| Toledo City Dakbayan sa Toledo |
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| — City — | |
| Tañon Strait viewed from Toledo City Boulevard | |
| Map of Cebu showing the location of Toledo City. | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Philippines |
| Region | Central Visayas, Region VII |
| Province | Cebu |
| District | 3rd |
| Barangays | 38 |
| Town Established | 1861 |
| City Established | June 19, 1960 |
| Government | |
| • Type | City Legislative Council |
| • Mayor | Aurelio P. Espinosa (2010- ) |
| • Vice-mayor | Arlene E. Zambo (2010- ) |
| Population (2007) | |
| • Total | 152,960 |
| • Language(s) | Cebuano, Filipino, English |
| Time zone | PST (UTC+8) |
| ZIP Code[1] | 6038 |
| Area code(s) | 32 |
| Ecclesiastical Province | Archdiocese of Cebu |
| Episcopal Polity | Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo |
| Patron Saint | St. John of Sahagun |
| Diocesan Head | |
| Website | www.toledocity.gov.ph |
Toledo City, formerly known as Pueblo Hinulawan, is a 2nd class city in the province of Cebu, Philippines. Population as of 2007 census: 152,960.
On June 19, 1960 Toledo became a chartered city under Republic Act No. 2688, authored by the late Congressman Manuel A. Zosa representative of the old Sixth District of Cebu.
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Toledo City is administratively subdivided into 38 barangays:
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Toledo City came from Old Hinulawan and New Hinulawan.
Old Hinulawan, presently called Daanglungsod, was founded by Mariano Libre, Fulgencio Lebumfacil, Areston Macapaz, Adriano Blanco, and Tranquilino Blanco.
New Hinulawan, presently called Toledo (on the present site), was founded by Fermin Poloyapoy, Máximo Macapobre, Jacinto López, Jestoni P. Estrada,Servando de Jesus, Juan Libre, Agapito Nieves, Francisco Blanco, and Francisco Rodriguez.[2]
On June 3, 1863 a series of earthquakes shook Hinulawan.
The first tremor toppled the newly built school, leveled several houses to the ground, and caused the church facade to collapse. It caused injuries and death to several residents from falling debris.
The quake that followed brought greater damage: complete destruction of the church and the convent; cracking of the lowlands in all directions; crumbling of the stonewalls along the Hinulawan river bank; and sagging of the ground, causing water from the sea and the river to rush in and flood the settlement to waist level.
A third temblor totally destroyed pueblo Hinulawan.
The survivors were rescued by residents of neighboring highland localities.[3]
The refugees who survived the Hinulawan earthquakes slowly rebuilt their lives in the days that followed. With the help of the people of Barangay Tubod, some of the survivors cleared portions of the virgin forest and plateau in the vicinity of Tubod and constructed houses with roof made of cogon grass. Those who did now want to live in the new clearings built their homes at the foot of the Tubod highlands. They buried their dead in a cemetery in a certain part of the plateau not far from where they lived.
The area occupied by this particular group, a majority of the survivors, subsequently evolved into the New Hinulawan.
A minority of the refugees decided to migrate to other places: the hinterlands of Da-o, Bulok-bulok, Landahan, and Sam-ang as well as the pioneering settlements in the seafronts of Cabito-onan and Batohanon.
In those days pirate attacks against pueblos situated near the shores of Tañon Strait were rampant. To protect themselves against such attacks, the residents of New Hinulawan built a baluarte, or bulwark, made of chopped stone blocks piled along the shoreline. With the passage of time, however, the bulwark became dilapidated and fell apart, its remnants forever buried in the sand during the construction of the first municipio, or Municipal Hall building. The municipio itself was destroyed by Philippine Commonwealth troops and Cebuano guerrillas in World War II.
Many years later, a few among those who resettled in New Hinulawan decided to return to their former homes in Old Hinulawan when the depressed lowlands gradually became habitable. Old Hinulawan is the present-day Barangay Daanglungsod.
The majority who opted to remain in New Hinulawan worked hard to regain the prosperity they had achieved before Old Hinulawan was wiped out by catastrophe.[4]
Two significant events happened in mid-1869 which led to the change of name of New Hinulawan:
Fr. Brazal and the new Governor-general were proponents of political liberalism which was on the rise in Spain during that period following the fall of Queen Isabel II.
Meanwhile, the alcalde mayor of Cebu (equivalent to the modern-day Cebu Provincial Governor), Esteban Perez, was the boyhood friend of governor-general De la Torre in their hometown Toledo, Spain. Perez was married to a Philippine woman and used to spend his vacation with his family in Talavera, a part of New Hinulawan, where he owned a beach resort. He and Fr. Brazal were also good friends.
A welcome banquet was given in the governor-general's palace in Manila in the evening of July 12, 1869 which was attended by students, priests, and Filipino leaders to express their gratitude to De la Torre's liberal policies.
During that happy occasion Carlos Maria de la Torre and Esteban Perez had the opportunity to reminisce their boyhood days in Spain in the presence of Fr. Mariano Brazal. In the course of their recollection of the happy past, Perez told the governor-general about New Hinulawan and his special affection for the place because his Filipina wife was a native of Talavera, a barangay of New Hinulawan. He told De la Torre about how similar the environment of New Hinulawan was to their homeland Toledo, Spain and how the winding river of Hinulawan was comparable to Rio Tagus Tajo in Spain.
That everning Perez and Fr. Brazal recommended to the governor-general that the name of New Hinulawan be changed to Toledo.
Governor-general De la Torre delightfully approved the recommendation at once. He even announced to all people present in the banquet the promulgation of a decree changing the name of pueblo New Hinulawan in the province of Cebu into pueblo Toledo, the name of his beloved birthplace in Spain.[5]
In 1942 the Japanese Imperial forces captured and occupied the town of Toledo.
In 1945 local Filipino forces of the Philippine Commonwealth Army from the 8th, 81st, 82nd, 83rd, 85th and 86th Infantry Division aided by Cebuano guerrilla resistance fighters, battled against the Japanese Imperial forces and liberated the town of Toledo.
It was made into a city in 1961 through the efforts of former congressman Manuel Zosa,and for a large part due to the Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corporation in Don Andres Soriano, Toledo City. Although not very much as progressive as Cebu's other cities, it is unique -- and is therefore strategically located--in that it is the only city in the province which is on the western seaboard (Danao, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, and Talisay being on the east), facing Negros Oriental. mod_vvisit_counter
Danao, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, Cebu City, Talisay, Naga, and Carcar City are on the east. One more city, Bogo City, is at the north.
| Balamban | ||||
| Tañon Strait | Cebu City Minglanilla |
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| Toledo | ||||
| Pinamungahan | Naga |
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