Photo by garm306 on Flickr
Written by: Maine Dela Cruz
Bulacan is a first-class province in Central Luzon. It is a melting pot of past and present, the old and the new, the countryside, and the cityscape. Indeed, the economy of Bulacan is dynamic. This sprawling province boasts a rich history of heroism and development.
In fact, the province consists of three component cities namely Meycauayan, San Jose del Monte, and the provincial capital, Malolos City. Meanwhile, Bulacan municipalities include Angat, Balagtas, Baliuag, Bocaue, Bulacan, Bustos, Calumpit, Doña Remedios, Guiguinto, Hagonoy, Marilao, Norzagaray, Obando, Pandi, Paombong, Plaridel, Pulilan, San Ildefonso, Santa Maria, San Miguel, San Rafael, and Trinidad.
As of 2020, the province has a total population of 3.7 million. It ranks third behind Cebu and Cavite as the most populous with San Jose del Monte as Bulacan’s most populous city, followed by Santa Maria and Don Remedios Trinidad.
Bulacan is also renowned for its high-quality workmanship, which is evident in its booming industries. And as a prominent choice for international and local investments, the province continues to play a key role in the country’s march to growth. Also, the province opened its economy to providers of fast fiber internet connection, like Streamtech. This significantly contributed to the boom of the locality.
Bulacan province has also been a popular resort destination in Luzon. Relatively, Bulacan resorts, located just a few minutes from Metro Manila by vehicle, offer a pleasant reprieve from the stresses of city life.
Economic Activities in Central Luzon Region
The Central Luzon region contributes significantly to the Philippine economy particularly in the production of the major crops. In 2013, it contributed to 8.98% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. Agriculture, Hunting, Forestry, and Fishing accounted for 16.97% of the area economy in 2014, down from 5.37 percent in 2013.
Certainly, the agricultural plains of Central Luzon region cover roughly 40% of the region’s total area, making it the country’s biggest plain. Known as the “Rice Bowl of the Philippines” or “Rice Granary of the Philippines”, it is the country’s largest rice producer. And aside from rice, the province’s wide and lush plains are ideal for producing virtually any type of agricultural product. Bataan, Zambales, and Aurora all have extensive coastlines that are rich in marine fishing grounds. Forests cover around 45 percent of the region. The provinces of Zambales and Bulacan are rich in gold, silver, chrome, limestone, marble, clay, sand, and gravel.
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Major Industries in Bulacan
Indeed, Bulacan provides investors a strategic location, abundant natural resources, established infrastructure, a diverse pool of skilled labor for businesses, topped with a business-friendly climate and a supportive provincial government. It’s no wonder why industries flourish in the province. Here are the major industries in Bulacan:
1. Jewelry
The Philippines is the world’s 12th largest gold producer. We have a strong cultural and design heritage, as well as a highly talented workforce. As of this writing, there are roughly 10,000 cottage-type jewelry businesses.
The Meycauayan Jewelry Industry Association (MJIA), which is composed of around 100 businesses, operates the Philippine Jewelry Facility, a one-stop service center for jewelers equipped with training centers, common service facilities, laboratory equipment, and provides assistance for members in coming up with designs.
Apart from gold jewelry, Bulacan also produces other types of jewelry from precious metal, pearls, and precious and semi-precious stones.
2. Furniture
Bulacan is home to more than 200 furniture makers that produce an array of world-class pieces. In fact, they produce basic, classic, and replica furniture from wood, rattan, metal, and a combination of these elements. Their workforce is extremely talented in intricate wood carvings, stone parquetry, and inlaid carabao bone furniture. To further strengthen the industry, a provincial branch of the Chamber of Furniture Industries of the Philippines (CFIP) assists furniture producers in the province.
Bulacan now exports exquisite furniture to Europe, the Middle East, Korea, Taiwan, Mexico, and the US territories.
3. Fireworks Manufacturing
When we talk about fireworks manufacturing, Bulacan is the first place to come to mind. Bocaue, Bulacan is dubbed, “the pyrotechnics capital of the Philippines”. In general, the province houses around 500 businesses in line with pyrotechnic, with the majority located in Bocaue, Sta. Maria, Baliuag, and other surrounding towns of the province. Bulacan manufacturers and dealers expanded fast relative to other provinces due to the significant profits earned. On average, the months of May and December see the largest demand for pyrotechnics due to fiestas, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Bulacan manufacturers participated in the VIII Macau International Fireworks Display Competition, which included 11 nations and rated the Philippines fourth. It established that pyrotechnics produced in Bulacan meet the standards of worldwide experts. Local consumers choose Bulacan-made pyrotechnics above others due to its high-quality products.
