Pampanga

Pampanga, officially theProvince of Pampanga(Kapampangan:Lalawigan ning Pampanga;Tagalog:Lalawigan ng Pampanga;IPA:[pɐmˈpaŋɡa]pəm-PAHNG-ga), is aprovinceinCentral Luzonin thePhilippines. Lying on the northern shore ofManila Bay, Pampanga is bordered byTarlacto the north,Nueva Ecijato the northeast,Bulacanto the east,Manila Bayto the central-south,Bataanto the southwest andZambalesto the west. Its capital is theCity of San Fernando, the regional center of Central Luzon.Angeles Cityis the largest LGU, but while geographically within Pampanga, it is classified as afirst-class, highly urbanized cityand has been governed independently of the province since it received its charter in 1964.
The nameLa Pampangawas given by the Spaniards, who encountered natives living along the banks (pampáng) of thePampanga River. Its creation in 1571 makes it the first Spanish province on Luzon Island (CebuinVisayasis older as it was founded by theSpaniardsin 1565). The town ofVilla de Bacolorin the province briefly served as the Spanish colonial capital whenGreat BritaininvadedManilaas part of theSeven Years' War. At the eve of thePhilippine Revolutionof 1896, Pampanga was one of eight provinces placed undermartial lawfor rebellion against theSpanish Empire; it is thus represented on thePhilippine national flagas one of the eight rays of the sun.
Pampanga is served byClark International Airport(formerlyDiosdado Macapagal International Airport), which is inClark Freeport Zone, some 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) north of the provincial capital. The province is home to twoPhilippine Air Forceairbases:Basa Air BaseinFloridablancaand the former United StatesClark Air Basein Angeles. Due to its growing population and developments, the Clark Global City is now developed and is located inClark Freeport Zone. In 2015, the province had 2,198,110 inhabitants,while it had 1,079,532 registered voters.
The territorial area of old Pampanga included portions of the modern provinces ofTarlac,Bataan,Zambales,Nueva Ecija,BulacanandAurora; i.e. covered almost the entire Central Luzon.When the Spanish arrived at Luzon, they found Pampanga to be thickly populated with several towns and that there were 3 castles or forts protecting Pampanga.Pampanga was re-organized as a province by the Spaniards on December 11, 1571. La Provincia de La Pampanga included areas mentioned above except Tondo, along with modern provinces of Aurora and parts ofQuezon(includingPolillo Islands) andRizal(Pampanga also included portions ofMetro Manila, which areNovalichesandValenzuelato be exact, which was formerly known as Polo, then towns in Bulacan).For better administration and taxation purposes, the Spanish authorities subdivided Pampanga intopueblos, which were further subdivided into districts (barrios) and in some cases into royal and private estates (encomiendas).
Due to excessive abuses committed by someencomenderos, KingPhilip II of Spainin 1574 prohibited the further awarding of private estates, but this decree was not fully enforced until 1620. In a report ofPhilippineencomiendas on June 20, 1591,Governor-GeneralGómez Pérez Dasmariñasreported to the Crown that La Pampanga's encomiendas were Bataan, Betis y Lubao, Macabebe, Candaba, Apalit, Calumpit, Malolos, Binto, Guiguinto, Caluya, Bulacan andMecabayan. The encomiendas of La Pampanga at that time had eighteen thousand six hundred and eighty whole tributes.
Pampanga, which is about 850 square miles (2,200 km) in area and inhabited by more than 1.5 million people, had its present borders drawn in 1873. During the Spanish regime, it was one of the richest Philippine provinces.Manilaand its surrounding region were then primarily dependent on Kapampangan agricultural, fishery and forestry products as well as on the supply of skilled workers. As other Luzon provinces were created due to increases in population, some well-established Pampanga towns were lost to new emerging provinces in Central Luzon.
During the 17th century, TheDutchrecruited men from Pampanga as mercenaries who served theRoyal Netherlands East Indies Army, known asPapangerspart of the largerMardijkerscommunity. Their legacy can be found inNorth Jakarta,however, there are few traces of their descendants, except for a small community inKampung Tugu.
The historic province of Bataan which was founded in 1754 under the administration of SpanishGovernor-GeneralPedro Manuel Arandia, absorbed from the province of Pampanga the municipalities of Abucay, Balanga (now a city), Dinalupihan, Llana Hermosa, Orani, Orion, Pilar, and Samal. During theBritish occupation of Manila(1762–1764),Bacolorbecame the provisional Spanish colonial capital and military base. By the end of the 1700s, Pampanga had 16,604 native families and 2,641Spanish Filipino families,and 870Chinese Filipinofamilies.
