Santo Tomas (Batangas)

Santo Tomas is a municipality in Batangas.

Understand

Santo Tomas lies just south of Batangas's boundary with Laguna, and is a major road junction, serving the Maharlika Highway (Route 1 and Asian Highway 26) and Jose P. Laurel Highway (Route 4). The town takes its name from its patron saint, St. Thomas Aquinas, also the patron saint of Catholic schools. Santo Tomas is also the hometown of the Filipino general Miguel Malvar, who led the soldiers of the Tagalog Republic during the Philippine–American War, and also the last general to surrender to the Americans.

Santo Tomas forms part the vast sprawl along the transport corridor between Manila and Batangas City. The town has significantly grown enough to become eligible for city status, just awaiting a plebiscite to officially upgrade it into a chartered city. Santo Tomas's economy is largely based on manufacturing, agriculture and real estate development. Suburbanization have resulted in most agricultural land becoming part of the sprawl.

Get in

Santo Tomas is served well by bus services from Manila, and many buses stop at the town. Jeepneys from Calamba, Lipa, and San Pablo also serve the town. If travelling by car, taking the South Luzon Expressway is advisable.

Get around

The town is served by jeepneys in major thoughfares , and tricycles in all other nooks and crannies not served by jeepneys. Car travel is advisable, especially when visiting the Padre Pio Shrine, but prepare for traffic jams in feast days.

See

🌍 General Miguel Malvar Shrine, Malvar Street (Near the Municipal Hall). Houses a statue and a museum on Miguel Malvar, Filipino general of the Tagalog Republic during the Philippine-American War. (updated Nov 2018)

Churches and religious sites

🌍 National Shrine of St. Padre Pio (Padre Pio Shrine), Gov. Antonio Carpio Avenue, San Pedro (About 2 kilometers away from Maharlika Highway). A Roman Catholic shrine and parish devoted to St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, with buildings built to local styles. Originally a small chapel along Maharlika Highway, it is now a large complex frequented by devotees around Batangas and surrounding provinces, as well as Metro Manila. (updated May 2018)
🌍 Saint Thomas Aquinas Parish, General Malvar Street. (updated Nov 2018)

Do

Buy

Eat

🌍 The Lifestyle Strip, Maharlika Highway, San Antonio (Near St. Cabrini Medical Center). Retail center with various restaurants and coffee shops. (updated Nov 2018)
🌍 Rose & Grace, Maharlika Highway (On the corner of intersection with Malvar Street). (updated Nov 2018)

Drink

Sleep

Microtel Inn & Suites, First Philippine Industrial Park, Sto. Tomas, ☎ +63 43 405-6957, fax: +63 43 405 7010. A/C rooms equipped with cable TV and radio clock. The inn has a swimming pool, meeting room and Wifi connection.

Connect

Go next

Routes through Santo Tomas

Manila ← Calamba ←	N S	→ Continues as
Splits into and ← Calamba ←	N S	→ Alaminos → San Pablo
Continues north as ←	N S	→ Tanauan → Batangas City
Merges with ←	N S	→ Lipa → Tanauan

gollark: Yes. You only see one side. The other side contains our secret base.

gollark: Walls tend to block WiFi a lot. Especially 5GHz WiFi.

gollark: Most people have VDSL which does something like 34Mbps max.

gollark: Yes, most of the infrastructure is ancient copper cables.

gollark: Gigabit Ethernet can consistently deliver 1Gbps basically regardless of conditions and is widely supported and various fibre optic standards can do 10Gbps or 40Gbps (much higher is ridiculously expensive).

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