City of Meycauayan Lungsod ng Meycauayan
—  City  —
Meycauayan River
Map of Bulacan showing the location of Meycauayan
Meycauayan Location in the Philippines
Coordinates: 14°44′N 120°57′E / 14.733°N 120.95°E / 14.733; 120.95Coordinates: 14°44′N 120°57′E / 14.733°N 120.95°E / 14.733; 120.95
Country	Philippines
Region	Central Luzon (Region III)
Province	Bulacan
District	4th District
Founded	October 4, 1578
Cityhood	December 10, 2006
Barangays	27
Government
• Mayor	Joan Alarilla (NPC)
Area
• City	32.10 km2 (12.39 sq mi)
Population (2007)
• City	196,569
• Density	6,100/km2 (16,000/sq mi)
• Metro	Manila
Time zone	PHT (UTC+8)
ZIP Code	3020
Income class	1st Class; Urban [1]
Website	meycauayan.gov.ph

The City of Meycauayan is a first Class, highly urbanized city in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. The city is located about 19 kilometres (12 mi) north of Manila and about 22 kilometres (14 mi) south of Malolos City, the provincial capital city. It is bounded by the town of Marilao to the north, Valenzuela City to the south, Caloocan City (North) to the east, and the town of Obando to the west. It encompasses an aggregate area of 22.1 square kilometres (8.5 sq mi), representing 1.17% of the total land area of the province of Bulacan. According to the latest census, it has a population of 196,569 people in 34,882 households.

Meycauayan City is known for its jewelry and tanning industry. It is also home to several industrial parks, mostly located at Barangays Iba, Camalig and Pantoc.

Barangays[link]

Meycauayan City is administratively subdivided into 26 urban barangays.^[1]

Geography[link]

Meycauayan City is generally surrounded with plain land and gentle rolling hills. Comfortably above sea level, this terrain is an interweaving of greenery and concrete road network. The slope of the land dips towards a west to north westerly direction. River, natural lake and drainage waterways envelope and criss-cross the area.

Meycauayan a province of its name in its antiquity, Is found between 120° 58’ 20” and the 127° 30’ longitude, with a latitude of 14° 41’ up to the 15°, the majority of the land, can be seen some mountains especially to the south east extension which do not exceed to same eleven leagues to the east or west and some six to the north and south. It is bordered to the east by the province of Nueva Ecija, and the district of Morong; to the South by Manila and her bay; to the West by Manila bay and the province of Pampanga, and to the North by the Province of Pampanga.^[2] Today it is bordered by the town of Marilao to the north, Valenzuela City to the south, Northern part of Caloocan City to the east, and the town of Obando to the west.

History[link]

Meycauayan means “a place full of bamboo” in the Castilian language (Spanish). The foundation of this town is dated 1578 to 1579, in which epoch they stretched out to the apostolic work of Fray Juan de Plasencia and Fray Diego de Oropesa.^[3] Both part of the 1st Franciscan mission that arrived the Philippines on the first day of July, 1577.^[4] Meycauayan was formerly the head of the province, and was situated like ½ league more to the east over a small hill.^[3] The Church under the patronage of N.S. P. San Francisco de Asis, was at first made of bamboo and nipa, which was ruined by the typhoon in 1588.^[5] A request was made to rebuilt the church, and on November 16, 1588, Dr. Santiago de Vera, made justified by such request, instantly dispatch Secretary Gaspar de Azebo to Christoval de Asquera, Mayor of the Province of Meycauayan.^[6] By the order of San Pedro Bautista, it was transferred to a place called Lagolo, by R. P. Fr. Antonio de Nombela, Minister of the town.^[3]

As an early Spanish town Meycauayan was also known as Mecabayan.^[7] In 1591 its status was Encomienda.^[8] “La encomienda de Mecabayan”, that is of the minor sons of La Rea(Captain Don Martin de la Rea) had seven hundred tributes, which are two thousand eight hundred people.^[9] In the “Relación de las encomiendas existentes en Filipinas el 3 de mayo de 1591^[10] Includes: Dilao, Zapa y Pandaca, Mecabayan, Taitay, Pila, Mahaihai, Lumban, Panquil, Millarrit, Minalaua, Ynguinan, Linaguan, Nabua. ... In a report of Philippine encomiendas on June 20, 1591, Meycauayan was included in the encomiendas of the province of Pampanga.^[11] “Spanish Governor Gomez Perez Dasmarinas reported to the King of Spain that La Pampanga's encomiendas were Bataan, Betis y Lubao, Macabebe, Candava, Apalit, Calumpit, Malolos, Binto, Guiguinto, Caluya (Balagtas), Bulacan and Mecabayan (Meycauayan). The encomiendas of La Pampanga at that time had eighteen thousand six hundred and eighty whole tributes.”