The old Pampanga towns of Aliaga, Cabiao, Gapan, San Antonio and San Isidro were ceded to the province of Nueva Ecija in 1848 during the term of Spanish Governor-GeneralNarciso Claveria y Zaldua. The municipality ofSan Miguel de Mayumoof Pampanga was yielded to the province of Bulacan in the same provincial boundary configuration in 1848.
In 1860, the northern towns of Bamban, Capas, Concepcion, Victoria, Tarlac, Mabalacat, Magalang, Porac and Floridablanca were separated from Pampanga and were placed under the jurisdiction of a military command calledComandancia Militar de Tarlac. However, in 1873, the four latter towns were returned to Pampanga and the other five became municipalities of the newly created Province of Tarlac.
On December 8, 1941, Japanese planes bombedClark Air Basemarking the beginning of the invasion of Pampanga. Between 1941 and 1942, occupying Japanese forces began entering Pampanga.
During the counter-insurgencies under the Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1944, Kapampangan guerrilla fighters and theHukbalahapCommunist guerrillas fought side by side in the province of Pampanga, attacking and retreating theJapanese Imperial forcesfor over three years of fighting and invasion.
The establishment of the military general headquarters and military camp bases of thePhilippine Commonwealth Armywas active from 1935 to 1946. ThePhilippine Constabularywas active from 1935 to 1942 and 1944 to 1946 in the province of Pampanga. During the military engagements of the anti-Japanese Imperial military operations in central Luzon from 1942 to 1945 in the province of Bataan, Bulacan, Northern Tayabas (now Aurora), Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Zambales, the local guerrilla resistance fighters and Hukbalahap Communist guerrillas, helped the U.S. military forces fight the Imperial Japanese armed forces.
In the 1945 liberation of Pampanga, Kapampangan guerrilla fighters and the Hukbalahap Communist guerrillas supported combat forces from Filipino and American ground troops in attacking Japanese Imperial forces during the Battle of Pampanga until the end of the Second World War. Local military operations soldiers and officers of the Philippine Commonwealth Army 2nd, 26th, 3rd, 32nd, 33rd, 35th, 36th and 37th Infantry Division and the Philippine Constabulary 3rd Constabulary Regiment recaptured and liberated the province of Pampanga and fought against the Japanese Imperial forces during the Battle of Pampanga.
After the Second World War, operations in the main province of Pampanga was downfall insurgencies and conflicts between the Philippine Government forces and the Hukbalahap Communist rebels on 1946 to 1954 during theHukbalahap Rebellion.
Under a 1947 Military Bases Agreement,the Philippines granted the United States a 99-year lease on several U.S. bases, includingClark Air Base.A later amendment in 1966 reduced the original 99-year term  of the agreement to 25 years.A renewal of the agreement in 1979allowed the U.S. to continue operating Clark Air Base until November 1991,when the Philippine Senate rejected a bill for the renewal of U.S. bases in the Philippines.
Due to its proximity to the capital and the presence of Clark Air Base, Pampanga was became one of the flashpoint of social upheavals of the early 1970s, and the ensuingdictatorshipofFerdinand Marcos.Even during the first demonstrations of theFirst Quarter Stormin 1970, Clark and the otherUS Bases in the Philippineswere a major issue for protesters, who saw them as a continuation of the US' colonial hegemony, and a way of dragging the Philippines into the cold war, since Clark had become a staging point for the increasingly unpopularVietnam War.
Upon the declaration of Martial Law in September 1972,Camp Olivasin the City of San Fernando  was designated as one of the four provincial camps to become a Regional Command for Detainees (RECAD). It was designated RECAD I and it housed detainees from Northern and Central Luzon.Prominent detainees imprisoned there include Edicio de la Torre,Judy Taguiwalo,Tina Pargas,Marie Hilao-Enriquez,and Bernard-Adan Ebuen.Prisoners who were documented to have been tortured include the sistersJoannaand Josefina Cariño,the brothers Romulo andArmando Palabay,and Mariano Giner Jr of Abra.About 50KalingaandBontocleaders, including Butbut tribe leaderMacli-ing Dulag, were also brought to Camp Olivas from their detainment center in Tabuk, Kalinga, arrested for their opposition to theChico River Dam Project.
