Сан-Хуан қаласы: тарихы мен қазіргі жағдайы

Highly urbanized city in Metro Manila, Philippines

San Juan, officially the City of San Juan , is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 126,347 people. It is geographically located at Metro Manila's approximate center and is also the country's smallest city in terms of land area. The city is known historically for the site of the first battle of the Katipunan, the organization which led the 1896 Philippine Revolution against the Spanish Empire. Notable landmarks today such as Pinaglabanan Shrine and heritage homes are located in the city. Other locations include Greenhills and Santolan Town Plaza, making the city a major shopping hub with a range of upscale, boutique and bargain retail.

"San Juan" is a contraction of the city's traditional name of "San Juan del Monte" As with numerous other places in the Philippines, the name combines a patron saint and a toponym; in this case Saint John the Baptist with the locale's hilly terrain and relatively higher elevation compared to surrounding areas. The city's official name is "Dakilang Lungsód ng San Juan" .

During the pre Hispanic period, the area of what is now San Juan was a part of the Kingdom of Namayan, whose last recorded rulers were King Lakan Tagkan and his consort, Bouan.

In the late 16th century, the kingdom and other polities in the islands were absorbed into the Spanish Crown, with the realm of Namayan christened as the parish of Santa Ana de Sapa. (present day Santa Ana, Manila) The present area of San Juan was meanwhile re classified as the small encomienda (town) of San Juan del Monte in 1590. In 1602, along the Camino de Mandaluyong (now F. Blumentritt Street), the Dominican Order built a novitiate house in the town for their immediate use, where ageing or convalescing friars stayed. Within the area, the Dominicans also constructed a convent and a stone church, the Santuario del Santo Cristo, dedicating it to the Holy Cross. To this day, the thrice rebuilt church stands on the same site, adjacent to Aquinas School and Dominican College. The first shot was exchanged by Private William W. Grayson, an American sentry from the 1st Nebraska Infantry Regiment of the United States Volunteer Army, who killed Filipino corporal Anastacio Felix and another Filipino soldier of the Philippine Revolutionary Army, firing the first shot of the Philippine–American War. This prompted lines of Filipino troops in San Juan del Monte to open fire at the line of American troops in Santa Mesa. Later, a study done by Ronnie Miravite Casalmir that came out in 2023 solidly debunked the Sociego Silencio location, and instead placed the event at the turn towards Blockhouse 7 along Sociego Street. Throughout the war, various regiments of the United States Volunteer Army carried out multiple skirmishes against militias and soldiers of the First Philippine Republic in towns along the Camino de Mariquina, where they had cleared out Filipino forces at the El Deposito reservoir, its pumping station road (now Pinaglabanan Street, part of Santolan Road), and the santuario. Both the revolution and the war caused many of the original residents of San Juan del Monte to evacuate en masse, permanently settling in neighboring towns. This led to many lots becoming abandoned. From 1898 to 1899, some residents returned to the town, resettling in shacks. However, due to unsanitary conditions, a malaria epidemic broke out in the area, with many casualties. Following the end of the Philippine American War, the municipality was repopulated by families coming from Mariquina and San Mateo. with former Katipunan San Juan chapter sanggunian Andres Soriano serving as its first municipal president. San Felipe Neri later became the capital of Rizal for several months in 1904. In 1907, San Juan del Monte was reconstituted as an independent municipality through Act No. 1625. In 1916, the municipal government purchased the land along the intersection of N. Domingo and F. Blumentritt Streets, where the town market (present day Agora Market) was located. Likewise, in 1919, businessmen Eusebio Orense and Florencio G. Diaz purchased a great bulk of the remaining hacienda lands, selling it to a Filipino American consortium developing the San Juan Heights, a series of new subdivision developments all across the area. It was around this time that the municipality's name was contracted to San Juan. Between 1939 and 1941, the barrios of Cubao, Diliman, and San Francisco del Monte, as well as Camp Crame, were ceded from San Juan to the newly established Quezon City.

On January 1, 1942, San Juan was one of the municipalities of Rizal merged alongside Manila and Quezon City to form the City of Greater Manila as an emergency measure by President Manuel L. Quezon. It became a municipality of Rizal once again when the City of Greater Manila was dissolved by President Sergio Osmeña effective August 1, 1945.

San Juan, especially its exclusive subdivisions in Greenhills, was home to many prominent personalities during the country's Martial Law era under President Ferdinand Marcos. This included several Armed Forces of the Philippines generals, including Romeo Espino, Alfredo Montoya, and Romeo Gatan, Imelda Marcos’ secretary Fe Jimenez Roa;

When Presidential Decree No. 824 establishing the National Capital Region was signed on November 7, 1975, San Juan was among the towns excised from Rizal Province into the newly created metropolitan area.

Club Filipino, which had relocated to San Juan in 1970 from its original location in Santa Mesa, became an important part of the establishment of the Fifth Philippine Republic when President Corazon Aquino was inaugurated there on February 25, 1986, the last day of the civilian led 1986 People Power Revolution.

In 1992, San Juan had the least number of informal settler families out of all the municipalities and cities in Metro Manila based on data from the National Housing Authority.

Residents ratified the conversion of the municipality into a highly urbanized city on June 17, 2007, pursuant to Republic Act No. 9388 ("An Act Converting the Municipality of San Juan into a Highly Urbanized City to be known as the City of San Juan"). Then Representative Ronaldo Zamora sponsored the Cityhood Bill in the House of Representatives and worked for its approval.

