GEOGRAPHY
The Municipality of Guiguinto is located at latitude 14o50' and at longitude 120o53'. It lies approximately 34 kilometers northeast of Metro Manila and linked through the North Luzon Expressway and the MacArthur Highway. It is one of the 22 towns and 2 cities of the Province of Bulacan. It is bounded on the north by the Municipality of Plaridel, on the south by the Municipality of Bulacan, on the east by the Municipality of Balagtas and on the west by the capital City of Malolos.
The land area is approximately 2,512 hectares. It is the second smallest municipality of the Province of Bulacan, just larger than Obando.
POLITICAL BOUNDARIES
The Province of Bulacan is one of the six (6) provinces comprising Region III. It is bounded on the north by Nueva Ecija and on the northwest by Pampanga. Aurora and Quezon provinces lie on the eastern side while Metro Manila and the Manila Bay are found on its southern part. The Province of Bulacan is further subdivided into 22 municipalities and two (2) component cities (Malolos and San Jose del Monte).
The Municipality of Guiguinto is one of the seven (7) municipalities comprising the 2nd District of Bulacan. It is composed of 14 barangays ranging in land area from 356 hectares to 88 hectares.
MAP OF GUIGUINTO
TOPOGRAPHY AND SLOPE
The topography of Guiguinto is generally flat. Slopes are in the lowest category or the 0 - 3% range. The highest elevation is at 7 meters ASL and located at Barangay Pritil on the northern part of the municipality. The lowest elevations are in Barangay Panginay with elevations barely above sea level. The north and northeastern portions of the municipality are generally higher than the rest of the area. In essence, the relatively flat topography of the area caters to the development of agriculture. It has also aided is the classification of the municipality as low-risk in terms of erosion hazards. However, Barangay Panginay in the south is a potential flood-prone area being almost at level with Manila Bay.
GEOLOGY
The Philippine archipelago is divided into four (4) physiographic provinces. The Province of Bulacan belongs to the Central Physiographic Province. It is composed of cordilleras, lowlands, troughs and offshore basins. It is also subdivided into six (6) sub-provinces. Guiguinto belongs to the Central Luzon Basin. This basin is occupied by sediments ranging in age from Miocene to Pliocene, which have undergone subsidence and uplift.
The Central Luzon Sub-province is composed of Luzon Central Plain, Southwest Luzon Uplands and the eastern lowlands of Mindoro. It is also the largest plain in the country, found between the Zambales Range and Sierra Madre. It opens into Manila Bay on the south and Lingayen Gulf on the north. The plain is 150 km long with an average breadth of 60 km. Mt. Arayat at 1030m elevation ASL, a lone volcanic peak, stands prominently in the center of the plain. In the northeastern part are Mounts Amurong, Balungao and Bangcay. Agno River drains the northern part of the plain and empties into Lingayen Gulf. Pampanga and Angat rivers drain the southern part and empty into Manila Bay. North of the confluence of Angat and Pampanga rivers is the Candaba Swamp with an area of 270 square kilometers.
The Luzon Central Plain is composed of middle Tertiary sediments and Quaternary pyroclastics and lava flows, unconformably overlying Cretaceous to Lower Tertiary basement rocks. In the eastern side, the oldest rocks are the Barenas-Baito Formation. In the western side, the basement is composed of ultramafic rocks, gabbros, diabase dike complexes, chert spilites and the Upper Eocene to Oligocene Aksitero Formation. Post-basement stratigraphy on the east is distinct than that on the west. The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) further classifies the stratified rock at Guiguinto as Quaternary alluvial.
LAND USE
The Municipality of Guiguinto is comprised of 14 barangays. The total land area is around 2,512 hectares. The biggest barangay in terms of land area is Malis with 311.5 hectares followed by Barangays Sta. Rita (271 has.), Tiaong (258 has.) and Sta. Cruz (248 has.). The barangay with the least land area is Tuktukan with 88 hectares.
The enactment of Republic Act No. 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991 (LGC) is considered a landmark legislation in the history of local governance in the country as it provided Local Government Units (LGUs) with a degree of autonomy that previous local government charters lacked. For one, it empowered LGUs to define and influence their development by giving them the authority to prescribe reasonable limits and restraints on the use of land within their territorial jurisdiction (Sec. 447, 2-VI).
Corollary to the enhanced powers and authority however, is also an enhanced degree of responsibility. One of the responsibilities which LGUs were tasked in pursuit of autonomy is the formulation of their development plans, programs and objectives, and the effective and efficient implementation thereof. (Sec. 18) Further, the LGC requires LGUs to prepare their respective comprehensive land use plan, enacted through a Zoning Ordinance.
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