Imus

Imus
Component City
Seal
Nickname(s): Flag Capital of the Philippines
Map of Cavite showing the location of Imus
Imus Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 14°24′N 120°56′E / 14.400°N 120.933°E / 14.400; 120.933Coordinates: 14°24′N 120°56′E / 14.400°N 120.933°E / 14.400; 120.933
Country	Philippines
Region	CALABARZON (Region IV-A)
Province	Cavite
Congr. districts	3rd District of Cavite (Lone District of Imus City)
Incorporated	1795
Cityhood	June 30, 2012
Barangays	97[1]
Government[2]
• Mayor	Emmanuel Maliksi (Liberal)
• Vice Mayor	Mandy Ilano (Liberal)
Area[3][4]
• Total	64.70 km2 (24.98 sq mi)
Highest elevation[3]	70 m (230 ft)
Population (2010)[5]
• Total	301,624
• Density	4,700/km2 (12,000/sq mi)
Demonym	Imuseño
Time zone	PST (UTC+8)
ZIP code	4103
Dialing code	46

The City of Imus (Filipino: Lungsod ng Imus) is the officially designated capital city of the province of Cavite in the Philippines. The former municipality was officially converted into a city following a referendum on June 30, 2012. Based on the 2010 local government unit (LGU) income of Imus, the former town is classified as a first-class component city of Cavite with a population of 301,624 people according to the 2010 census.^[5][6]

Located about 19 km (12 mi) from Metro Manila, Imus was the site of two major Katipunero victories during the Philippine Revolution against Spain. The Battle of Imus was fought on September 3, 1896 and the Battle of Alapan, on May 28, 1898, the day when the first Philippine flag was flown making Imus the "Flag Capital of the Philippines". Both events are celebrated annually in the city. The Imus Historical Museum honors the city's history with historical reenactment of scenes from the revolution.

Imus is the center of religion in Cavite being the seat of the Diocese of Imus, the diocese that has jurisdiction over all the Catholic parishes in Cavite. The home of the diocese is the Imus Cathedral, under the patronage of the Canonically Crowned Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Imus (Our Lady of the Pillar). The city served as the host diocese during the 5th Asian Youth Day on November 20–27, 2009.

Geography

Physical

Imus covers a land total area of 6,470 ha (16,000 acres) or 64.70 km² (24.98 sq mi), approximately 6.8% of the total land area of the province of Cavite, which is 1,427.06 square kilometres (550.99 sq mi).^[3][4][7] The almost rectangular inland city of Cavite is bounded by the municipalities of Kawit and Noveleta to the north, and General Trias to the west; by the cities of Bacoor to the east and Dasmariñas to the south.^[8]

The city is located near the Metropolitan Manila area, just 21 kilometers (13 mi) south of Manila. With the continuous expansion of Metro Manila, this local government unit is now included in the Greater Manila area, which reaches Lipa City in its southernmost part.^{[citation needed]}

Political subdivision

As of 2010, the population of the city is 301,624 from a total of 97 barangays. In 1998, the town was originally composed of 21 barangays and these former barangays were further subdivided for a total now of 97. The barangays which have been divided into two or more each, carries the original barangay name distinguished by capital letters if the name ends in numbers, e.g., Medicion 1, is subdivided into Medicion 1-A, Medicion 1-B, etc. Names ending in letters (e.g., Bucandala, Bayan Luma, etc..), are distinguished by numbers (Bucandala 1, Bayan Luma 2, etc.).

Aerial view of Imus with Nueno Ave. (cor. Gen. Aguinaldo Highway) in the center right, leading to the Imus Cathedral. In the foreground is Medicion I St. (cor. of Medicion II and Toclong II) leading to Binakayan, Kawit.

History

Establishment of the municipality of Imus

Like Cavite City (originally called Cavite La Punta) and Noveleta (La Tierra Alta), Imus used to be a part of Cavite el Viejo (now Kawit), whose parish church was built by the Jesuits during the administration of Archdiocese of Manila Archbishop Miguel Garcia Serrano, 1618-1629. For more than a century and a half the people of Imus had to endure walking or traveling 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) of dirt road to attend religious services or transact official business in the city proper. The difficulty of communication between Imus and Cavite el Viejo was long-standing complaint of the Imuseños until another religious order, the Augustinian Recollects, as a consequence of the British occupation of Manila in 1762, established a parish church in Imus, in what is now known as Bayang Luma.

