Sampaguita Festival

City of San pedro laguna-

The city is first founded as the town of San Pedro de Tunasan by the Spaniards in 1725 from friar lands. Agriculture, duck raising, fishing, and sampaguita production served as the town's source of income, until they all declined in favor of urban development. The city gained its current name in 1902.

Why is San Pedro Laguna named San Pedro?

It is named after its patron saint, Saint Peter. San Pedro is Laguna's gateway to Metro Manila since it lies on the boundary with Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila's southernmost city. This position makes San Pedro a popular suburban residential community, where many residents commute daily for work in Metro Manila

Why is Sampaguita festival celebrated?

The January feast day commemorates the day when Saint Peter the Apostle evangelized in Rome, Italy while the February version pertained to his evangelization in Antioch, Greece

the City of San Pedro Tunasán, our adoptive city for the past 16 years, celebrates the feast day of the Chair of Saint Peter, its namesake saint. February 22 is also the date when our city usually celebrates the Sampaguita Festival, a week-long festivity that aims to promote tourism as well as to revitalize the dying sampaguita industry. But this year, there is no Sampaguita Festival due to the coronavirus scare (a precautionary directive from the Department of Interior and Local Government).

few years ago, I heard from the grapevine that there were plans to move the Sampaguita Festival on May 3, the original town fiesta of San Pedro Tunasán. May 3 is the traditional feast day of The Exaltation of the Holy Cross (now celebrated every September 14). The Vicariate of San Pedro Apóstol, to which our parish belongs, and our local government unit headed by Mayor Lourdes S. Catáquiz, decided to bring back the original feast day of May 3. I was told that (if I remember correctly) the town fiesta was transferred from May 3 to February 22 during the 1960s. When the Sampaguita Festival was launched in 2003, its organizers decided to coincide it with the feast of the Chair of Saint Peter. This year, the Sampaguita Festival will now be celebrated together with the city’s original feast day.decision to return our city’s traditional feast day from February 22 to May 3 is a good move as it a sign of reverence toward religious history. While it is true that The Exaltation of the Holy Cross has nothing to do with our city’s name, as it is usually the practice of many Filipino towns and cities named after saints to celebrate their fiestas after their respective namesake saints’ feast days, it should be noted that San Pedro Tunasán is the home of one of our province’s most famous icons: the Cross of Tunasán. It was mentioned by no less than José Rizal in his Noli Me Tangere.

that we have cleared that up, let us now clarify another confusion regarding today’s liturgical feast day. For centuries, the Chair of Saint Peter was celebrated twice a year: first on the 18th of January and second on the 22nd of February. However, these two feasts differ from each other. The January feast day commemorates the day when Saint Peter the Apostle evangelized in Rome, Italy while the February version pertained to his evangelization in Antioch, Greece. Sometime in 1960, for reasons I could not comprehend, Pope John XXIII removed the January 18 celebration, making February 22 the only feast day for the Chair of Saint Peter the Apostle. With all due respect to the Vatican, this should not have been done because the fact will always remain that the January 18 feast day pertained to the “Chair of Saint Peter at Rome” and the February 22 feast day pertained to the “Chair of Saint Peter at Antioch”.

should also take note that San Pedro Tunasán was founded on 18 January 1725, exactly on the feast day of the Chair of Saint Peter in Rome. Besides, all images of Saint Peter the Apostle inside the Church of San Pedro Apóstol are attributed to his papacy in Rome, not in Antioch. And whenever one talks about Saint Peter’s papacy, Rome always comes to mind, not Antioch. In our province, the local government of the City of San Pedro Tunasán based its 18-year-old Sampaguita Festival on the February 22nd feast day. I hope that one day, our church leaders will put back the original feast day as it is heavily intertwined with San Pedro Tunasán’s history.

Sampaguita festival

The festival aims to promote tourism in San Pedro and to revitalize Sampaguita industry in the community. The celebration was formerly known as "Manok ni San Pedro Festival", which started in 1999 and was renamed to "Sampaguita Festival" in 2002. The celebration kicked off with a grand parade.

https://youtu.be/9IVFcvZRSbk
The annual City Festival is celebrated on the 2nd week of February. A week-long festival which includes various activities ranging from cultural to sports, trade fairs, amateur singing contests, parades, historical exhibits, social & religious gatherings, tribal dances, street dances, cheering & sport exhibitions. 

San Pedro City holds the record of laying the longest sampaguita (flower lei) line spanning 3.6 km (2 mi), from Biñan City-San Pedro City boundary to San Pedro City-Muntinlupa City boundary on the National Highway, making them listed in the 

 Guinness World Records in 2009.

San Pedro is a first class city in the province of Laguna, Philippines, officially City of San Pedro (Filipino: Lungsod ng San Pedro) and often referred to as San Pedro City is named after its patron saint, Peter the Apostle. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 325,809 inhabitants..Despite being the third smallest in the entire province, with a total land surface area of only 24.05 km2, San Pedro is the fourth largest city in terms of population after the cities of Calamba, Biñan, and Santa Rosa. The city also has the highest population density in the province of Laguna and in the whole Calabarzon Region having 14,000 people/km2

San Pedro is located in Region 4A or Calabarzon. San Pedro is the boundary between Laguna and Metro Manila, so San Pedro is known as "Laguna's Gateway to Metro Manila". San Pedro shares boundaries with Metro Manila's southernmost city, Muntinlupa (North), Biñan (East), Dasmariñas (West), Carmona and Gen. Mariano Alvarez (Southeast). Its position makes San Pedro a popular suburban residential community, where many residents commute daily for work to Metro Manila.

San Pedro can be seen outside the borders of the South of Metro Manila and is situated in the beautiful province of Laguna. It is also known as the “dormitory town” of Metro Manila due to the hundreds and thousands of people that commute to San Pedro for its busy streets and efficient public transportation. That’s why aside from its alias, it’s also known to be the 4th most populous city in the Philippines. It’s the home sweet home for 325,809 people.

From the 325,809 people already situated in the place. It doesn’t stop there. More and more people want to move to San Pedro and it’s a no-brainer why. In San Pedro Laguna, the place offers almost anything and everything. Everything you need is within the vicinity. With this, San Pedro is certainly no stranger to home searchers. When you look up “House and Lot for Sale in San Pedro Laguna,” you’ll see hundreds of properties, lots, houses up for grabs. Even if you don’t go to the specifics and just type out “House and Lot for Sale in Laguna” or “Condos in Laguna” you’ll see San Pedro as one of the top cities where multiple properties are awaiting to be bought and be occupied.

 

If you’ve ever wondered why such a small place would inhabit an enormous amount of people & why the population keeps growing and growing non-stop.

Famous bakery in san pedro laguna

Universal bakery in San Pedro Tunasán has the only ensaïmada in the world with bacon in it. Spelled as ensaymada in our country, this pastry product originated from Mallorca, Balearic Islands in Spain and is also prevalent in many South American countries. Universal Bakery’s ensaymada is one of the city’s pride and is a favorite pasalubong treat.