Calumpit, officially the Municipality of Calumpit (), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 118,471 people.
Etymology
The name "Calumpit" comes from the tree "Kalumpít", an indigenous hardwood species similar to apalit and narra, which grows abundantly in front of the St. John the Baptist Parish Church in the Población-Sucol area.
History
Precolonial era
Calumpit was already an established barangay under the leadership of Gat Maitim prior to the Fall of the Kingdom of Tondo in June 1571. Other nearby villages were Gatbuka, Meyto, Meysulao, Pandukot, Malolos, Macabebe, Hagonoy, and Apalit. When Calumpit was hispanised and established as a political and geographical entity in 1572, they chose what is today Barangay Población as the site of the church and the administrative center of the aforementioned villages, which were annexed to it.
Spanish period
Upon hearing that the Kingdom of Tondo was conquered by Martín de Goíti and Juan Salcedo, and that Rajah Matanda allied with the Spaniards in May 1571, Bambalito formed a fleet of two thousand natives mostly from Hagonoy and Macabebe. They sailed across Manila Bay to Tondo on June 3, 1571, facing Goíti and Salcedo in the historic Battle of Bangkusay. Bambalito and the natives were defeated and the conquerors proceeded northwards to pacify other villages along the coast of Manila Bay.
In September 1571, Goíti and Salcedo, along with the invading forces, arrived at Lubao. On November 14, 1571, they reached Calumpit and Malolos and reported it to Miguel López de Legazpi, the first Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines. The two settlements were then constituted as the Encomienda de Calumpit and Encomienda de Malolos, respectively. The Encomienda de Calumpit was entrusted to Sargento Juan Moron, one of the conquerors in the Legazpi Expedition.
Christianization
It is uncertain as to exactly when the Augustinians first set foot in Calumpit, but according to the documents, Calumpit was already a parish by May 3, 1572, when Fray Martín de Rada was elected Prior Provincial. Calumpit was simultaneously established with the conventos of Bay, Laguna, Tondo and Lubao, Pampanga, with De Rada as its prior and Fray Diego Vivar as his vicar.
Accounts state that the Augustinian missionaries planted a wooden cross along the bank of the Meyto River to symbolise the baptism of the land, and they built a chapel made of nipa and bamboo. Later, they moved to Meysulao and built another visita, and then in Panducot, where they built another chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Visitation as Fray Gaspar de San Agustín mentioned in his Conquistas delas Isla Philipinas (Libro Segundo, Chapter 9). Subsequently, the missionary headquarters was moved again to a much higher place where a very huge and prominent tree called "Kalumpit" (Terminalia macrocarpa decne) stands as the original settlers named the place. Another notable characteristic of the village of Calumpit is that it was bounded by rivers which served as a natural moat-like feature. Primarily, Meyto, Meysulao, Panducot and Calumpit was independent barangays under their own chiefs, it is same with Gatbuka, Bugyon and other old settlements. On April 5, 1572, Legaspi merged the villages of Meyto, Meysulao, Panducot, Calumpit, Candaba, Apalit and Malolos and these villages became ministerios and visitas and these settlements first formed the town named Calumpit, with present-day Calumpit as center. On December 28, 1575, Gov. General Francisco Sande ordered the inclusion of the villages of Agonoy (Hagonoy), Quinabalonan (now Santa Monica and San Jose, Hagonoy), and some villages along Macabebe river to the town of Calumpit.