Jalajala, Rizal

Jalajala
Municipality
Flag Seal
Map of Rizal showing the location of Jalajala
Jalajala Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 14°21′N 121°19′E / 14.35°N 121.32°E / 14.35; 121.32Coordinates: 14°21′N 121°19′E / 14.35°N 121.32°E / 14.35; 121.32
Country	Philippines
Region	Calabarzon (Region IV-A)
Province	Rizal
District	2nd District of Rizal
Established	1907
Barangays	11
Government
• Mayor	Elionor Pillas
Area
• Total	44.12 km2 (17.03 sq mi)
Population (2015 census)
• Total	32,254
• Density	730/km2 (1,900/sq mi)
Time zone	PST (UTC+8)
ZIP code	1990
IDD : area code	+63 (0)2
Income class	4th Class
Website	www.jalajala.gov.ph

Jalajala is a fourth class municipality in the province of Rizal, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 32,254 people.

What is now the town's Barangay Punta was the seat of an earlier settlement later known as Halaán. During the summer from April to May, the shores of Laguna de Bay along Punta would be filled with small shellfish locally known as halaán.

As is typical with many modern Philippine toponyms, the town's name supposedly resulted from miscommunication between early Spanish visitors and natives. The Spaniards enquired of some natives along the shoreline, "¿Como se llama este sitio?" ("What is the name of this place?") to which the latter replied, "halaán pò," thinking that the foreigners referred to the shells. The Spaniards accepted the response as the name of the place, and began calling it halaán, later corrupting it into Jalajala.

Another folk etymology is that Jalajala stems from an endemic breed of boar called berk jala, which is abundant in the wilds around the town and is depicted on its seal. As with the other story, a Spaniard asked the Tagalog-speaking natives the place's name, and the locals' interjection of "hala-hala” (possibly a hunting chant) was taken by the Spaniards to be their answer.

Jalajala is on a peninsula located 75 kilometres (47 mi) southeast of Manila in the largest freshwater lake in the Philippines, Laguna de Bay. It lies on the eastern part of the Rizal Province and has a land area of 4,930.000 hectares representing 3.77% of the total land area of the province. Jalajala’s political boundary on the north is the Panguil River, wherein it shares the boundary with the town of Pakil in Laguna. On its southern, eastern, and western boundaries lies the Laguna de Bay.

Mount Sembrano forms the boundary of Jalajala and Pililla.

Jalajala is politically subdivided into eleven barangays (three urban, eight rural).  Bayugo, Palay-Palay, and Sipsipin were elevated as barrios in 1956.