Meycauayan

Key takeaways

Meycauayan belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Meycauayan to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Meycauayan from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Meycauayan [meɪkɐˈwajan], officially the City of Meycauayan (Filipino: Lungsod ng Meycauayan), is a component city in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 228,023 people. The place got its name from the Tagalog words may kawayan which is literally translated to English as there is bamboo. It was formerly known as Mecabayan [mekəˈbajən], a Kapampangan name, and alternatively as Meycawayan.

History During the Spanish colonization of the country, the town of Meycauayan was established as a settlement by a group of Spanish priests belonging to the Franciscan Order. In 1578, its early inhabitants came into contact with Christianity. In that same year, Father Juan de Placencia and Diego Oropesa built the first church structure, which was believed to be made of nipa and bamboo. Common to all Spanish settlements in that period was the adoption of a patron saint for the newly opened town. Meycauayan has St. Francis of Assisi as the patron saint. It was only in 1668, however, that a concrete church structure was erected. The 1818 Spanish census recorded the area having 2,375 native families and 16 Spanish-Filipino families. Meycauayan was then one of the largest towns in the province of Bulacan. The towns, which fell under its political jurisdiction, were San Jose del Monte, Bocaue, Valenzuela (formerly Polo), Obando, Marilao, Santa Maria and Pandi. It was also regarded as the unofficial capital of the province, being the hub of activities brought about by the establishment of the market center and the presence of the Spanish military detachment. During the Philippine Revolution, Meycauayan contributed its share in the fight against the Spanish colonizers. Among the residents who figured prominently in the revolution were: Andres Pacheco, Ciriaco Contreras, Guillermo Contreras, Guillermo Bonque, Tiburcio Zuela, and Liberato Exaltacion. There were many others who had joined the revolution and had displayed their exceptional heroism until 1898, when the country gained its independence from Spain. Between 1901 and 1913, Marilao became part of Meycauayan. In 1949, a big fire razed the market center and several business establishments in the town, causing setbacks to the development of the municipality. It took several years to recover from the destruction. However, in the 1960s and early part of 1970s, reconstruction and rehabilitation of infrastructure facilities were made possible through the assistance of the provincial and national governments. A more sound economic base was established and crop production more than doubled.

Cityhood

Meycauayan attempted cityhood twice. The first was filed by district representative Angelito Sarmiento, seeking the conversion of the then-municipality of Meycauayan into a component city, which was signed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on March 5, 2001, as Republic Act No. 9021. The plebiscite for the ratification, along with that of Cauayan, Isabela (by virtue of RA No. 9017 dated February 28), was scheduled by the Commission on Elections on March 30. The bid however failed, and Meycauayan remained a municipality. Meanwhile, affirmative votes won in the separate plebiscite in Cauayan. For the second time, in another attempt for conversion, district representative Reylina Nicolas authored House Bill 4397 (dated July 24, 2006), which was later signed into law by President Arroyo as RA No. 9356 on October 2, 2006.

A plebiscite was held on December 10, where the cityhood was eventually ratified and the proclamation was made in the evening. It was noted that compared to the first plebiscite, the second showed that only a little more than a hundred voters were added to those in favor of the conversion, as well as a sharp decline in the number of those who were against. With the ratification, Meycauayan became Bulacan's third component city, following San Jose del Monte in 2000, and Malolos, whose loss in its cityhood bid in 1999 was reversed following a recount.

Contemporary Today, Meycauayan has transformed into a major economic and industrial hub in the province of Bulacan and the rest of Central Luzon.

Geography The City of Meycauayan is generally surrounded with plain land and gentle rolling hills. Meycauayan is named for the Filipino phrase may kawayan that means "with bamboo". Averaging 20 meters above sea level, this terrain is an interweaving of greenery and concrete road network. The slope of the land dips towards a west to north westerly direction. River, natural lake and drainage waterways envelope and criss-cross the area. The city is located 19 kilometers (12 mi) north of Manila and 26 kilometers (16 mi) south of Malolos City, the provincial capital city. It is bounded by the town of Marilao to the north, the two Metro Manila cities of Valenzuela to the south and Caloocan (North) to the east, and the town of Obando to the west.

Barangays

Meycauayan is administratively subdivided into 26 urban barangays, as shown in the matrix below. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Meycauayan was 225,673 people, with a density of 7,000 inhabitants per square kilometer or 18,000 inhabitants per square mile.

Government

Local government

The Sangguniang Panlungsod is the legislature of the government of Meycauayan. As defined by the Local Government Code of 1991, the legislature has legislative and quasi-judicial powers and functions. The members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, often referred to as councilors, are either elected or ex-officio and include a city's vice mayor who serves as the presiding officer.

Past officials

Economy Poverty incidence of Meycauayan

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority

The City of Meycauayan is the economic, industrial, commercial, financial and educational center of southern Bulacan. The city is known for its jewelry and leather industries. For years, Meycauayan has been the hub of jewelry production in the Philippines and in Asia. It is known for its low-priced jewelry. The locality also produces leather goods. Shoes, bags, and leather products of every kind have traditionally been manufactured here. A number of leather tanneries still operate in Meycauayan, which over the years have converted the city into a hub for leather goods. In 2016, the total net income for Meycauayan was worth ₱6.875 billion, making it the richest in the province of Bulacan and 18th-highest-income city in the Philippines.

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Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Meycauayan

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Meycauayan claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Meycauayan before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Meycauayan ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Meycauayan

In research: Meycauayan appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Meycauayan in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Meycauayan is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1578 establishments in the Spanish East Indies, Cities in Bulacan, Component cities in the Philippines, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Meycauayan outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Meycauayan in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Meycauayan means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Meycauayan out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Meycauayan in simple terms?

Meycauayan [meɪkɐˈwajan], officially the City of Meycauayan (Filipino: Lungsod ng Meycauayan), is a component city in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 228,023 people.

Why does Meycauayan matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Meycauayan?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Meycauayan.