HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Many years ago, the Province of Pangasinan was composed of only few towns. During that time, religion was the basis for educating the people and from time to time, missionaries of various orders went to carry out their religious responsibilities one of which is visiting different towns. While having a routinary visit, a certain priest went to Asingan, and with his desire to extend his services, he visited the outskirts of the town. He set foot in a place which was then inhabited by few Ilocano families. He found them remarkably hospitable which prompted him to name the place where they lived. Since it was the Day of the Virgin Mary, he proclaimed the place Sta. Maria in honor of the Virgin Mary and in commemoration of her special day.

In the course of time, people found the place difficult to improve since it was surrounded by marshals. So, they transferred from Namagbagan (presently a barangay of Sta. Maria) to the present location of the municipality. The town site was near a promontory or “pila” in vernacular dialects which formed impregnable defense against the early defense of the Agno River, a kilometer away from the site. Because of this, they thought of annexing “Pila” to the original name, making it Sta. Maria de Pila, a name beyond the confine of Pangasinan.

Creation of the Municipality

Sta. Maria was formerly a barrio of the Municipality of Tayug. It was founded on January 10, 1855 and became a town under the rule of captain up to 1863, but was fused to Tayug later because of its inability to maintain and promote financial stability.

In 1879, however, Sta. Maria again became a separate town. Again in 1903, the municipality of Sta. Maria was fused to the town of Tayug for the same reason until 1906. In 1907, a special election was held for the purpose of creating municipalities from bigger towns. Thus, the municipality of Sta. Maria became a permanent municipality.

Past Development
Social Development
The first inhabitants of Sta. Maria were peaceful and contented Ilocano families. During those times, religion was an important basis for education. Missionaries from different orders visited the places in order to carry out their religious activities. Because they have a strong desire to promote religion and to inform and educate people about it, they visited eben far flung barangays.

Some of the old socio-cultural traits of the first Ilocano settlers were passed down to the succeeding generations. Some of these are: belief in supernatural deities, dwarfs and anitos offering, practicing superstition, the old repeated tradition of “pagmamana”, arranged marriage and lot more. This made Sta. Maria one of the Ilocano speaking towns of Pangasinan.

Economic Development
Generally, the townspeople are devoted to agricultural activities. So the source of livelihood for early inhabitants was farming. Animals were used for tilling the agricultural lands and even in transportation, animals such as horses and carabaos were utilized. The rivers and creeks served as fishing areas for several people who were not engaged in farming. People even traveled on foot because of the absence of roads and other infra-facilities. As time goes by, the population of the municipality increased as a result of road construction, public market construction and the sprouting of industries and schools.
Political Development

From a former annex of the municipality of Tayug, Sta. Maria rose into a progressive municipality in eastern Pangasinan. Different leaders handled its progression from 1877 when it was ruled by a teniente del barrio which continued up to 1900. From teniente del barrio, the ruler was later on called Muncipal Presidente during the Spanish-American war. Following is the succession of Presidentes, Alcaldes and Mayors who served the municipality.

Table 2. List of Captains- Municipal Presidentes in the Year 1877 – 1900s 

1.

Teniente del Barrio Anulacion

2.

Teniente del Barrio Rosendo Annulacion

3

Teniente del Barrio Calixto Ortiz

4.

Tenient del Barrio Cipriano Pasamonte

5.

Teniente del Barrio Domingo Apiado

6.

Teniente del Barrio Laurencio Carbillon

7.

Teniente del Barrio Telesforo Carbillon

8.

Teniente del Barrio Pedro Padillo

 

Table 3. List of Mayors in the Early 1900s

NAME

YEAR

1.

Patricio Lamagna

1901 – 1902

2.

Alejandro Gonzales

1902 – 1910

3.

Eugenio Munar

1910 – 1916

4.

Francisco Cendaña

1916 – 1919

5.

Esperidion Rodriguez

1919 – 1922

6.

Claudio Bugayong

1922 – 1925 ; 1927 – 1938

7.

Elidoro Cardenas

1925 – 1927

8.

Valentin Valdez

1938 – 1941

10.

Honorato Rodriguez

1941 – 1952

11.

Arturo Cachila

1952 – 1968

12.

Eusebio Macaraeg

1968 – 1972

13.

Romeo A. Ragon

1972 – 1986

14.

Jose C. Ginez

1986 – 1998

15.

Pinky O. Ginez

1998 – 2001

16.

Jose C. Ginez

2001 – 2010

17.

Teodoro A. Ramos

2010 – 2019

18.

Julius C. Ramos

2019 – Present

MEANING OF MUNICIPAL SEAL

Rice and Corn – Symbolize Santa Maria as a predominantly agricultural town, with rice as the main crop and tobacco being the second biggest income-generating crop.

Torch – Represents the agricultural institutions in the municipality, namely, the Eastern Pangasinan Agricultural College (EPAC) for high school and the Pangasinan State University (PSU) for college, both of which are situated in one school site.

Green Fields – Represents 83.52% of the total land area of the municipality, solely for agricultural purposes.

23 Stars – represent the 23 barangays of the municipality.

Rope – signifies the ties that bind the 23 barangays together in unity and harmony.

The Color Red – represents bravery and strong determination to change for the better.

The Color Green – means hope for a more prosperous and peaceful place to live in.

The Gold Color – signifies abundance in harvest for the upliftment of the economic well-being
of the people.

The Color Brown – means unity not only among local officials but also among the townspeople
of Santa Maria.

Cultural Heritage

Gabaldon Building (1919)

It is a 96-year old school building was named after the late assemblyman
Isauro Gabaldon who authored the Republic Act 1801, an act through which the Philippine Assembly allocates Php 1 million between the year 1907-1946 for the construction of schoolhouses made up of strong materials in barrios accommodating 60 pupils. This was built under the Bureau of Engineering and Construction of Public Buildings, designed by Architect William E. Parsons. The building is located at the Sta. Maria East Integrated School ( Formerly East Central School) It has undergone rehabilitation in 2016 after consultation and approval with and by the National Historical Commission.