Bocaue, Bulacan

Bocaue, officially the Municipality of Bocaue ( tgl, Bayan ng Bocaue), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 141,412 people.

With the continuous expansion of Metro Manila, the municipality is now part of Manila's built-up area which reaches San Ildefonso in its northernmost part. The Bocaue River runs through most of the town.

Among its tourist attractions are a town museum located near the municipality's center and the town's river festival celebrated on the first Sunday of every July. The river festival is in commemoration of the Holy Cross of Wawa, believed to be miraculous by the town's predominantly Roman Catholic population.

Etymology

The town's name comes from the Old Tagalog word "''Bukawe''", which refers to a type of long bamboo ('' Schyzostachyum lima'').

History

Bocaue was first established by Franciscan missionaries as a barrio and visita of Meycauayan in 1582 and as a town on April 11, 1606, under the advocacy of San Martin de Tours. It was the first town to be granted independence from the old Meycauayan that was then a very large town comprising the present territories of Meycauayan City, Marilao, Santa Maria, San Jose del Monte City, Obando, and Valenzuela City.

After the Philippine–American War, the Philippine Commission was established, part of whose functions was the reorganization of Philippine municipalities and provinces. In 1903, Bulacan province reduced the number of towns from 26 to 19. The town of Balagtas was annexed to Bocaue, which later regained its independence and was reestablished as a town in 1911.

During the Bocaue River Festival of July 2, 1993, around 500 people rode the "floating pagoda" for the Holy Cross of Wawa way beyond the boat's capacity and caused the boat to sink, killing more than two hundred people. Despite the lives lost, no one has been made accountable for the tragedy. This incident became known as the Bocaue Pagoda Tragedy.

On the morning of 31 December 2007, ten fireworks stores burned in Barangay Turo, causing a series of explosions within the area and injuring 7 persons.

Geography

Bocaue is north-east of Manila if reached via the MacArthur Highway and is from Malolos City. It is at the mid-southwestern portion of Bulacan.

The town is bounded on the north by the municipality of Balagtas and a portion of the municipality of Santa Maria; by the municipalities of Marilao and Obando on the south; a larger portion of Santa Maria on the east; a portion of the municipality of Bulakan on the extreme southwestern side; and a portion of Balagtas on the western side.

Bocaue is traversed by the Bocaue River, a continuation of the confluence of Santa Maria River and San Jose River and a few other minor rivers and creeks, all of which are distributaries of the Angat drainage basin. The main source of Angat River and the Angat drainage basin, as well as their distributaries, is the Sierra Madre mountain range. Along these rivers are many man-made fish ponds used for raising and farming fish like bangus and tilapia.

Bocaue was once part of the 2nd district of Bulacan along with Balagtas, Guiguinto, and Pandi. It was moved to the 5th district along with Balagtas, Guiguinto, and Pandi.

Barangays

Bocaue is politically subdivided into 19 barangays.

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Bocaue, Bulacan, was 141,412 people, with a density of .

Religion

The St Martin of Tours Church of Bocaue, otherwise known as The Diocesan Shrine of Bocaue, is one of the oldest churches in the province of Bulacan. The reputed Mahal na Krus ng Wawa (Beloved Holy Cross of Wawa) is kept here.

The Feast of the Holy Cross of Wawa is a festival held on the first Sunday of July, observed in honor of the Holy Cross of Wawa (Mahal na Krus sa Wawa), a relic believed to have saved the life of an old woman drowning in the Bocaue River. The main feature of this fiesta is the Pagoda, a gaily-decorated structure riding on a huge bangka, which glides along the town river carrying people from all walks of life.

Other religious denominations in the town include Iglesia ni Cristo, Jehovah's Witness, Methodist, Aglipayan, Adventist, Baptist, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There are also a number of Evangelical, Pentecostal

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