Siniloan

Etymology

From the early period of Spanish colonialisation, some female inhabitants of the place were milling their palay in their fields. While doing this, some Spaniards came and asked them, "Como se llama esta pueblo?" The natives, not knowing Spanish thought that they were asked what they were doing and one of them answered, "camí po ay gumiguiling". The Spaniards repeated, "Guiling-Guiling", to which the natives nodded. Some this place known as "Guiling-Guiling" from 1583 to 1604.

Another story has it that during the later part of the year 1604, three brothers, namely, Juan Puno, Juan Pili, and Juan Puhuwan, migrated into this community. They selected a lot adjacent to the river Río Romelo and divided it equally among themselves. When the parish priest saw the ingenuity of the three brothers in equally dividing the land, he asked the natives how equally was expressed in Tagalog. The natives gave him the expression "Sinloan". Right then and there, the name Guiling-Guiling was changed to Siniloang which meant justice, equality and fairness. The word travelled from mouth to mouth with sound variations. Because of the difficulty of some Spaniards in pronouncing Siniloang, the name Siniloan struck and became the official name of this town.

The name Siniloan is also believed to have been taken from a legendary story about Luis and Ana, a married couple who chased a wild boar from a place called Luisiana. They ran after that big boar from Luisiana to Cavinti (kapit sa Binti). The people along the way who saw Luis and Ana chasing the boar took pity on them and helped them to catch it. The people chased the boar through the towns of Lumbán, Kalayaan, Loñgos, Paéte, Paquil, and Pañguil until they finally caught the boar in this town by means of the lassoed captivity or Siniloan. Siniloan start on 3 eggs.

History

In 1583, Sinilóan came to be as a town when Don Juan de Salcedo arrived and the parish was established jointly by Friar Diégo de Orpesa and Friar Juan de Plasencia. The first stone church was erected in 1733 by a Franciscan Friar, Fr. Melchor de San Antonio. The towns of Santa Maria (formerly Caboan) and Mabitac, also former visitas or barrios of Sinilóan, were separated from the town in 1602 and 1613, respectively. Calumpang, a barrio later known as the town of Famy, was separated from the town two centuries later.

In 1903, Famy and Pangil were consolidated with Siniloan. In 1910, Famy separated to become a town once again. Pangil was also separated.

Geography

Siniloan lies between the plains of the Sierra Madre Mountains and Laguna de Bay, bounded between Mabitac on the west, Pangil on the east, Real, Quezon on the north, and Laguna de Bay on the south. A river named Rio Romelo runs through the center of the town and is used for fishing ground and irrigation purposes. It is 26 km from the provincial capital, Santa Cruz, 113 km from Manila via the South Luzon Expressway, and 74 km from Lucena.

Barangays

Sinilóan is politically subdivided into 20 barangays, as indicated in the matrix below. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Currently, there are 13 barangays which are classified as urban and the rest are rural.

Climate

Demographics

In the 2024 census, the population of Siniloan was 42,533 people, with a density of {{sigfig|42,533/64.51|2}} PD/km2.

Religion

Religion in Sinilóan are major in Roman Catholicism, about 90% of the population, 7% of Protestantism and other Christian religions and 3% Muslim. The patron saint of this town are Saint Peter and Saint Paul (San Pedro y San Pablo) also the Black Nazarene (Nazareno Negro o Cristo Negro) The town feast is celebrated every 29 June each year.

Economy

Tourism

• Saints Peter and Paul Parish Church also Parroquía de San Pablo y San Pedro is the first and only Roman Catholic church in Sinilóan since 1604. Built it as stone church from 1733 to 1739 by Fr. Melchor de San Antonio, but destroyed during the 18 July 1880 earthquake. Rebuilt in 1890 to 1898 and was again damaged during the August 20, 1937 earthquake. The church was reconstructed, modernized and remodel as twice the size of the previous structure for its quadricentennial anniversary on 2004.
• Holy Cross Orthodox Church: a fledgling Orthodox Christian community under the spiritual jurisdiction of the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and South East Asia, established by His All-Holiness Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch, known as the "Green Patriarch."
• Buruwisan Falls

Education

The Siniloan Schools District Office governs all educational institutions within the municipality. It oversees the management and operations of all private and public, from primary to secondary schools.

Primary and elementary schools

• Angela Ong Javier Elementary School
• Antonio Adricula Memorial Elementary School
• Bernbelle Pre-School Learning Center
• Bridgewater School
• Buhay Elementary School
• Camelean Academy
• Halayhayin Elementary School
• Solid Foundation Christian Academy
• Kapatalan Elementary School
• Kapatalan National High School
• Siniloan Elementary School

Secondary schools

• Colegio Santa Isabel of Laguna
• Siniloan Integrated National High School

Higher educational institutions

• Laguna State Polytechnic University
• Laguna Northwestern College San Lorenzo Ruiz Montessori Center

Healthcare

Siniloan Pioneer General Hospital is the first hospital to be established in Siniloan.

Utility Services

Siniloan Water District (SIWADI)

Notable personalities

• Celso Adolfo Castillo – film director and screenwriter.
• Yllana Marie Aduana – Miss Philippines Earth 2023, Miss Earth Air 2023
• Dion Ignacio - actor and musician

References

References

1. {{DILG detail
2. (8 May 2014). "Mabitac". Government of the Philippines Department of the Interior.
3. (October 12, 1903). "An Act reducing the thirty municipalities of the Province of La Laguna to nineteen".
4. (January 15, 2021). "Masterlist of Schools".