts of his body were turned into amulets. After the incident, Spanish forces along with a Kapampangan contingent launched an offensive against the revolutionaries at Orani, leading to the deaths of 200 revolutionaries. Two Spanish contingents were then assigned in the nearby towns of Dinalupihan and Hermosa.On June 3, 1898, Spanish religious authorities fled from Bataan and Lubao towards Macabebe, which was followed by a takeover by revolutionaries, who were later absorbed into the Philippine Revolutionary Army. On June 12, the Philippines under President Emilio Aguinaldo declared independence from Spain.
Philippine-American War
In 1899, the Church of Lubao was used as a hospital by American soldiers fighting the Philippine Republican Army. On September 22, 1900, the Military Government of the Philippine Islands under the United States placed Lubao under a civil administration. Between 1911–1912, a group of outlaws began raiding various barrios of Lubao near the Bataan border.World War II
On December 8, 1941, the Japanese Invasion of the Philippines began. On January 3, 1942, the Japanese 2nd Formosa Infantry pushed the USAFIP 11th Infantry south from Guagua, then on to Lubao in the evening of the 4th, and then to the Gumain River by the 5th.In January, Silvestre Liwanag reported the presence of armed groups of the Aguman ding Maldang Talapagobra stationed in the nearby mountains carrying homemade guns and stolen rifles from hacienderos in defiance to Japanese rule in Lubao, in which Liwanag would later join the group. These groups were later incorporated into the Hukbalahap, the leading communist resistance guerrilla organization at the time.
Geography
Located in the south-western part of Pampanga, Lubao is bounded by the municipalities of Sasmuan on the east, Guagua on the north-east, Floridablanca on the north and Hermosa, on the south. It is one of the three coastal towns in Pampanga along with Sasmuan and Macabebe and it is also noted for rice, sugar cane, fish, and sampaguita.Lubao is from San Fernando, from Angeles City, from Manila, and from Guagua.
Barangays
Lubao is politically subdivided into 44 barangays, as shown below. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.Cluster 1:
- San Isidro
- Santiago
- Santo Niño
- San Roque Arbol
- Baruya
- Lourdes
- Prado Siongco
- San Jose Gumi
- Balantacan
- Santa Teresa 2nd
- Bancal Sinubli
- Bancal Pugad
- Calangain
- San Pedro Palcarangan
- San Pedro Saug
- San Pablo 1st
- San Pablo 2nd
- De La Paz
- Santa Cruz
- Remedios
- Santa Maria
- Del Carmen
- San Agustin
- Santa Rita
- Santa Teresa 1st
- Santo Tomas
- San Roque Dau
- Santo Cristo
- San Matias
- Don Ignacio Dimson
- Santa Monica
- Santo Domingo
- San Miguel
- Concepcion
- San Francisco
- San Vicente
- San Antonio
- San Jose Apunan
- San Nicolas 2nd
- San Juan
- San Nicolas 1st
- Santa Barbara
- Santa Catalina
- Santa Lucia
Climate
Demographics
In the 2024 census, the population of Lubao was 190,355 people, with a density of.Religion
As the first Augustinian missionary center in Central and Northern Luzon, majority of the residents in Lubao are Roman Catholics.Lubao at present has six parishes :
- San Agustin Parish, Plaza, Lubao
- San Roque Dau Parish, San Roque Dau, Lubao
- Holy Cross Parish, Santa Cruz, Lubao
- San Rafael Parish, Baruya, Lubao
- San Antonio de Padua Parish, San Antonio, Lubao
- Conversion of St. Paul Parish, San Pablo 1st, Lubao
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has also significant numbers of member in the town. On August 17, 2012, they celebrated their 25th Year anniversary of the Opening of the Missionary work in the said town with Cong. Juan Miguel Macapagal Arroyo as the special guest. The chapel is located at Santa Cruz, Lubao, Pampanga with 600 Members.
Other religion includes Protestantism and Nondenominational Christianity. Among the Protestant churches in Lubao are the United Methodist Church, C&MA, Pentecostal, and Baptist.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church that has 1,100 members is also a remarkable distinct denomination for giving community services and free livelihood seminar to the town all the year round.
Economy
Culture
Sampaguita Festival
The Parish of Saint Augustine celebrated its 440th Founding Anniversary on May 5, 2012, with the launching of the 1st Sampaguita Festival; participated by the six parishes of Lubao. Parish of St. Augustine de Hippo bagged the Over-All Champion trophy.The 2nd Sampaguita Festival was held on May 5, 2013, participated by the 10 secondary public schools of Lubao. San Vicente National High School emerged as the Over-All Champion of the festival.
The 3rd Sampaguita Festival was celebrated on May 4, 2014, and participated by the 7 clustered barangays of Lubao. Cluster 6 (Cluster Malagu - Barangay Santo Domingo, San Miguel, Concepcion, San Francisco, San Vicente,