Imus, Cavite

Municipality of Imus Bayan ng Imus
—  Municipality  —
Official seal of Municipality of Imus Seal
Nickname(s): Flag and Christmas Capital of the Philippines A Bustling Commercial Center
Motto: Imus: BAYAN DAKILA
Map of Cavite showing the location of Imus.
Country	Philippines
Region	CALABARZON (Region IV-A)
Districts	3rd District of Cavite (Lone District of Imus)
Barangays	97
Province	Cavite
Incorporated (town)	1935
Government
• Mayor	Not Applicable
• Vice Mayor	Armando I. Ilano (Liberal)
Area
• Municipality	171.66 km2 (66.3 sq mi)
Population (2007)
• Municipality	253,158
• Density	1,475/km2 (3,820.2/sq mi)
• Metro	Manilla
Demonym	Imuseños
Time zone	PST (UTC+8)
Area code(s)	46
Website	Municipality of Imus

The Municipality of Imus (Filipino: Bayan ng Imus) is a first-class municipality in the province of Cavite, Philippines, and it is the officially designated capital of Cavite. It has a population of 253,158 people according to the 2007 census.

Because of its strategic location at the entrance to Cavite province 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 municipality. The Imus Historical Museum honors the municipality's history with lifelike scenes from the revolution.

Imus is also known as the center of religion of the Province of Cavite and home of the Imus Cathedral, the seat of the Diocese of Imus under the patronage of Nuestra Señora del Pilar. The town served as the host diocese during the 5th Asian Youth Day on November 20–27, 2009. The town is also nicknamed as the "Christmas Capital of the Philippines".

Geography

Location

Imus is strategically 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 Manila built up area which reaches Lipa City in its southernmost part.^{[citation needed]}

Boundaries

• North - Municipalities of Kawit, Cavite and Noveleta, Cavite
• East - Municipality of Bacoor, Cavite
• West - Municipality of Gen. Trias, Cavite
• South - City of Dasmariñas, Cavite

Land area

Imus covers a land total area of 9,701 ha (23,970 acres) or 97 km² (37 sq mi), approximately 6.8% of the total land area of the province of Cavite.

Disputed land area: 3,838.00 hectares

Some 200 hectares referred to as Imus Informal Industrial Estate, housing a total of 19 major industrial establishments.

Barangays

Imus has a total population of 243,811 as of 1998, from twenty-one barangays. These 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.).

• Alapan 1-A
• Alapan 1-B
• Alapan 1-C
• Alapan 2-A
• Alapan 2-B
• Anabu 1-A
• Anabu 1-B
• Anabu 1-C
• Anabu 1-D
• Anabu 1-E
• Anabu 1-F
• Anabu 1-G
• Anabu 2-A
• Anabu 2-B
• Anabu 2-C
• Anabu 2-D
• Anabu 2-E
• Anabu 2-F
• Bagong Silang
• Bayan Luma 1
• Bayan Luma 2
• Bayan Luma 3
• Bayan Luma 4
• Bayan Luma 5
• Bayan Luma 6
• Bayan Luma 7
• Bayan Luma 8
• Bayan Luma 9
• Bucandala 1
• Bucandala 2
• Bucandala 3
• Bucandala 4
• Bucandala 5
• Buhay na Tubig
• Carsadang Bago 1
• Carsadang Bago 2
• Mariano Espeleta 1
• Mariano Espeleta 2
• Mariano Espeleta 3
• Magdalo
• Maharlika
• Malagasang 1-A
• Malagasang 1-B
• Malagasang 1-C
• Malagasang 1-D
• Malagasang 1-E
• Malagasang 1-F
• Malagasang 1-G
• Malagasang 2-A
• Malagasang 2-B
• Malagasang 2-C
• Malagasang 2-D
• Malagasang 2-E
• Malagasang 2-F
• Malagasang 2-G
• Medicion 1-A
• Medicion 1-B
• Medicion 1-C
• Medicion 1-D
• Medicion 2-A
• Medicion 2-B
• Medicion 2-C
• Medicion 2-D
• Medicion 2-E
• Medicion 2-F
• Pag-Asa 1
• Pag-Asa 2
• Pag-Asa 3
• Palico 1
• Palico 2
• Palico 3
• Palico 4
• Pasong Buaya 1
• Pasong Buaya 2
• Pinagbuklod
• Poblacion 1-A
• Poblacion 1-B
• Poblacion 1-C
• Poblacion 2-A
• Poblacion 2-B
• Poblacion 3-A
• Poblacion 3-B
• Poblacion 4-A
• Poblacion 4-B
• Poblacion 4-C
• Poblacion 4-D
• Tanzang Luma 1
• Tanzang Luma 2
• Tanzang Luma 3
• Tanzang Luma 4
• Tanzang Luma 5
• Tanzang Luma 6
• Toclong 1-A
• Toclong 1-B
• Toclong 1-C
• Toclong 2-A
• Toclong 2-B

