Santa Rosa, Laguna


', officially the ', is a of the Philippines| in the province of,. According to the, it has a population of people.
It is the second largest local government unit in Laguna after Calamba. On August 28, 2019, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11395, which will separate the city from the [|first] district, which will elect its separate representative beginning in the 2022 elections. However, for the purposes of electing Sangguniang Panlalawigan members, Santa Rosa will remain part of the province's 1st Sangguniang Panlalawigan District.
Santa Rosa was initially known for the Coca-Cola and Toyota manufacturing plants in its industrial estates. Recently, it has also become popular for being the site of Enchanted Kingdom, a local theme park; as well as several housing developments. Santa Rosa became a city by virtue of Republic Act No. 9264, which was ratified by its residents on July 10, 2004.

History

In 1571, Spanish conquistador Juan de Salcedo, the grandson of Miguel López de Legazpi, founded the town of Biñan which was annexed as a barrio to Tabuco while exploring the region of Laguna de Bay.
In 1688, Biñan, together with Barrio Bukol separated from Cabuyao. After a series of renaming, separation of barrios to become independent towns, Barrio Bukol was politically emancipated as the municipality of Santa Rosa. The town was renamed after Saint Rose of Lima. The municipality of Santa Rosa was founded on January 18, 1792.
During the revolutionary period in 1898, the town was instrumental in the proclamation of Philippine independence from Spain when it signed the Act of Independence on June 12, 1898. Later on the town's local revolutionaries fought alongside the forces of Pío del Pilar during the Philippine–American War.
On February 5, 1945, the town was left abandoned by the Japanese soldiers when the local guerrilla resistance movement, with support from the American and Filipino military contingent, entered the town proper, where skirmishes, torture, and deaths occurred.
During the post-war era, until the 1970s, the townspeople were largely dependent on basic agriculture and family-owned enterprises for livelihood. The influence of industrialization slowly took shape in the 1980s with the entry of local and foreign investors who were instrumental in the fast-pace economic and social transformation of the town and the province.

Geography

Santa Rosa's land area is approximately 54.13 square kilometers. It is located west of Laguna de Bay.
The western half of the city occupies the numerous commercial, industrial, and business establishments, while the other is primarily composed of residential areas and subdivisions, schools, industrial zones and various business establishments.

Barangays

Santa Rosa is politically subdivided into 18 barangays.

Demographics

The population of Santa Rosa is fast-growing with an intercensal growth rate of 7% from 1990 to 1995, repeated and more in subsequent decades.






YearDensity
1990/km
1995/km
2000/km
2007/km
2010/km
2015/km


Some inhabitants of Santa Rosa today erroneously refer to themselves as "Rosanians". But since Santa Rosa is a Spanish name, the correct demonym should be "Rosaños".

Ethnic groups

Like other places in Metro Manila, the original settlers are Tagalogs. Throughout the centuries, there has been constant migration of Spaniards, Visayans, Bikolanos, Ilokanos, Chinese and Americans.

Languages

The main language is Filipino, which is based on Tagalog. In addition, due to continuous development of the city, English language is used in education, business and information technology.

Religion

The majority of the people are Roman Catholics. Other religious groups represented include the Aglipayans, the Church of God International, the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, Jesus Is Lord Church, Baptist, Jehovah's Witness, and Iglesia Evangelica Unida de Cristo founded in 1932 by Don Toribio Teodoro. Some migrants and expats have formed in 1994 the Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church in Golden City Subdivision under the pastoral care of Rev. Fr. Philemon Castro, MDiv.

Economy

Santa Rosa is considered as the premier city and hub of South Luzon. It is also known as the Lion City of South Luzon. According to the 2013 COA AFR report, the city has an annual income of 2.3 billion pesos, surpassing the income of Calamba and Batangas City. Santa Rosa is now the richest city in Luzon outside of Metro Manila in terms of annual income.
Special economic zones and industrial parks in Santa Rosa include:
Major commercial banks in the Philippines operate in the city. Currently the city hosts 68 banking institutions that offers banking services to businesses and residents. Most of these are concentrated in Barangay Balibago, Don Jose, Macabling, Pulong Santa Cruz, Santo Domingo, and Tagapo.

Car dealerships

A number of car brands have put up dealerships in Santa Rosa. The list of prominent car dealerships include Toyota, Chevrolet, Ford, Foton, Honda, Hyundai, Isuzu, JMC, Kia, Mazda, MG Motor, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, and Volkswagen.
Further, the Borromeo's Ford and Mazda have recently put up shop while two of the six ANC Group brands, namely Honda and Subaru, have branches in Santa Rosa.

Shopping malls

The city host various shopping malls. These are SM City Santa Rosa, Robinsons Place Santa Rosa, Ayala Malls Solenad, Victory Mall Santa Rosa, Vista Mall Sta. Rosa, Paseo de Santa Rosa, and Target Mall.

