Bacolod city

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Bacolod  is a highly urbanized city in the Philippines.  It is the capital of the province of Negros Occidental where it is geographically situated but governed administratively independent from it. Having a total of 511,820 inhabitants as of 2010 census, it is the most populous city in the Negros Island Region and the second most populous city in the Visayas after Cebu City. It is part of the Bacolod Metropolitan Area, which also includes the cities of Silay and Talisay. It is notable for its MassKara Festival held during the third week of October. Known for being a relatively friendly city, it bears the nickname "City of Smiles". In 2008, Bacolod topped a survey by MoneySense Magazine as the "Best Place to Live in the Philippines". The city has also been declared by the Department of Science and Technology as a "center of excellence" for information technology and business process management operations.

Spanish Colonial period

Historical church accounts provide a glimpse of the early years of Bacolod as a mere small settlement by the riverbank known as Magsung̃ay (English: Magsungay). When the neighboring settlement of Bago was elevated into the status of a small town in 1575,  it had several religious dependencies and one of which was the village of Magsung̃ay. The early missionaries placed the village under the care and protection of San Sebastián (English: Saint Sebastian) sometime in the middle of the 18th century. A corregidor (English: magistrate) by the name of Luis Fernando de Luna, donated a relic of San Sebastián for the growing mission, and since then, the village came to be known as San Sebastián de Magsung̃ay.

Bacolod was not established as a town until 1755 or 1756, after the inhabitants of the coastal settlement of San Sebastián de Magsung̃ay, were attacked by forces under Datu Bantílan of Sulu on July 14, 1755 and the villagers transferred from the coast to a hilly area called Bacólod. Bernardino de los Santos became the first gobernadorcillo (English: municipal judge or governor). The town of Bacolod was constituted as a parroquia (English: parish) in 1788 under the secular clergy, but did not have a resident priest until 1802, as the town was served by the priest from Bago, and later Binalbagan. By 1790, slave raids on Bacolod by Moro pirates had ceased.

On 11 February 1802, Fr. Eusebio Laurencio became acting parish priest of Bacolod. In September 1806, Fr. León Pedro was appointed interim parish priest and the following year became the first regular parish priest.

In September 1817, Fray (English: Friar) Julián Gonzaga from Barcelona was appointed as the parish priest. He encouraged the people to settle once again near the sea. He also encouraged migration to Bacolod and the opening of lands to agriculture and industry.

In 1846, upon the request of Msgr. Romualdo Jimeno, bishop of Cebu and Negros at that time, Gobernador General (English: Governor-General) Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa sent to Negros a team of Recollect missionaries headed by Fr. Fernando Cuenca.  A decree of 20 June 1848 by Gobernador General Clavería ordered the restructuring of Negros politically and religiously. The following year (1849), Negros Island Gobernadorcillo Manuel Valdevieso y Morquecho transferred the capital of the Province of Negros from Himamaylan to Bacolod and the Augustinian Recollects were asked to assume spiritual administration of Negros, which they did that same year. Transfer of Bacolod to the Recollects, however, took place only in 1871. Fray Mauricio Ferrero became the first Augustinian Recollect parish priest of Bacolod and successor to the secular priest, Fr. Mariano Ávila.  In 1863, a compulsory primary public school system was set up.

In 1889, Bacolod became the capital of Occidental Negros when the Province of Negros was politically divided into the separate provinces of Occidental Negros (Spanish: Negros Occidental) and Oriental Negros (Spanish: Negros Oriental).

Negros Revolution

The success of the uprising in Bacolod was attributed to the low morale of the local Spanish detachment, due to its defeat in Panay and Luzon and to the psychological warfare waged by Generals Aniceto Lacson and Juan Araneta. In 1897, a battle in Bacolod was fought at Matab-ang River. A year later, on November 5, 1898, the Negrense Revolucionarios (English: Negrense Revolutionary Army), armed with knives, bolos, spears, and rifle-like nipa palm stems, and pieces of sawali or amakan mounted on carts, captured the convento (English: convent), presently Palacio Episcopal (English: Bishop's Palace), where Coronel (English: Colonel) Isidro de Castro y Cisneros, well-armed cazadores (English: hunters) and platoons of Guardias Civiles (English: Civil Guards), surrendered.

