HISTORY OF GUIGUINTO
Guiguintois considered as one of the fast – developing municipality nowadays. Long before, Guiguinto began as a barrio of Bulacan town, the former provincial capital of Bulacan. Its name holds two magnificent and of different kind of story before how it arrived to where it is.
This was one of the older towns in Central Luzon. It was known by its ancient name as “Ma-yi” and was one of the earlier settlement sites before the Spaniard colonization. With the arrival of the Spaniards, and to expedite land taxation by the Spanish government, Guiguinto was one of the towns that were classified as an ‘encomienda’. The Spanish authorities later organized the settlement that was once known as “Ma-yi” into “pueblos” and was founded in 1641.
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This was one of the older towns in Central Luzon. It was known by its ancient name as “Ma-yi” and was one of the earlier settlement sites before the Spaniard colonization. With the arrival of the Spaniards, and to expedite land taxation by the Spanish government, Guiguinto was one of the towns that were classified as an ‘encomienda’. The Spanish authorities later organized the settlement that was once known as “Ma-yi” into “pueblos” and was founded in 1641.
It is said that Spaniards set up an army post in the barrio to serve as a resting-place for forces going to Northern Luzon. In those days, travel throughout Guiguinto was difficult and slow. Some people said that when passing through the barrio, Spaniards would slow down to cross single file over a narrow bamboo bridge. Their Filipino guides would cry out, “Hinto” (stop). The Spaniards thought this was the name of the place, “Hihinto”. The Spaniards substituted “Gui” with a hard “g”) for the Tagalog “Hi”. The place has since been called Guiguinto. On the other hand, another myth says that one moonlight night, a golden bull emerges from the church to quench its thirst. After doing so, it returns back to the church, ascends to the altar and disappears. Because of the belief, elders said that there are buried jars of gold in the town, as indicated by the bull. It is then the reason why it is called Guiguinto.
The municipality of Guiguinto is rich in culture and history as played a significant part in the various revolutions towards Philippine independence. Its history is a rich tapestry of heroic exploits of its people as it led in the various struggle towards independence.
Towards the end of the Spanish colonization and the arrival of the Americans, the province of Bulacan was reconstituted into 13 municipalities from the original 25 established by the Spanish government. With this consolidation, Guiguinto became part of the Municipality of Bulacan. On December 24, 1914, upon Executive Order 126 issued by the American Governor General Francis Burton Harrison, Guiguinto was re-established as a municipality separate from the Municipality of Bulacan. With Executive Order 126, Guiguinto was officially recognized as an independent municipality on January 1, 1915 with Antonio Figueroa as its first “municipal president”. The town’s population was then about 4,000. The 1960 census placed Guiguinto’s population at 10,629.
Through out the years, the Municipality of Guiguinto was able to weather the different changes in administrations and governments. In all those times, Guiguinto was able to stand out as an independent and distinct municipality with its people having their own aspirations.
From a predominantly agricultural economy, Guiguinto was able to gradually urbanize and develop into a second-class municipality and in 2005 became first class municipality thru DF Income classification. Guiguinto is now at an important junction of its history as it has to contend with the rapid modernization of the province of Bulacan and the Metropolitan Manila.
