Ternate, Cavite

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**Municipality of Ternate**
Location
Map of Cavite showing the location of Ternate.
Government
Region	CALABARZON (Region IV-A)
Province	Cavite
District	3rd district of Cavite
Barangays	10
Income Class:	4th class
Mayor	{{{mayor}}}
Physical characteristics
Area	54.7 km²
Population Total (2000) Density	17,179 314/km²

The Municipality of Ternate (Filipino: Bayan ng Ternate) is a fourth class municipality in the province of Cavite, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 17,179 people in 3,541 households.

[edit] Barangays

Ternate is politically subdivided into 10 barangays (3 urban and 7 rural).

Poblacion I (Barangay I)
Poblacion II (Barangay II)
Bucana
Poblacion III (Barangay III)
San Jose
San Juan I
Sapang I
Poblacion I A
San Juan II
Sapang II

[edit] History

The Merdicas/Mardicas were a tribe of Malays of Ternate in the Moluccas which was a small Spanish colony. Before this it was a Portuguese colony. Mardicas, meant "People of the Sea". There were originally seven families, whose family names were Nino Franco, De Leon, Ramos, De la Cruz, Esteubar, Pereira, and Nigoza. In 1574, the merdicas volunteered to come to Cavite to support the Spanish against the threat of invasion of the Chinese pirate, Limahong. The invasion did not occur but the community of Merdicas settled in a place, which at first was named "Gilolo" after a tree similar to theirs in the Moluccas. Then it was changed to "Barra de Maragondon" at a sandbar at the mouth of the Maragondon River. Today, the place is called Ternate and the community of Merdicas continued to use "broken Spanish" which evolved into the full-fedged Philippine Spanish creole called Ternateño or Ternateño Chavacano.

In 1663, some Merdicas were ordered by the Governor General to establish themselves in Bagumbayan (now Ermita) and protect Manila. About 200 of them fought against Moro pirates.