Poblacion

Poblacion (literally translated in Spanish, meaning "population")[1] is practiced in the Philippines as a term to describe the central area of a settlement.

Poblacion is the common term used for the administrative location, downtown, old town or mercantile area of a Philippine city or municipality, which may take up the area of a single barangay or multiple barangays.

The authorities often adopted a policy of Reducción, for the resettlement of inhabitants in far-flung scattered barangays to move into a centralized cabecera (town/district capital) where a newly built church and an ayuntamiento (town hall) were situated.

In this way their products could be sold faster by a wide range of buyers, though there are instances where some citizens would choose to go to another town's población because it is closer to their residences.

The cabecera (or the población of a municipio/pueblo) has a basic plan, with a plaza mayor, church and attached convento, civic buildings such as the town hall, and houses of prominent Spaniards.