San Pedro Cityhood Day in the Philippines Date in the current year: December 29, 2025

San Pedro is a component city in the Philippine province of Laguna, adjacent to the National Capital Region (Metro Manila). Little is known of its precolonial history, but it is believed that the territory of present-day San Pedro was divided between independent polities (barangays) headed by Datus (chiefs).

The first Europeans to set foot in the area were the Spanish conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and his men in 1571. They claimed the region for Spain, and present-day San Pedro became part of the ecomienda of Tabuco, granted by the Spanish crown to Don Luis Enriquez.

The town of San Pedro de Tunásan was officially founded on January 18, 1725. Its name consisted of two parts: San Pedro, in honor of the patron saint of the settlement, Saint Peter, and Tunásan, from the local plant named tunás (blue lotus, Nymphaea nouchali), which means “a place where tunás grows”.

By the mid-19th century, the town had over 600 houses, a town hall, a primary school, and a jail. The population’s primary source of income was agriculture, especially farming (with the main crops being corn, coconuts, mangoes, rice, and sugar cane), fishing, and cattle raising.

During the Philippine Revolution, the people of San Pedro de Tunásan discreetly joined the revolutionary cause. Because of the town’s proximity to Cavite and Manila, General Emilio Aguinaldo advised them not to rebel openly in order to preserve the town’s status as a rearguard of the revolutionary forces. Instead of fighting, they provided food and supplies, and sheltered revolutionaries in need of refuge. When the Philippines declared independence from Spain in 1898, San Pedro de Tunásan was one of the towns controlled by the revolutionary government.

After the start of the Philippine-American War, San Pedro de Tunásan again served as a rearguard for Filipino forces, and some of its residents joined the fight as part of a militia. However, the Americans took control of the town in January 1900. Three years later, San Pedro de Tunásan lost its municipal status and became part of Biñan. It was reinstated as a town in 1907 and renamed San Pedro in 1914.

During World War II, San Pedro was occupied by the Japanese on January 1, 1942. The municipal officials fled the town, while some of the remaining residents joined the guerrilla forces in Laguna. San Pedro was liberated by the combined Filipino-American forces in February 1945.

When the Philippines gained independence from Spain, San Pedro became one of the towns that benefited from the industrialization and commercialization of the Manila region. It gradually transformed from an agricultural municipality to a major commercial, industrial and transportation hub. To reflect the growth and development of San Pedro, it was converted from a municipality to a city on December 29, 2013.