Balingasa, commonly known as Balintawak and Cloverleaf, is an urban

barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. It is located at Quezon City's western boundary with

Caloocan Caloocan, officially the City of Caloocan (; ), is a highly urbanized city in Metro Manila, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 1,661,584 people making it the fourth-most populous city in the Philippines. Caloo ...

. The barangay's borders are defined by

EDSA Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, commonly referred to by its acronym EDSA (), is a major Ring road, circumferential road around Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. It passes through 6 of Metro Manila's 17 local government units or citi ...

and barangay Unang Sigaw to the north, barangays Pag-Ibig Sa Nayon and Damar to the south, barangay Manresa and

Gregorio Araneta Avenue Gregorio Araneta Avenue is a suburban arterial road in the Santa Mesa Heights area of Quezon City, northeastern Metro Manila, Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipel ...

in the southeast, and barangay Apolonio Samson in the east.

Etymology

Following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the inhabitants of the area rebuilt their houses and man-made artesian wells, locally known in Tagalog as a '' balon'', were dug as a primary source of water. After one such well was dug, crystal-clear spring water came out of the other wells. This well had its base made out of small pieces of stones, known as ''gasang'', and was referred to by the settlers as the ''balun ng gasang'' (gasang well). The ''balun ng gasang'' became a common byword of households in the area and was often mispronounced as ''balungasa'', until it was later commonly pronounced as ''balingasa''.

History

During the Spanish colonial era, the area was a densely forested area. Upon the arrival of settlers, through the native ''kaingin'' method of

slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a form of shifting cultivation that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a Field (agriculture), field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody p ...

cultivation, the once-forested area was cultivated into fields and farms where different

cereal A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize ( Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, ...

s and vegetables were planted. The area was established as a

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city delimited by functional (e.g. residential, comm ...

in 1882, with Catalino Magsalin as its first ''teniente del barrio'', also known as the

cabeza de barangay A ''cabeza de barangay'' ("barangay head"), also known as ''teniente del barrio'' ("holder of the barrio"), was the head of a barangay or barrio political unit in the Philippines during Spanish rule.Scott, William Henry. ''Barangay Sixteenth-C ...

. After the formation of the new Philippine

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

of Quezon City, the barrio was incorporated into the new city in 1939 pursuant to Commonwealth Act No. 502, transferring Balingasa and other nearby Caloocan ''

sitio A ''sitio'' ( Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own barangay if its popu ...

s'' and ''barrios'' to Quezon City. The barrio was recognized as a barangay in 1975 by Quezon City Mayor Norberto S. Amoranto.

Notable landmarks

A monument to the Cry of Balintawak or Cry of Pugad Lawin, which marked the start of the

Philippine Revolution The Philippine Revolution ( or ; or ) was a war of independence waged by the revolutionary organization Katipunan against the Spanish Empire from 1896 to 1898. It was the culmination of the 333-year History of the Philippines (1565–1898), ...

in 1896, was erected in the area, which was transferred to another location. The Balintawak Interchange, a road network shaped like a cloverleaf, connects the North Luzon Expressway and the Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) under the jurisdiction of both

Barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...

s Balingasa and Unang Sigaw. Also,

Skyway A skyway, skybridge, skywalk, or sky walkway is an elevated type of pedway connecting two or more buildings in an urban area, or connecting elevated points within mountainous recreational zones. Urban skyways very often take the form of Cover ...

Stage 3 runs through the barangay above A. Bonifacio Avenue, connecting South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) and North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) while avoiding the traffic-clogged streets of Metro Manila.

North Edsa corridor

Other notable landmarks (mostly along

) include the Balintawak Market, the LRT

Balintawak station Balintawak station is an elevated Light Rail Transit (LRT) station located on the LRT Line 1 (LRT-1) system located along EDSA at the boundary of barangays Balingasa, Unang Sigaw, and Apolonio Samson in Quezon City, Philippines. It opened on M ...

and transport hubs to and from Downtown Manila, Northern Quezon City, CaMaNava and Bulacan areas. The Cloverleaf, an

Ayala Land Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) is a full line real estate firm based in the Philippines. It is a subsidiary of Ayala Corporation. It began as a division of Ayala Corporation until it was spun off and incorporated in 1988. It became publicly listed in ...

estate and the former site of Central Textile Mills purchased in 2013, is predominantly within the area of Balingasa while the rest is under the jurisdiction of

Apolonio Samson. Once fully developed, the township will include Alveo and Avida Land residential condominiums, a Qualimed hospital facility, commercial buildings for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) locators and Ayala Malls Cloverleaf (opened on October 25, 2017). Another condominium project, The Celandine project of DMCI Properties, is located just south of The Cloverleaf along A. Bonifacio Avenue. The entrance to the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) and National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) Balintawak substation, which hosts various distribution and transmission lines operated and maintained by Meralco and NGCP such as the Sucat–Paco–Araneta–Balintawak and Hermosa–Duhat–Balintawak transmission lines, is also located along EDSA.

Demography

As of the 2020 census of the National Statistics Office (Philippines), the population of Balingasa is 19,260.

Facilities

The barangay maintains a Quezon City public library, while the government-run Balingasa High School is under the Schools Division Office (SDO) of Quezon City.

References

{{Metro Manila populated places Quezon City Barangays of Quezon City Barangays of Metro Manila