Bacoor, Cavite

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Municipality of Bacoor

Location
Map of Cavite showing the location of Bacoor.
Government
Region	CALABARZON (Region IV-A)
Province	Cavite
District	1st district of Cavite
Barangays	73
Income Class:	1st class; highly urbanized
Founded	1671
Mayor	Jessie Castillo (1998-Present, NP)
Physical characteristics
Area	52.40 km²
Population      Total (2000)      Density	305,699 5,834/km²
Coordinates	14°28'N 120°55'E

The Municipality of Bacoor (Filipino: Bayan ng Bacoor) is a first class urban municipality in the province of Cavite, Philippines. It is part of the first congressional district of Cavite. The town has an area of 52.4 square kilometers, located on the southeastern shore of Manila Bay, at the northwest portion of the province. To the east lies Las Piñas City and Muntinlupa City in Metro Manila, to the south is Dasmariñas, and to the west are Kawit and Imus. Bacoor is separated from Las Piñas by the Zapote River.

Its location, southwest of Metro Manila makes Bacoor an important gateway to Metro Manila. This is further reinforced by the fact it contains the south end of the Manila-Cavite Expressway. Bacoor is among the key areas and the fastest growing municipalities in Cavite together with Imus and Dasmariñas, mainly because of their location. Two SM malls are located in Bacoor. During weekdays many residents leave the district to go their places of work in the metropolitan areas such as Manila and Makati cities.

According to the 2000 census, Bacoor has a population of 305,699 people in 64,067 households, making it the second most populous town in Cavite after Dasmariñas and has the highest population density. Bacoor registered the highest average family income in Cavite in 1997 and 2000^{[citation needed]}. Bacoor has developed into a site of commerce. Bacoor has branches of 11 different commercial banks all over the municipality.

[edit] Economy

Trade and commerce and the service sectors are Bacoor's primary income earners. Commercial activity lies mainly along the General Emilio Aguinaldo and Tirona Highways ranging from wholesale to retail establishments, restaurants and eateries, hardware and construction supplies and other service-related industries, especially those located in SM City Bacoor where it serves as the town's main income earner. The mostly residential area of Molino is also home to SM Supercenter Molino at the corner of Molino Boulevard and Daang Hari. The entrance area from Coastal Road to Aguinaldo Highway in Talaba and the area surrounding the Zapote Public Market (now the Bacoor Public Market) are other commercial centers.

Crops, the productive area of which has lessened to only 100 hectares while fishponds which likewise decreased to almost half of the original 760 hectares. Salt production, fishing, oyster and mussel culture, which are now being threatened to near extinction because of pollution and overpopulation, are the other sources of income of the residents. These industries are also threatened by the construction of the Manila-Cavite Coastal Road Extension which will directly affect the Bacoor shoreline. Bacoor is currently experiencing a rapid shift from an agriculture based economy to a residential/commercial urban center.

[edit] Religion

Catholicism is the dominant religion in Bacoor, mainly due to the influx of immigrants from other places, most notably from Metro Manila.

The original inhabitants of Bacoor are mostly members of the Philippine Independent Church or "Aglipayan Church". The Aglipayan church has a long and colorful history in the town, its one of the first Catholic congregation in the Philippines to join the new movement and then Catholic Priest Father Fortunato Clemena became the first Aglipayan Priest and as well as the first Aglipayan Bishop of Cavite through the Aglipayan Schism period. Most of the first members were Katipuneros headed by General Mariano Noriel who is also the first president of the laymen organization. Today the Aglipayans has a magnificent Cathedral in honor of its patrons saint, St. Michael, in the center of town. The Aglipayan which they are most commonly called run the Bacoor Parish School which has both elementary and secondary levels which has been in excistence more than 3 decades.

There is a Muslim minority of both Moro and Badjao groups, around the Zapote area, where there are a few Mosques.

[edit] Barangays

Bacoor is politically subdivided into 73 barangays.

[edit] History

The house that served as the headquarters of the Philippine revolutionary government in Bacoor, Cavite in 1898.

Some accounts indicate that the town of Bacoor, also named Bakood or Bakoor (named after a species of bamboo), was founded in 1671. When the Spaniard troops arrived in "Bacoor", they met some local inhabitants in the process of building a fence around their house. The Spaniards ask the men what is the city's name, but because of the difficulties in understanding each other, the local inhabitants thought that the Spaniards were asking what they are doing. The men answered "Bakood". It was then pronounced Spanish which is "Bacoor" by the Spaniards soldiers and was soon officially called "Bacoor".

Bacoor was also the site of the Battle of Zapote Bridge in 1897 which involved Philippine and American troops. It was in this battle where Gen. Edilberto Evangelista was killed.

In the aftermath of the Philippine Revolution which coincided with the declaration of the first Philippine independence on June 12th, 1898, Bacoor was designated as the first capital of the Philippine Revolutionary government by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo until it was transferred to Malolos, Bulacan. "Gargano" was then the revolutionary name assigned to Bacoor by Aguinaldo's henchmen.

[edit] Current Issues

[edit] Cityhood push

The local government, led by its mayor, Jessie Castillo (who has served as the town mayor since 1998) is aggressively pushing for the conversion of Bacoor from a municipality into an independent component city (which means it would no longer vote for provincial officials, would no longer depend on the province for budget, and may have a separate congressional district) despite stiff opposition by people's organizations, subdivision homeowners' associations, and even the people themselves. Even Cavite's first district Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya, to whom Bacoor falls under his jurisdiction, at first refused to sponsor the cityhood bill in the House of Representatives, saying that the town is not yet ready for more complicated problems that would arise from cityhood.

As a general rule, a bill towards the cityhood of a municipality must emanate from the House of Representatives where the concerned district representative -- in Bacoor's case, Abaya -- should sponsor the said bill. However, the particular bill for Bacoor that Castillo is actively pushing has Party-List Reps. Rene Velarde and Hans Christian Señeres as principal sponsors.

Statistics also indicate that Bacoor is ranked fourth from among the municipalities in the Philippines in terms of liabilities in millions of pesos in 2004, with PhP147 million. It is tied with San Pedro, Laguna as first from among the towns in Region IV with such. ^[1]

Castillo vowed to push for cityhood of Bacoor at all costs, but the campaign hit a snag as Abaya and the provincial government under Gov. Ayong Maliksi filed a dissenting opinion before the House Local Government committee regarding the cityhood issue, which would mean further delay of its enactment since the current House session ends after 2006. ^[2]

It was also discovered that on August 2006, Abaya also filed his version of the cityhood bill with the other two Cavite congressmen -- Reps. Gilbert and Jesus Crispin Remulla -- as secondary sponsors; however, this is entirely different from the one Velarde has filed (and the one Castillo is actively supporting) as it calls for the creation of the City of Bacoor as a component city of the province.

[edit] References

1. ^ Bizman hits neglect of Mabalacat. Sun. Star Pampanga. Retrieved on 2006-08-12.
2. ^ Bacoor cityhood bill opposed. Manila Bulletin. Retrieved on 2006-09-28.

[edit] External links

• Municipality of Bacoor, Cavite
• Bacoor Information (as retreieved from Cavite.info)
• Official Website of the Provincial Government of Cavite
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• 2000 Philippine Census Information
• No To Bacoor Cityhood -- citizen's blog site