Cantonal Republic of Negros

On 7 November 1898, most of the revolutionary army gathered together to establish a provisional junta and to confirm the elections of Aniceto Lacson as president, Juan Araneta as war-delegate, as well as the other officials. For a brief moment, the provinces of Occidental Negros and Oriental Negros were reunited under the cantonal government of the Negrense Revolucionarios, from 6 November 1898 to the end of February 1899, making Bacolod the capital. In March 1899, the American forces led by Colonel James G. Smith occupied Bacolod, the revolutionary capital of República Cantonal de Negros (English: Cantonal Republic of Negros).

Geography 

Bacolod City is located on the northwestern coast of the Province of Negros Occidental. It is bounded on the north by the City of Talisay; on the east by the town of Murcia; on the south by the City of Bago; and in the west by the Guimaras Strait. The global location of Bacolod City is 10 degrees, 40 minutes 40 seconds - north and 122 degrees 54 minutes 25 seconds - east with Bacolod Public Plaza as the benchmark.

Bacolod has a total land area of 16,145 hectares, including straits and bodies of water and the 124 hectare reclamation area; and is composed of 61 barangay (villages) and 639 purok (smaller units composing a village). It is accessible by sea through the ports of Banago; the BREDCO Port in the Reclamation Area, and the port of Pulupandan. By air, it is accessible through the New Bacolod-Silay International Airport, which is approximately 13 (four is counting from the Lagoon) kilometers away from the center of the city.

Bacolod is ideally located on a level area, slightly sloping as it extends toward the sea with an average slope of 0.9 percent for the city proper and between 3 to 5 percent for the suburbs.[citation needed] The altitude is 32.8 feet or 10.0 meters above sea level with the Bacolod City Public Plaza as the benchmark. Bacolod has two pronounced seasons, wet and dry. The rainy season starts from May to January of the following year with heavy rains occurring during the months of August and September. Dry season starts from the month of February until the last week of April.

Antipolo city

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Antipolo

 Antipolo  is a city in the in the province of Rizal, Philippines located about 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of Manila. It is the largest city in the Calabarzon region, and the seventh most populous city in the country with a population of 677,741 in 2010. 

Antipolo was converted from a municipality into a component city of Rizal Province on April 4, 1998, under Republic Act No. 8508. A new provincial capitol building was inaugurated in the city in March 2009 to replace the old capitol in Pasig which has long been outside the jurisdiction of Rizal Province; after Pasig was included in Metro Manila in 1975. With the transfer of the provincial government to Antipolo, it is highly favored to be officially designated as the new capital of the province. On March 14, 2011, Antipolo was declared a "highly-urbanized city" by President Benigno Aquino; such proclamation however still needs to be ratified in a plebiscite.

The city is popular for being a pilgrimage site. It prides itself as the "Pilgrimage Capital of the Philippines."  The Marian image of the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage or the Virgin of Antipolo, which was brought in from Mexico in 1626, and enshrined in the Antipolo Cathedral has a continuous following among Filipino Catholics since the Spanish era.  A popular custom of pilgrims to the Virgin of Antipolo is the trek going to its shrine on the eves of Good Friday and May 1, from various locations in Rizal Province and Metro Manila. Some pilgrims would begin the trek from Quiapo Church in Downtown Manila following the procession of the image. There is also an existing custom to have new cars blessed at the church in the belief that this will ensure the safety of the car and its passengers.

Its higher elevation than that of Metro Manila affords it a scenic view of the metropolis, especially at night. Its locally grown mangoes and cashews are popular among tourists, as well as suman – a local delicacy made out of glutinous rice. The Hinulugang Taktak National Park, which was once a popular summer get-away is being restored to become again one of the city's primary attractions.

History

The city was named after the Tipolo (breadfruit) tree (Artocarpus incisa) which was in abundance in the area.

Franciscan missionaries arrived in Antipolo in 1578 and built a church in Boso-Boso. They were soon replaced in 1591 by the Jesuits who organized the village into a parish. By 1601, the Christian population of Antipolo had grown to about 3,000 as the indigenous Dumagat population dwindled and moved deeper into the interiors.

The Chinese revolt of 1602 reached Antipolo which resulted to the razing of the church to the ground.

On March 25, 1626, the image now known as the Virgin of Antipolo was brought from Acapulco, New Spain (now Mexico) by Governor-General Juan Niño de Tabora who relinquished the image to the Jesuits for Antipolo's church.

