Hermosa, Bataan

Historically, the town was established in 1756 by Dominican priests. At that time, it was known as Llana Hermosa and composed of Mabuco and Mabuyan. It was then still part of Pampanga, like the rest of Bataan. It became an independent missionary center in 1756 with Saint Peter de Verona as its patron saint. The 1818 Spanish census showed there to be 716 native families and 1 large Spanish-Filipino clan.^[6]: 357

The town of Hermosa was very peaceful and progressive before World War II. When the war broke out, their quiet routine was disturbed. During the Bataan Death March, civilians of Hermosa risked the ire of the Japanese by secretly passing food to Filipino and American soldiers.

Hermosa is located directly south of Dinalupihan and south-southwest of San Fernando, Pampanga (the regional city center). Hermosa borders the province of the Pampanga to the northeast, with Manila Bay to the east.

Hermosa is home to the Roosevelt Protected Landscape and Subic Bay Freeport Zone (SBFZ; along with Morong also in the province of Bataan, and Olongapo and Subic in Zambales), and is accessible via the Bataan Provincial Expressway, off Exit 10 and Jose Abad Santos Avenue. It is 19 kilometres (12 mi) from Balanga and 105 kilometres (65 mi) from Manila.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the municipality has a land area of 157.00 square kilometres (60.62 sq mi) ^[7] constituting 11.43% of the 1,372.98-square-kilometre- (530.11 sq mi) total area of Bataan.

Hermosa is politically subdivided into 23 barangays.^[9] Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

In the 2024 census, Hermosa had a population of 80,557 people.^[16] The population density was 510 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,300/sq mi).

Poverty incidence of Hermosa

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority^{[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]}

Existing industries in Hermosa are garments, handpainted jars, balut and salted egg making. Today, fruit processing particularly of mangoes and bananas, handicrafts, and stuffed toys are the major produce of this town. Probably less known, but existing for a long time is the aquaculture industry, traditionally for bangus, tilapia and crabs, but more recently for prawns, which was found more lucrative.

Hermosa Rural Bank serves the banking needs of the municipality. Major bus lines and mini-bus coming from Manila, San Fernando and Olongapo pass through the town of Hermosa while the most common type of transport within the municipality are jeepneys and tricycles. The newly established Hermosa Public Market in barangay Palihan has also the terminal of vehicles going to Clark and Mabalacat in Pampanga via SCTEX. The town has a total of 1 bank, 21 schools, 15 medical clinics/health centers, and 2 recreational facilities.

The Zone is adapted for building light to medium industries, recreational and housing facilities for industry and residents inside the zone investments in fruit processing utilizing the abundant supply of mangoes and banana in the province. The Subic Hermosa Cybercity is a 93-hectare Special Economic Zone which will host locator Businesses dealing in Information Technology (IT), manufacture of electronic products, IT research and development, and multi-media industries.

Pursuant to the Local government in the Philippines",^[25][26] the political seat of the municipal government is located at the Municipal Hall. The legislative and executive departments perform their functions in the Sangguniang Bayan (Session Hall) and Municipal Trial Court, respectively, and are located in the Town Hall.

Digitel is the major provider of telecommunication services in the municipality.

Cable TV is provided by the Hermosa Cable, Destiny and Malasimbu. Internet connection is also provided by Digitel, and Smart (SmartBro).

CONVERGE ICT.

Hermosa is 100% electrified and is being served by the Peninsula Electric Company (PENELCO).

Two substations of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) are located along Jose Abad Santos Avenue just before entering Pampanga which are Hermosa and Balsik EHV substations. It also provides power to the municipality other than Penelco through its transmission lines.

Major source of water for domestic use is ground water. Existing water systems are artesian and open wells, pumps and pipeline with tanks. Two barangays are being served by a common facility through the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA). In addition, a new facility was installed in barangay Mabuco, which now served the whole poblacion.