San Jose del Monte (SJDM), officially the City of San Jose del Monte (Tagalog: Lungsod ng San José del Monte; Tagalog pronunciation: [ˌsɐn hoˌsɛ dɛl ˈmonte]), is a component city in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 685,688 people, making it the largest local government unit within the province of Bulacan and Central Luzon, and the 18th most populated city in the Philippines.
It was proclaimed as a component city on 10 September 2000, through Republic Act No. 8797. Its conversion into a highly urbanized city was by virtue of Proclamation No. 1057 issued by President Rodrigo Duterte on 4 December 2020; the conversion was rejected on a referendum held on 30 October 2023, by the voters of Bulacan including the concerned city.
San José del Monte derived its name from Saint Joseph, whose statue was found in a veritable forest. The hunters called it as such, which means “Saint Joseph of the Mountain” in Spanish.
Contents
History
Early accounts of the founding of the city, as gathered from the old people, contend that it was formerly a part of the town of Meycauayan. This is supported by a decree from the Archbishop of Manila dated March 1750 on the creation of new municipalities. The municipality of San Jose del Monte was then officially founded on 2 March 1752.
The decree included the list of families who volunteered to be relocated. These families, most if not all from Lagulo (now Malhacan) in Meycauayan, brought with them rice, wine, nganga, and salt in exchange for the wild pigs, deer, yantok, and almasigan of the Itas and Dumagats, the native inhabitants of the area. Solares, including intended lots for main roads, were peacefully distributed to the new occupants after being measured and surveyed.
In all probability, the hunters reported their findings to the parish priest of Meycauayan. It was said that the priest built a stone church at the site where the town proper is now located. The statue was installed in the new church. Extant Catholic Church records reveal that the first parish priest was Father Antonio de Moral. He took charge of the parish in 1845.
During the revolt against Spain, the town became a battleground between the Katipuneros and the Spanish forces. The revolutionaries lost and the vengeful Spanish soldiers burned down the settlement. The townspeople fled for their lives to nearby towns. At the advent of American rule, it was made a part of Santa Maria until 1918 when the town was recreated and Ciriaco Gallardo appointed the first municipal president. Public schools were opened at the start of the American regime but due to the scarcity of the population, the highest grade organized was at the fourth grade.
During the Japanese occupation, the town became an ideal hiding place for the locally recognized guerrillas because of the town's hilly and wooden terrain. The Japanese Imperial Army took over the local government of San Jose del Monte from 1942 to 1943. In resistance, the municipality formed its guerrilla unit. San Jose del Monte experienced large casualties when the Americans bombed the town center on 11 January 1945, and again on 14 January 1945. When the combined Filipino and American troops came, peace reigned but not for long.
Cityhood
In December 1999, congressman Angelito Sarmiento filed the bill converting the then municipality of San Jose del Monte into a component city. This was approved on July 15, 2000 as Republic Act No. 8797.
A plebiscite was held on September 10, 2000. Despite a low turnout, the cityhood was approved mostly by migrants, mainly from Metro Manila which composed 70% of the residents by then; only nine of the 59 villages voted against the bill. The official proclamation was held in the evening. San Jose del Monte became the first city in Bulacan since Malolos failed in the cityhood bid in December 1999. Malolos was eventually declared a city in 2002 by the Commission on Elections which had reversed the official result following a recount. It was also recorded as the country's 86th chartered city.
Through RA No. 9230, amending the city charter and approved on December 18, 2003, the city was granted its own legislative district, the province's first lone district, while barangays were classified into two districts for purposes of representation in the Sangguniang Panlungsod. Officers were first elected in 2004.
On 4 December 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte declared San Jose del Monte as a highly urbanized city through Proclamation No. 1057. However, it required a plebiscite to ratify its city charter. It was supposed to be held four months after the 2022 general elections but was not held. Hence, the proclamation remained pending. On 11 September 2023, COMELEC released a resolution that synchronized the plebiscite on 30 October 2023, along with the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
The majority of voters in the Province of Bulacan rejected the conversion, as declared by the COMELEC two days after the plebiscite. Meanwhile, a tenth of those who joined did not vote, leaving blank ballots.
Geography
The elevation of the city ranges from approximately 40 to 900 meters (130 to 2,950 ft) above sea level; the relief transitions from warm lowland to cool upland as one goes eastward. This is because the city is part of the Sierra Madre mountain range. Plains and river valley flats characterize the western and southwestern quadrant. The central portion and much of its eastern section are made up of undulating hills with low relief. High relief areas and moderate slopes best describe its extreme eastern and northwestern quadrant. Slopes of 3%-8% are extensively found in the city, particularly in the western half. Slopes of 30%-50% comprise the smallest portion of the total land area.