Economy

Imus is the foremost banking center of Cavite with numerous financial institution and also an excellent banking infrastructure is being propagated by the present government to spearhead the development of the municipality. For the past 10 years, the municipality of Imus has shown a steady rise in its income, making it earn an income classification of 1st class in 1986. Its 9,701 hectare-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 distance from Metro Manila, Imus serves as a favorable site for industrial establishments such as Imus Informal Industrial Estate and Anabu Hills Industrial Estate. Corporations that are 100% Filipino-owned such as Annie's Candy Manufacturing, Inc., CKL Industries and Liwayway Mktg. Corp. Factories of partly Filipino-owned corporations such as Champan Garment Corp., Hayag Motorworks & Machine Shop and San Miguel-Yamamura Asia Corp. and foreign-owned corporations such as EDS MFG, Inc., which produces automotive wiring harness and Frontline Garments Corp., can be found in Imus. 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 and trade in the municipality. The Imus Public Market (officially Tindahan ni aling Nenang) is the hub of commerce and 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 municipality as of March 1999.

Investors will find an atmosphere conducive to business and a climate of optimism and buoyancy in Imus. 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 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, acryclic 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 pace of Imus. Several subdivisions and mass housing projects and the establishment of factories and many small-scale industries in many of its barangays have resulted to heavy-in-migration in the municipality.

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 which is causing headaches to travelers specifically along Aguinaldo Highway, Cavite's main highway traversing the town from North to South.

History

Like Cavite City (originally called Cavite La Punta) and Noveleta (La Tierra Alta), the municipality of Imus used to be a part of Cavite el Viejo (now Kawit), whose parish church was built by the Jesuits during the administration of Manila Archbishop 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 town 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 town 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.

Etymology

There are at least four versions on the origin of the name of the municipality. Imus is a Tagalog word meaning "piece of land cutting into the junction of two rivers." Not two but three rivers pass through Imus and irrigate its lands. A second version is a rationalization of a geographical fact.

Some intellectuals of the town theorized that the name "Imus" originated from the Latin word infimus, meaning lowland. The town of Imus is usually used as reference when one compares the altitudes of different places in Cavite province. For instance, Imus is described as lowland, and the neighboring towns of Silang, Indang, Amadeo, Mendez, Alfonso and Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo as upland towns. Tagaytay City is at the peak of a mountain ridge, and Imus at the foot.

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 time. Once upon a time 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 coins-centimos-and went away exclaiming in utter delight, "Centimos! Centimos!". The place has since been identified as Imus.

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".

Etymology of barangay names

Equally interesting are the origins of the names of some barrios 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!"

First Wagayway Festival marking Imus as the Philippine flag capital

On May 28, 2008, Imus witnessed the reenactment of the historic Battle of Alapan in 1898 at battle amid explosions of gunpowder and intermittent cries of "Fuego! (Fire!)" and "Sugod, mga kapatid! (Charge, brothers!)," by 400 natives.Mayor Manny Maliksi with Cesar Virata (Enrique Aguinaldo Virata), a grandnephew of Emilio Aguinaldo, inter alia, led the launching of the festival during the program for the National Flag Day: "The core of the celebration is sincere love and respect for our flag. Let us love the flag which symbolizes our freedom. For whoever loves the flag, loves our country," he said during the program for National Flag Day. When Mayor Homer T. Saquilayan defeated Maliksi in 2010 Elections, Wagayway Festival celebration had been stop because it is too much expensive and Saquilayan Administration's priority is the basic services for the people of Imus that Maliksi forgotten during his three year-term as mayor.

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. There is no other enabling law after that specifies the capital of Cavite, but the seat of the provincial government was moved back to Trece Martires in 1979.

Lone District of the Municipality of Imus

A bill was filed by Congressman Joseph Abaya with co-authors Congressman Pidi Barzaga and Crispin Remulla to create the municipality of Imus as a separate 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 municipality of Imus as the "Third District of Cavite".

