Santo Tomas, officially the Municipality of Santo Tomas (; ; ), is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Isabela,

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 ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 24,528 people.

History

The municipality was established in 1949 from several barrios of Cabagan. In 1952, Santo Tomas lost two barrios when the barrios of Abut and Minagbag were transferred to the newly created town of Mallig. In 1961, those barrios were transferred to the newly created municipality of

Quezon Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon () and historically known as Tayabas, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon Regions of the Philippines, region on Luzon. Lucena, a highly urbanized ci ...

Geography

Santo Tomas is a landlocked municipality situated in the northern portion of the province of Isabela. It is bounded to the west by

, to the south by Delfin Albano, to the southeast by Tumauini, to the north and northeast by Cabagan and the

Cagayan River The Cagayan River, also known as the Río Grande de Cagayán, is the longest river and the largest river by discharge volume of water in the Philippines. It has a total length of approximately and a drainage basin covering . It is located in ...

. Santo Tomas is situated from the provincial capital Ilagan, and from the country's capital city of

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

Barangays

Santo Tomas is politically subdivided into 27

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. Each barangay consists of

purok A ''purok'' () is an informal division within a barangay in the Philippines. While not officially considered a local government unit (LGU), a ''purok'' often serves as a unit for delivering services and administration within a barangay. ''Pur ...

s while some have

sitios A ''sitio'' (Spanish language, 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 bar ...

. * Ammugauan * Antagan * Bagabag * Bagutari * Balelleng * Barumbong * Biga Occidental * Biga Oriental * Bubug * Bolinao-Culalabo * Calanigan Norte * Calanigan Sur * Calinaoan Centro * Calinaoan Malasin * Calinaoan Norte * Cañogan Abajo Norte * Cañogan Abajo Sur * Cañogan Alto * Centro * Colunguan * Malapagay * San Rafael Abajo * San Rafael Alto * San Roque * San Vicente * Uauang-Tuliao * Uauang-Galicia Uauang-Galicia is now the population is 0 according in 2010 Census.

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Santo Tomas, Isabela, was 24,528 people, with a density of .

Economy

Farming is its primary source of income. The most widespread plantations were

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

, corn and tobacco farms. Locals also raise livestock for extra income.

Government

Local government

As a municipality in the Province of Isabela, government officials at the provincial and municipal levels are voted by the town. The provincial government has political jurisdiction over most local transactions of the municipal government. The Municipality of Santo Tomas is governed by a mayor, designated as its local chief executive, and by a municipal council as its legislative body in accordance with the Local Government Code. The mayor, vice mayor, and the municipal councilors are elected directly in polls held every three years. Barangays are also headed by elected officials: Barangay Captain,

Barangay Council The Sangguniang Barangay, known in English as the Barangay Council is the local government of a barangay, the smallest administrative division in the Philippines. Each of the 42,004 barangays in the country has its respective Sangguniang Baran ...

, whose members are called Barangay Councilors. The barangays have SK federation which represents the barangay, headed by SK chairperson and whose members are called SK councilors. All officials are also elected every three years.

Elected officials

Congress representation

Santo Tomas, belonging to the first legislative district of the province of Isabela, currently represented by Hon. Antonio T. Albano.

Education

The Schools Division of Isabela governs the town's public education system. The division office is a field office of the DepEd in

Cagayan Valley Cagayan Valley (; ), designated as Region II, is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines. Located in the northeastern section of Luzon, it is composed of five Provinces of the Philippines, Philippine provinces: ...

region. The Sto. Tomas Schools District Office governs the public and private elementary and high schools throughout the municipality.

Primary and elementary schools

* Ammugauan Primary School * Antagan Primary School * Bagabag Primary School * Bagutari Elementary School * Balelleng Elementary School * Barumbung Elementary School * Bubug Elementary School * Calanigan Elementary School * Calinaoan Elementary School * Cañogan Elementary School * Colunguan Elementary School * Malapagay Elementary School * San Rafael Abajo Primary School * San Rafael Alto Elementary School * San Roque Elementary School * Sto. Tomas Baptist Christian School * Sto. Tomas Central School

Secondary schools

* Biga Integrated School * Calanigan National High School * Northern Isabela Academy * San Vicente Integrated School * Santo Tomas National High School

References

External links

Municipal Profile at the National Competitiveness Council of the Philippines

Santo Tomas at the Isabela Government WebsiteLocal Governance Performance Management System
* Philippine Standard Geographic Codebr>Philippine Census InformationMunicipality of Santo Tomas
{{Authority control Municipalities of Isabela (province) Populated places on the Rio Grande de Cagayan