In 1650, the village was organized into a town and became part of Tondo Province. When the province was divided in 1853, Antipolo became a part of the District of San Mateo de los Montes, which later became the District of Morong.

The Recollects took over Antipolo in 1864. It was during these years that the Virgin of Antipolo gained a following of devotees. Devotees from Manila and nearby towns and provinces flock to Antipolo on foot or on hammocks trekking along mountain trails and springs.

During the First Republic, the town served as the capital of Morong until it was occupied by the Americans on June 4, 1899; the Revolutionary Government then transferred Morong's capital to Tanay. Soon after, the Americans established a civil government in 1901, Valentin Sumulong became the first municipal president. On June 11, 1901, Antipolo was incorporated into the newly established Province of Rizal, which included towns of Morong District and Manila Province. In 1903, Antipolo, Boso-Boso and Teresa were merged. The town's territory was expanded again in 1913 to add the sitios of Mayamot and Bulao; just to lose Teresa six years later to become an indepedent municipality. The Manila Railroad Company inaugurated a railway service to Antipolo on December 24, 1908.

During the Second World War two guerrilla units operated in the town against the Japanese. The town's population

They were the Hunters ROTC under Miguel Ver and Terry Adevoso and the Marking Filipino & American Troops which was established and led by Marcos Villa Agustin more popularly known under the name Brig. Gen. Agustin Marking. Many inhabitants were tortured and killed by the Japanese, including Mayor Pascual Oliveros and his son Reynaldo, Padre Eusebio Carreon, Padre Ariston Ocampo, Sis. Ma. Elizabeth Cagulanas, RVM, Sis. Ma. Consuelo Recio, RVM; Ambrosio Masangkay, Alfonso Oliveros and Atty. Francisco C. Gedang Sr.

The liberation of Antipolo from the Japanese forces was bloody and devastating. On February 17, 1945 Antipolo was heavily bombarded by American planes. Antipolo residents evacuated to Sitio Kulaike and up to the towns of Angono, Santolan, and Marikina. To protect the image from being destroyed, Procopio Angeles, then the sacristan mayor, and members of the community brought with them the Virgin of Antipolo. The bombings on March 6-7, 1945 destroyed the church and after twelve days of battle the American, Filipino soldiers and local guerrillas liberated the town on March 12, 1945. After the war a temporary church was built and the Virgin of Antipolo was returned from the Quiapo Church on October 15, 1945.

Post - independence

Devotees started to flock to the town and on May 6, 1947, the first procession of the Virgin of Antipolo was held starting at the hills of Pinagmisahan.

In 1948 a national committee was formed to undertake a nationwide fund raising campaign to build the Cathedral of Antipolo.

On June 15, 1952, Hinulugang Taktak was proclaimed a National Park by Pres. Elpidio Quirino and on January 14, 1954, the Bishops of the Philippines proclaimed the Cathedral of Antipolo as the official shrine of the Virgin of Antipolo.

In 1960s, the town proper or poblacion was widened and the Sumulong Highway was constructed. In the 1970s the Marikina-Infanta Road better known as the Marcos Highway was constructed traversing the mountains of Antipolo.

MAP OF CAMOTES ISLANDS

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MAP OF CAMOTES ISLANDS

Camotes Islands comprises three major islands and one minor islet, divided between four municipalities. On Poro Island are the municipalities of Poro and Tudela. Pacijan Island's sole municipality is San Francisco. Ponson Island's sole municipality is Pilar. Tulang Island is an islet and part of San Francisco. The main islands of Pacijan and Poro are connected by a 1.5-kilometre-long (0.93-mile) causeway. Ponson lies about four kilometres (2.5 mi) northeast of Poro, across the Kawit Strait. Tulang is located a short distance north of Pacijan. The Camotes are low-lying with several hills, some used for telecommunications relay stations. The highest point is Altavista, 388 metres (1,273 ft) above sea level, on Poro. Pacijan has a large lake, Lake Danao, one of the cleanest fresh-water lakes in the country.

Camotes came from a misunderstanding with the Spanish and the local natives. The Spanish asked what was the name of the islands but the natives thought they were asking what they were digging for (sweet potatoes – Camotes) so they replied Camotes!