Magalang

Magalang, officially the Municipality of Magalang (Kapampangan: Balen ning Magalang; Tagalog: Bayan ng Magalang), is a municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 133,883 people. Magalang was mentioned as a visita of the nearby town of Arayat on December 29, 1598. On April 30, 1605, it was separated by the Augustinians from Arayat and attained township status due to the bajo de la campana system. The Augustinians appointed Fr. Gonzalo de Salazar, OSA as the first pastor. Magalang was initially called Magalo, derived from the Kapampangan word "Galo", which means wavy and moving, describing the dangerous flow of the Parua River. Magalang was where Juan Severino Mallari, the first recorded Filipino serial killer who killed at least 57 people, served as the town's parish priest from 1816 to 1826 and committed his murders. The town proper was located in Macapsa, but due to the natural calamities and revolts led by Andres Malong and his subordinate Melchor de Vera against the Spanish in 1660, it was nearly abandoned. It was moved to San Bartolome in 1734 until it was swept by the flood due to the overflow of the Parua River in 1863.