San Jose del Monte City
San Jose del Monte (or San Jose for short) is a chartered city in Philippines, located in the province of Bulacan. It is bordered by Caloocan City and Quezon City, both in Metro Manila, on the south; by Rodriguez, Rizal on the east; Santa Maria and Marilao, both of Bulacan, in the west and Norzagaray, Bulacan on the north. The city is divided into 59 barangays and now the Fifth district of Bulacan.It was founded by the Spanish government in the year 1752, and was carved from its mother town, Meycauayan, because Meycauayan that time was overly populated. It became a city in the year 2000 through the efforts of the then-Congressman Angelito Sarmiento (who served as Secretary of Agrarian Reform in 2002 and presidential adviser on Agricultural Modernization; he is also a native of San Jose del Monte) and the local government of San Jose del Monte.
San Jose Del Monte is the first city of Bulacan and is now on the way to progress. It is dubbed as the "Evergreen City," having many trees and located at the foot of the Southern part of the Sierra Madre mountain range. Located here is the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto of the Philippines , an exact replica of the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto in France, built by a cancer patient claiming cure when she vistied Grotto in France.It is flocked by pilgrims/devotees every holy week.