BARANGAY SAN MANUEL HISTORY

Barangay San Manuel is another part of the East District Division of Barangays in Tarlac City. It surrounded by Barangay San Jose on the West, Barangay San Pascual and Barangay Villa Bacolor on the North, Barangay Balingcanway on the East and Barangay Cut-Cut 2nd on the South.

It is approximately 8.0 kilometers away from city proper. It has a total land area of 709.38 hectares wherein the 484.24 hectares corresponds to agricultural area and the remaining 225.14 hectares designate to residential area.

It is also divided into seven blocks namely: Block 1, Block 2, and Block 3 to Block 7.

Barangay San Manuel classified as Rural Barangay, it has a total population of seven thousand nine hundred thirty (7,930) as of 2020, and a household population of one thousand six hundred seventy (1,670).

Barangay San Manuel is an agricultural barangay. Approximately 70 % of the total populace in this barangay was farmers. Farming is one of the major sources of livelihood. They cultivate palay, corn, vegetables, sugar cane and others. Japanese Okra is one of the export product produce by the residents of this barangay. Other residents were employee, professional, laborers, construction workers drivers and so on. Some residents were having their mini business such as sari-sari stores and so on.

Way back 1896, there was a virgin forest and owned by a person named Don Pepito De Leon of Pampanga. The settlers of this barangay came from barrio San Vicente and San Antonio that is popular of Bacolor Pampanga. They formed a small village at the middle of the forest when they formed surroundings a small highland where they can put a small “Kabyawan” where they can plant sugar cane. They also tried to cue mangoes and sampalok to shave for shade.

In the year 1916, epidemic or cholera came to them when they buried one of those who deceased someone follows day after day. In the end, some people turn back to Pampanga, then after cholera incident they came back to Hacienda Don Pepito de Leon. This population multiplied when the Province of Tarlac started to contructs roads from town proper to another province like Nueva Ecija the residents started transferring near the road and they transferred to barrio San Manuel. In 1929, they started to build a small chapel and their was an old woman called Apong Urea Samson and had a patron called San Roque then they tried to put it as their patron at the chapel. Way back 1941 the Japanese came and bomb the Pearl Harbor and they started conquering Philippines. It happened that the southern portion of the barrio San Manuel called Hacienda Cacho owned by the Spanish rich man. When the Japanese came, they see it is good for “landing“. Then they started improving it for their landing of Japanese Camp, an area of 77 hectares. In the long process, the landing accomplished.

Sixty percent of the total populations are Ilocano, and the rest are Tagalog, Bisaya, Pangasinense, and Pampango.

Barangay San Manuel celebrates their feast day every April 05 as a thanksgiving to the patron Saint Vincent de Ferrer. Saint Vincent de Ferrer is the angel of the judgement and the preacher, the miracle worker and the Master of Sacred Theology.