San Juan Day in the Philippines Date in the current year: March 27, 2025
San Juan Day (Araw ng San Juan) is a special non-working holiday in the Philippine city of San Juan in Metro Manila (National Capital Region). It is celebrated annually on March 27 to commemorate the day San Juan was reestablished as an independent municipality in 1907.San Juan is a highly urbanized city in Metro Manila (the National Capital Region of the Philippines); it should not be confused with the municipality of the same name in the province of La Union.
Before the arrival of the Europeans, the area of the present city of San Juan was part of an independent polity known as Namayan, Lamayan or Sapa. In the late 16th century, Namayan became a Spanish colony and was baptized as the parish of Santa Ana de Sapa. The present area of San Juan was established as an encomienda (small town) named San Juan del Monte (Saint John of the Mountain), after Saint John the Baptist and the hilly terrain of the place. It was part of the parish of Santa Ana.
In 1602, the Dominicans founded the Santuario del Santo Cristo, also known as the Church of San Juan del Monte. The church was destroyed twice, during the Chinese insurrection in 1639 and during the British occupation of Manila in 1763, but was rebuilt each time. The present church was built in 1774. San Juan del Monte was separated from the parish of Santa Ana and promoted to a municipality in the province of Manila in 1783.
In August 1896, San Juan del Monte was the site of the first major battle of the Philippine Revolution. On the evening of August 29, Andrés Bonifacio and Emilio Jacinto led a group of Katipuneros to attack a Spanish gunpowder magazine called El Polvorín. The revolutionaries failed to capture the magazine and were forced to retreat, but the Battle of San Juan del Monte was the spark that ignited the revolution, making armed resistance against the Spanish spread to Central Luzon and eventually the entire archipelago.
Although the Philippines successfully declared independence and defeated Spain, San Juan del Monte was devastated by the ensuing Philippine-American War and a malaria epidemic that broke out in the area. After the war, the town was repopulated by families from the neighboring municipalities of Mariquina (now Marikina) and San Mateo. After winning the war and gaining control of the Philippines, the Americans reorganized the administrative division of the country. As a result, San Juan del Monte was included in the newly created province of Rizal in 1901. Two years later, it became part of the municipality of San Felipe Neri (now the city of Mandaluyong). However, on March 27, 1907, San Juan del Monte became an independent municipality again. Its name was shortened to San Juan around 1919.During World War II, San Juan was briefly incorporated into the City of Greater Manila, which was created by President Manuel L. Quezon in 1942 and dissolved by President Sergio Osmeña in 1945. With the creation of the National Capital Region in 1975, San Juan became part of the newly created metropolitan area. Finally, in 2007, it was officially transformed from a municipality to a city.
- Category
- Anniversaries and Memorial Days
- Country
- Philippines
- Tags
- San Juan Day, San Juan Day in the Philippines, holidays in the Philippines, regional holidays, special non-working holidays