圣佩德罗 城镇

San Pedro, officially the City of San Pedro (Filipino: Lungsod ng San Pedro), is a component city in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 348,968 people.

It is named after its patron, Saint Peter.

San Pedro has been dubbed as “dormitory town” of Metro Manila and migrants from other provinces commuting everyday through its highly efficient road and transport system. Despite being one of the smallest political units in the entire province, with a total land area of only 24.05 square kilometers (9.29 sq mi), San Pedro is the 5th most populous city (out of 6) after the cities of Biñan, Calamba, Santa Rosa and Cabuyao. The city also has the highest population density in the province of Laguna and in the whole Calabarzon region, having 15,000 inhabitants per square kilometer (39,000/sq mi). San Pedro became a component city of Laguna by virtue of Republic Act No. 10420 dated March 27, 2013.

Etymology

The name of San Pedro originates from its old name: San Pedro [de] Tunasán. The first part of the name comes from Spanish for its patron saint, Saint Peter; while the second part comes from Tunasán, which literally means "a place where there is Tunás" (Nymphaea nouchali), a medicinal plant abundant on the shoreline of Laguna de Bay. Tunasan is also the name of a neighboring barangay in Muntinlupa, located just north of San Pedro. In 1914, by virtue of Act No. 2390, the town's name was abbreviated to its current iteration.

History

Pre-Colonial Period (900-1565)

While there is no archaeological evidence yet that indicate precolonial settlement in the present-day city of San Pedro, the area where the modern city of San Pedro is believed to be part of the native settlement of the Tagalogs centuries before Spanish contact. It is believed that the Laguna de Bay and the San Isidro River gave livelihood and food to the early settlers. As the Laguna Copperplate Inscription dated back to 900 AD was found in Lumban, Laguna, this gives an idea that the area of San Pedro may had an independent precolonial barangay headed by their own Datus and was under the influence if not directly under the alliance network of the Lakan of Tondo.

Spanish Colonial Period (1565-1896)

On July 28, 1571, a month after the Spanish conquest of Manila, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi distributed certain parts of Luzon to the members of his expedition who assisted them in securing the Philippines for the King of Spain. Among those given were settlements near Laguna de Bay, with Gaspar Ramirez received 16 villages, with 14 of which located near the river of Calamba, while Francisco de Herrera received four other villages near the lake. Martin Gutierrez and Alonzo Ligero received five villages each, Pedro de Herrera received six villages, including the Indios of the Siniloan River, and Lope Garcia de Herrera received four villages. It is estimated that among these communities was the township of Tabuco, which comprises the modern-day cities of San Pedro, Biñan, Santa Rosa, and Cabuyao. By 1591, it was written that the encomienda of Tabuco belonged to Don Luis Enriquez, with four thousand persons.

One member of Legazpi's expedition, the Portuguese-born Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa, also received vast land grants from the King of Spain in recognition of his efforts to conquer the Philippines for Spain. Recognizing that he may die on his upcoming military expedition in Mindanao, he wrote down his last will in Arevalo, Iloilo, where he donated the funds that established the Jesuit-run Colegio de Manila, and naming his wife and daughter as heirs. He likewise wrote that if they die without direct heirs, the Jesuits would use their inheritance for a college. Rodriguez died in 1595, and after almost a decade, in 1604, his daughter perished when the galleon San Antonio sank en route to Mexico. Upon their demise, the endowment of Rodriguez was subsequently applied to Colegio de San Jose (now San Jose Seminary), established three years earlier, in 1601.

