Gapan City

Infobox Philippine city
infoboxtitle = Gapan City
sealfile = Gapan City Seal.png locatormapfile = Ph_locator_nueva ecija_gapan.png caption = Map of Nueva Ecija showing the location of Gapan City.
region = Central Luzon (Region III)
province = Nueva Ecija
districts = 4th district of Nueva Ecija
barangays = 23
class = 4th class city
mayor = Ernesto Natividad (Bagong Lakas ng Nueva Ecija)
cityhood = August 25, 2001
areakm2 = 185.68
pop2007 = 98,795
popden2007 = 532
coordinates = 15°17N 120°58E
website = [http://www2.mozcom.com/~gapan_ct/ Gapan City Official Website]

Gapan City is a 4th class city in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. Gapan is nicknamed the "Footwear Capital of the North", and it is an inseparable part of the Rice Granary of the Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 89,199 people in 18,200 households. It has a land area of 185.68 km².

Gapan City is located in the southern part of the province. It is bounded to the north by Peñaranda and San Leonardo, to the east by the Gen. Tinio, to the south by San Miguel in neighboring Bulacan province, and to the west by San Isidro.

Barangays

Gapan City is politically subdivided into 23 barangays.

*Balante *Bayanihan *Bulak *Bungo *Kapalangan *Mabuga *Maburak *Macabaklay *Mahipon *Malimba *Mangino *Marelo

*Pambuan *Parcutela *Puting Tubig *San Lorenzo (Poblacion) *San Vicente (Poblacion) *San Nicholas *San Roque/Baluarte *Sta Cruz *Sto. Cristo *Sto. Cristo Norte *Sto. Nino *Mangahan

History

Old records called the town Ibon. How it came to be known as Gapan is an interesting
Tagalog, a local dialect "Gumagapang gapang kami". The Spanish took it as a name and henceforth called The Pueblo Gapang. In time, the letter "g" was dropped and the name Gapan sticks to this day. Another legend stated the name came from the climbing and crawling plants that were so numerous in the locality.

Gapan was founded by the Spanish curates and officials who, in their early occupation, exercised great influence over the people and the things they were doing. History places Gapan as one of the first towns of Pampanga founded sometime in the middle part of the sixteenth century. Records of the first Catholic mission to the far east indicated that in 1595, Fathers Contres Tendilla, Caballo and Salazar were responsible for clearing the forest which later became a pueblo. In this pueblo, a church, presedencia and residential houses made of bricks and lime were constructed, now the age-old landmarks of the city.

Its foundation in 1595 makes Gapan the oldest town in Nueva Ecija and one of the oldest in the Philippines. It was likewise a big pueblo embracing an area as far as Cabanatuan City in the north, In 1942, the occupation by the Japanese forces in Gapan, Nueva Ecija, In 1945, entering by the Philippine Commonwealth forces taked in Gapan, Nueva Ecija together with the Filipino guerrillas by the attack of the Japanese forces at the ended in World War II, which was its barrio with the name Cabanatuan before it separated in 1977: the Sierra Madres in the East, San Miguel, and Bulacan in the south and Candaba, Pampanga in the West. Gradually as the Spanish power waned and economic progress caught up in the area, the pueblo disintegrated into many pueblos until it remained to comprise only the towns of Penaranda, General Tinio and San Leonardo (formerly called Manikling) all of Nueva Ecija province. In fact the Patron Saint Divina Pastora had its origin or residence in Barrio Callos, Penaranda.

By virtue of Republic Act No. 9022 and its ratification in a plebiscite subsequently held on August 25, 2001 the Municipality of Gapan was converted into a component city of Nueva Ecija. Ernesto L. Natividad became the first City Mayor of Gapan.

Economy

Current major source of income include farming, slipper making, fishponds, poultry and piggery, and commercial establishments.

The city of Gapan held tremendous promise not only in its natural resources but also in its potentials in agri base industries and in footwear industries which help sustain its virtual role in agricultural and industrial production. Commercial and trade activities in the city are further accelerated by the influx of financing lending institution and new businesses.

External links

* [http://www2.mozcom.com/~gapan_ct/ Gapan City Official Website]
* [http://www.pasyalan.net/nueva_ecija/ Pasyalan Nueva Ecija]
* [http://www.nscb.gov.ph/activestats/psgc/default.asp Philippine Standard Geographic Code]
* [http://www.t-macs.com/kiso/local/ 2000 Philippine Census Information]