Bocaue

Bocaue is a first class urban municipality in the province of Bulacan in the Philippines. According to the, it has a population of.With the continuous expansion of Metro Manila, the town is now part of the metropolis' built-up area, which reaches San Ildefonso municipality at Bulacan's northernmost part and continues on into Nueva Ecija province.Three road crossings in the municipality are heavily congested during the rush hours: Lolomboy, Wakas, and Bocaue road crossings. The Bocaue River runs through most of the town.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 predominating Roman Catholic populace.EtymologyThe town's name comes from the Old Tagalog word "Bokawe", which refers to a type of long bamboo.HistoryBocaue was first established by Franciscan missionaries as a barrio and visita of Meycauayan in 1582 and as a town in April 11, 1606 under the advocacy of San Martin de Tours. It was the first town to be granted independence from the old Meycauayan, which was then a very large town comprising the present territories of Meycauayan City, Marilao, Santa Maria, San Jose del Monte City, Obando, and Valenzuela City.