4. Electronics and communications technology
Due to the development of technical schools and colleges offering degrees in computer and information, and communications technology, Bulacan has a large pool of highly trained professionals, many of whom are employed by multinational corporations in Thailand, Singapore, Japan, and the United States of America.
Domestic markets for information technology and software development abound due to the closeness to Metro Manila’s economic areas.
Bulacan offers industrial estates to developers and investors, as well as superior and inexpensive Internet and broadband telecommunications infrastructure and support services to meet the demands of any investor.
5. Marble
Bulacan is the hub of marble stone production in the Philippines, accounting for around 70% of total stone output. It has 28 processing units and 36 businesses involved in small-scale marble quarrying.
The province takes pride in having a Marble Production and Training Center equipped with contemporary, state-of-the-art polishing equipment and offering employee training programs.
It exports marble and marbleized limestone to the United States of America, Europe, and other Asian nations such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, South Korea, and Malaysia.
6. High-Value Crop
Bulacan produces a diverse range of high-value crops, including fruits, vegetables, root crops, ornamentals, and industrial crops. Some of its major crops include rice, corn, vegetables, and fruits such as mangoes. Regrettably, the majority of its farmers appear to be aware and simply wish to cultivate rice. Each year, despite their declining profits, our farmers continue to cultivate this crop. On the other hand, the few farmers who cultivate do so using old and conventional techniques.
7. Garments
Bulacan’s largest industry is garments, with over 200 registered manufacturers involved in direct export and subcontracting business.
Its primary goods are newborn and children’s clothing, knitted shirts and blouses, trousers, shorts, sporty, and swimwear. Its highly trained labor force excels at embroidery, craftsmanship, and smocking, and it employs competent workers experienced in printing and dyeing, knitting, and finishing.
8. Shoe Manufacturing
Shoe manufacturing is dispersed in different key areas in the country including Bulacan, Metro Manila, Laguna, Antipolo, and Cebu, as well as in regions administered by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), such as Cavite, Bataan, Mactan, and Subic. These regions’ footwear has its own particular features. In Pulilan, Bulacan, some of the large-scale footwear manufacturers include Chooseyourshoes Philippines, Inc. and Everest Integrated Rubber and Plastic Products Corporation.
9. Food Processing
Bulacan province accounts for a remarkable 15% of the Philippines’ total mango production. Similarly, various fruits may be found across the region.
Numerous medium-scale enterprises located across the province process and manufacture food items like fruit purees, industrial fruit juices, ice cream, and ice cream flavorings.
10. Tourism
Bulacan province is endowed with many natural resources that make it a perfect location for ecotourism development. Northeastern Bulacan’s unexplored highlands are home to caverns, subterranean rivers, and other natural treasures that are expected to draw eco-tourists.
Its rich cultural, historical, and gastronomic history, along with the natural warmth and attractiveness of its people, contribute to a tourist-friendly environment.
In Bulacan, heroes, attractive ladies, innovative cooperatives, and small to medium scale enterprises reign supreme, according to local legend. Jewelry, leather crafts, buntal hats, pyrotechnics, bone inlaid furniture, and clothing are also famous for their high-quality workmanship in this region of the world.
11. Sweets and Native Delicacies
Bulacan is a major producer of sweets and delights. Bulakeños make money from these opportunities because they knew that they could simply create them at home.
Sweets such as pastilla de leche, yema, ube, macapapuno/ube balls, minasa, inipit and ensaymada, rice cakes made from cassava and rice, puto, kalamay and suman are popular in the area.
Because of the remarkable ingredients and processes utilized to create a flavor that one will seek out again and again after tasting them, they are well-known. As a result of their distinctive taste, Bulacan sweets have become a popular “pasalubong” among friends and family.
Aside from the aforementioned industries, Bulacan is also home to a multitude of manufacturing plants in the line of cement bag making, plastic, cosmetics, car, motorcycle parts, and other industrial parts.