Others were killed without being arrested, such as close friends Pepito Deheran, Rolando Castro and Lito Cabrera were sleeping in Cabrera's property in Sapang Bato, Angeles when they were attacked, captured, and tortured by Marcos' Civilian Home Defense Force militia forces after they participated in the protest movement that grew out of theassassinationof opposition leaderNinoy Aquino.  Deheran managed to escape the ordeal alive and was taken to the hospital, but was stabbed by unknown assailants in his own hospital bed.
Jennifer Cariño, the Palabay brothers, Macli-ing Dulag, Castro, Cabrera, and Deheran would later be honored by having their names inscribed on the wall of remembrance of the Philippines'Bantayog ng mga Bayani, which honors the martyrs and heroes who dared to resist the dictatorship.
Major events that took place in Pampanga after thePeople Power revolutioninclude the Mount Pinatubo eruption and the end of the Philippines' Bases Treaty with the United States, which resulted in the closure of Clark Air Base and the later creation of theClark Freeport and Special Economic Zone.
The June 15, 1991, eruption ofMount Pinatubodisplaced a large number of people with the submersion of whole towns and villages by massivelaharfloods. This led to a large-scale advancement in disaster preparation in government. It also hastened the closure of Clark Air Base, which would close as a result of the November 1991 decision of the Philippine senate not to renew the Philippines' Bases treaty with the United States.
1992 saw the signing of the Bases Conversion and Development Act (Republic Act 7227 ser. 1992), which authorized the President to issue a decree converting the military reservation in the Clark area coveringAngeles City,Mabalacat, andPorac, Pampanga andCapas,Tarlacinto a special economic zone. The legislation also created theBases Conversion and Development Authority(BCDA) to facilitate the conversion process.PresidentFidel Ramosissued Proclamation No. 163 on April 3, 1993, creating the Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) and transferring the administration of the area to the BCDA. The proclamation included theClark Air Baseand portions of the Clark reverted baselands not reserved for military use to the CSEZ.On June 14, 1996, the CSEZ was expanded with the addition of the Sacobia area, which includes lands fromMabalacat, Pampanga andBamban, Tarlac, through Ramos' Proclamation No. 805.
The Clark Air Base area would later be declared a Freeport Zone and was separated from the special economic zone through Republic Act 9400 of 2007Since then the Freeport Zone and the Clark Special Economic Zone were considered as separate areas but collectively they are referred to as the "Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone".
In 2010, a Kapampangan,Benigno Aquino III, son of former PresidentCorazon Aquino, was elected as president.
On April 22, 2019, the province suffered severe damage due to6.1 magnitude earthquakewhich originated fromZambalesand was the most affected area by the earthquake due to province sitting on soft sediment andalluvialsoil.Several structures in the province were damaged by the quake, including a 4-story supermarket in Porac, theBataan-Pampanga boundary arch and the main terminal ofClark International Airport, as well as old churches inLubaoandPorac, where the stone bell tower of the 19th-centurySanta Catalina de Alejandria Churchcollapsed.
Pampanga covers a total area of 2,002.20 square kilometres (773.05 sq mi)occupying the south-central section of theCentral Luzonregion. When Angeles is included for geographical purposes, the province's area is 2,062.47 square kilometres (796.32 sq mi).The province is bordered byTarlacto the north,Nueva Ecijato the northeast,Bulacanto the east,Manila Bayto the central-south,Bataanto the southwest, andZambalesto the northwest.
Its terrain is relatively flat with one distinct mountain,Mount Arayatand the notablePampanga River. Among its municipalities,Porachas the largest area with 314 square kilometres (121 sq mi);Candabacomes in second with 176 square kilometres (68 sq mi); followed byFloridablancawith 175 square kilometres (68 sq mi).Santo Tomas, with an area of only 21 square kilometres (8.1 sq mi), is the smallest.
The province of Pampanga has two distinct climates, rainy and dry. The rainy or wet season normally begins in May and runs through October, while the rest of the year is the dry season. The warmest period of the year occurs between March and April, while the coolest period is from December through February. The wet season will be from June to October and also dry season
will be from November to April in the province of Pampanga.
Pampanga comprises 19municipalitiesand threecities(two highly urbanized and one component).