Lagolo proved inhospitable at the time, so the town center again transferred to what is now known as Barangay Poblacion, where the Parish Church of St. Francis of Assisi still stands.In the year 1668 the church was transferred by R. P. Nicolas Santiago to the place it now occupied.^[5] It is made of simple material but strong, With 60 yard long and 12 ½ wide.

Meycauayan was then one of the largest municipalities in Bulacan. The towns of San Jose Del Monte, Bocaue, Marilao, Valenzuela, Obando, Santa Maria, Balagtas and Pandi were once part of the political jurisdiction of the town. During the Spanish colonization in the Philippines, the Spanish authorities tapped Meycauayan's adobe (volcanic tuff rocks) reserves which were used for building stone houses and fortifications in and out of town. Majority of the adobe rocks that were used in building the walls of Intramuros, Manila's "old walled city", were imported from Meycauayan.

20th and 21st century[link]

On April 4, 1949, a large fire razed the town, destroying its market center and its centuries-old church. It took years to recover from the destruction, aided by the provincial and national governments as well as by the contributions of its own citizens.

On March 5, 2001, the municipality was declared as a component city by virtue of Republic Act 9021, but its conversion was rejected by the voting people of Meycauayan in a plebiscite.

In 2005, the newly erected City Hall was moved from Barangay Poblacion to a newer structure in Barangay Camalig. The former municipal town hall now houses the Mariano Quinto Alarilla Polytechnic College.

On December 10, 2006, by virtue of Republic Act 9356, voters in Meycauayan ratified the conversion of Meycauayan into a component city of Bulacan through another plebiscite. [2] [3] It became the province's third city, joining San Jose del Monte and Malolos.

Economy[link]

Meycauayan City is very famous for its jewelry and leather industries. For years, Meycauayan has been the hub of jewelry production in the Philippines and in Asia. It is famous for its very affordable jewelries.

Meycauayan also prides itself on its leather goods. Shoes, bags and every kind of leather product has been traditionally manufactured here. A number of leather tanneries still operate in Meycauayan, which over the years have converted the city into a hub for leather goods.

The city is one of the major economic centers in the province of Bulacan.

Industrial compounds and parks[link]

Meycauayan is also home to many industrial parks and compounds.

• Meycauayan Industrial Subd. I, II, III & IV
• Meridian Industrial Compound
• Muralla Industrial Project
• First Valenzuela Industrial Compound
• Sterling Industrial Park Phase I, II, III & IV

Commercial complex[link]

• Puregold Meycauayan
• Aliw Complex
• Market Place Arcade
• SM Savemore Meycauayan
• Esperanza Mall
• Maristel
• IS

Legal controversy[link]

Mayoralty dispute (1995-2008)[link]

The succession of the city's administration was put into question by a series of legal cases between two former mayors.^[12] Florentino Blanco, town mayor from 1987 to 1992, ran in 1995 but was disqualified by the Supreme Court for vote buying on July 21, 1997. Blanco was replaced by Vice Mayor Eduardo Nolasco in an acting capacity, serving out the remainder of his term.

Blanco ran again in 1998 but lost to Eduardo Alarilla; Blanco attempted to file an election protest against Alarilla but the COMELEC dismissed the case. He attempted to run again in 2004 but later withdrew his candidacy. In 2007, he ran once more but lost to Eduardo Alarilla's wife, Joan Alarilla (Mr. Alarilla has then reached the 3-term limit imposed by law). The former mayor Alarilla then attempted to disqualify Blanco; the COMELEC ruled in favor of Alarilla, but the Supreme Court reversed this decision, stating that Blanco is still eligible to run for public office.

Heirs of Anacleto Nieto vs. Meycauayan, Bulacan[link]

On December 13, 2007, the Supreme Court of the Philippines ordered Meycauayan, Bulacan to surrender peaceful possession to the Heirs of Anacleto Nieto, and vacate the 3,882 square meters lot, at Poblacion, Meycauayan, TCT No. T-24.055 (M) which it used and even constructed an extension of the public market therein. Meycauayan was also ordered to pay the reasonable value of the property and P 1,716,000.00 as reasonable compensation for the use of the property from 1966 until the filing of the complaint on December 28, 1994.^[13]

Feasts[link]

• 

  Meycauayan Institute (since June 1925, now known as Meycauayan College, McArthur Highway)[1]

• 

  The 1578 Parish Church of St. Francis of Assisi and the patio

• 

  2005 Meycauayan City Hall (Camalig)

• 

  The 1958 old Municipio (Poblacion, now houses the Mariano Quinto Alarilla Polytechnic College).

References[link]

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (May 2009)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Meycauayan City

• Charter of the City of Meycauayan (RA 9356)
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• 2000 Philippine Census Information
• 2007 Philippine Census Information

		Bocaue, Marilao
	Bulacan		Caloocan
		Meycauayan    East
	Obando	Valenzuela

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