La Huerta, Parañaque

Old façade of the Parañaque Cathedral

The village was named for the presence of an orchard in the area during the Spanish colonial period.[2] The first known European to discover the area of La Huerta was a Catholic missionary, Fray Juan de Orto of the Order of Saint Augustine, who arrived in 1575. Five years later, La Huerta was established as the center of the Augustinian missionary town of Parañaque. It was also in 1580 when the mission convent of San Andrés el Apostól (later rebuilt as the Saint Andrew Cathedral) was completed under the leadership of Fray Diego de Espinar as its first superior.[3] Out of this settlement grew the visitas and towns of Don Galo, Tambo, San Dionisio and Las Piñas in southern Manila Province which was then transferred to the supervision of the Order of Augustinian Recollects.[3]

In 1776, the Recollects built the chapel of San Nicolas de Tolentino east of the Augustinian convent by the Parañaque River. This stone chapel was used as a barracks for Spanish soldiers during the Philippine Revolution.[4]

From being the second biggest barrio in Parañaque next only to San Dionisio in the early 20th century, La Huerta is now the second smallest barangay in the city at 0.5372 square kilometers (0.2074 sq mi) after several villages were created out of its old territory in the 1970s, including Don Bosco, Marcelo Green, Sun Valley and Merville.[5][6][7][8]

In 1985, the Manila–Cavite Expressway was opened on a reclaimed area in the foreshore of La Huerta.[9] The village also expanded with the creation of Freedom Island by the Philippine Reclamation Authority in the 1970s and 1980s as part of the South Reclamation Project under Boulevard 2000.[10]

St. Andrew's School in La Huerta

La Huerta is home to the oldest school in Parañaque, St. Andrew's School established in 1917.[11]

The following educational institutions are also located within the village:

• La Huerta Elementary School
• La Huerta National High School
• St. Paul College of Parañaque

La Huerta is known for its colorful fiestas such as the biannual Sunduan festival where local bachelors in their barong Tagalog fetch their dates from their homes dressed in traje de mestiza and carrying a parasol, and parade them around town to the San Nicolas chapel at the town plaza. This festival is held in honor of the village's patron, Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, and dates back to 1876.[12] The village also hosts the Caracol festival where men carry cascos or floats with effigies of saints held biannually in September since 1912.[13]

Elpidio Quirino Avenue, La Huerta's main street

Being the old town proper of Parañaque where the municipal hall once stood, several major thorougfares are routed through La Huerta.[14] They include Elpidio Quirino Avenue (formerly Calle Real), the former main street that runs north-south across the old district in the area of the Parañaque Cathedral, and Ninoy Aquino Avenue which gives access to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The Manila–Cavite Expressway travels along the western edge of the old center, and an extension of C-5 Road also runs along its eastern sector. The C-5 South Link Expressway will parallel the existing C-5 network and will also cut through the village's eastern sector once completed.

The planned Manila Light Rail Transit System Line 1 extension to Cavite includes the construction of a station on Ninoy Aquino Avenue in La Huerta.

• Florencio Bernabe Jr., Mayor of Parañaque (2004-2013)[15]
• Florencio Bernabe Sr., Mayor of Parañaque (1965-1986)[15]
• Manuel Bernabé, Spanish language writer and Rizal 1st District Representative (1928-1931)[16]
• Patricio Bernabé, Municipal President of Parañaque (1902-1903)
• Timoteo Bernabé, Municipal President of Parañaque (1898-1899)
• Francisco Mendoza de Leon, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Antipolo (2016-present)[17]