San Simon, Pampanga

San Simon
Municipality
Municipality of San Simon
Downtown area
Seal
Map of Pampanga with San Simon highlighted
OpenStreetMap
San Simon Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 14°59′53″N120°46′48″E / 14.998°N 120.78°E / 14.998; 120.78
Country	Philippines
Region	Central Luzon
Province	Pampanga
District	4th district
Founded	November 15, 1771
Named for	Simón de Anda y Salazar Saint Peter
Barangays	14 (see Barangays)
Government   [1]
• Type	Sangguniang Bayan
•  Mayor	Abundio S. Punsalan Jr.
•  Vice Mayor	Romanoel L. Santos
•  Representative	Anna York P. Bondoc
•  Municipal Council	Members Ryan V. Viray Irene B. David Randell P. Bondoc Rodolfo J. Bravo Jerry N. Quiambao David M. Dungo Irene B. Dagdag Rogelio E. Salvador Jr.
•  Electorate	45,396 voters (2022)
Area [2]
• Total	57.37 km2 (22.15 sq mi)
Elevation	7.0 m (23.0 ft)
Highest elevation	23 m (75 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (2020 census) [3]
• Total	59,182
• Density	1,000/km2 (2,700/sq mi)
•  Households	13,635
Economy
•  Income class	3rd municipal income class
•  Poverty incidence	5.58 % (2018) [4]
•  Revenue	₱ 282.6 million (2020)
•  Assets	₱ 374.2 million (2020)
•  Expenditure	₱ 282.6 million (2020)
•  Liabilities	₱ 94.61 million (2020)
Service provider
• Electricity	Pampanga 3 Electric Cooperative (PELCO 3)
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	2015
PSGC	035418000
IDD  :  area code	+63 (0)45
Native languages	Kapampangan Tagalog

San Simon, officially the Municipality of San Simon (Kapampangan : Balen ning San Simon; Tagalog : Bayan ng San Simon), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 59,182 people. ^[3]

San Simon is accessible via the North Luzon Expressway via the San Simon current exit.

History

In 1770, Don Mariano del Pilar de los Reyes founded a farming village named 'Barrio Del Pilar', which later became the town of San Simon. ^[5] The village was located between the towns of San Luis in the north and Apalit in the south. As the population of the village kept on growing, the village leaders of that time petitioned to consolidate the village and portions of the towns of San Luis and Apalit, to form an independent pueblo (town). ^[5]

On November 15, 1771, Don Simón de Anda y Salazar, the governor general of the Philippines at that time, approved the official creation of the town. The town was named after the Spanish governor general who approved its creation and of the Apostle Simon Peter, the patron saint of Apalit. ^[5]

In 1898, the retreating forces of General Antonio Luna, on their way to Nueva Ecija, burned the town's parish church. The church was only rebuilt after almost a century in 1979. ^[5]

In 1904, San Simon was merged with San Luis but only for three years. In 1920, the geographical boundaries of the towns of Apalit, San Luis, and Simon are officially established. ^[5]

By the year 1835, San Simon had eight barrios (barangay). But in the late 1940s, the population grew and the number of barrios were increased to fourteen, which has been maintained until the present times. ^[5]

Geography

Barangays

San Simon is politically subdivided into 14 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

• Concepcion
• De La Paz
• San Juan (Poblacion)
• San Agustin
• San Isidro
• San Jose
• San Miguel
• San Nicolas
• San Pablo Libutad
• San Pablo Proper
• San Pedro
• Santa Cruz
• Santa Monica
• Santo Niño

Climate

Climate data for San Simon, Pampanga
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	28 (82)	29 (84)	31 (88)	33 (91)	32 (90)	31 (88)	30 (86)	29 (84)	29 (84)	30 (86)	30 (86)	28 (82)	30 (86)
Average low °C (°F)	20 (68)	20 (68)	21 (70)	23 (73)	24 (75)	24 (75)	24 (75)	24 (75)	24 (75)	23 (73)	22 (72)	21 (70)	23 (72)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	6 (0.2)	4 (0.2)	6 (0.2)	17 (0.7)	82 (3.2)	122 (4.8)	151 (5.9)	123 (4.8)	124 (4.9)	99 (3.9)	37 (1.5)	21 (0.8)	792 (31.1)
Average rainy days	3.3	2.5	3.6	6.6	17.7	22.2	25.2	23.7	23.2	17.9	9.2	5.2	160.3
Source: Meteoblue [6]

Demographics

Population census of San Simon

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1903 6,764 —     1918 6,992 +0.22% 1939 8,940 +1.18% 1948 9,607 +0.80% 1960 13,549 +2.91% 1970 19,147 +3.51% 1975 21,553 +2.40% 1980 23,518 +1.76%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1990 30,678 +2.69% 1995 35,474 +2.76% 2000 41,253 +3.29% 2007 48,050 +2.13% 2010 48,353 +0.23% 2015 53,198 +1.84% 2020 59,182 +2.12%
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority [7] [8] [9] [10]

In the 2020 census, the population of San Simon, Pampanga, was 59,182 people, ^[3] with a density of 1,000 inhabitants per square kilometre or 2,600 inhabitants per square mile.

1771 Virgen del Pilar Parish Church and convent

Religion

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Fernando has jurisdiction over the 1771 Virgen del Pilar Parish Church.

