Santa Ignacia

The 2008 Census on Population conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO) shows that the municipality of Sta. Ignacia, Tarlac has a population of 43,560; Barangay Poblacion East has the biggest number of population which is 3,855 followed by Barangay Poblacion West which has 3,283, followed by Barangay Padapada which has 2,958, fourth is Barangay Vargas with 2,675 and fifth is Barangay Pilpila with 2,345. On the other hand, Barangay Taguiporo has the least number in the municipality, which has only 487 inhabitants.

Agricultural Activities

Santa Ignacia is basically an agricultural town being part of Central Luzon.  Agriculture serves as the major means of livelihood among the populace.

A total of 12,343.469 hectares or 89.46 percent of the total land area of the municipality is devoted to agriculture.  An area of 6,985 hectares is devoted to rice.  The municipality also produces vegetables such as sweet potato, tomato, eggplant and others.

Livestock and poultry production is another means of livelihood that the people of Santa Ignacia depend on.  These help them support their daily needs as it increases their household income.  At present, there are twelve poultry/piggery projects operating within the municipality with a total of 820,000 commercial chicken, 11,172 swine and 11,062 cattle stock.

Fishery activities in the municipality are undertaken in small farm reservoir which doubles as rain catchments for irrigation purposes and for the production of freshwater fish like tilapia and other fishes of the carp family.

In order to have economic growth, every municipality must consider the necessity of providing infrastructure support facilities particularly to enhance mobility and development especially the municipality’s economic sectors, The municipality of Sta. Ignacia has about 303.844 kms. of road which is classified into four (4) classifications namely; national, provincial, municipal and Barangay. The total length for the national is 13.51 kms; for the provincial is 54.57 kms.; for the municipal is 12.8 kms.; and 226.253 kms. for the Barangay.

There are ten (10) bridges found in the municipality. Of the ten, three (3) are in the national road.          

The riding public of the community and the ability to move and circulate freely depend on private and government-owned vehicles such as buses, mini-buses, jeepney and tricycles. The municipality has an estimated 16 jeepneys that are plying different routes such as Tarlac – Sta. Ignacia and vice-versa or Sta. Ignacia – Camiling and vice-versa. Meanwhile, tricycles numbering at least 221 units maintain regular trips from the town to any point of the locality such as going to different barangays.   

Aside from these, other passenger vehicles that can be availed of are Philippine Rabbit Bus Lines, Victory Liner, SanTrans, and others. From the IRAP findings conducted by the Office of the MPDC, there are 704 tricycles, 230 motorcycles, 142 private cars, 79 trucks, 1`60 private jeeps, 117 jeepneys, 1319 bicycles, 3,166 carabaos, 2 horses, 34 vans and 5 minibuses owned by residents of Santa Ignacia.

Education

Education for every individual is a basic social right. As such the citizenry highly depend on the kind of education being injected to them for their development by the different educational institutions existing in the municipality. Both public and private institutions are conducting formal education in Sta. Ignacia, Tarlac. Its local residents, especially the young, are enthusiastic enough to learn academics and to engage in sports. It is a good thing there are a great number of schools scattered within the poblacion and within the different rural barangays that meet the needs of its students. As of school year 2005 – 2009, the municipality has 26 elementary schools, out of which, 23 are public and Three (3) is private school, which are Glory Dei Montessori College, SIBC Sch., and Methodist, all located at the Poblacion Area. Likewise, there are 12 secondary schools, 8 are public and 4 private schools, the Sta. Ignacia High School,Sta. Ignacia Academy, Glory Dei Montessori College and Santa Ignacia Baptist HS.

Health

The health of the people of Sta. Ignacia, Tarlac were taken care of by both private and public practitioners. The municipality has only one (1) Rural Health Unit located in the municipal compound. It is staffed with one (1) doctor, two (2) nurses, one (1) dentist, six (7) midwives, and one (1) dental aide.

At present, the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO) has one (1) social worker and two (2) social welfare aides, their office is located at the municipal compound.

Rehabilitation of Day Care Center Resource was funded by Sen.  Miguel Zubiri. Supplemental feeding must be provided simultaneously to minimize malnourished children. A building must be provided to the senior citizens where they can meet.

SPORTS AND RECREATION

The development of sports and recreation is one of the major concerns of the government. At present, the municipality of Sta. Ignacia has one covered court, an open space for sports and recreational activities. Most sport and recreational activities are held at Barangay plazas and school compounds. The most common sports and recreational facilities found in the municipality are open basketball courts, plaza, tennis court and swimming pools. A cockpit arena is located at Barangay Pinpinas. Schools have their own playgrounds.

The Philippine Postal Office carries out Mass communication facilities and services in the locality. At present, the municipality has a postal station located at the municipal building. One (1) postmaster, one (1) teller and four (4) postmen man the Philpost. At the telegraph office, there is one radio operator.

The average volume of outgoing domestic mail per month is 6,068. A number of residents subscribe to cellular phone such as Smart, Globe and Sun Cellular.  The PLDT has installed telephone lines to cater to the communication needs of the people of Santa Ignacia

Water

The most common source of water supply at present in the municipality is its ground water. Based on the records of the Office of the MPDC, there are at present 6,258 households with individual pumps found in all barangays. The residents use this to obtain water for drinking, laundry, bathing and other domestic uses.  This leaves 2,049 without direct water supply and have to secure water from communal pumps, and other secondary source of water.

The Sta. Ignacia Water District, located at Poblacion West started operation in 1996. It has a total of 571 households served at Barangays Poblacion East, Poblacion West, San Francisco and San Vicente. By the end of 1999, it is expected to have reached Barangay Cabaruan and Taguiporo. The steel water pump has a 150 cubic meter capacity. The minimum for the first 10 cubic meter for residential is P85.00.

Electricity

Electrical services in the municipality of sta. Ignacia came from Tarlac Electric Cooperative (TARELCO) which depend solely on the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR). A district office is located in the municipality. At present, there are a total of 8,308 households in the whole locality. Of these, 4,305 households or 52.77% are served by the TARELCO.There is no Barangay that is fully served by the cooperative. The least served barangays are Timmaguab, Sta. Ines Centro and Caanamongan. The only Barangay still unserved is San Sotero.Of the 152 sitios or puroks, a total number of 128 have electric lines while 24 are still not reached by the services of the TARELCO.

 Police and Fire Department services play vital roles in providing and maintaining peace and order for all sectoral groups of the community. This is important for a locality to grown and develops faster. 26 policemen man the police department in the municipality of Sta. Ignacia. The police force is issued firearms of different types. They are equipped with 2 vehicles and 1 motorcycle. The present police station is located at the municipal compound. There are 2 outposts, 1 in front of the public market and other in front of Signa Bank. In addition to the police force, there are 352 barangay tanod who help in keeping peace and order in the municipality.