The province is divided into three parts. The western portion includes the municipalities of Porac and Floridablanca, the component city of Mabalacat, and the highly urbanized city of Angeles. The central part consists of the municipalities of Magalang, Arayat, Mexico, Santa Ana, Bacolor, Santa Rita, Guagua, Lubao, Sasmuan, and the highly urbanized city of San Fernando. The eastern half is composed of the municipalities of Candaba, San Luis, Santo Tomas, San Simon, Minalin, Apalit, Macabebe, and Masantol.
The population of Pampanga in the 2020 census was 2,437,709 people,with a density of 1,200 inhabitants per square kilometre or 3,100 inhabitants per square mile. If Angeles is included for geographical purposes, the population is 2,900,637, with a density of1,406/km(3,643/sq mi). The native inhabitants of Pampanga are generally referred to as theKapampangans(alternativelyPampangosorPampangueños). Tagalogs live in areas on the boundaries with Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, & Bataan; they are mostly descendants of settlers arrived from those provinces, w/ others fromAurora. Because of its proximity to Metro Manila from its south, people from farther provinces settled in Pampanga, resulting to minor populations ofBicolano,Ilocano,Ilonggo,PangasinenseandVisayans, mostly living in city areas.
The whole population of Pampanga speakKapampangan, which is one of theCentral Luzon languagesalong with theSambalic languages. Tagalog is generally spoken in areas bordering Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, and Bataan.EnglishandTagalogare rather spoken and used as secondary languages. There are a fewSambal speakersin the province, especially near the border ofZambales.
The province of Pampanga is composed of many religious groups, but it is predominantlyRoman Catholic(88.92%).
Islam(0.017%) is also present in the province, mainly due to migrants originating fromthe south, as well asBuddhism, which is practiced by a few people ofChinese descent.
Largest majority religion in the province (5.14-7.5%) the first 
Ecclesiastical District in the history of the Church.At the time of Bro.Eduardo V.Manalo current Executive Minister the province has grown in 5 districts with multiple locales scattered in the cities and municipalities .
According to 2010 Census, other prominent Christian groups includesEvangelicals(1.34%),Aglipayan Church(0.60%),Jesus is Lord Church(0.48%),Baptist Church(0.39%),Jehovah's Witnesses(0.27%), Church of Christ (0.23%), United Church of Christ in the Philippines (0.22%),Seventh-day Adventist Church(0.18%) and many others.
Farming and fishing are the two main industries. Major products include rice, corn, sugarcane, and tilapia. Pampanga is the tilapia capital of the country because of its high production reaching 214,210.12 metric tons in 2015. In addition to farming and fishing, the province supports thriving cottage industries that specialize in wood carving, furniture making, guitars and handicrafts. EveryChristmasseason, the province of Pampanga, especially in the capital city ofSan Fernandobecomes the center of a thriving industry centered on handcrafted lighted lanterns calledparolsthat display a kaleidoscope of light and color. Other industries include its casket industry and the manufacturing of all-purpose vehicles in the municipality of Santo Tomas.
The province is famous for its sophisticated culinary work: it is called the "food capital" of the Philippines.
In December 2024, theSenatedeclared Pampanga as the country'sculinarycapital.TheSenateapproved onThird ReadingSenate Bill2797, authored by  SenatorsMark Villar,Loren LegardaandLito Lapid. Its counterpart, authored by RepresentativesGloria Macapagal ArroyoandAurelio Gonzales Jr.had also been approved by theHouse of Representatives.
Kapampangans are well known for their culinary creations. Famous food products range from the mundane to the exotic. Roel's Meat Products, Pampanga's Best and Mekeni Food are among the better known meat brands of the country producing Kapampangan favorites such as pork and chickentocinos,beef tapa, hotdogs,longganizas(Philippine-style cured sausages) andchorizos.
Specialty foods such as thesiopao,pandesal, tutong,lechon(roasted pig) and its sarsa (sauce) are popular specialty foods in the region. The more exoticbetute tugak(stuffed frog),kamaru(mole crickets) cooked adobo,bulanglang(pork cooked in guava juice),lechon kawaliandbringhe(a green sticky rice dish like paella) are a mainstay in Kapampangan feasts.
Native sweets and delicacies like pastillas, turonnes de casuy, buro, are the most sought after by Filipinos including a growing number of tourists who enjoy authentic Kapampangan cuisine. The famous cookie in Mexico, Pampanga,Panecillos de San Nicolas, which is known as the mother of all Philippine cookies, is made here, famously made byLillian Borromeoat her restaurant,Kusinang Matua.The cookies are made with arrowroot, sugar, coconut milk and butter and are blessed in Catholic parishes every year on the feast of San Nicolas Tolentino.The cookies are believed to have a healing power and bestow good luck and are sometimes crumbled then thrown into rice fields before planting.
