Santa Maria, Bulacan

Santa Maria (/ˌsæntə məˈriːə/ SAN-tə mə-REE-ə, Tagalog: [ˈsantɐ mɐˈɾija]), officially the Municipality of Santa Maria (Tagalog: Bayan ng Santa Maria), is a municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 322,525 people. representing 8.32% of Bulacan's current population.

Located on the banks of the Santa Maria River, Santa Maria has been a thriving settlement for almost four centuries. It was founded as a barrio of Bocaue in the early 17th century until it was established as an independent municipality on November 26, 1793, by the Spanish friar Francisco Dominguez Javier OFM. Known before as Santa Maria de Pandi (Tagalog pronunciation: [pɐnˈde]), it is named under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception (also known as La Purisima Concepcion). Its administrative center, the Poblacion, forms the historic core of the municipality. It is surrounded by four rivers and it still largely retains its 2.88 square-kilometer boundaries since the Spanish Colonial Era.

Santa Maria, with a population of 322,525, remains by a significant margin the most populous municipality in Central Luzon, as well as the 7th most populous municipality in the Philippines. It is also the 2nd most populous local government unit in Bulacan next to San Jose del Monte City. The projected population for 2025 was 305,668. There are 142,380 registered voters in the municipality. In the last 2022 election, voter turnout rate is at 88.91%. The said voter turnout rate in the 2022 national elections is the fourth highest among the municipalities in the province of Bulacan.

Its downtown area consists of three highly urbanized barangays: Poblacion, Bagbaguin, and Sta. Clara. It is one of the biggest and busiest commercial centers in the province as it accounts for more than half of all economic activities in the municipality. It is also one of Bulacan's leading financial centers.^{[citation needed]} According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC), Santa Maria's total bank deposits reached PHP 31.27 billion as of December 2021, this accounts for almost 75% of Eastern Bulacan's total bank deposits. Likewise, Santa Maria is the richest municipality in Bulacan with an assets totaling to PHP 1.87 billion and revenues reaching an all-time high of PHP 1.206 billion as of the 2022 report from the Commission on Audit (COA). It has a relatively high standard of living, with only 4% of the population living in poverty which is one of the lowest in the country (19 out of 1,489 municipalities).

Santa Maria was the home town of José Corazón de Jesús, a Filipino poet popularly known as "Huseng Batute", who started composing his verse as a child. Another native of Santa Maria is Francisco Santiago, a composer who wrote "Nasaan Ka Irog" and other kundiman songs. In the political arena, Santa Maria has produced three Bulacan governors: Jose Serapio (1900–1901), Trinidad Icasiano (1912–1916), Fortunato Halili (1943–1944 and 1946–1951); and three representatives of the second, fourth district, and sixth district: Rogaciano Mercado (1953–1972, 1987-1989), Reylina Nicolas (2001–2010) and Salvador "Ka Ador" Pleyto (2022 to present).

Santa Maria got its name from the Immaculate Conception (also known as La Purisima Concepcion). Formerly known as Santa Maria de Pandi, the second name Pandi was derived from pande, Kapampangan word of "blacksmith," cognate of Tagalog word "panday."

Before the Spaniards came to the Philippines, Santa Maria was just a vast wilderness, inhabited by wild animals and covered by thick and lush rainforests. Aetas and Dumagats are also known to inhabit the place a long time ago.

Santa Maria's existence can be traced as early as the year 1647 when it is still a barrio (village) of Bocaue. The barrio was believed to be established on the same period when the Dominicans founded the vast Hacienda de Lolomboy that extends up to the Angat River on the north, Bocaue River on the west, Marilao River on the south and the Pulo River (Pulong Buhangin) on the east.