Bago, Negros Occidental

Bago City, Negros Occidental Dakbanwa sang Bagó Lungsod ng Bagó
—  City  —
City of Bago
Seal
Nickname(s): Home of historical and natural treasures
Map of Negros Occidental showing the location of Bago City.
Bago City, Negros Occidental Location in the Philippines
Coordinates: 10°32′N 122°50′E / 10.533°N 122.833°E / 10.533; 122.833Coordinates: 10°32′N 122°50′E / 10.533°N 122.833°E / 10.533; 122.833
Country	Philippines
Region	Western Visayas (Region VI)
Province	Negros Occidental
District	4th District of Negros Occidental
Founded	January 5, 1788
Cityhood	August 24, 1998
Barangays	24
Government
• Mayor
Population (2010)
• Total	163,045
Time zone	PHT (UTC+8)
ZIP Code	6101
Area code	34
Income class	2nd class city

Bago City is a 2nd class city in the province of Negros Occidental in the Philippines. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 163,045 people. The city is located 21 kilometers south of the provincial capital, Bacolod City.

Ramón D. Torres was elected as Mayor of Bago City in 2007, replacing Janet E. Torres, whose husband served as mayor for almost 40 years.^{[citation needed]} The coliseum located in the heart of the city is named after him.

Bago City operates a subsidized college, Bago City College, located in Barangay Balingasag. Most of its students come from the southern part of the island.

Buenos Aires Mountain Resort is one of the main tourist destinations in Bago City and so are the Kipot Twin Falls.

The city fiesta is celebrated November 5 in commemoration of the Negros Revolution.

History

On September 6, 1571 when the Spanish adelantado, Miguel López de Legaspi, allotted the community to a Spaniard named Juan Gutiérrez, as his “encomienda”. At that time the community was still composed of small cluster of settlements along the banks of a big river, which later became known as the Bago River. The “economiendero” administered to the spiritual and socio-economic needs of the natives in the settlements until June 1578. However, in 1578, this community was placed under the evangelical visitations of Father Gerónimo Marin, an Augustinian priest who had taken charge of the Christianization of the natives of Binalbagan since the year 1572. Father Marin, upon his arrival in the community, celebrated the feast of St. John the Baptist, who would later be accepted as the patron saint. Following the traditions and practices of the Spanish missionaries and historians in recording the founding of a “pueblo” or town that usually coincides with the feast day of a saint and since the feast day of St. John the Baptist, falls on June 24 of each year, it follows therefore that Bago was founded so that the exact month and day can only be deduced from such traditional practices of the Spaniards. Manila, Cebu City and Binalbagan also predicated the dates of their founding on the same historical situations, hence the logical conclusion is that Bago City was officially founded on the month, day and year heretofore mentioned.

As with regards to how the community acquired its name, according to the manuscript of a Spanish historian, Diego Lope de Povedano, which is available in the library of the University of San Carlos, Cebu City, the community was named after a large tree called “Bago” under which, a native prince by the name of Mapagic died.

Another historical version is that the place got its name from a shrub called “bago-bago” which was then growing luxuriantly along the rivers banks.

From the year 1575 up to the close of the 16th century, no historical account was written about the community. Bago came into the historical scene again when, at the early part of the 17th century, when a group of settlers from Panay crossed the Guimaras Strait and migrated to Negros, some of whom settled along the banks of Bago River. The arrival of these settlers spurred the rapid growth of the settlements in the area until all were merged into a sizable village capable of self-governance. In later years, the descendants of these settlers petitioned the Spanish authorities to declare their village a “pueblo” or town and to name it “Bago”. Among the petitioners were Manuel Sitchon, Gregorio Varela, Paulino Torres, Jacinto Araneta, Clemente Celis, Mariano Gonzaga and Fernando Villanueva, whose forebears hailed from the town of Molo, Iloilo. The petition was finally granted by the status of a “pueblo” or town in that same year.