The rivers and creeks that flow in San Jose del Monte are from the Sierra Madre mountain range. Major natural waterways of San Jose del Monte are the Kipungok, Santo Cristo, and Santa Maria River systems. Kipungok River separates San Jose del Monte from Caloocan and Rodriguez. It is directly connected to the Marilao River, which flows downwards to Manila Bay. Draining to these rivers are creeks and streams, which act as catchment areas for the surface water runoff of the city. Among these are the Bigte, Kantulot, Katinga, and Salamin creeks.
Located in the southeast of the province, it is bordered by the cities of Caloocan and Quezon City in Metro Manila to the south, by the municipality of Rodríguez in Rizal to the east, the municipalities of Santa María and Marilao to the west and Norzagaray to the north. San Jose del Monte is 65 kilometres (40 mi) from Malolos and 30 kilometres (19 mi) from Manila.
The city is home to some of the biggest resettlement areas in the Philippines like the Sapang Palay resettlement area spread over 36 barangays in second district, Pabahay 2000 in Barangay Muzon South, San Jose Del Monte Heights in Barangay Muzon East, Towerville I-V in Barangay Minuyan Proper, and Towerville VI in Barangay Gaya-Gaya. Most of the city's population come from former informal settlers along the creeks, esteros, riverbanks and railway tracks of Metro Manila. Many private residential subdivisions have also been established in the city.
General Land Use
Growing commercial, residential, and light industrial areas, are found all over the city at major road intersections and along major thoroughfares. However, the bulk of San Jose del Monte's built-up areas are mostly west of Quirino Highway at the primary level to gently sloping 8% terrain, dividing the city into a heavily built-up western section and the largely agricultural eastern section. Most of the city's schools, government institutions, commercial developments, industries, and other urban amenities are in this section. The largest contiguous built-up area is at Sapang Palay Resettlement Project area, followed by the conurbation in Tungkong Mangga and Muzon.
The developments east of the Quirino Highway are mostly scattered residential areas and agricultural lands. However, there are a few subdivisions that are some distance away from Ciudad Real and take advantage of its secluded and rural atmosphere. These are the Blessed Sacrament Seminary and an Augustinian convent.
In between the built-up clusters are pockets of agricultural lands, which are continuously converted into built-up uses. Planted in these lands are crops such as rice and corn. The clustering pattern for both built-up and agricultural uses is partly due to the decisions made by settlers about the hilly conditions that dominate the topography. Most households in the western half of San Jose del Monte opted to convert their lands to residential uses while others maintained the farms. This left upland uses, such as those about forest use, more common towards the easternmost zones.
Most vegetative outgrowths are in areas that are difficult to build on. But there are instances when these outgrowths are integrated into the built-up areas, usually found in the West: several heavily vegetated areas. Supplementing these are mini forest projects of the city government. The City Agriculture Office maintains a 1.65-hectare (4.1-acre) Mini Forest Project in Barangay Muzon along the San Jose del Monte–Marilao Road and a mahogany planting site.
Barangays
San Jose del Monte is politically subdivided into 62 barangays, as shown in the matrix below. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
It was originally made up of only five barangays: Población, Halang (Muzon), Sapang Palay, Santo Cristo, and Gaya-Gaya. Over time, these five mother barangays were divided to provide better accommodation for the people, particularly in the Sapang Palay Resettlement Area (Hacienda de Sapang Palay), which stretches to Minuyan.
There is an ongoing land dispute with the municipality of Norzagaray, Bulacan regarding both territories. Such disputes can be located in the upper portion of Assumption, the eastern portion of Santo Niño II, the eastern portion of San Martín de Porres, the eastern portion of Lawang Pari, the eastern portion of Minuyan Proper, Kaybanban, San Roque, Paradise III, San Isidro, the upper portion of Tungkong Mangga, the upper portion of Ciudad Real barangays in San José del Monte and lower portion of Tigbe, the lower portion of Bitungol, the lower portion of Minuyan, lower portion of Bigte, lower portion of San Mateo (Sitio Karahume), mountainous portion of San Lorenzo in Norzagaray.
Historical maps of Bulacan, before the creation of Doña Remedios Trinidad, indicate that both territories of San José del Monte and Norzagaray stretch up to Tayabas province.