Industries and manufacturing

Dubbed as the "Motor City of the Philippines" or "Detroit City of the Philippines", Santa Rosa is host to multinational automotive giants Nissan Motors Co., Ltd., Toyota Motor Corporation, and Mitsubishi – all contributing 95 percent of the country's automotive production. It is also the location for the headquarters of Santarosa Motor Works, Inc.
Food conglomerate Monde Nissin Corporation, which manufactures Lucky Me! instant noodles and Monde biscuits, has a plant here in its 14-hectare manufacturing facility. Santa Rosa is also home to the largest plant of The Coca-Cola Company in the Philippines, situated right across the Santa Rosa Exit of the South Luzon Expressway. In 2018, Santa Rosa became the new home of HAMBURG Trading Corporation's 7000 sqm facility that houses the company's warehouse, administration office, and state-of-the-art demo kitchen - all in one roof.

Information technology

Santa Rosa is also looking to be the next hub for the BPO industry. It is currently ranked 82nd in the world for its competitiveness in the Information Technology and Business Process Outsourcing services by the leading strategic advisory firm, THOLONS. BPO companies present in Santa Rosa are IQor, KGB, Teletech, IBM and Concentrix.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Santa Rosa is traversed by South Luzon Expressway and Cavite–Laguna Expressway. Two exits of SLEX are located in the city, namely: Santa Rosa Exit and Eton City Exit. The city is also accessible through Greenfield City Exit in Biñan, which provides access to CALAX, SM City Santa Rosa, and the Santa Rosa city proper. Two exits of CALAX directly serve the city, namely: Santa Rosa City Exit, located in Barangay Carmen, Silang, Cavite, and the unopened Laguna Boulevard Exit, located within the city. A four-lane national highway from Alabang, Muntinlupa up to Calamba, Laguna passes through the city. Another road, Santa Rosa-Tagaytay Road, acts as the main route for people going up to Tagaytay from Metro Manila, especially on weekends and vacation periods.
Public transportation within the city, like in most of the urban areas in the Philippines, is facilitated mostly using inexpensive jeepneys. Tricycles are also used for short distances. In Laguna BelAir subdivision, residents uses exclusive multicab shuttles within the village complex. The Santa Rosa railway station is located in barangay Labas, near the city center. The city is also the location of the Santa Rosa Commercial Complex, a well-known inter-modal transport and commercial hub in Barangay Balibago, and the Santa Rosa Integrated Terminal, a provincial bus station serving Metro Manila and eventually other parts south of Metro Manila.

Utilities and communication

Santa Rosa's source of electricity is part of the Manila Electric Company or Meralco. Water supply for the city is supplied by the Laguna Water Inc. Santa Rosa's communication system is powered by Philippine Long Distance Telephone and Globe Telecom. Cellular network in the Philippines particularly the metropolitan areas is increasing rapidly together with the low cost of calls and text messaging. Globe Telecom and Smart Communications, Sun Cellular provide cellular networks in Santa Rosa. Cable & Satellite Television access is provided by SkyCable, G Sat, Cignal Digital TV, and Royal Cable. Internet Digital Subscriber Line or DSL coverage is provided by PLDT, cable internet is serviced by Sky Cable's ZPDee and Global Destiny. Fiber Internet Wireless broadband is provided by Globelines Broadband and Smart Communications.

Health

The Santa Rosa Community Hospital is the primary public hospital of Santa Rosa. The city also hosts at least seven other private hospitals namely the New Sinai MDI Hospital and Medical Center, Marian Hospital, Balibago Polyclinic and Hospital, St. James Hospital in Dita, Santa Rosa Hospital and Medical Center along RSBS Boulevard, The Medical City South Luzon in Greenfield City, and QualiMed Hospital – Sta. Rosa in Nuvali.

City government

Santa Rosa City is governed primarily by the city mayor, the vice mayor and the city councilors. The mayor acts as the chief executive of the city while the city councilors acts as its legislative body. The vice mayor, besides taking on mayoral responsibilities in case of a temporary vacancy, acts as the presiding officer of the city legislature. The legislative body is composed of 10 regular members and representatives from the barangay and the youth council.
City officials for the 2019–2022 term are:

Former mayors

The following is the list of chief executives of Santa Rosa, Laguna.
  1. Francisco Arambulo
  2. Basilio B. Gonzales
  3. Pedro Teaño Perlas
  4. Pablo Monsod Manguerra, Sr.
  5. Celerino Castillo Tiongco
  6. Feliciano Arambulo Gomez
  7. Honorio Tiongco
  8. Lorenzo Cartagena Tatlonghari
  9. Jose Vallejo Zavalla
  10. Aquilino Carballo
  11. Felixberto Castro Tiongco
  12. Benito Lijauco delos Reyes
  13. Hermenegildo Regalado delos Reyes
  14. Celso Gonzaga Carteciano
  15. Valentin Regalado delos Reyes
  16. Jose Alumno Alinsod
  17. Valentin Regalado delos Reyes
  18. Eduardo de Leon Marcelo
  19. Angel Z. Tiongco
  20. Jose Alumno Alinsod
  21. Francisco Gomez Arambulo Jr.
  22. Felimon delos Trinos de Guzman
  23. Gervacio Almira de Guzman
  24. Angel Z. Tiongco
  25. Cesar E. Nepomuceno
  26. Zosimo B. Cartaño
  27. Leo T. Bustamante
  28. Roberto R. Gonzales
  29. Leon C. Arcillas
  30. Jose B. Catindig, Jr.
  31. Arlene B. Arcillas
  32. Danilo Ramon S. Fernandez
  33. Arlene B. Arcillas

    Education

Notable people