Around 1629, the Colegio de San Jose acquired from the Colegio de Manila parcels of land on the southwestern shore of the Laguna de Bay, near present-day Biñan. Years later, in 1634, they also purchased parcels of land within the area owned by the widow of Sergeant Pedro Dominguez Franco. They merged these acquisitions to form the Hacienda San Pedro de Tunasan. However, in November 1639, the Chinese who were working against their will in the neighboring Calamba estate revolted, with the sugarcane fields of the Hacienda Tunasan destroyed in the process. In 1698, Tabuco, together with Biñan and San Pedro Tunasan, underwent pastoral visitation by Manila Archbishop Diego Camacho y Ávila. In the said inspection, Camacho observed that the parishones are not knowledgeable of the Christian faith, prompting him and his assistant Fr. Juan Melendrez to meet the residents individually and test them on their knowledge on the basic Christian (i.e. Catholic) doctrines. Afterwards, he commanded the priests-in-charge of the area, Rev. Frs. Manuel de Leon (Tabuco), Nicolas Godiño (Biñan), and Jesuit Miguel de Salas (San Pedro Tunasan) to instruct their people on the fundamental Christian doctrines. Camacho likewise ordered that the priests and their successors should not to oblige their parishioners to offer anything for the administration of the sacrament of penance, with major excommunication as penalty for non-compliance.

It is claimed that San Pedro de Tunasán became a town on January 18, 1725, upon the request of a group of San Pedrense Principalía led by Alonzo Magtibay, Francisco Santiago, and Ignacio de Guevarra and subsequently approved by the Governor-General and Manila Archbishop Francisco de la Cuesta. King Philip V of Spain was said to have decreed that the town be separated from Tabuco. Francisco Santiago subsequently became the first mayor of the newly formed town. However, another author, Agustin de la Cavada wrote that San Pedro Tunasan became a town in 1712.

Agriculture, especially livestock raising, farming, and fishing, during that period, was its residents' primary income source. Manuel Buzeta and Felipe Bravo described the town in 1851 as having 613 houses, with a town hall and jail, and a primary school that caters to the young learners. Its parish was constructed using mixed materials and managed by a native secular priest. The crops that are said to be grown by the residents at this time were rice, sugar cane, corn, coconuts, mangoes, and other fruits and vegetables. The Rector of the Colegio de San Jose, in support of the Sociedad Economica de los Amigos del Pais, introduced mulberry planting in Hacienda San Pedro Tunasan to compete with the Chinese silk-making industry. Initially successful, the farmers eventually abandoned it, with the Spaniards blaming what they perceived as laziness of the Filipinos. Despite this, San Pedro Tunasan was among the towns that frequently experienced banditry and cattle-rustling, leading to the reputation that the town itself is not safe.

The 1818 Spanish census recorded the area having 1,112 native families and 2 Spanish-Filipino families.

The Revolutionary Struggle (1896-98)

During the early months of the revolution, siblings Antonino and Jose Guevara led the residents of San Pedro Tunasan in joining the nationalist cause. Due to its proximity to Cavite and to the Manila area, the local residents were advised by General Emilio Aguinaldo to discreetly sympathize with the revolutionaries as not to compromise the role of San Pedro as a rearguard of the revolutionary struggle. San Pedrenses followed this advise and secretly provided food and provisions to the Revolutionaries in Cavite. When the Spaniards launched their counteroffensive in Cavite, the people of San Pedro sheltered refugees from Cavite, including General Mariano Alvarez, and Andres Bonifacio’s widow Gregoria de Jesus.

San Pedro eventually became under the command of Katipunero General Paciano Rizal, brother of Jose. With the help of Guevara, they finally organized a municipal government led by mayor Gregorio Alvarez, who welcomed de Jesus and others to the town in 1897. De Jesus lived in the residence of Almario Ilmedo in San Roque village during her stay. Upon the resumption of the Philippine Revolution in May 1898, San Pedro was among the towns liberated by Filipino revolutionary forces on the offensive in Laguna. Some San Pedrense revolutionaries even helped in the liberation of other towns in the province from Spanish control.

First Republic and the Philippine-American War (1898-1901)

San Pedro was among the towns controlled by Filipino forces when the Philippine Declaration of Independence was promulgated on June 12, 1898.

Geography

San Pedro is located in Region IV-A or Calabarzon. San Pedro is the boundary between Laguna and Metro Manila, so San Pedro is known as "Laguna's Gateway to Metro Manila". San Pedro shares boundaries with Metro Manila's southernmost city, Muntinlupa (North) bounded by Tunasan River, Biñan (south), Dasmariñas (west), Carmona and General Mariano Alvarez (Southwest) bound with San Isidro River. Its position makes San Pedro a pop