About Urdaneta

THE HISTORY OF URDANETA

The written history of Urdaneta City remains far from conclusive and definitive to this day, with many versions of how the city officially became URDANETA. One theory suggests its original name is ORGANITA, roughly meaning "little organ or unit." This is plausible as it was then a composite of portions of barrios of the adjacent towns where they converged to create one composite pueblo. Some theorists, the so-called purists, belie this by saying that the Spanish root word is organo; therefore the right word should be organito. These theorists cite education at that time was centered in the Poblacion and the people in the hinterlands were neglected, thus resulting to bad grammar.

The written history of the town reveals that the community was organized into a pueblo on January 8, 1858. Its first "cura parroco" was Nicolas Alonzo Manrique. He named the new town Urdaneta, in honor of another friar, Fr. Andres de U

rdaneta, the spiritual adviser of the expedition led by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi which arrived in Cebu to explore the country on April 27, 1565.

Other contentious issues, however, still exist. Was the town named after Fr. Andres Urdaneta or Fr. Miguel de Urdaneta or Fr. Simon de Urdaneta? The archives of the National Library state that it was after Fr. Miguel de Urdaneta. The historian Fr. Jose Ma. Gonzales, in his book "Labor Evangelica y Civilizadora de los Religioso Dominicos en Pangasinan", was silent on this. Some articles on the town’s history say that it was after Fr. Simon de Urdaneta while others claim it was after Fr. Andres de Urdaneta.

Historical records show the first inhabitants, mostly Ilocano migrants, established contiguous settlements occupying portions of the barrios of the surrounding towns of Asingan, Villasis, Malasiqui, Sta. Barbara, Mangaldan, Manaoag, and Binalonan. The settlers banded together and petitioned the Spanish Government to allow them to form a separate pueblo for greater ties and stronger unity. Their petition was granted and Urdaneta was formally founded on January 8, 1858. On January 10, 1998, the Philippine Congress enacted R.A. 8480 converting the Municipality of Urdaneta into a component city of the Province of Pangasinan. The people of Urdaneta, in a plebiscite, overwhelmingly ratified this legislative act and Urdaneta was proclaimed a city on March 21, 1998.

FAST FACTS

Location:

The City of Urdaneta is located in the central eastern part of the Province of Pangasinan, situated on 15° 56 to 16° 0' latitude and 120° 29' to 120° 37' longitude. Urdaneta is approximately 186 kms. from Metro Manila; 70 kms. from Baguio City; 100 kms. from the City of San Fernando (La Union); 28 kms. from Dagupan City (Pangasinan); and 40 kms. from the Municipality of Lingayen, the capital of the Province of Pangasinan.

Traversed by the Manila North Road (National Highway) virtually bisecting the locality into the west and the east sides, the City of Urdaneta is bounded on the North by the Municipalities of Binalonan, Laoac, Manaoag, and the Musing River; on the Northwest by the Municipality of Mapandan; on the South by the Municipality of Villasis; on the Southwest by the Municipality of Malasiqui; on the East by the Municipality of Asingan; and on the West by the Municipality of Sta. Barbara.

Income/Classification:

The City of Urdaneta has an urbanization level of 53.76% and has been identified by the Provincial Government of Pangasinan as a growth pole. Agriculture is still the major source of income and livelihood of the people.

It is classified as a Third Class Component City with a total income of Php 300,717,286.15 for CY 2004.

Population:

Based on the May 2000 census of population conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO), total population is 111,582 with 22,908 households.

Land Area:

Up to this writing, the land area of the City of Urdaneta cannot be ascertained. According to the Land Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Urdaneta’s total land area is 10,026 hectares. On the other hand, Department of Agriculture Regional Office No. 1 figures show 13,285 hectares. However, per Town Plan of Urdaneta earlier approved by the HLURB, the City’s land area coverage totaled 12,098 hectares.

VISION

URDANETA CITY is envisioned to be a center of agro-industrial development and educational advancement, a city with viable solid waste management, admirable traffic system, sustainable social services and equitable opportunity, and a community of God-loving, well-disciplined, self-reliant, and development-oriented people. It shall be an urban growth center and a model of god governance in Northern Luzon.

MISSION

URDANETA CITY is committed to provide adequate infrastructure facilities and basic social services, to promote a healthy and safe environment, to practice good governance and dynamic leadership in ensuring political stability and economic self-sufficiency, and to promote people participation in policy formulation and project implementation.