Getting Lost With Names – Santo / Sto. Tomas

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St. Thomas of whatever… and there are 6 towns named exactly Sto. Tomas! Gosh!

One is in the province of La Union (Region 1 - Ilocos). This is the northernmost Sto. Tomas and is well known for having pioneered in controlled / scientific production of the bounty from the sea. Thus you see a lot of dried fish on sale along the highway. There’s an interesting story about their patron saint – no, its not Sto. Tomas. And I like the municipal hall perched up on a hill.

Another Sto. Tomas is in La Union’s neighboring province of Pangasinan (still in Region 1). This little town is down by the big river across Villasis and is at the province’s border with San Manuel, Tarlac. Ah yep, this is the town that purportedly just bagged a Guinness record for the longest barbecue – they grilled mainly corn.

Further westwards is another town named Sto. Tomas in the province of Isabela (Region 2). This is the northernmost town named Sto. Tomas and it sits by the northwestern portion of the province already near Kalinga and Cagayan.

Then there is another town named Sto. Tomas in the province of Pampanga (Region 3). This is that little town along MacArthur Highway before you reach San Fernando from the metropolis. Eerie? Well, you can say that again since this town is considered a “casket capital”! Yea yeah, you’ll see caskets in the making dotting roadsides. So don’t start roaming in the evenings hehe. Duuu!

Over in the province of Batangas (Region 4) is another town named Sto. Tomas. This is one big town that has progressed from being agricultural to industrial suburb owing to its location of being just by the border with Laguna province and very near the metropolis. Ah, bulalo is it hehe at that street lined by stalls that sell them!

Our 6th Sto. Tomas is a town in the province of Davao Del Norte (Region 11) by its border with Davao Del Sur. This one is another big banana farm of a town I wouldn’t wonder if it becomes a city soon. It even has private airstrips for the convenience of the plantation owners!

How about St. Nino? Let’s do that next!

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