Top Companies in Bulacan
Bulacan is home to a large number of industrial operations and sites. An increasing amount of industrialization is taking place in the province as a result of its proximity to Metro Manila. Here are some of the top companies in Bulacan:
TaskUs
TaskUs, Inc. is a multinational firm that specializes in business process outsourcing. The Company provides back-office assistance, advising on customer experience, and business process improvement services. From digital customer experience to content security, data and artificial intelligence operations, consulting, and everything in between.
Nestlé
Another one is Nestlé, a global food and beverage production business based in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. Since 2014, it has become the world’s largest food company in terms of sales and other measures.
Metacom
Additionally, Metacom is a locally based business process outsourcing (BPO) firm created to provide consultancy services, IT-enabled support, and BPO options that are tailored to each customer’s specific needs.
Zendesk
Zendesk, Inc. is a publicly-traded business based in San Francisco, California. It offers software-as-a-service solutions for customer support, sales, and other forms of customer contact. In 2007, the firm was formed in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Manila Electric Company
Addedly, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) is the country’s largest utility, serving 4.6 million consumers throughout 29 cities (including Metro Manila) and 82 municipalities.
Bulacan, in particular, contributes significantly to the Luzon Grid’s clean energy supply. BulacanSol, a 50-megawatt solar energy project in San Miguel, Bulacan, is a joint venture between Meralco’s renewable energy subsidiary, MGen Renewable Energy, Inc. (MGreen), and PowerSource Energy Holdings Corporation.
Unilab
United Laboratories, Inc., or Unilab, is a private pharmaceutical business based in the Philippines. Unilab is the Philippines’ largest pharmaceutical business by market share. As of 2016, it has a market share of 25.1 percent in the Philippines, surpassing international multinational pharmaceutical corporations.
Vitarich Corporation
Vitarich Corporation is a business in the Animal Food Manufacturing company based in Marilao, Bulacan, Philippines. It employs 320 people across all of its sites and produces sales of $150.90 million. Vitarich Corporation consists of eleven companies.
Agrinurture, Inc.
Agrinurture, Inc. is a Grocery and Related Product Merchant Wholesalers company based in Pulilan, Bulacan, Philippines. It.employs a total of 600 people across all of its sites and generates annual revenue of $86.60 million. Agrinurture, Inc. consists of seventeen firms.
Coca-Cola FEMSA
Another famous company is Coca-Cola FEMSA, a Mexico City-based global beverage business. Its Bulacan facility is located in Malolos, Bulacan, the Philippines, and is involved in the beverage manufacturing industry. It employs over 9000 people in total across all of its sites in the country.
Crown Asia Chemicals Corporation
Crown Asia Chemicals Corporation is a plastics product manufacturing company based in Guiguinto, Bulacan, Philippines. Further, it employs 200 people in total across all of its sites and produces revenue of $21.95 million. Its corporate line consists of three companies.]
Golden Bloom Orchids of San Rafael
Golden Bloom Orchids was created in 1994 in Maguinao, San Rafael Bulacan. A prominent orchid producer in the Philippines, it is also one of Thailand’s largest importers.
Orchids of all kinds are grown at its San Rafael farm, including Strap Leaf Vanda, Dendrobium, and Velthuisian types such as Velthuis and Mokara. It also propagates Rhynchostylis and Cattleya as well as Oncidium and Spathoglottis.
Streamtech Internet: Ready to Serve the Bulakeños
One of the newest internet providers or ISPs in the country, Streamtech, allows you to enjoy fast internet service at an affordable price point. Certainly, our Plan 3499 lets you enjoy up to 150Mbps, which means it is one of the most budget-friendly plans in the market.
And aside from fast internet speeds, we at Streamtech offer cable connection through our partnership with Planet Cable. We also enable your household to enjoy the same quality of service. Our Extendifi WiFi extender is basically a wi fi repeater that enables households to enjoy fast unlimited fiber internet. This means your wi-fi signal can extend to the farthest corners of your home through Streamtech.
Subscribe now and upgrade your internet experience!
We are catering to the online needs of Bulakeños. Streamtech is present in key cities and municipalities in Bulacan particularly in Baliuag, Calumpit, Malolos, Norzagaray, Santa Maria, and San Jose Del Monte.
Truly, with the services of Streamtech, households can enjoy video calling, gaming, and other activities on the internet without lagging and worry. Meanwhile, visit our official Facebook page to get to know more about us and our services, and find out why more people are switching to the Streamtech wifi network today.