Like most Kapampangan people, residents of San Simon retain their Kapampangan language and traditional culture and arts brought about by their Malay ancestors and enriched by Chinese, Spanish, American, Japanese and other ethnic and foreign cultures. Religious affiliations are:

• Catholic 80%
• Members Church of God International 10%
• Iglesia ni Cristo 7%
• others 3%

Economy

The principal industries in San Simon are farming, fishing and poultry and swine industries. There are two public markets in San Simon, one in the old poblacion area and another one located in the industrial zone area.

Government

Local government

Main article: Sangguniang Bayan

San Simon is governed by a mayor and vice mayor who are elected to three-year terms. The mayor is the executive head and leads the town's departments in executing the ordinances and improving public services. The vice mayor heads a legislative council (Sangguniang Bayan) consisting of councilors from the barangays of barrios.

List of local chief executives

Available records at the Municipal Hall list the following town executives from 1898 until present:

Year	Name	Title
1898	Juan Agulo	Kapitan del Pueblo
1899	Solomon Ibanez	Kapitan del Pueblo
1900	Diego de los Santos	Kapitan del Pueblo
1901	Macario Santos	Kapitan del Pueblo
1902	Basilio de los Santos	Kapitan del Pueblo
1903	Manuel Ibanez	Kapitan del Pueblo
1904	Mariano Pangan	Kapitan del Pueblo
1905	Mariano Vergara	Kapitan del Pueblo
1906–1908	Sisenando Pineda	Presidente Municipal (merged with San Luis)
1908–1910	Pablo Cruz	Presidente Municipal (merged with San Luis)
1910–1912	Teodoro Punsalan	Presidente Municipal
1913–1915	Macario Perez	Presidente Municipal
1916–1918	Urbano Guevara	Presidente Municipal
1919–1924	Servillano Ibanez	Presidente Municipal
1925–1927	Ramon Tuano	Presidente Municipal
1935–1936	Catalino Ibanez	Appointed Mayor
1937–1938	Domingo Pineda	Appointed Mayor
1938–1939	Patrocinio Yabut	Acting Mayor
1939–1941	Patrocinio Yabut	Elected Mayor
1941–1942	Agustin Sese	Acting Mayor
1942–1944	Ramon Ibanez	Appointed Mayor by Japanese
1945–1946	Felipe Almario	Appointed Mayor
1946	Eusebio Francisco	Appointed Mayor
1947–1949	Fernando Galang	Appointed Mayor
1949–1952	Jose S. Yabut Sr.	Elected Mayor
1953–1956	Gregorio M. Santillan Sr.	Elected Mayor
1957–1960	Jose S. Yabut Sr.	Elected Mayor
1960	Felicisimo Pamandanan	Officer-In-Charge
1961–1968	Cornelio S. Sanga	Elected Mayor
1969–1975	Lamberto Punsalan	Elected Mayor
1976–1979	Ruben Dagdag	Assumed the post being Vice Mayor at the time. (Mayor Punsalan was killed)
1980–1986	Jose Yabut Jr.	Elected Mayor
1986–1988	Gaudencio Pineda	Appointed Mayor
1988–1998	Manuel S .Bondoc	Elected Mayor
1998–2001	Azor L. Sitchon	Elected Mayor
2001–2010	Rodrigo Miranda Canlas	Elected Mayor
2010–2019	Leonora Capule Wong	Elected Mayor
2019–Present	Abundio Punsalan Jr.	Elected Mayor

Education

For elementary and high school education, residents of San Simon are served by thirteen elementary schools, two barangay public high schools, and three private schools. For Example:

• Assumpta Technical High School (ATHS)
• Pampanga Central High School (PCHS)
• St. Augustine Institute of Pampanga (SAIP)
• San Simon High School (SSHS)
• San Pedro Elementary School (SPES)
• San Pedro National High School (SPNHS)
• Next Generation Technological College
• Dela Paz Libutad High School

Communications

For telecommunications, the town is served by Digitel, PLDT, PILTEL, DATELCOM, SMART, GLOBE and with new copper line CONVERGE ICT.

Gallery

Panorama of the rice fields and roads

References

1.   Municipality of San Simon | (DILG)
2. "2015 Census of Population, Report No. 3 – Population, Land Area, and Population Density" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. Quezon City, Philippines. August 2016. ISSN   0117-1453. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 25, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
3. Census of Population (2020). "Region III (Central Luzon)". Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. Philippine Statistics Authority . Retrieved July 8, 2021.
4. "PSA Releases the 2018 Municipal and City Level Poverty Estimates". Philippine Statistics Authority. December 15, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
5. "San Simon Pampanga - History". www.sansimonpampanga.gov.ph. Retrieved September 27, 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
6. "San Simon: Average Temperatures and Rainfall". Meteoblue. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
7. Census of Population (2015). "Region III (Central Luzon)". Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. Philippine Statistics Authority . Retrieved June 20, 2016.
8. Census of Population and Housing (2010). "Region III (Central Luzon)". Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. National Statistics Office . Retrieved June 29, 2016.
9. Censuses of Population (1903–2007). "Region III (Central Luzon)". Table 1. Population Enumerated in Various Censuses by Province/Highly Urbanized City: 1903 to 2007. National Statistics Office.
10. "Province of Pampanga". Municipality Population Data. Local Water Utilities Administration Research Division. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
11. "Poverty incidence (PI):". Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
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17. "PSA Releases the 2018 Municipal and City Level Poverty Estimates". Philippine Statistics Authority. December 15, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2022.

External links

• San Simon Profile at PhilAtlas.com
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Philippine Census Information
• Local Governance Performance Management System
• Official Website