San Simon, Pampanga

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.^[6] 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).^[6]

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.^[6]

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.^[6]

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.^[6]

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.^[6]

San Simon is accessible via the North Luzon Expressway via the San Simon current exit. It is 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from San Fernando, 58 kilometres (36 mi) from Manila, and 19 kilometres (12 mi) from Baliwag.

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

In the 2024 census, the population of San Simon was 65,760 people,^[13] with a density of 1,100 inhabitants per square kilometre or 2,800 inhabitants per square mile.

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%

Poverty incidence of San Simon

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority^{[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]}

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.

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.

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

The San Simon Schools District Office governs all educational institutions within the municipality. It oversees the management and operations of all private and public, from primary to secondary schools.^[22]

• Next Generation Technological College
• St. Augustine Institute of Pampanga

The town is served by PLDT, PilTel, DatelCom, Smart, Globe, Dito and with new copper line Converge ICT.