Santa Rosa, Laguna

Santa Rosa, officially the City of Santa Rosa (Filipino: Lungsod ng Santa Rosa), is a component city in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, its population was 414,812 people.
It is the second largest local government unit in Laguna after Calamba. On August 28, 2019, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11395, which separated the city from the province's first district and granted the city its own congressional district to elect a representative in 2022. The city later gained its own representation in the Laguna Provincial Board to elect two members separately starting in 2025.
Santa Rosa was initially known for the Coca-Cola, RC Cola, and Toyota manufacturing plants in its industrial estates. It later became popular as the site of local theme park Enchanted Kingdom and several housing and commercial developments.
Santa Rosa is derived from Spanish for Saint Rose of Lima, its patron saint to whom it is consecrated to.
In 1571, Spanish conquistador Juan de Salcedo, the grandson of Miguel López de Legazpi, founded the town of Biñan which was annexed as a barrio to Tabuco (now Cabuyao) while exploring the region of Laguna de Bay.
In 1688, Biñan, together with Barrio Bukol, separated from Cabuyao. After a series of renaming and separating barrios to become independent towns, Barrio Bukol was politically emancipated as the municipality of Santa Rosa, founded on January 18, 1792.
During the revolutionary period in 1898, the town was instrumental in the proclamation of Philippine independence from Spain when the country signed the Act of Independence on June 12, 1898. Later on, the town's local revolutionaries fought alongside the forces of Pío del Pilar during the Philippine–American War.
On February 5, 1945, the town was abandoned by Japanese soldiers when the local guerrilla resistance movement, with support from the American and Filipino military contingent, entered the town, where skirmishes, torture, and deaths occurred.
During the postwar era up until the 1970s, the townspeople primarily depended on basic agriculture and family-owned enterprises for their livelihood. The influence of industrialization grew in the 1980s with the entry of local and foreign investors who were responsible for the fast-paced economic and social transformation of the town and the province.
On July 10, 2004, Santa Rosa was converted into a city by Republic Act No. 9264, which was approved by voters in the plebiscite. Leon Arcillas, who began his third and final term ten days before, became its first city mayor.
Arcillas was assassinated at the former city hall by three assailants. They were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2013. Jose Catindig Jr., who served as vice mayor, became mayor to serve out the remainder of his term. On May 14, 2007, Catindig, who ran for his full term as mayor, was defeated by Arcillas' daughter Arlene.
Santa Rosa's land area is approximately 54.13 square kilometers (20.90 sq mi). It is located west of Laguna de Bay.
The western half of the city occupies the numerous commercial, industrial, and business establishments, while the other is primarily composed of residential areas and subdivisions, schools, industrial zones, and various business establishments.
Santa Rosa is 47 kilometers (29 mi) from Santa Cruz, 40 kilometers (25 mi) from Manila, and 29 kilometers (18 mi) from Tagaytay.
Santa Rosa is politically subdivided into 18 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
The population of Santa Rosa is fast-growing with an intercensal growth rate of 7% from 1990 to 1995, exponentially increasing in subsequent decades (except between the 2007 and 2010 censuses).
Some inhabitants of Santa Rosa today erroneously refer to themselves as "Rosanians"; since Santa Rosa is a Spanish name, the correct demonym should be "Rosaños".
Like other places in Metro Manila, the original settlers in Santa Rosa are Tagalogs. Throughout the centuries, there has been constant migration of Spaniards, Visayans, Bikolanos, Ilokanos, Chinese, Americans, Japanese, and Koreans.
The main language is Filipino, which is based on Tagalog. In addition, due to continuous development of the city, English is used in education, business and information technology.
Most people are Catholics. Other religious groups represented include the Aglipayans (members of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente – a breakout group from the Catholic Church in 1902 headed by the Union Obrera Democratica), the Church of God International, the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, Jesus Is Lord Church, Baptist, Jehovah's Witness, and Iglesia Evangelica Unida de Cristo (Unida Evangelical Christian Church). In 1994, some migrants and expatriates have formed the Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church (under the canonical jurisdiction of The Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong/Philippines-Ecumenical Patriarchate) in Golden City Subdivision.
Santa Rosa is considered to be the premier city and hub of South Luzon. It is also known as the Lion City of South Luzon. In 2022, the city had an income of ₱4.99 billion. It became the richest city in Luzon outside of Metro Manila in terms of annual income.
Special economic zones and industrial parks in Santa Rosa include:
Townships such as Greenfield City, Nuvali, Eton City, and Sta. Elena City are also located in the Santa Rosa.
The city host various shopping malls: SM City Santa Rosa, Robinsons Sta. Rosa, Ayala Malls Solenad, Walter Mart Santa Rosa, Walter Mart Santa Rosa Bel-Air, Victory Mall Santa Rosa, Target Mall, Vista Mall Sta. Rosa, Paseo Outlets (formerly and still commonly known as Paseo de Santa Rosa), Laguna Central, Arcadia, Eton City Square, Sta. Rosa Town Center, and SRCC Southmall. A new CityMall branch, Sta. Rosa Gateway by Toplite, and SM Neo Verde are currently under construction.
Dubbed as the "Motor City of the Philippines" or "Detroit City of the Philippines", Santa Rosa is host to multinational automotive giants Nissan, Toyota, and Mitsubishi – all contributing 95% of the country's automotive production. It is also the location for the headquarters of Santarosa Motor Works, Inc.
Food conglomerate Monde Nissin Corporation, which manufactures Lucky Me! instant noodles and Monde biscuits, has a 14-hectare (35-acre) manufacturing facility in barangay Balibago. San Miguel Brewery and Magnolia also have a plant in barangay Pulong Santa Cruz. Santa Rosa is also home to the largest plant of The Coca-Cola Company in the Philippines, situated next to the Santa Rosa Exit of South Luzon Expressway. In 2018, Santa Rosa became the new home of HAMBURG Trading Corporation's 7,000-square-meter (75,000 sq ft) facility that houses the company's warehouse, administration office, and state-of-the-art demo kitchen – all in one roof.
