Santo Tomas, Pampanga

The town's original name was "Baliwag" which is an old Capampangan word which means "untouched". The name Baliwag was chosen because the area was previously considered remote, isolated and in a pristine state before colonization and development however other belief that Baliwag was a slang word for tardiness due to the locals habit of arriving late for the Holy Mass considering that their houses were built around the vicinity of the church. Old catholic records such as Baptismal Certificates bears the name Pueblo de Baliwag later changed to El Pueblo de Santo Tomas during the Spanish period. Santo Tomas Apostol or Saint Thomas the Apostle, one of the original twelve disciples of Jesus Christ, had its patron saint. The patronal feast is celebrated yearly on 21 December from the church's original founding date of 1767. During the Second Vatican Council of 1969, the feast of Saint Thomas the Apostle was changed to July 3 and the town's started celebrating the new feast during the mid of 1990s.

On September 15, 1792, Santo Tomas was severed from its parent town, Minalin. On May 4, 1899, the town was under the U.S. Force's administration. On January 2, 1905, it was ceded to San Fernando until 1905. On October 12, 1951, Executive Order No. 476 (issued by Elpidio Quirino) created Santo Tomas and its five barrios of San Matias, San Vicente, San Bartolome, Santo Rosario and Santo Tomas with the seat of government at barrio San Vicente.

On January 11, 1952, the municipality of Santo Tomas was re-inaugurated. The first municipal hall was temporarily at the house of Mayor Patricio Gomez, the first municipal mayor.

In 1955, under Republic Act 1250, the San Matias seat was transferred to Santo Tomas. President Ferdinand E. Marcos issued Presidential Decree No. 1441 on June 11, 1978, transferring the seat of municipal government from Barangay Santo Tomas to Barangay San Vicente.

The town was the site of the bloody encounter between Filipino and American forces during Philippine-American War known as the Battle of Santo Tomas.

The municipality of Santo Tomas, the smallest and youngest town in Pampanga, is at the heart of the province. The capital city of San Fernando bounds it to the northwest, the municipality of San Simon to the northeast, the municipality of Minalin to the southeast, and Bacolor to the west.

Santo Tomas is politically divided into seven barangays, as shown below. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

In the 2024 census, the population of Santo Tomas was 44,376 people,^[13] with a density of 2,100 inhabitants per square kilometre or 5,400 inhabitants per square mile.

Poverty incidence of Santo Tomas

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

In the records of Department of Trade and Industry (Philippines), the town holds the title “casket capital of Central Luzon.” It is home to 300 family-owned casket businesses that each produce about 80 caskets monthly or a total production of 24,000 a month.^[22][23] Casket capital of the Philippines, Oct. 22, 2012

Santo Tomas' main attractions and events are:

• The yearly Easter Sunday Flower Scattering Festival or Sabuaga Festival (from sabuag and sampaga which means scatter flowers) originated from Easter Sunday “Salubong” (April 8, 2012) where estabats scatter flowers.^[24]
• First Evacuation Center and Multi-Purpose Hall at Barangay Santo Tomas, July 5, 2010.
• The Northville 12 ECCD Center and Health Center, July 15, 2010.
• Municipal Hall Annex, Donato B. Pangilinan Sr. building, also the New Public Market and Police Station, inaugurated on the 60th anniversary of Santo Tomas founding, October 12, 2011.^[25]

Pursuant to the local government^[26][27] the political seat of the municipality is at the Municipal Town Hall. The gobernadorcillo is the chief executive who holds office in the Presidencia. During the American rule (1898–1946), the elected mayor and local officials, including the appointed ones, hold office at the Municipal Town Hall. The legislative and executive departments perform their functions in the Sangguniang Bayan (Session Hall) and Municipal Trial Court, respectively, and are in the Town Hall.

St. Thomas The Apostle Church

San Matias Parish Church

The 1767 Santo Tomas Apostol Parish (Santo Tomas, Pampanga) belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Fernando. The parish celebrated its 250th Founding Anniversary in 2017.^{[28][29][30][31][32][33][34]} The feast is celebrated every Easter Sunday and the patronal feast is July 3 and its current Parish Priest was Rev. Fr. Alfredo I. David. The parish is belongs to the Vicariate of Christ the King^[35] Its parochial jurisdiction covers the chapels from Barangay San Vicente, Barangay San Bartolome, Northville 12 and Barangay Mesalipit of Bacolor, Pampanga and has a population of 20,202, with Roman Catholics of 19,833 as of 2020.

On February 14, 2004, the Parish Pastoral Center and Convent were blessed and inaugurated by Bishop Paciano Aniceto. On October 16, 2004, the new columbarium, mortuary and museum were blessed.

The 1962 San Matias Apostol Parish Church^[36] belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Fernando.^[28] The parish priest is Rev. Fr. Ronnie D. Cao, and the parish belongs to the Vicariate of Christ the King.^[37] The parochial jurisdiction covers the chapels in Barangay Santo Nino Sapa, Barangay Moras dela Paz East and West, Sitio Balangcas, Sitio Culubong and has a population of 16,672 with Roman Catholics of 16,005 as of 2020. The feast is celebrated every May 14 meanwhile the original feast of February 24 (February 25 during leap year) was declared as Barangay Day.

The 1991 Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish located in Barangay Santo Rosario Pau is the youngest and third parish in the town. Its current parish priest is Rev. Fr. Jaycar Z. Silva. This parish also belongs to the Vicariate of Christ the King. The parochial jurisdiction covers the chapels in Barangay Pandaras, City of San Fernando, Pampanga and chapels in Barangay Dela Paz, Barangay San Pablo Libutad, Barangay San Pablo Propio and Nayong Tsinoy in San Simon Pampanga and Barangay Santo Rosario Pau of Santo Tomas, Pampanga where the parish is located.