These barangays are grouped into two districts, the first with a ZIP Code of 3023, and the second with 3024. Twenty-six (26) barangays comprise the first district while the 36 barangays located in Sapang Palay compose the second district.
The city's former administrative center was located in Población 1, which is now transferred to Dulong Bayan, which is now the city's new seat of government. San Jose del Monte has 4 major urban centers, called nodes: Muzon node (consisting of the four barangays of Muzon), Poblacion node (consisting of the two barangays of Población), Sapang Palay node (consisting of the barangays surrounding Sampol Market), and Tungkong Mangga node.
The most recently created barangays are Muzon Proper, Muzon East, Muzon West, and Muzon South created by dividing Barangay Muzon. The four barangays were made through the approval of a law on 25 March 2023 through a referendum.
Demographics
In the 2020 census, the population of San Jose del Monte was 651,813 people, with a density of 6,200 inhabitants per square kilometer or 16,000 inhabitants per square mile. This makes it the largest local government unit in Bulacan province. It is also the largest city in Central Luzon (Region III).
With the coming of settlers to San Jose del Monte, its population increased tremendously. Its population increased dramatically since the 1950s as the population tended to move from rural areas to towns and cities. Its proximity to Manila allowed it to accommodate its spillover population. This is further hastened by the development of nearby Quezon City and the accompanying increase in population and infrastructure.
The forced relocation of informal settlers and the lure of government to provide them with their own homes allowed the town to continue to grow despite the lack of government facilities. As such, San Jose del Monte exhibited an increasing percentage share of the provincial population from as low as 2% in 1960 to 9% in 1990 and then to 17% in 2015. The town surpassed the population of Meycauayan in the 1980 census and Malolos in the 1990 census, then the largest towns of Bulacan. By 2015, it has more than two times the population of the now second place Santa María town (256,454 people in the 2015 Census).
If current population growth holds (2010-2015, +4.55%), the population of San Jose del Monte is expected to double and breach one million by the 2030 Census.
Languages
The city, along with the municipalities of San Miguel, Doña Remedios Trinidad, and Norzagaray, is the homeland of the Dumagat Kabuloan or Alta Kabuloan, the first inhabitants of Bulacan, with a language named exactly as their people. Their language is currently endangered and is in dire need of local government intervention. The majority of residents in the town are native speakers of the Tagalog language.
Economy
Agriculture
Major crops are leafy vegetables, root crops (cassava as its OTOP), pineapple, mango, and coffee beans.
Livestock and poultry
The major income earner is large- and small-scale swine production. There are 60 commercial livestock and poultry farms in the city. The major poultry producers are RFM Corporation, Vitarich, and FELDAN.
Trade and commerce
The city has three major business district growth areas: Tungkong Mangga, Muzon, and Sapang Palay (Sampol). They are in wholesale and retail trade.
The minor business districts include Towerville in Minuyan Proper, Palmera in Kaypian, Northgate in Santo Cristo, Citrus, Poblacion 1, Grotto in Graceville, Francisco Homes, Gumaoc, and San Rafael III.
Commercial and thrift banks, pawnshops, and cooperatives provide financial services. There are two major malls: Starmall San Jose del Monte in Palmera and SM City San Jose del Monte in Tungkong Mangga.
Tourism
Mount Balagbag and Kaytitinga Falls (Barangay San Isidro) are the main tourist attractions in the city. A portion of the Angat Watershed Forest Reserve also extends to San Jose del Monte.
VS Orchids Farm (Santo Cristo) is the biggest orchids nursery and ornamental plants farm in Bulacan owned by Rolita Spowart, 3 Manila Seedling Bank Foundation, Quezon City. Hundreds of orchids species are nurtured in this 1.8 hectars flora haven.
The Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto Shrine (Graceville) is a Roman Catholic pilgrimage site often visited by devotees during Holy Week.
Saint Joseph the Worker Parish Church (Poblacion 1) is the main historical pilgrimage site in the heart of the city.
People's Park of San Jose del Monte (Sapang Palay Proper)
River Park Esplanade (Dulong Bayan)
The Rising Heart and Padre Pio Mountain of Healing (Paradise III)
Grotto Vista Resort (Graceville)
Los Arcos de Hermano Resort and Events (Tungkong Mangga)
Infrastructure
Transportation
The city is serviced by bus routes going to and from Parañaque (PITX), Santa Cruz in Manila, Quezon City, and Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Jeepney, modern-jeepney, and minibus routes also ply the roads between the city and neighboring cities and towns in Metro Manila and Bulacan.
