Getting Lost With Names – Santa / Sta. Ana

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Care to start with a town having an official name of just “Santa”? Well, its not named after the western colloquial meaning of that word. In fact, St. Nick is not nicknamed “santa” anywhere in the Philippines. He always takes the full name of “Santa Claus”. This town of ‘Santa’ in Ilocos Sur had an original name that is also of a saint. It just got shortened through the years hehe. That, we shall learn more of, a little later…

Meanwhile, let’s go to “Santa Ana”. Some write that as “Sta. Ana”. There are two towns in this country.

First is the beautiful ‘and controversial’ town of Santa Ana in the province of Cagayan (Region 2). Yep, this is that northeastern tip of the country that should be running big as a town soon – but I wonder why not now hehe. Did you know there is even a special economic zone in this town since the late 1990s? Yeah yeah, it is not just supposed to be a Freeport but also a tourism haven. But economic zone or not, I suggest you guys pop into this town during summers. You’ll like it!

The other Sta. Ana is a town in the middle of the province of Pampanga (Region 3) sitting by one side of Mt. Arayat. This is a generally farming community seemingly forgotten by the province’s development and tourism goals. But mind you, they have an old imposing church worthy of a go see.

Now now, there is a big wide and highly urban (meaning with a lot of squatters) Sta Ana in the heart of Metro Manila, right? Its population is even bigger if you add up all the people of the two Santa Ana towns mentioned above. But this Sta Ana is not a town nor a city. Its just a district in the city of Manila!
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