San Marcelino (Ilocano: Ili ti San Marcelino; Tagalog: Bayan ng San Marcelino) is a first class municipality in the province of Zambales, Philippines. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 31,879 people. The municipality is home to Mapanuepe Lake that formed after the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo. The first trace of civilization in this town sprouted on the peak of the jungle, fe
ed-abundant, cute little VEGA HILL, brought forth by our sea-faring industrious, and die hard fore-fathers from Ilocos Regions, among whom were the old Corpuses, Udans, Ragadios, Raguinis, Rabanes and Fabunans. With courage, they tamed what seemed tameless: with industry and perseverance they turned untouched lands and resources of the hill. And all these combined, made Viga Hill a wonderful place to live in. But Viga Hill is only a part of the approximately 440.92 square kilometers that comprise San Marcelino. San Marcelino is bounded on the North, by San Narciso, San Felipe and Botolan towns; on the East, by Porac, Pampanga; on the south by Castillejos; and on the West, by San Antonio and San Narciso. Because our forefathers hated the monotony of status quo, they found themselves not long thereafter in another place called MANGARING, now known as Barrio LINASIN, in answer to their strong urge to seek for a greener pasture, until by the same urge, they found themselves permanently settled, this time in the poblacion or in what now known as the town proper and which in itself was filled with trees, shrubs, cogons and wild animals. Solidarity among the early settlers was evident in their group hunting. Fairness in their division of whatever they have hunted and obedience of the authority of their elder in matters of domestic, social and other concerns of life where there was an inter-play of authority and governance. It was in this place and under this state of life when FATHER GUILLERMO, a middle-aged but kind hearted Spanish priest, in the company of a handful of Spaniards, reached and befriended our forefathers. For the first time, the more improved concept of urbanity and Christianity provoked their minds, and after a time, actually lived and handed by them from one generation to another. But time has to go and bring them more mouths to feed, more life and people, especially the friars to reckon with. And so, by sheer necessity and under the guidance and supervision of the friars, now in great control, the concept of “government’ was born in their midst. So a government set-up was conceived whereby the friars appointed as local or district heads, the cabesas de barangay for every barangay, among others being Consuelo Norte, Nagbunga and Sinnerrekan (now known as Linusungan), but which later on, in a much increased number, viz: San Rafael, Sta. Fe, Buhawen, Consuelo Sur, Rizal, San Guillermo, San Isidro, La Paz, Nagbunga and Central, that houses the elected Teniente del Barrio, also known as Capitan or Presidente with the middle-aged and courageous MARCELINO coming out as our First Teiniente del Barrio, followed in succession, among others by Domingo Magsaysay and Antonio Rolls. This government set-up went on for quite a time to the dissatisfaction of our forefathers who felt being in office only as nominal leader deprived of their open judgment and discretion, as they were being controlled and merely dictated by the friars on the more vital aspect of governance. The discontentment which added to the many other shocking abuses of the friars, forced our ever-yielding forebears into joining cause with the nationwide insurrection movement. Among those of our forefathers who led the movement in our town were Jorge Udan, Francisco Corpus, with Alipio Corpus in their front. While the reforms demanded by these insurrections were not totally granted, they had, however the resulting effect of giving our forefathers a much great hold and participation in governing their respective districts. And so, on a thrilling and most eagerly-awaited day of January 14, 1906, the aspiration of our forebears to be politically free has dawned at long last amidst an uproarious day for they were already given the right to actually elect their leaders under an air of present day concept of democratic process, with MATIAS APOSTOL as the first duly elected President, now an office with power, and a political set-up so different from that held by his immediate predecessors in office, among them were Carlos Corpus, Alipio Corpus and Juan Rodriguez. But why SAN MARCELINO? San Marcelino was named after MARCELINO our first Teniente del Barrio. After having been Christianized and christened by Father Guillermo the people rightfully chose GUILLERMO as the town’s Patron Saint. San Marcelino is basically a palay-growing town whose annual yield in palay is more than sufficient to feed its inhabitants, with corn, mongo. Sugar and camote alternately planted. Having so vast a land so suited for palay, most of which are still for cultivation, the government realized the great need of the Sto. Tomas Irrigation System. The Irrigation Dam constructed on the mouth of the Sto. Tomas river beautifully placed between two towering mountains that made it an ideal tourist resort, in fact, it was frequently visited by people in and out of town. The Sto. Tomas River, besides irrigating our lands, also offers a great deal of fish that kept our fisherman, especially those from barrios of Aglao, Sta. Fe, San Rafael, Laoag, and Rabanes busy almost throughout the year. A mining company came into being in the Mid 70’s. It was operated by the Dizon Family and Benguet Corporation on a joint venture operation. The mining industry created job opportunities for the people and somehow provided the local government with sufficient revenues through business taxes and real property taxes. However, the town’s “Golden Era” proved to be ephemeral, as San Marcelino experienced nature’s wrath at its worst with the infamous Mt. Pinatubo eruptions of June 15, 1991 that virtually rendered the whole town in peril and on the brink of obliteration. The San Marcelino spirit, characterized by the people’s cooperation, unity, volunteerism and resilience, coupled with the local government’s steadfast commitment and determination to bounce back from the debacle, keeps the community afloat and resurrected enroute to full-blown recovery.
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