The Municipality of Sta. Rita is a fourth-class municipality in the coastal province of Pampanga.
The Municipality of Sta Rita is situated in the center of the province of Pampanga. It is bounded by its neighboring municipalities: Porac on the northwest, Bacolor on the northeast, and the municipality of Guagua on the south.
Santa Rita town is an agricultural municipality where rice is the main product.
The Municipality of Sta. Rita is also widely known for its delicacies such as “turones de casoy,” “barquillos,” and the delicious “Sansrival.”
History
The existence of the town of Sta. Rita was known as it was documented in the year 1697. It was reported that the Municipality of Sta. Rita at one time used to be a constituent of the Municipality of Porac in Pampanga. The place used to be a jungle where huge trees grew in quantity.
It was first created by the clearings and settlement made at a place named ‘Gasac,’ now identified as San Isidro. The Municipality of Sta. Rita was separated from the Municipality of Porac and became a sovereign town in 1770.
The town of Sta. Rita was previously called to as Sta Rita ‘de Lele’ or Sta Rita ‘de Baculud’ due to its propinquity to the old town of ‘Baculud,’ which has come to be known as ‘Bacolor’.
The first church was positioned in now we presently known as Barangay San Jose. A site called Lacbangan now named ‘Barangay San Matias’ was the old frontier post of the Spanish militaries at the beginning of the 19th century.
The Municipality of Sta. Rita obtained its name after its patroness, Sta. Rita de Casia whose feast day is honored every 22nd day of May.
Barangay
The Municipality of Sta. Rita is subdivided into 10 barangays.
| Becuran | Dila Dila | San Agustin | San Basilio | San Isidro |
| San Jose | San Juan | San Matias | Santa Monica | San Vicente |
Festivals
Duman Festival
Considered one of the youngest festivities created in the province. Duman Festival is being held every last week of November.
The festival is created based on the long-time tradition of pounding and separating unripe sticky glutinous rice (lacatan) and transforming it into a light pale gold or green delicacy called “duman.”
Feast of St. Rita of Cascia
The festivity is held every 22nd of May honoring the feast day of the town’s patron saint, Sta. Rita de Casia.
Landmark and Attraction
Santa Rita de Casia Parish Church
The Sta. Rita Parish Church is the oldest parish existing in the Philippines so-called after the saint. The Heritage Church is under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Fernando. It was built in 1839 by Fr. Francisco Royo but Fr. Juan Merino finished it in 1868.
Alviz Farm
Alviz farm is one of the famous places you can visit in Sta. Rita. Managed by TV Personality, Mr. Andy Alviz, and her sister, Celi Alviz.
Santa Rita de Cascia “Apung Dita” Monument
The monument is located in San Isidro Gasak, Santa Rita, Pampang was inaugurated on December 2, 2017, at the 16th Duman Festival.
References:
* https://tl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Rita,_Pampanga
* https://peoplaid.com/2020/06/20/santa-rita-pampanga/
* https://www.primidi.com/santa_rita_pampanga/legend_and_history
* https://pampangatalents.com/pampanga-sta_rita.htm
* For corrections or commentaries, please email us at whereinpampanga@gmail.com
