San Andres, Manila

San Andrés Bukid
Country	Philippines
Region	National Capital Region
City	Manila
Congressional districts	Part of the 5th district of Manila
Barangays	65
Population  (2000)
• Total	116,998

San Andrés (also San Andrés Bukid, bukid being the Tagalog for "farm" or "[rice] field") is a district located in the south east of the City of Manila in the Philippines. San Andrés shares its northeastern border with Santa Ana and Paco, while to its south lies Pasay and Makati. The area is under the jurisdiction of the Fifth Congressional District of Manila, and includes the Manila South Cemetery, the city's sole exclave.

Profile

Although San Andrés only has a small land area, it is the second most densely populated district in Manila after Tondo. San Andrés is divided into its eastern and western sectors by the Sergio Osmeña Highway. Mostly residential, San Andrés also has some sections classified as commercial. The majority of the district's population live just above the poverty line, mostly composed of post-World War II settlers from various provinces while the original inhabitants were middle or lower-class migrant families who had formerly settled in Tondo but found the rough working-class lifestyle less suitable for raising children. The influx of settlers into the district was unregulated, resulting in a lack of urban planning as evidenced by irregular buildings, narrow roadways, and large blocks of houses accessible only through metre-wide alleyways.

History

What is now San Andrés Bukid was carved from the pre-World War II district of Singalong as well as parts of Malate, and Paco districts. Singalong, which although largely absorbed into San Andrés is commemorated by a namesake street that runs parallel to Quirino Avenue, was in what is now the western section of San Andrés. Elderly residents of Singalong believe that the area's name was derived from a Tagalog word for a cup fashioned from bamboo.

In the Spanish colonial era, Spaniards awarded the area to members of the Capuchin missionaries who thereafter converted the native population to Catholicism. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the southern section of Manila was devastated as with most of the city. San Andrés was then mostly open space, and it was repopulated by migrants from nearby provinces and the Visayas.

References

• "By Sword and Fire: The Destruction of Manila in World War II, 3 February-3 March 1945" by Alphonso J. Aluit (1994) Bookmark, Inc. © 1994 National Commission for Culture and the Arts ISBN 971-569-162-5
• San Andres Manila Volunteer Fire Brigade Inc., History by Charles Chua, Callsign San Andres 1, Presently President and Brigade Fire Marshall

External links

• Official Website of Manila