However, the church site was far from the estate house of the 11,100 hectares (27,000 acres) hacienda acquired in 1686 by the Recollect Corporation, and when the church was destroyed by the strong typhoon of September 1779, the Recollect Friars transferred it to barrio Toclong, and finally to sitio de Balangon, now the city plaza of Imus.

With the establishment of the Recollect parish the people of Imus gained their religious emancipation from the Jesuit-run parish of Cavite el Viejo. The Recollects, however, would not be content with little victory or achievement. In 1774, Recollect Fr. Pedro San Buenaventura petitioned the government to "separate the inquilinos (tenants) of Imus from the political jurisdiction of the government of "Cavite el Viejo". After a considerable time of waiting, the petition was granted and Imus became an independent municipality on October 3, 1795.

Imus as the Cavite provincial capital

On June 11, 1977, then President Ferdinand Marcos issued Presidential Decree No. 1163, which transferred the provincial capital of Cavite from Trece Martires City to Imus City. There is no other enabling law after that specifies the capital of Cavite^[7]

First Wagayway Festival marking Imus as the Philippine flag capital

On May 28, 2008, National Flag Day, the city celebrated the First Wagayway Festival (Flag-Waving Festival) signifying the very first unfurling of the Flag of the Philippines during the Battle of Alapan on May 28, 1898 against the Spanish colonizers. The battle was a major victory for leader General Emilio Aguinaldo (later the first president of the Philippine Republic) during the Philippine Revolution, which eventually lead to the declaration of Philippine Independence from Spain on June 12, 1898 in nearby Kawit, Cavite. The five-day event was highlighted by the historical reenactment of events from the sewing of the flag by Filipino exiles in Hong Kong, the Battle of Alapan, to the defeat of the Filipinos by the American troops silencing the dreams of an independent Philippines. The reenactment was participated by students, city employees and barangay officials.^[9]

The festival was launched by then mayor, Emmanuel Maliksi, who reminded the people that the core of the celebration is love and respect for the Philippine flag, which symbolizes freedom and love for the country. Among the guests present was the former Prime Minister of the Philippines, Cesar Virata, who is a grandnephew of General Emilio Aguinaldo.^[9]

After Mayor Saquilayan took office after the 2010 Mayoral Elections, the Wagayway Festival was stopped because of the cost demanded by the celebration.^{[citation needed]}

Lone district of Imus

A bill was filed by Congressman Joseph Abaya with co-authors Congressman Pidi Barzaga and Crispin Remulla creating the municipality of Imus as a lone legislative district. The bill was supported by Senator Panfilo Lacson, Senator Richard Gordon and Senator Bong Revilla. On October 22, 2009, Republic Act 9727 was approved by the President of the Philippines creating the lone district of Imus as the "Third District of Cavite".^[10]

Incorporation as a city

During the 10th Congress (1995-1998), a House Bill (HB) no. 08960^[11] was filed by Congressman Renato P. Dragon together with the other cityhood bills for Bacoor (HB 08959)^[12] and Dasmariñas (HB 08931).^[13] The bills did not pass the Congress.

Congressman Erineo Maliksi filed House Bill no. HB01989^[14] last August 3, 2010, which created the city of Imus. The bill was enacted into law as Republic Act No. 10161.^[15] The plebiscite required to ratify the conversion of the municipality of Imus into a component city was scheduled June 30. 2012.

Republic Act No. 10161 was ratified by the registered voters of Imus through a plebiscite conducted last June 30, 2012, converted the municipality of Imus in the Province of Cavite into a component city to be known as the City of Imus. There were about 22,742 voters who cast their ballots in the town’s 453 polling precincts. The "yes" votes won overwhelmingly getting 20,438 while the "no" votes got 2,304.

Etymology

There are at least four versions on the origin of the name of the city. Firstly, Imus is a Tagalog word meaning "a piece of land cutting into the junction of two rivers." The old location of the church is in Toclong where the confluence of Imus River and Julian River is located, forming a slice of land.

