About - Municipality of Montalban

THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF MUNICIPALITY OF MONTALBAN, RIZAL

Welcome to Municipality of Montalban

Rodriguez, officially the Municipality of Rodriguez (Tagalog: Bayan ng Rodriguez), formerly known and still commonly known as Montalban, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Rizal, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 443,954 people making it as the most populous municipality in the country.

It is the northernmost town in the province and comes after San Mateo, Rizal, and Quezon City coming from Metro Manila. The town is located on the slopes of the Sierra Madre mountain range and it is the largest town in Rizal province with an area of 312.70 square kilometres (120.73 square miles). It is also the location of the Montalban Gorge that is associated with the Legend of Bernardo Carpio. The gorge forms part of a protected area known as the Pamitinan Protected Landscape.

The municipality borders San Mateo, Rizal and Antipolo, Rizal on the south, Norzagaray, Bulacan and San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan on the north, Quezon City and Caloocan on the west and General Nakar, Quezon on the east. It is one of the richest municipalities in the Philippines, ranking third in 2016 with an income of ₱691 million.

The town’s former official name of Montalban derives from the Spanish word Monte (Mountain), in reference to the numerous hills found within and surrounding the town. A common name for the municipality up to the present, it was its official name from its founding in 1871 until 1982 when the Batasang Pambansa officially renamed it to Rodriguez under Batas Pambansa Blg. 275 in honor of Eulogio Rodriguez, Sr., a native of the municipality who served as Senate President.

Geography

Rodriguez is a town of mountains. From its north to south, a series of sloping ridges, hills and mountains ranges adorn the town. In fact, around 27% of the town is occupied by mountains and slopes. The town’s highest peak is Mount Irid, 1,469 meters (4,820 ft) above sea level.

The province of Rizal covers 1,175.8 square meters (12,656 sq ft). Rodriguez makes up 26.6% of the entire province of Rizal, housing 11 barangays. Rodriguez’s economic activities include agriculture and commerce such as the Avilon Zoo.

Elevation and slope

The Municipality of Rodriguez is generally very rough in topography, with 83% of its total land area composed of upland areas, hills and mountain ranges. The remaining 17% low-lying terrain and rolling lands are found at the south-western portion of the municipality, along with the northern portions of the Municipality of San Mateo.

The rolling slopes comprise the Marikina River Valley, where water from higher elevations drain towards the Marikina River and its tributaries at the south-western portion of the municipality. Elevations at these western lowlands range from 10 to 30 meters (33 to 98 ft) above sea level. The western portion of the flatlands gently rises towards the west, which is part of Quezon City.

The mountainous regions of the Municipality of Rodriguez are found at the central and eastern areas, with sleepy sloping ridges and mountain ranges, traversing north to south. The terrain in these mountain ranges has slopes ranging from 30 to 50%. Very steep hills and mountains have slopes greater than 50%. Rolling to hilly areas 18–30% in slope can also be found. These high elevations are drained by the Tanay, Puray, and Rodriguez Rivers.

Barangays

Rodriguez is politically subdivided into 11 barangays (8 urban, 3 rural) with the barangays of San Isidro and San Jose being two of the most populated barangays in the municipality and in the Philippines.

Barangay	Population (2015 census)
Balite	9,983
Burgos	44,100
Geronimo	5,554
Macabud	9,707
Manggahan	13,913
Mascap	4,699
Puray	3,921
Rosario	7,244
San Isidro	117,277
San Jose	124,868
San Rafael	27,956
Rodriguez	369,222