History
Santa Maria was part of Meycauayan until 1792 when it became a separate pueblo. Santa Maria was then known as Santa Maria de Pandi. In 1793, the seat of the civil affairs was established in the Poblacion. Andres dela Cruz was appointed "gobernadorcillo" (little governor). There were 82 gobernadorcillos or capitanes who served the Spanish colonial administration from 1793 to 1899 with Pascual Mateo as the last.
Under the Americans, the title "captain" was changed to "presidente". The first to hold the position was Maximo Evidente who served from 1899-1900. Of the 12 others who succeeded him, the most popular were Agustin Morales (1928–1934) and Fortunato F. Halili (1934–1937). Morales was responsible for the construction of the first main water system in the town. Halili, who never drew his salary as executive, later on became Governor of Bulacan.
During the Japanese Occupation, Dr. Teofilo Santiago, dubbed as Dr. Kamoteng Kahoy for his widespread campaign among the town's citizenry to plant cassava, became mayor of Santa Maria. Santiago was also responsible for the launching of the poultry - a raising project which earned for the town the distinction of being "The Egg Basket of the Philippines". He was also the "Father of Santa Maria Dairy Plant". After the Liberation, Capitan Ireneo Hermogenes was appointed Municipal Mayor from March 20, 1945 to October 1945. He was succeeded by Marciano Bautista.
The post-liberation period saw Conrado Ignacio as the first elected Mayor of Santa Maria (1947–1955). He was succeeded by prominent personalities in Santa Maria local politics such as Ricardo G. Nicolas Sr. (1956-1959/1964-1967), Eriberto Ramos, Sr. (1960–1963), Paulino M. Luciano Sr. (1968–1971), Ricardo D. Nicolas, Jr.(1972–1978) and Paulino Luciano, Jr. (1979–1986).
After the People Power Revolution in February 1986, President Corazon Aquino appointed Dr. Alfredo Perez, who was then the vice-mayor of the town, as Officer-in-Charge of the municipality until May, 1986, when he was replaced by Ricardo Nicolas, Jr. In December 1986, however, Nicolas was appointed OIC Vice Governor of Bulacan and was succeeded by Benjamin G. Geronimo (1987–1988) and Atty. Ramon H. Clemente (1988).
During the 1988 election, Eriberto Ramos was elected Mayor and served until June 30, 1992. On July 1, 1992, he was succeeded by Reylina G. Nicolas. Under the Nicolas administration, Santa Maria rose from a third-class municipality to a first class municipality. In the 2001 elections, Nicolas ran for Representative of the 4th Congressional District of Bulacan and won a landslide victory with more than 80,000 votes over her closest rival. Nicolas was succeeded by Bartolome R. Ramos.
During the 2004 elections, Jesus Mateo defeated the incumbent Ramos and became mayor of the municipality until 2007. One of Mateo's accomplishments as mayor of Santa Maria was the establishment of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines - Santa Maria extension campus in 2005.
Read more about this topic: Santa Maria, Bulacan
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