A second version is a rationalization of a geographical fact. Some intellectuals of the city theorized that the name "Imus" originated from the Latin word infimus, meaning lowland.^[16] Comparing the altitude of different towns in Cavite province, Imus is described as lowland, slowly elevating to the neighboring city of Dasmariñas, to Silang, Indang, Amadeo, Mendez, Alfonso, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, peaking in Tagaytay City Ridge, the highest part of the province, as upland towns.

Although there is no verifiable source of this theory, it has also been said that the name Imus is derived from the word centimos, the smallest unit of metal currency during the Spanish colonial era. During that era, a detachment of Spanish soldiers was stationed at the Recollect estate house, and after they left a few natives scrounged the place for articles left behind. They found a number of centimo coins and went away exclaiming in utter delight, "Centimos! Centimos!". The place has since been identified as Imus.^[17]

Still, another legend is that of a young mother crooning her child to sleep with a plaintive Tagalog ditty called "limos." A group of Spanish soldiers, who had gone there for the first time, asked her name of the place, and the woman, thinking that they were asking her the name of the song, answered "Limos". The Spaniards went away muttering the last syllable "imus".^[17]

Etymology of barangay names

Equally interesting are the legends of the origins of some barangay (barrio) names of Imus. For instance, barrio Malagasang got its name from the fact that its numerous feuds with neighboring barangays it rarely suffered any loss of human life - "di malagasan" in Tagalog. Barrio Bucandala, on the other hand, is descriptive of its configuration i.e., looking like an open fish net (bukang dala). The historic barrio of Alapan, where the first successful battle of the second phase of the Revolution took place on May 28, 1898, derived its name from an incident involving a Spanish officer, who being there for the first time, inquired about the name of the place were the people were busy sorting out, looking for something from a huge pile of farm implements. Thinking that he was asking what they were doing, one of the natives replied, "Hanapan po ng kasangkapan" (We are looking for farm implements). Though the story is not quite plausible, one can take it or leave it!

Legend has it that in barrio Anabu there lived a Chinese man who fell head over heels in love with a local lass. The maiden did not reciprocate his affection, however, and one day the girl eloped with her local lover. Learning about it, the Chinese man broke down. He ran about the village crying loudly, "Ana bo! Ana bo!" (Ana is gone! Ana is gone!) Not long after the Chinese man died, and to perpetuate the memory of the incident the place was called "Ana-bo", which eventually evolved into Anabu.

The barrio of Karsadang Bago (meaning new road) lies along a newly built road linking barrio Tinabunan (covered) to the poblacion of Imus. Likewise, the barrio of Bayang Luma (old town) is descriptive of its name. The barrio of Medicion was named after two sisters, Medy and Sion, whose untimely death left their disconsolate mother crying, "Medy! Sion! Medy! Sion!" The name of barrio Toclong, so goes another legend, was mimicking of the dull, hollow sound of the first church bell heard in that place, "To clong! To clong!"

Demographics

City government

City seal

• Inscriptions. The official seal of the City of Imus bears the inscriptions Lungsod ng Imus, Lalawigan ng Cavite (City of Imus, Province of Cavite), the year 2012 representing the year of the city charter.

• Symbolism. The nine (9) sun's rays symbolizes hope and bright future. The gear symbolizes trade and industry. The church signifies the separation of church and state, and the rich cultural traditions. The Imus City Hall building signifies heritage, peaceful and good living conditions and citizenry participation. The school and houses signifies community development and Christian endeavors. The satellite symbolizes technology. The road signifies the development of the city towards industrialization. The lady signifies Inang Bayan(Motherland) representing Filipino nationalism in the Battle of Alapan. The jeepney represents the entrepreneurial spirit of the Imuseños.

• Colors. Yellow represent the spirited, joyful and bright outlook of the people; blue denotes peace and order maintained through the unparalleled support of its citizenry; and green for growth and prosperity leading to the fulfillment of its people’s dream and aspirations.^[21]

Elected officials

New City Hall

Old town hall

The following are the elected officials from June 30, 2013 to June 30, 2016:

List of former heads

Economy

Lotus Mall

Imus is the foremost banking center of Cavite with numerous financial institutions and also an excellent banking infrastructure is being propagated by the present government to spearhead the development of the city. The city of Imus has shown a steady rise in its income earning a 1st class income classification in 1986. Its 9,701-hectare (23,970-acre) land area serves as home to a population of 195,482. In 1993, Imus had 1,369 commercial establishments, 200 manufacturing establishments and 41 financial institutions. Ten years hence, it has 6,636 licensed business establishments that include 4,376 commercial establishments, 300 manufacturing establishments and 190 financial institutions.

