Immaculate Conception Parish Church (Santa Maria)

Santa Maria ( SAN-tə mə-REE-ə, Tagalog: [ˈsantɐ mɐˈɾija]), officially the Municipality of Santa Maria (Tagalog: Bayan ng Santa Maria), is a municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 289,820 people. representing 7.8% of the population of the province. Located on the banks of the Santa Maria River, Santa Maria has been a thriving settlement for almost four centuries. It was founded as a barrio of Bocaue in the early 17th century until it was established as an independent municipality on November 26, 1793, by the Spanish friar Francisco Dominguez Javier OFM. Known before as Santa Maria de Pandi (Tagalog pronunciation: [pɐnˈde]), it is named under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception (also known as La Purisima Concepcion). Its administrative center, the Poblacion, forms the historic core of the municipality. It is surrounded by four rivers and it still largely retains its 2.88 square-kilometer boundaries since the Spanish Colonial Era. Santa Maria, with a population of 289,820, remains by a significant margin the most populous municipality in Central Luzon, as well as the 7th most populous municipality in the Philippines. It is also the 2nd most populous local government unit in Bulacan next to San Jose del Monte City. The projected population for 2025 was 305,668. There are 142,380 registered voters in the municipality. In the last 2022 election, voter turnout rate is at 88.91%. The said voter turnout rate in the 2022 national elections is the fourth highest among the municipalities in the province of Bulacan. Its downtown area consists of three highly urbanized barangays: Poblacion, Bagbaguin, and Sta. Clara. It is one of the biggest and busiest commercial centers in the province as it accounts for more than half of all economic activities in the municipality. It is also one of Bulacan's leading financial centers. According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC), Santa Maria's total bank deposits reached PHP 31.27 billion as of December 2021, this accounts for almost 75% of Eastern Bulacan's total bank deposits. Likewise, Santa Maria is the richest municipality in Bulacan with an assets totaling to PHP 1.87 billion and revenues reaching an all-time high of PHP 1.206 billion as of the 2022 report from the Commission on Audit (COA). It has a relatively high standard of living, with only 4% of the population living in poverty which is one of the lowest in the country (19 out of 1,489 municipalities). Santa Maria was the home town of José Corazón de Jesús, a Filipino poet popularly known as "Huseng Batute", who started composing his verse as a child. Another native of Santa Maria is Francisco Santiago, a composer who wrote "Nasaan Ka Irog" and other kundiman songs. In the political arena, Santa Maria has produced three Bulacan governors: Jose Serapio (1900–1901), Trinidad Icasiano (1912–1916), Fortunato Halili (1943–1944 and 1946–1951); and three representatives of the second, fourth district, and sixth district: Rogaciano Mercado (1953–1972, 1987-1989), Reylina Nicolas (2001–2010) and Salvador "Ka Ador" Pleyto (2022 to present).

Saint Joseph College of Bulacan is a private higher education institution located in San Jose Patag, Santa Maria, Bulacan, Philippines.

Fortunato F. Halili National High School is a government-funded college and high school in Barangay Guyong, Santa Maria, Bulacan, Philippines.

The Philippine Sports Center is a sporting venue under-construction inside the Ciudad de Victoria development which spans over Bocaue and Santa Maria, Bulacan, Philippines. The sporting center will host an Olympic-size swimming pool and a multi-purpose gymnasium. Like the nearby Philippine Arena and the Philippine Sports Stadium, the Iglesia ni Cristo owned facility will be opened to the public.

The Philippine Arena is the world's largest indoor arena. It is a multipurpose indoor arena with a maximum seating capacity of 55,000 at Ciudad de Victoria, a 140-hectare (350-acre) tourism enterprise zone in Bocaue and Santa Maria, Bulacan, Philippines about 30 kilometers (19 mi) north of Manila. It is one of the centerpieces of the many centennial projects of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) for their centennial celebration on July 27, 2014. The legal owner of the arena is the INC's educational institution, New Era University. The arena is officially recognized by the Guinness World Records as the largest mixed-use indoor theater in the world on July 27, 2014.It is sometimes advertised to be located in Manila on promotional materials of international events as its location is within the Greater Manila Area.

Ciudad de Victoria (Spanish for "City of Victory" or "Victory City") also known as the Philippine Arena Complex is a 140-hectare tourism enterprise zone in the towns of Bocaue and Santa Maria in Bulacan, Philippines. It is located north of Metro Manila along the North Luzon Expressway. The site where it is located used to be a farmland and was converted and being developed into a mixed-use area that will integrate residential and office buildings as well as shopping, entertainment, leisure, education, business and sports complex. It is owned by the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), a Filipino-based indigenous Christian religious organization, through its educational institution, the New Era University, and operated by Maligaya Development Corporation. It was inaugurated on July 21, 2014 in commemoration of INC's centennial celebration on July 27, 2014.

The Philippine Sports Stadium, also known as Iglesia ni Cristo Stadium, is a football and track stadium at Ciudad de Victoria, a 140-hectare (350-acre) tourism enterprise zone in the towns of Bocaue and Santa Maria, Bulacan, Philippines. The stadium was built right next to the Philippine Arena, the world's largest indoor arena. The stadium is the largest football stadium in the Philippines with a maximum seating capacity of 20,000. Its seating capacity is about twice the seating capacity of the Rizal Memorial Stadium which has a capacity of 12,873.PWP Landscape Architecture is responsible for the landscaping work on the area around the stadium dubbed as the Stadium Gardens.In December 2016, it was reported that the track and field team of the University of the Philippines is a tenant of the stadium.

The Joni Villanueva General Hospital is a government hospital in the Philippines. It is located in Barangay Igulot, Bocaue, Bulacan. Established in 2022, it is named in honor of former Bocaue mayor Eleanor "Joni" J. Villanueva-Tugna.

Bocaue station is an under-construction elevated North–South Commuter Railway (NSCR) station located in Bocaue, Bulacan, Philippines. The station was part of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) North Main Line before its closure in the 1980s.

Bocaue [bɔˈkawɛ], officially the Municipality of Bocaue (Tagalog: Bayan ng Bocaue), is a municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 141,412 people. Among its tourist attractions are a town museum located near the municipality's center and the town's river festival celebrated on the first Sunday of every July. The river festival is in commemoration of the Holy Cross of Wawa, believed to be miraculous by the town's predominantly Roman Catholic population.

On the morning of December 31, 2007, ten fireworks stores began burning in Barangay Turo, Bocaue, Bulacan, Philippines, causing a series of explosions in the area. The fire lasted for almost an hour and caused several traffic jams on Fortunato F. Halili Avenue and the North Luzon Expressway.

The National Shrine of the Divine Mercy (Filipino: Pambansáng Dambana ng Dakilang Awa ng Diyos) is a church dedicated to the Divine Mercy in Marilao, Bulacan, the Philippines. It was elevated to the status of National Shrine by Archbishop Orlando Quevedo of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. The first Mass was held at the site on February 2, 1992, the Feast of the Presentation.