San Jose del Monte's road network has a total length of 211.43 kilometers (131.38 mi). The following are the main arteries of San Jose del Monte's road network which link the 59 barangays with Metro Manila and the rest of Bulacan.
Quirino Highway is a national road that stretches from the town of Norzagaray (Bigte Rotonda) to Quezon City (Balintawak).
Bocaue–San Jose Road, also called Gov. Fortunato Halili Avenue, is a provincial road that links the city from Quirino Highway in Tungkong Mangga (Tungko) via Gaya-Gaya and Muzon to the town of Santa María, Bocaue and to the North Luzon Expressway.
Sapang Palay–Santa Maria Road links the Sapang Palay Resettlement Project to the town of Santa María passing through Barangay Bulac, Barangay Catmon, and Barangay San José Patag in the said town.
San Jose–Marilao Road, also referred to as Miguel Villarica Road, and formerly, but still used commonly, Carriedo Street, links the city from Poblacion San Jose, passing through Muzon with the municipality of Marilao and to the North Luzon Expressway.
Dr. Eduardo V. Roquero Avenue links the Sapang Palay Resettlement Project to Quirino Highway and in the opposite end in San Jose-Norzagaray Road in Sapang Palay Proper.
San Jose-Norzagaray Road, is a provincial road that links the Poblacion San Jose via Dulong Bayan and Sapang Palay Proper to the town of Norzagaray passing through Barangay Tigbe in Norzagaray.
Igay Provincial Road connects Quirino Highway to Rodríguez, Rizal, passing through Santo Cristo, Kaybanban, San Roque, Paradise III, and San Isidro.
Water
The bulk of the city's water requirement is being served by the San José del Monte City Water District, together via Joint Venture Agreement to PrimeWater Corporation.
Power
Power distribution is being undertaken by the Manila Electric Company (Meralco). The city hosts the biggest National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) sub-station in the country in Barangay Dulong Bayan.
Telecommunications/communications
Landline telephone systems are provided by the PLDT and Globe.
Internet service is available through SPC Cable Network, PLDT Home Fiber and DSL, Globe Fiber, Red fiber, Streamtech and Converge Fiber X.
Mobile telephone services are provided by Smart Communications, Globe Telecom, and Dito Telecommunity.
Education
Public Universities
Bulacan State University, Sarmiento Campus
Colleges
Bulacan Polytechnic College, San José del Monte Campus
Bestlink College of the Philippines, Bulacan
City College of San Jose del Monte
Colegio de San Gabriel Arcangel
Colegio San Agustin, Bulacan
College of Saint Anthony
First City Providential College
Golden Valley Colleges
Headwaters College
Jesus the Greatest Name Christian College
La Concepcion College
Siena College of San Jose
SJDM Cornerstone College, Inc.
STI Academic Center San José del Monte
Village Montessori School and Colleges
Christian Ecclesiastical School
Public high schools
Angelito M. Sarmiento High School
Citrus National High School
City of San José del Monte National Science High School
Graceville National High School
Kakawate National High School
Kaypian National High School
Marangal National High School
Minuyan National High School
Muzón Harmony Hills High School
Paradise Farms National High School
San José del Monte Heights High School
San José del Monte National High School
San José del Monte National Trade School
San Manuel National High School
San Martín National High School
San Rafael National High School
Santo Cristo National High School
Sapang Palay National High School
Towerville National High School
Government
Local government
Like other cities in the Philippines, San Jose del Monte is governed by a mayor and vice mayor elected to three-year terms. The mayor is the executive head and leads the city's departments in executing the city ordinances and improving public services. The vice mayor heads a legislative council consisting of 12 members: 6 from District I and 6 from District II. The council is in charge of creating the city's policies.
Government officials (2025–28)
Elected local officials, such as the representative, mayor, vice mayor, and twelve councilors, are currently serving their terms that last from 2025 to 2028.
Congress representation
The city has a lone legislative district, being represented in the country's House of Representatives.
Notable personalities
Politics
Angelito Sarmiento, politician, former mayor and representative for Bulacan's 4th district
Arthur Robes, politician, former mayor and incumbent representative for the city's lone district
Florida Robes, politician, former representative for the city's lone district and incumbent mayor
Crispin Beltran, activist, politician, and former representative for Bayan Muna partylist
Eduardo Roquero, politician, former mayor and representative for the city's lone district
Sports
Angeli Tabaquero, volleyball player
Music, Film, and Television
Chesster Chay, television personality
Imelda Papin, singer