With a comfortable 18 km (11 mi) distance from Metro Manila, Imus serves as a favorable site for industrial establishments such as the 200-hectare (490-acre) Imus Informal Industrial Estate and Anabu Hills Industrial Estate. Corporations that are 100% Filipino-owned include Annie's Candy Manufacturing, Inc., CKL Industries and Liwayway Mktg. Corp. Factories of partly Filipino-owned corporations include Champan Garment Corp., Hayag Motorworks & Machine Shop and San Miguel-Yamamura Asia Corp.. Foreign-owned corporations include Frontline Garments Corp. and EDS MFG, Inc., which produces automotive wiring harness. Imus is also the home of the Anabu Handmade Paper Products, a producer of handmade paper and paper products.

The Imus Commercial/Business District along Nueño Avenue (also called Imus Boulevard) is the center of commerce in the city. The Imus Public Market (Pamilihang Bayan ng Imus) is the hub of trade in the district. The market is divided into 25 zones and has a total of 805 stalls. Commercial, industrial and manufacturing industries owned by Taiwanese, Japanese and Filipino investors can also be found there. There are 3,601 commercial establishments duly registered in the city as of March 1999.

The city of Imus provides an atmosphere conducive to business and a climate of optimism and buoyancy for investors. Eighteen major industrial establishments with a total capitalization of 1.311 billion pesos have established their base at the Imus Informal Industrial Estate providing local employment to an estimated 13,478 people as of December 1998. Located just along the stretch of the General Emilio Aguinaldo Highway, the main highway of Cavite traversing the city from north to south, the 200-hectare informal industrial estate houses manufacturing companies owned by foreign and Filipino investors. Imus has ventured to the export of automotive wire harness and electrical components, acrylic sheets and lighting fixtures, processed foods, shellcraft, bamboo, rattan and woodcraft, furniture, garments and novelty items to other countries. The implementation of the strategic Daang Hari Road will further augment the development of Imus. Several subdivisions and mass housing projects and the establishment of factories and small-scale industries in many of its barangays have resulted in a movement of population into the city.

However, heavy traffic congestion caused by the 'buhos' (pour) system, inadequate road signage and systems, poor road maintenance, mixed vehicles (tricycles, pedicabs, bicycles, etc.), unjustified traffic priority schemes and rampant violation of traffic rules is observable on roads. This is causing headaches to travelers specifically along Aguinaldo Highway.

Landmarks

• Our Lady of the Pillar Cathedral (Imus, Cavite)

Notable people from Imus

• Kaye Abad, actress
• Christian Bautista, singer, actor
• Panfilo Lacson, senator, former Philippine National Police chief
• Ayong Maliksi, representative 3rd district of Cavite, former mayor of Imus, former Cavite governor
• Marcelito Pomoy, singer Pilipinas Got Talent Season 2 Grand Winner
• Gilbert Remulla, news anchor, TV host, former representative 1st district of Cavite
• Juanito Victor C. Remulla, politician, Cavite Governor and former vice-governor
• Marian Rivera, actress
• Leonardo Sarao, businessman and jeepney designer, founder of Sarao Motors
• Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle DD, SThD., former Bishop of the Diocese of Imus, Archbishop of Archdiocese of Manila, Filipino Cardinal and papabili
• Cesar E.A. Virata, former Prime Minister of the Philippines

Sister Cities

Yeoncheon County, South Korea

Images

• 

  Our Lady of the Pillar Cathedral

• 

  Imus Plaza, monument

• 

  Bantayog

• 

  Monument

• 

  Del Pillar Academy

• 

  Oval

• 

  Imus Institute

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Imus, Cavite.