Tourism is a growing industry in the province of Pampanga. Clark Freeport Zone is home toClark International Airport, designated as the Philippines' future premier gateway.Other developing industries include semiconductor manufacturing for electronics and computers mostly located within the freeport.
Within the Clark Special Economic Zone are well-established hotels and resorts. Popular tourist destinations include St. Peter Shrine in Apalit, Mt. Arayat National Park in San Juan Bano, Mount Arayat, thePaskuhan Villagein the City of San Fernando, the Casino Filipino in Angeles and, for nature and wildlife, "Paradise Ranch and Zoocobia Fun Zoo" in Clark. Well-known annual events include theGiant Lantern Festivalin December, thehot air balloon festivalin Clarkfield in February and in Lubao in April, theSan Pedro Cutud Lenten Ritescelebrated two days before Easter, and the Aguman Sanduk inMinalincelebrated on the afternoon of New Year's Day.
There have been proposals to revitalize thekarakoashipbuilding tradition of the Kapampangan people in recent years. The karakoa was the warship of the Kapampangan from the classical eras (before 15th century) up to the 16th century. The production of the karakoa and its usage were stopped by the Spanish colonialists to establish the galleon ship-making tradition instead, as a sign of Spanish dominance over the Kapampangan.
Pampanga's geography has made the province an important rallying point for biodiversity conservation, particularly in the case of the Candaba Wetlands which provides critical habitat for migratory bird species which visit the Philippines from sites further north in Asia. Migratory birds frequently seen in the swamp include the Shrenck’s Bittern, the Great Bittern, the Eurasian Spoonbill, the Purple Swamp Hen, the Chinese Pond Heron and the Black-Crowned Heron.
Telephone services are provided byPLDT,Digitel, Converge Telecom, Datelcom, the Evangelista Telephone Company, and the Pampanga Telecom Company in the town of Macabebe. The province has 24 public telegraph offices distributed among its towns while the facilities of PT&T and RCPI were set up to serve the business centers in Angeles, San Fernando City and Guagua.
Several Internet Service provider are available. These include the Angeles Computer Network Specialist, Information Resources Network System, Inc., Mosaic communications Inc., Net Asia Angeles, Phil World On Line and Comclark Network and Technology Corp.
United Parcel Service(UPS) andFederal Express(FedEx) provide international courier services. Their hubs are in the Clark Freeport Zone. They are complemented by four local couriers operating as the communication and baggage of the province. There are three postal district offices and 35 post office stations distributed in the 20 municipalities and two cities of the province.
Potable water supply in the province reaches the populace through three levels namely: Level I (point source system), Level II (communal faucet system), and Level III (individual connections). A well or spring is the pinpointed water source in areas where houses are few as the system is only designed to serve 15 to 25 households. As of 1997, there were 128,571 Level I water system users in the province.  The communal faucet system (Level II) serves the rural areas while the Level III system is managed by theLocal Water Utilities Administration(LWUA). The system provides individual house connections to all second and first class private subdivisions.
Electric power is distributed to the majority of the towns through the distribution centers of the Pampanga Electric Cooperative (PELCO) which include PELCO I, II, III. Small parts of Candaba and Macabebe are also supplied byManila Electric Company(Meralco). Angeles and small parts of Mabalacat are supplied by Angeles Electric Corporation (AEC) Villa de Bacolor, Guagua, Sta, Rita, Lubao, Sasmuan, Porac, Mabalacat and small part of Floridablanca are supplied by Pampanga Electric Cooperative II (PELCO II). City of San Fernando and Floridablanca is supplied by San Fernando Electric Company (SFELAPCO).
Power is also transmitted to the province through various transmission lines and substations located within the province, such as the Mexico and Clark substations, and Hermosa–Duhat–Balintawak, Mexico–Hermosa, Hermosa–San Jose transmission lines, etc., all of which are operated and maintained by theNational Grid Corporation of the Philippines(NGCP).
The province of Pampanga is strategically located at the crossroads of central Luzon and is highly accessible by air and land. The province is home to two airstrips:Basa Air BaseinFloridablanca, which is used by the military, andClark International AirportinClark Freeport Zone. Pampanga has five municipal ports that function as fish landing centers. These are in the municipalities of Guagua, Macabebe, Masantol,Minalin, and Sasmuan.
