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municipality of the Philippines in the province of Quezon
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Lucban, officially the Municipality of Lucban (Tagalog: Bayan ng Lukban), is a municipality in the province of Quezon, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 54,134 people.
It is dubbed as the Summer Capital, Art Capital, Dance Capital, Tourist Capital, and Rice Capital of Quezon province. The town is also known for its annual Pahiyas Festival, which is held every May 15 in honor of San Isidro Labrador. The municipality is locally the 'Baguio' counterpart of the province.
Legend has it the town derives its name from the lukbán or pomelo tree. Three hunters from neighbouring Majayjay— namely Marcos Tigla, Luis Gamba, and Lucas Mañawa— lost their way following the trail of wild animals at the foot of volcanic Mount Banahaw. Resting under a tree, they saw a crow (uwák) in the tree's branches, and believing this to be a bad omen, they moved to another place and rested again. Whilst in the shade of a large pomelo (lucbán) tree, the trio was attracted to a couple of kingfishers (salacsác) that were singing. Fascinated by the bird's plumage and rhythmic chirps, the superstitious hunters took this as a sign of good fortune and thus settled in the place they named "Lucbán."
Early in the campaign, Japanese forces invaded and occupied Lucban. On December 26, 1941, Filipino and American troops defended Barrio Piis and the attack by the Japanese shifted to the Bataan Peninsula. After Japanese forces occupied the town, they built a military garrison, and the Japanese armed forces were stationed in Lucban. Both local guerrilla and regular troops of the Philippine Commonwealth Army initiated attacks in Lucban from 1942 to 1945.
Sampaloc used to be the Barrio Dingin of Lucban, Quezon consisting of three sitios. It was later renamed Sampaloc because of the presence of a large tamarind tree found in the center of the settlement during the earlier days. The name was also changed in Alfonso Trece for a time to honor the King of Spain. In 1873, Capt. Pedro Cadelina of Lucban recommended changing the barrio into a municipality but due to the lack of residents, it was only made into a “visita”. “Teniente Mayores” were appointed to head the ”visita”, the first of whom was from Polilio, followed by Arcadio Veluya, Laureano Nanola, Silverio Abueva, and Juan Saludades.
Through the efforts of Juan Pineda, Sampaloc became a municipality in 1892. He was elected as the first Capitan. He was succeeded by Diego Gagan followed by Teofilo Daya in 1901. During Daya's term in office, three more barrios from Mauban – Banot, Bilucao, and San Bueno, became a part of Sampaloc through the efforts of Ireneo Domeo, the municipal secretary. The town was also renamed to Sampaloc during this time.
Lucban is 22 kilometres (14 mi) from Lucena City and 121 kilometres (75 mi) from Manila and is accessible by land from Metro Manila passing through Rizal via Manila East Road or via the South Luzon Expressway with approximately 2- to 3-hour drive.
Lucban is politically subdivided into 32 barangays, as indicated below. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
Poverty incidence of Lucban (%)
5
10
15
20
2000 17.00
2003 16.01
2006 12.20
2009 5.15
2012 5.26
2015 3.77
2018 3.99
2021 19.85
2023 3.21
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority
The following serve an elected term from 2025 to 2028.
Lucban celebrates the Pahiyas Festival every May 15 in honor of the patron saint of farmers, St Isidore the Labourer. Beginning with a 6:00am Catholic Mass at the Lucban Church, this festival showcases a street of houses which are adorned with fruits, vegetables, agricultural products, handicrafts and kiping, a rice-made decoration, which afterwards can be eaten grilled or fried. The houses are judged and the best one is proclaimed the winner. Every year, tourists roam the municipality to witness the decoration of houses. Nowadays, Pahiyas Festival is a week long celebration starting every May 15.
In the 2014 Pahiyas Festival, 40,000 Lucban longganisa were made by Rimberto Veloso, of Eker and Ely’s longganisa, including 10 commercial sausage makers, from May 12 to 19, a “one whole week of buying spree” — P150 a dozen for jumbo size and P75 for regular. The reddish sausages adorned façade of houses, stores, and public market stalls.
The Lucban Schools District Office governs all educational institutions within the municipality. It oversees the management and operations of all private and public, from primary to secondary schools.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Lucban”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.