Between the years 1800 and 1898, the inhabitants of Bago were among those who suffered tremendously under the Spanish tyranny, injustice and oppression. This social condition finally led to a revolt on November 5, 1898 when General Juan Araneta railed his people in the struggle for freedom. This historic event was chronicled in a historic marker found in the City public plaza of Bago which bears the following inscriptions:

Together with General Aniceto Lacson who led the forces in Talisay, he was able to force the capitulation of the Spanish garrison at Bacolod thus putting an end to the Spanish sovereignty in the province. Forthwith, a revolutionary government was established with General Juan A. Araneta as the Acting Governor. In the then Municipality of Bago, an election was held and Ramón del Castillo became the first elected municipal president who served in such capacity from the year 1898 up to the year 1900.

In April 1901, the Americans came and established a civil government in the province of Negros Occidental which completely abolished the revolutionary government of General Araneta. Bago was one of the towns that were placed under the control of the Americans; however, they allowed the municipality to be governed by Filipino officials.

When the Japanese Forces invaded the Philippines, the civil government of Bago was dissolve. The Japanese occupation forces tried to establish a provisional government but the local people refused to cooperate. When the American forces liberated the town on March 29, 1945 together with the Filipino troops of the 7th, 71st, 72nd, 75th and 76th Infantry Division of the Philippine Commonwealth Army, 7th Infantry Regiment of the Philippine Constabulary and local Negrosanon guerrilla units continued in Bago, it was completely destroyed but rehabilitation work was immediately started and the town underwent development efforts .

Bago City was finally granted its cityhood on February 19, 1966 by virtue of Republic Act No. 4382 written by Senator Ramón Torres a Bago native with his nephew Hon. Manuel Y. Torres as the hold-over City Mayor until 1998.

Legal limitations on the number of successive terms disqualified Mayor Manuel Y. Torres in running again and in the 1998 local elections, his wife Mayor Janet E. Torres run as candidate for Mayor and won. The current Mayor is Ramón Torres, a nephew of Manuel Y. Torres.

Barangays

Bago City is politically subdivided into 24 barangays.

List of Presidente Municipals (forebears of Mayors)

• Hon. Eustracio Torres 1901-1903 (elected)
• Hon. Sofronio Yulo 1904-1906 (elected)
• Hon. Mariano Villanueva 1906-1907 (appointed)
• Hon. Rufino Advincula 1907-1908 (elected)
• Hon. Mariano Villanueva 1908-1909 (appointed)
• Hon. Carlos Dreyfus 1910-1912 (elected)
• Hon. Mariano Araneta 1912-1918 (elected)
• Hon. Angel Salas 1919-1921 (elected)
• Hon. Aguedo Gonzaga, Sr 1922-1929 (elected)
• Hon. Hilario D. Yulo 1930-1932 (elected)
• Hon. Aguedo Gonzaga, Sr. 1933-1935 (elected)
• Hon. Luis Matti 1936-1941 (elected)

List of Mayors

• Hon. Basilio Lopez 1945-1946 (appointed)
• Hon. Humberto V. Javellana 1946 (appointed)
• Hon. Carlos Dreyfus 1947 (appointed)
• Hon. Jose T. Yulo 1947 (appointed)
• Hon. Luis Matti 1948-1951 (elected)
• Hon. Carlos Dreyfus 1951-1955 (elected)
• Hon.Teodoro A. Araneta 1956-1959 (elected)
• Hon. Manuel Y. Torres 1959-1986 (elected)
• Hon. Enrique J. Araneta 1986-1987 (appointed OIC Mayor)
• Hon. Roberto Matti December 1, 1987 -January 31, 1988(appointed OIC Mayor)
• Hon. Rosemary Caunca February 1, 1988 (appointed OIC Mayor)
• Hon. Manuel Y. Torres February 2, 1988-1998 (elected)
• Hon. Janet E. Torres 1998-2007 (elected)
• Hon. Ramon D. Torres 2007–present

