Political, Cultural and Sports Luminaries

The City has its share of famous politicians playing roles in the provincial and national scene.

The late Atty. Arturo B. Pascual was elected vice-governor of the province in 1964. The then provincial board member Atty. Crispulo Esguerra representing the 2nd district of the province is from the city. While, the immediate past congressional representative Atty. Simeon E. Garcia, and the incumbent congressman Dr. Eleuterio R. Violago of the same district hails from San Jose.

Jake Concepcion, an internationally known saxophone artist based in Japan, who is also a local artist, was credited as the “fastest sax alive”. His brother, Tony is a standout trumpet artist in an international band called Miami Sound Machine where Ms. Gloria Estefan is the lead singer. Then who would forget the director Mr. Lino Broka, an institution in his own right, was known worldwide for his issue-conscious films. In the field of sports, Armando Catalan won the tour of Luzon in 1988. Bubbles Custodio was known for her expertise in soap box carting while Jessie Cabanayan in the Philippine Basketball Association is known for his skills in basketball.

It is also noteworthy that some well-known government officials came from the city, like Atty. Hermogenes P. Pobre who was the Commissioner of the Professional Regulation Commission for a long time. Chito Sobrepeña was once the Assistant Director General of NEDA, and he is serving as one of the high officials of the Presidential Management Staff.

Political Subdivision

The city is subdivided to the urban and rural district political areas. The urban subdivision comprises the five barangays or districts in the poblacion (R. Rueda Sr., F. E. Marcos, C. Ramos, R. Eugenio and C. Sanchez) and the five barangays adjacent to the city proper (Abar 1st, Calaocan, Malasin, Santo Niño 1st and Sibut). Although the area covered by the urban subdivision only consists of 10 barangays, the urban area has a total population of 52,211 or 45.96% of the total population of the city, which is 113,607 based on the 2004 census.

The high percentage of urban population can be attributed to the enormous employment and job opportunities available in the city proper. It is in this area where commercial centers and business enterprises such as the market, hotels, restaurants, amusements centers, government and private banks, educational institutions, gasoline stations, rice mills, night clubs and department stores are located.

On the other hand, the rural subdivision is generally populated by farmers and farm laborers spread out in the remaining 28 barangays of the city.