• Official Website of the Provincial Government of Cavite
• City Government of Imus Portal
• Official Website of the Diocese of Imus
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Philippine Census Information

	Noveleta		Kawit
	General Trias		Bacoor
	Imus City
		Dasmariñas

Articles Related to Imus v t e Province of Cavite Municipalities Alfonso Amadeo Carmona General Emilio Aguinaldo General Mariano Alvarez General Trias Indang Kawit Magallanes Maragondon Mendez Naic Noveleta Rosario Silang Tanza Ternate Component cities Bacoor Cavite City Dasmariñas Imus Tagaytay Trece Martires v t e CALABARZON / Southern Tagalog mainland (Region IV-A) CAvite, LAguna, BAtangas, Rizal, QueZON Regional Center Calamba Provinces Batangas Cavite Laguna Quezon Rizal Metropolitan Area Metro Batangas Highly Urbanized Cities Antipolo Lucena Component Cities Bacoor Batangas City Biñan Cabuyao Calamba Cavite City Dasmariñas Imus Lipa San Pablo San Pedro Santa Rosa Tagaytay Tanauan Tayabas Trece Martires Provincial Capitals Antipolo (de facto) Batangas City Imus (de jure) Lucena Santa Cruz Trece Martires (de facto) Municipalities Agdangan Agoncillo Alabat Alaminos Alfonso Alitagtag Amadeo Angono Atimonan Balayan Balete Baras Bauan Bay Binangonan Buenavista Burdeos Cainta Calaca Calatagan Calauag Calauan Candelaria Cardona Carmona Catanauan Cavinti Cuenca Dolores Famy General Emilio Aguinaldo General Luna General Mariano Alvarez General Nakar General Trias Guinayangan Gumaca Ibaan Indang Infanta Jalajala Jomalig Kalayaan Kawit Laurel Lemery Lian Liliw Lobo Lopez Los Baños Lucban Luisiana Lumban Mabini Mabitac Macalelon Magallanes Magdalena Majayjay Malvar Maragondon Mataasnakahoy Mauban Mendez Morong Mulanay Nagcarlan Naic Nasugbu Noveleta Padre Burgos Padre Garcia Paete Pagbilao Pagsanjan Pakil Pangil Panukulan Patnanungan Perez Pila Pililla Pitogo Plaridel Polillo Quezon Real Rizal Rodriguez Rosario (Batangas) Rosario (Cavite) Sampaloc San Andres San Antonio San Francisco San Jose San Juan San Luis San Mateo San Narciso San Nicolas San Pascual Santa Cruz Santa Maria Santa Teresita Santo Tomas Sariaya Silang Siniloan Taal Tagkawayan Talisay Tanay Tanza Taysan Taytay Teresa Ternate Tiaong Tingloy Tuy Unisan Victoria Luzon, Republic of the Philippines v t e Cities of the Philippines Highly-urbanized Cities Angeles Antipolo Bacolod Baguio Butuan Cabanatuan Cagayan de Oro Caloocan Cebu Davao General Santos Iligan Iloilo Lapu-Lapu Las Piñas Lucena Makati Malabon Mandaluyong Mandaue Manila Marikina Muntinlupa Navotas Olongapo Parañaque Pasay Pasig Puerto Princesa Quezon City San Juan Tacloban Taguig Valenzuela Zamboanga Independent Component Cities Cotabato Dagupan Naga Ormoc Santiago Component Cities Alaminos Bacoor Bago Bais Balanga Batac Batangas Bayawan Baybay Bayugan Biñan Bislig Bogo Borongan Cabadbaran Cabuyao Cadiz Calamba Calapan Calbayog Candon Canlaon Carcar Catbalogan Cauayan Cavite Danao Dapitan Dasmariñas Digos Dipolog Dumaguete El Salvador Escalante Gapan Gingoog Guihulngan Himamaylan Ilagan Imus Iriga Isabela Kabankalan Kidapawan Koronadal La Carlota Lamitan Laoag Legazpi Ligao Lipa Maasin Mabalacat 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 San Pedro Santa Rosa Silay Sipalay Sorsogon Surigao Tabaco Tabuk Tacurong Tagaytay Tagbilaran Tagum Talisay, Cebu Talisay, Negros Occidental Tanauan Tandag Tangub Tanjay Tarlac Tayabas Toledo Trece Martires Tuguegarao Urdaneta Valencia Victorias Vigan