Notable natives or residents

• Dizon family - founder of Brgy Tabunan
• Araneta family - prominent Filipino clan who consider Bago as their primary hub.
• Juan Araneta - revolutionary
• J Amado Araneta - business tycoon
• Manolet Araneta - Member, 1948 London Olympics, Basketball
• Garbanzos Family - one of the prominent Filipino families runs the sugar industry in Negros.
• Jorge L. Araneta- Pre-war Industrialist
• Judy Araneta-Roxas - socialite, wife of Senator Gerardo Roxas, mother to Senator Mar Roxas
• Roberto S. Benedicto - business tycoon, Philippine Ambassador to Japan, former President Philippine National Bank
• Esteban de la Rama - Senator, grandfather of Philippine Senator Sergio Osmeña III
• Rafael M. Salas - United Nations Under-Secretary General, Executive Director UNFPA
• Ruperto Montinola - Senator
• Eduard Sacapaño - Goalkeeper, Philippines national football team
• Ramón Torres - Senator, Labor Secretary
• Jesus Varela - Roman Catholic Bishop
• Richard N Varela - Salesian Priest, former Acting President, Philippine Education Publishing Association
• Vicente Varela[1] -Provincial Judge, one of the first 104 filipino pensionados ( scholars sent by the American Colonial Philippine Government to study in the United States)
• Jorge B. Vargas - Wartime Head of the Philippine Government, Executive Secretary to Manuel Quezon
• Mansueto Velasco, Jr. - Olympic Silver Medalist
• Roel Velasco - Olympic Bronze Medalist
• Arsenio Yulo- Chairman of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (Philippines)
• José Yulo - Speaker of the House, Wartime Chief Justice

Sources

• Alfredo Saulo. (1991). "IV Bago: Birthplace of the Negros Republic". Jorge vargas Autobiography. University of the Philippine Press.. 

• Violeta Lopez-Gonzaga. (1994). Land of Hope, Land of Want : A socio-economic history of Negros. Philippine National Historical Society.. 

External links

• Bago City Official Website
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• www.otopphilippines.gov.ph
• 2007 Philippine Census Information Region VI - Western Visayas
• Local Governance Performance Management System

v t e Cities of Metro Bacolod Bacolod • Talisay • Silay

v t e Cities of the Philippines Highly-urbanized Cities Angeles Bacolod Baguio Butuan Cagayan de Oro Caloocan Cebu Davao General Santos Iligan Iloilo Lapu-Lapu Las Piñas Lucena Makati Malabon Mandaluyong Mandaue Manila Marikina Muntinlupa Naga, Camarines Sur Navotas Olongapo Parañaque Pasay Pasig Puerto Princesa Quezon City San Juan Tacloban Taguig Valenzuela Zamboanga Independent Component Cities Cotabato Dagupan Ormoc Santiago Component Cities Alaminos Antipolo Bago Bais Balanga Batangas Batac Bayawan Baybay Bayugan Biñan Bislig Bogo Borongan Cabadbaran Cabanatuan Cadiz Calamba Calapan Calbayog Candon Canlaon Carcar Catbalogan Cauayan Cavite Danao Dapitan Dasmariñas Digos Dipolog Dumaguete El Salvador Escalante Gapan Gingoog Guihulngan Himamaylan Ilagan Iriga Isabela Kabankalan Kidapawan Koronadal La Carlota Lamitan Laoag Legazpi Lipa Maasin Malaybalay Malolos Marawi Masbate Mati Meycauayan Muñoz Naga, Cebu Oroquieta Ozamiz Pagadian Palayan Panabo Passi Roxas Sagay Samal San Carlos, Negros Occidental San Carlos, Pangasinan San Fernando, La Union San Fernando, Pampanga San Jose San Jose del Monte San Pablo Santa Rosa Silay Sipalay Sorsogon Surigao Tabuk Tacurong Tagaytay Tagbilaran Tagum Talisay, Cebu Talisay, Negros Occidental Tanauan Tandag Tangub Tanjay Tarlac Tayabas Toledo Trece Martires Tuguegarao Urdaneta Valencia Victorias Vigan