San Mateo Balatong Festival.docx

San Mateo (pronounced locally as /sænˈmäCHō/ not /sæn mə-tay-oh/ , Spanish for St. Matthew), officially the Municipality of San Mateo, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Isabela, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 64,505 people.[3] San Mateo is one of the cleanest town in the region. The administrators encourage the people of the municipality to use paper bags instead of plastic bags in line with its claim as an "AgroEcological Town".[5] According to the 2016 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index conducted by the National Competitiveness Council, San Mateo took the 86th spot overall and ranked 99 among the first class and second class municipalities in the Philippines. First named as "Marasat", it was a former barangay of Cauayan, then Santiago. It was called the Municipality of Yoshisawa under the government of the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second World War. After the liberation, it was finally created and named San Mateo by virtue of Presidential Executive Order No. 97 on March 17, 1946 by then President Sergio Osmeña. It was proclaimed as the Agro-Ecological Destination in Cagayan Valley by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 1685 dated December 1, 2008. BALATONG FESTIVAL- In San Mateo, mungo beans are not just a rich source of protein. It is also so packed with economic potential that it is referred to as “black gold”. For a town bent on maximizing the development potentials of its resources, the Balatong Festival draws attention to yet another product.