Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija

The municipality of Sto. Domingo (or Santo Domingo) is situated at the Northwestern part of the province of Nueva Ecija and about 40 kilometers from Palayan City which is now the provincial capital and about 25 kilometers from the city of Cabanatuan, the former capital of the province.

History:

During the arrival of the Spaniards, the whole Central Plain of Luzon was a virgin forest. Only the aborigines roamed the country side. Food supply was more than enough for them.

As time passes and population continues to grow more and more demands for land and its resources. So much so on the latter part of the 17th century, people residing at or near the centers of population began looking for a better place to live in.

People from Ilocos and from Bulacan started to go to the interior where land is plentiful and wildlife is abundant. Settlers poured into what is known as Nueva Ecija, lured by the fertility of the soil and the flat topography of the land.

Migrants who came to Sto. Domingo found the place plenty of buri palms, and so, they called the place Pulong Buli. At first Pulung Buli was part of the town Aliaga. Towards the end of the 19th century it became a town. However, upon establishments of the Civil Government by the Americans, it was made a barrio of Aliaga town.

Upon representation of the prominent residents, Sto. Domingo became a full pledge municipality in 1920, and named it Sto. Domingo after their Patron Saint Sto. Domingo de Guzman.

Descendants of the original founders of this town could be identified by their surnames such as Alejo, Andres, Juan Pascual, Salamnca, Samatra and Tolentino.

Sto. Domingo has a total area covering 9569 hectares or about 1.8% of Nueva Ecija’s land area. It is estimated that out of the total land area, roughly 90.80% or some 8688.1884 hectares are devoted to agriculture while only 5.5% or a mere 535.0835 hectares are utilized for other purpose such as residential, commercial and agro-industrial.

The Municipality of Sto. Domingo has 24 barangays, namely: Baloc, Buasao, Cabugao, Casulucan, Comitang, Concepcion, Dolores, Gen. Luna, Hulo, Mabini, Malasin, Malaya, Malayantoc, Mambarao, Poblacion, Pulong Buli, Sagaba, San Agustin, San Fabian, San Francisco, San Pascual, Sta. Rita, Sto. Rosario.

The municipality’s terrain is generally flat. The Talavera river on the southern portion of the town serves as the boundary line between the Municipalities of Sto. Domingo and Talavera while on the the Northwestern, the Baliuag River seperates the Municipality from Guimba. In addition to these, several creeks are also found within the town specifically in Barangays Buasao, Sta. Rita, Sagaba, San Francisco, San Pascual and Sto. Rosario.

The population of Sto. Domingo as based on the 2005 survey conducted was registered at 48213 with a corresponding 9532 households and a population density of 4 persons per hectare with an annual growth rate estimated at 2.50%.

The Municipality of Sto Domingo classifies as afourth class municipality with an average annual income for the year 2005 of 41,674,265.57. Being an agricultural town the majority of Sto. Domingo’s labor force are engaged in agriculture and other agro related activities while few are salary earners and substantial numbers are enterprising entrepreneurs.

The power supply in the municipality comes from the Luzon Grid of the National Power Corporation, which is distributed by the Nueva Ecija Electric Cooperative II with it's main office based in Talavera. The major source for water supply for domestic use is ground water. Water pumps are also used in some households and some sources include the rivers, creeks and irrigation canals. Twenty five percent of the municipalities water are being supplied by Balibago Waterworks System, Inc. (BWSI.) Communication services in the municipalty consists of a telegraph office, 2 Postal Offices, 4 radio transceiver used by the local PNP, and cellular phones.

Health facilities include a Municipal Health Center in Barangay Malaya, 10 barangay health centers situated in different barangays and several Day Care Centers also located in different barangays and several private clinics. Educational facilities include 4 primary schools, seventeen elementary schools, 4 kindergarten/preparatory schools, and 4 high schools.

For the past 107 years Sto. Domingo was governed by the following Local Chief Executives, namely: Cornelio Andres – 1920-1923, Pedro J. Pascual - 1923-1936, Doroteo Noriel – 1936-1940, Juancho Andres – 1945-1947, Matias Andres – 1948-1951, Julian Pascual – 1952-1955, Ceferino De Leon – 1956-1959, Narciso Andres – 1967-1971, Godofredo Frances – 1972-1979, Avelino Andres – 1979-1986, Virgilio Abesamis – 1986-1987, Romeo Hipolito – 1987 -1988, Ireneo DeLeon 1988-1998, Jimmy Domingo 1998 – 2007, Marvin Parinas – 2007-Present.

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