Santa Rosa is aiming to be the next hub for the BPO industry. It is currently ranked 82nd in the world for its competitiveness in the Information Technology and Business Process Outsourcing services (IT-BPO) by the leading strategic advisory firm, THOLONS. BPO companies present in Santa Rosa are IQor, KGB, Teletech, IBM and Concentrix, mostly located in SM City Santa Rosa and Nuvali.
Santa Rosa holds many schools, facilities and tutorial centers. There are 18 public elementary schools and 10 public high schools in the city, all overseen by the Schools Division Office (SDO) of Santa Rosa City, as well as 84 private schools as of 2023. The Canossians built their first Canossian school in the Philippines in Santa Rosa. For 25 years Laguna BelAir School taught students before closing during the COVID-19 pandemic era.
Several higher education institutions headquartered outside the city have established branch or satellite campuses in Santa Rosa. Polytechnic University of the Philippines has one campus in Santa Rosa, as well as STI College, Citi Global College, Ateneo de Manila University (Ateneo Professional Schools), and Our Lady of Fatima University. Under-construction and planned satellite campuses include those of University of Santo Tomas, University of the East, and National University, respectively.
Santa Rosa is serviced by South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) and Cavite–Laguna Expressway (CALAX). Two exits of SLEX are located in the city: Santa Rosa Exit and Eton City (Malitlit) Exit. The city is also accessible through Greenfield City (Mamplasan) Exit in Biñan, which provides access to CALAX, SM City Santa Rosa, and the Santa Rosa city proper. Two exits of CALAX directly serve the city, namely: Santa Rosa–Tagaytay Exit (located in Barangay Carmen, Silang, Cavite) and Laguna Boulevard Exit (located within the city). The Manila South Road from Alabang, Muntinlupa up to Calamba, Laguna passes through the city. Another road, Santa Rosa–Tagaytay Road, acts as the main route for people going up to Tagaytay from Metro Manila, especially on weekends and vacation periods.
Public transportation within the city, like in most of the urban areas in the Philippines, is facilitated mostly using inexpensive jeepneys. Tricycles are also used for short distances. The Santa Rosa railway station of the Philippine National Railways and eventually the under-construction North–South Commuter Railway is located in barangay Labas, near the city proper. The city is also the location of the Santa Rosa Commercial Complex, a well-known intermodal transport and commercial hub in barangay Balibago, and the Santa Rosa Integrated Terminal, a provincial bus station at SM City Santa Rosa in barangay Tagapo serving Metro Manila and eventually other parts south of Metro Manila. Point-to-point (P2P) bus terminals are also located at Nuvali Transport Terminal in barangay Santo Domingo for buses bound for Makati and Bonifacio Global City, respectively, and in front of Robinsons Santa Rosa in barangay Tagapo for buses bound for Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Santa Rosa's source of electricity is partly from Meralco. Its water supply is provided by the Laguna Water Inc., except for Vista Land Developments (including Sta. Elena City), which is provided by its sister company, Primewater Infrastructure Corporation. Santa Rosa's communication system is powered by Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) and Globe Telecom, and the cellular network in the Philippines, particularly in metropolitan areas, is increasing due to the low cost of calls and text messaging. Globe Telecom, Smart Communications (PLDT), and Dito Telecommunity provide cellular networks in Santa Rosa. Cable and satellite television access is provided by SkyCable, G Sat, Cignal Digital TV, and Royal Cable. Internet Digital Subscriber Line or DSL coverage is provided by PLDT, cable internet is serviced by SkyCable's ZPDee and Global Destiny. Fiber Internet Wireless broadband is provided by Globelines Broadband and Smart Communications.
The Santa Rosa Community Hospital is the primary public hospital of Santa Rosa. The city also hosts at least seven other private hospitals: New Sinai MDI Hospital and Medical Center, Marian Hospital, Balibago Polyclinic and Hospital, St. James Hospital in Dita, Sta. Rosa Hospital and Medical Center along RSBS Boulevard in Balibago, The Medical City South Luzon in Greenfield City, and Healthway QualiMed Hospital – Sta. Rosa in Nuvali.
Santa Rosa City is governed primarily by the city mayor, the vice mayor, and the city councilors. The mayor acts as the chief executive of the city while the city councilors act as its legislative body. The vice mayor, besides taking on mayoral responsibilities in case of a temporary vacancy, acts as the presiding officer of the city legislature. The legislative body is composed of 12 regular members and representatives from the barangay and the youth council.
The following is the list of chief executives (capitan municipal / municipal president / mayor) of Santa Rosa.
Santa Rosa is home to sports venues such as the City of Santa Rosa Multi-Purpose Complex, Nuvali Sand Courts, Santa Rosa Mega Cockpit, and Winner Badminton Court. The Multi-Purpose Complex, owned by the city government, was once the home of Laguna Krah Asia of the Maharlika Pilipinas Volleyball Association and Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League, Santa Rosa Laguna Lions of the Pilipinas Super League, and San Miguel Alab Pilipinas of the ASEAN Basketball League. It is currently used as a venue for Philippine Basketball Association and Philippine Super Liga games. It also hosted the sport of netball at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. The Nuvali Sand Courts in Barangay Santo Domingo is a notable venue for beach volleyball that has hosted the Smart Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Beach Tour Nuvali Open in 2024. The Santa Rosa Mega Cockpit is home to cockfighting events.
Barangays in Santa Rosa have covered basketball courts, while residential villages in the city have sports facilities mostly located at its clubhouses.