Victoria, Laguna

Victoria, officially the Municipality of Victoria, is a 4th class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 43,408 people.

It is southeast of Laguna de Bay, 76 km south of Manila and 11 km from Santa Cruz. It is bordered by the Municipality of Calauan to the south-west, Nagcarlan to the southeast and Pila to the north-east. The municipality has a total land area of 22.83 sqkm which is 1.30% of the total land area of the province of Laguna.

Duck Raising Capital of the Philippines, or Victoria, is a municipality offering some of the most bizarre yet delicious dishes including goats’ and ducks’ meat. The town is bordered by Calauan, Nagcarlan, and Pila. Following the town's nickname, the Itik Festival is celebrated, along with the town's founding anniversary, to give honor and to know more about the products that come from itik (duck).

Etymology
The name of Victoria means "victory" in Spanish. It got its name from Victoria Quirino, the daughter of former President Elpidio Quirino under whose presidency the municipality was established. The younger Quirino also served as the First Lady as her father was a widower.

History
Prominent citizens and civic leaders found new hope to make Nanhaya, then a barrio part of Pila, a town, when the Americans granted the Philippines Independence in 1946. They revived the move to separate from Pila. During this time, citizens proposed to name the town Trinidad, after the young republic's First Lady, the wife of then-President Manuel Roxas. Strong oppositions shelved the proposal once more.

After Roxas's death, Elpidio Quirino took over the presidency. Nanhaya's residents remained undaunted. They tried once more, intensifying the campaign. Most prominent and wealthiest family of the town is the Fernandez clans, Judge Jose Fernandez, then Mayor Alejandro Fernandez, Atty. Ramon H. Fernandez Sr., Andres Franco, Dr. Agrifino Oca, Gregorio Herradura, and Leonardo Rebong stood for the proposal. On November 15, 1949, President Elpidio Quirino signed into effect Executive Order No. 282, segregating barrios Nanhaya, Bancabanca, Daniw, Masapang, San Benito, San Felix, San Francisco, and San Roque from Pila and formed a new independent municipality.

After Pateros became highly urbanized and densely populated, Victoria became a destination of balut traders and became the "Duck Raising Center of the Philippines". The town was featured as the detour challenge of Leg 11 of the 5th Season of The Amazing Race. Victoria celebrates the Itik Festival every second week of November.

The municipal seat of Pila was once located in Barangay Pagalangan, now one of Victoria's barangays. The remains of Pila's original parish church can still be found in Pagalangan, which in the past made that community a target of treasure hunters seeking antiques. Pagalangan ceased to be Pila's capital when the town center was relocated due to frequent flooding.

Barangays
Victoria is politically subdivided into 9 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Currently, there are two barangays which are classified as urban (highlighted in bold).
 * Banca-banca
 * Daniw
 * Masapang
 * Nanhaya (Poblacion)
 * Pagalangan
 * San Benito
 * San Felix
 * San Francisco
 * San Roque (Poblacion)

Demographics
In the 2020 census, the population of Victoria, Laguna, was 43,408 people, with a density of undefined PD/km2.