Rural-to-Urban Development

"Barrio Bukol" before, currently known as Santa Rosa (http://bit.ly/txO9JA)

               During the Age of Exploration, Juan De Salcedo, a Spanish conquistador, rediscovered Santa Rosa which was before known as Barrio Bukol. Originally, the said location was a part of Biñan, but after some processes and changes it had encountered, it was politically emancipated as one municipality and got its current name Santa Rosa, Laguna (Santa Rosa site, 2011).

             Spanish conquerors had settled in Santa Rosa Santa Rosa since 1571 and were finally ousted after 327 years, via the signing of the Act of Independence from Spain. Nevertheless, in terms of religion, government and culture, Santa Rosa was very much affected by the wave of changes brought by the mentioned invaders. During the Filipino-American War, local leaders of Santa Rosa bravely fought together with General Emilio Aguinaldo and after the short reign of Japanese occupation in the Philippines, the town had garnered its official liberation on February 5 1945. After the harsh and cruel chaos it had experienced, Santa Rosa’s local economy depended on agriculture, fishery, livestock and small backyard industry. It was just a sleepy town with its people relying livelihood with fundamental agriculture and family owned businesses. Back then, it was classified as a 4th class municipality. But when the 1980’s came, the town’s industrialization became much tangible and speedy which can be considered as the mark of the New Santa Rosa(2011).

Paseo De Santa Rosa : A commercial lot in Santa Rosa, Laguna (http://bit.ly/rX5VJo)

One huge factor which strongly pushed Santa Rosa’s development was the intention of the Philippine government to propagate the industrialization from the northern part of the said country up to its southern portion, including CALABARZON Region IV. In order to make this possible, the government established ecozones in Laguna through the enactment of Republic Act No. 7916 or the Special Economic Zone Act of 1995.

Santa Rosa's latest emblem (http://bit.ly/vv6bB9)

Moreover, to be able to make it more efficient PEZA or Philippine Economic Zone Authority was created which was responsible for the fiscal incentives in Santa Rosa, such as exemption of business entrepreneurs from national and local taxes. Moreover, multinational companies  like Ford, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Coca-Cola and Kawasaki started to invest in Santa Rosa.Now with a population of not less than 185 000 and a lot of companies settling here, Santa Rosa is evidently a promising city which is unrelentingly moving towards modernization and industrialization(2011).