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| Brief History of the Province One tradition says that Bulacan came from the word "bulak" or cotton. More than two hundred years before the coming of the Spanish conquistadores, Chinese merchants documented the planting of cotton plants in the province. Cotton fibers were woven into clothing materials by primitive looms. Another interpretation avers the name originated from "burak", the clay for pottery found along the Calumpit river banks. Shards from several archaeological diggings reveal that pottery-making in Bulacan existed as far as the Neolithic Age. Twelfth-century Chinese documents already marveled at the bounty with which nature blessed Bulacan. Early friar chroniclers of the Spanish period were so enamored by the abundance of its flora that they described her as the "Garden of Luzon." A mountain range nurtures forest thick with hardwood. Rivers fertilize abundant fields famous for rice, sugarcane, melons, okra, bananas and papayas. The Bay of Manila meets her veins of rivers to produce brackish waters necessary for fishponds of milkfish and prawns, beds of oysters and crabs. So much bounty, so many reasons for her sons and daughters to shed blood to preserve such beauty. Bulacan is the only province in the Philippines that can lay claim to three republics. All born at a time when democracy was still unknown in Asia. Foremost was the brief but valiant stand of the Real Kakarong De Sili of Pandi in 1897. It was Bulacan's first real threat against Spanish might. A war of nerves led by the mystic Maestrong Sebio. Biak-na-Bato in San Miguel Mountains sheltered a republic that merged Aguinaldo's fleeing forces with Bulacan's Katipuneros. General Gregorio Del Pilar, barely out of his teens, led his brave army in several brilliant skirmishes. Fired by the patriotism of the great propagandist - Marcelo H. Del Pilar. The third is the province's principal glory - the Malolos Republic. In 1897, enlightened representatives from all over the islands converged in Malolos to formally inaugurate a Republic. A congress wrote and ratified a constitution that was the first declaration of freedom ever in Asia. The Malolos Republic then was the culmination of a long struggle for the right to be free from Dutch pirates, British invaders, Spanish and American economic warriors and from any yoke of slavery. The existence of Bulacan as a province since 1572 was reaffirmed by virtue of Act No. 2711 enacted on March 10, 1917 with the seat of government established in Malolos. |
List of Bulacan Governors and the Year of their Administration |
| Name of Governor | Year of Administration |
|---|---|
| Gen. Gregorio Del Pilar | 1898-1899 |
| Gen. Isidoro D. Torres | 1899 |
| Segundo Rodrigo | 1898-1899 |
| Jose Serapio | 1900-1901 |
| Pablo Tecson | 1902-1906 |
| Teodoro Sandico | 1906-1909 |
| Donato Teodoro | 1910-1912 |
| Trinidad Icasiano | 1912-1916 |
| Nicolas Buendia | 1916-1919 |
| Juan B. Carlos | 1919-1921 |
| Dr. Pio Valenzuela | 1922-1925 |
| Restituto J. Castro | 1925-1928 |
| Jose Padilla, Sr. | 1928-1931; 1934-1937 |
| Cirilo B. Santos | 1931-1934 |
| Jacinto Molina | 1938-1940 |
| Emilio Rustia | 1941-1942 |
| Jose Delos Reyes | 1943-1944 |
| Fortunato Halili | 1948-1950 |
| Teofilo E. Sauco | 1950-1951 |
| Alejo S. Santos | 1951-1954; 1955-1957 |
| Tomas S. Martin | 1958-1963 |
| Jose M. Villarama | 1964-1967 |
| Ignacio Santiago | 1968-1986 |
| Amado T. Pineda | 1987-1988 |
| Roberto M. Pagdanganan | 1988-1998 |
| Josefina Mendoza-Dela Cruz | 1998-2007 |
| Joselito R. Mendoza | 2007-2010 |
| Wilhelmino M. Sy-Alvarado | 2010-2019 |
| Daniel R. Fernando | 2019-Present |
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