Land travel to Pampanga is provided by highways and by buses. Buses that travel the routes of Manila-Bataan, Manila-Zambales, Manila-Tarlac, Manila-Nueva Ecija, Manila-Bulacan-Pampanga, and Manila-Pampanga-Dagupan serve as connections with the nearby provinces and Metro Manila.
The 84 kilometres (52 mi)North Luzon Expressway(NLEX) extends from Balintawak in Quezon City, Metro Manila, to Santa Ines inMabalacat. It passes through the cities and municipalities ofApalit,San Simon,Santo Tomas,San Fernando,Mexico,Angeles City, and ends on Santa Ines in Mabalacat.
The 94 kilometres (58 mi) four-laneSubic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway(SCTEx) to date, is the longest toll expressway in the Philippines. Its southern terminus is in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone and passes through theClark Freeport Zonein two interchanges: Clark North and Clark South. The expressway is linked to theNorth Luzon Expresswaythrough the Mabalacat Interchange. Its northern terminus is located at the Central Techno Park in Tarlac City, Tarlac.
Aside from the expressways, national highways also serve the province. Two major national highways serves Pampanga, theMacArthur Highway(N2) andJose Abad Santos Avenue(N3). Secondary and tertiary national roads, and provincial roads complement the highway backbone.
Pampanga is home to notable sports personalities, including billiards playerEfren "Bata" Reyesas well as basketball playersJapeth AguilarandArwind Santos.
The province is also home to thePampanga Giant Lanterns, which began play in theMaharlika Pilipinas Basketball League(MPBL) during the2018–19 season. The franchise has won two league championships, one in the MPBL and one in thePilipinas Super League.The province also hosted thePampanga Dragonsof the defunctMetropolitan Basketball Association(MBA), who were also the league's inaugural champions.
Like other provinces in the Philippines, Pampanga is governed by a governor and vice governor who are elected to three-year terms. The governor is the executive head and leads the province's departments in executing the ordinances and improving public services. The vice governor heads a legislative council (Sangguniang Panlalawigan) consisting of board members from the districts.
Just as the national government, the provincial government is divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judiciary. The judicial branch is administered solely by theSupreme Court of the Philippines. The LGUs have control of the executive and legislative branches.
The executive branch is composed of the governor for the province, mayors for the cities and municipalities, and the barangay captains for the barangays.The provincial assembly for the provinces, Sangguniang Panlungsod (city assembly) for the cities, Sangguniang Bayan (town assembly) for the municipalities, Sangguniang Barangay (barangay council), and theSangguniang Kabataanfor the youth sector.
The seat of government is vested upon the governor and other elected officers who hold office at the Provincial Capitol building. The Sangguniang Panlalawigan is the center oflegislation.
The Provincial government is composed of a Governor as the Local Chief Executive of the Province, Vice-Governor and Members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan. The governor is Dennis "Delta" G. Pineda (NPC) and the vice governor is Lilia Pineda (Kambilan).
TheSupreme Court of the Philippinesrecognizes Pampanga regional trial courts and metropolitan or municipal trial courts within the province and towns, that have an overall jurisdiction in the populace of the province and towns, respectively.
Batas Pambansa Blg. 129, "The Judiciary Reorganization Act of 1980", as amended, created Regional, Metropolitan, Municipal Trial and Circuit Courts. The Third Judicial Region includes RTCs in Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Palayan and San Jose, inter alia:
xxx. There shall be – (c) Seventy-five Regional Trial judges shall be commissioned for the Third Judicial Region: Twenty-two branches (Branches XLI to LXII) for the province of Pampanga and the city of Angeles, Branches XLI to XLVIII with seats at San Fernando, Branches XLIX to LIII at Guagua, Branches LIV and LV at Macabebe, and Branches LVI to LXII at Angeles;
The law also created Metropolitan Trial Court in each metropolitan area established by law, a Municipal Trial Court in each of the other cities or municipalities, and a Municipal Circuit Trial Court in each circuit comprising such cities and/or municipalities as are grouped together pursuant to law: three branches for Cabanatuan; in every city which does not form part of a metropolitan area, there shall be a Municipal Trial Court with one branch, except as hereunder provided: Three branches for Angeles;
In each of the municipalities that are not comprised within a metropolitan area and a municipal circuit there shall be a Municipal Trial Court which shall have one branch, except as hereunder provided: Four branches for San Fernando and two branches for Guagua, both of Pampanga.