Although not officially designated as such, San Juan is noted to be the "City of Philippine Presidents." Five presidents were official residents of San Juan. They were the Macapagal père et fille, Diosdado (1961–1965) and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (2001–2010); Marcos père et fils, Ferdinand Sr. (1965–1986) and Ferdinand Jr. (2022–present); and Joseph Estrada (1998–2001), who also served as Mayor when San Juan was still a municipality.

San Juan is the least extensive city in the Philippines with a total area of just
San Juan is bounded by Quezon City on the north and east, Mandaluyong on the south, and the City of Manila in the west. The territory of San Juan was once much larger than it is now, having been adjacent to Caloocan and Marikina prior to the creation of Quezon City. Parts of the present day Districts 1, 3, and 4 of Quezon City, as well as areas of Mandaluyong, were originally within the town's colonial era borders. This also explains why San Juan Reservoir is in nearby Horseshoe Village, a subdivision now part of Quezon City.

The city also has several notable places of worship. Saint John the Baptist Parish, more commonly known as "Pinaglabanan Church", is where the city's patron saint, John the Baptist, is enshrined. The Santuario del Santo Cristo is the settlement's oldest existing church, while Mary the Queen Parish in West Greenhills serves the local Filipino Chinese community. From 1925 to 1971, the Iglesia ni Cristo once headquartered in the town at its former Central Office Complex, now known as the Locale of F. Manalo. It features Art Deco designed ensembles, crafted by National Artist for Architecture Juan Nakpil. The chapel is the centerpiece of the Complex, which also contains the old Central Office and Pastoral House that was the home of the church's first Executive Minister, Felix Manalo, along with other Ministers and Evangelical Workers. When Manalo died in 1963, a mausoleum was constructed on the grounds of the Complex by architect Carlos Santos Viola. INC has 4.2% adherents in Sn. Juan
San Juan also has a number of Evangelical churches. Through the APOI (Association of Pastors for Outreach and Intercession), they have contributed to the spiritual atmosphere of the city. Every January, the city celebrates the National Bible Week, where the reading of the Scripture happens during the flag raising ceremony in the City Hall. Through the blessing of the mayor, a bible was planted in the heart of the new city hall during its construction. Major evangelical churches like Jesus is Lord and Victory Greenhills are also found in the city of San Juan. San Juan is also home to two Islamic mosques, namely: Masjid Hamza Bin Ahmed in Balong Bato and Greenhills Masjid at Greenhills.

San Juan is predominantly residential, mixed with commercial and manufacturing businesses. The Greenhills shopping district is the hub of trade and commerce in San Juan. The shopping complex housed shopping malls, the Virra Mall, Shoppesville, Greenhills Theatre Mall, Promenade Mall, the former Greenhills Bowling Alley, and Unimart.

Since 2003, San Juan celebrates the feast of its patron saint, St. John the Baptist every June 24 with its Wattah Wattah Festival, a festival with dancing, parades, and its traditional basaan or water dousing along the city streets. The festival and its activities are usually held along N. Domingo Street and Pinaglabanan Street as the procession of the image of St. John the Baptist goes down the streets. San Juan City Ordinance No. 51 series of 2018 prohibits dirty water, ice, water in glass bottles, and water or ice in other materials that will incite pain or injury upon impact from being used in the festival. Physical violence, inciting of threats, and deliberately entering public transport vehicles to douse commuters is also not allowed. However, in 2020 and 2021, due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the festival was reduced to a parade of the image of St. John the Baptist with social distancing and mask mandates in place. In 2022, due to a lower number of COVID 19 cases, the traditional basaan was included again in the Wattah! Wattah! Festival, accompanied by a street dancing competition, a free concert, and a fireworks display.

San Juan has a long history with sports, the Filoil EcoOil Centre has hosted numerous sporting events, including the Philippine Basketball Association, Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League, Premier Volleyball League, and the Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup. The city is also home to the San Juan Knights, which started in the now defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association and now competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League. The Knights have won three league championships in its entire franchise history.

Modes of public transportation in San Juan include jeepneys and buses. Jeepney routes ply the Aurora Boulevard (R 6). The city is serviced by J. Ruiz station of the LRT Line 2 in the city proper and indirectly served by Santolan Annapolis station of the MRT Line 3, at the city's eastern boundary with Quezon City. The C 3 (Araneta Avenue) also passes through San Juan. Secondary routes include Nicanor Domingo (abbreviated N. Domingo), which heads towards Cubao in Quezon City, and Pinaglabanan Street (which continues as Santolan Road) leading towards Ortigas Avenue and eventually the southern reaches of Quezon City near Camp Crame, the headquarters of the Philippine National Police.

The Schools Divisions Office (SDO) of San Juan oversees 9 public elementary schools, 2 public high schools, and a science high school within the city. The SDO also recognizes 24 private schools in San Juan City, seven of which are preschools, four of which are elementary schools, and 13 of which are high schools. Public higher education is offered by the state Polytechnic University of the Philippines, which maintains its San Juan campus in Barangay Addition Hills. Private higher education is offered by the Dominican College in Barangay Tibagan, one of the oldest schools in the city, having been established in 1924. and the Istituto Culinario in Barangay Greenhills.