Municipal Local Government Officials

June 30, 2010 to June 30, 2013

• Municipal Mayor: NOT APPLICABLE
• Municipal Vice-Mayor: Honorable ARMANDO I. ILANO

• Members of the Sangguniang Bayan:
  • Councilor SHERNAN A. JARO
  • Councilor EMILIO S. AGUINALDO V
  • Councilor ARGEL JOSEPH E. REYES
  • Councilor MARY JEMENY Y. GUINTO
  • Councilor ARNEL M. CANTIMBUHAN
  • Councilor DENNIS T. LACSON
  • Councilor JEFFREY V. ASISTIO
  • Councilor OSCAR B. DE QUIROZ
  • Barangay Captain EXEQUIEL B. ROPETA, JR.(Liga ng mga Barangay President)
  • SK Chairman DARLON JAY S. SAYAROT (Sangguniang Kabataan President)

• District Representative: Congressman ERINEO S. MALIKSI

Cityhood

1995-1998 (10th Congress)

HB08960 was filed by Congresman Renato P. Dragon with other cityhood bills of Bacoor (HB 08959) and Dasmariñas (HB 08931). It did not push through

2010 (15th Congress)

Congressman Erineo Maliksi filed HB01989 which will create the city of Imus. The bill was filed last August 3, 2010

Municipal heads

Gobernadorcillos Licerio Topacio (1888–1890) Cayetano Topacio (1890–1892) Celzo Fontanilla (1892–1894) Capitanes Municipal Bernardino Paredes (1894–1896) Jose Tagle (1896–1897) Valentin Conejo (1898) Juan Castaneda (1898)

Municipal Presidents Donato Virata (1900–1903) Cesar A. Fontanilla (1903-1913) Felipe Topacio (1912–1915) Cecilio Kamantigue (1915–1919) Felix Paredes (1919–1925) Blas Mallari (1925–1928) Epifanio Gabriel (1928–1931)

Municipal Mayors Dominador Camerino (1931–1943) Elpidio Osteria (1941–1944) Alfredo Saqui (1944–1945) Fortunato Remulla (1945) Dominador Ilano (1946–1958) Celso A. Fontanilla (1958-1968) Jose V. Jamir (1968–1988) Erineo S. Maliksi (1988–1998) Ricardo Paredes (acting, 1998) Oscar A. Jaro (1998–2007) Emmanuel L. Maliksi (2007-2012-present)

Schools and Universities

All schools and colleges are currently arranged alphabetically.

• Abbey De Saint Augustine School
• Alapan I-A Elementary School
• Angelorum School
• Ann Marris Montessori School
• Bayan Luma Elementary School
• Benedictine Institute of Learning [1]
• Casa Real Montessori Inc. [2]
• Cavite De La Salle Institute (Imus, Cavite)
• Cavite State University - College of Business and Entrepreneurship
• Brentwood School
• Day Care Center
• Del Pilar Academy
• De La Carese Montessori
• Elizabeth Seton School [3] - South
• Emmanuel Christian College
• Fiat Lux Academe
• [4] [General Emilio Aguinaldo National High School]
• Gov D M Camerino Elementary School
• Haven of Wisdom Academy
• Hansel and Gretel School of Cavite
• Holy Spirit School of Imus
• Imus Computer College (ICC) Imus Branch
• Imus Institute
• Imus National High School
• Imus Pilot Elementary School
• Imus Unida Christian School
• Informatics Computer Institute (Robinsons Place Imus)
• International British Academy
• Jesus Good Shepherd School
• La Asuncion Montessori of Cavite
• La Trinidad Academy
• La Verne Academy
• Maranatha Christian Academy
• Memorare Academe of Cavite
• Montessori Professional College [5]
• Our Lady of the Pillar Catholic School
• Southern Philippines Institute of Science and Technology
• Southdale International School of Science, Arts and Technology
• Southwoods School of Cavite
• St. Emilene Academe
• St. Francis Of Assisi College
• St. John Fisher School
• St. Odilard School
• Seriah Academy
• Shammah Christian School Pre-school
• Shammah Christian School Elementary Department
• Shammah Christian School High School Department
• Tierra Santa Montessori School
• Tinabunan Elementary School
• Unida Christian colleges (Formerly PAG-IBIG UNIDA SCHOOL)
• Victorious Christian Montessori Imus

Churches

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
• Roman Catholic Church
• Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church of Christ)
• Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ (4th Watch)
• Foursquare Church
• United Methodist Church
• Conservative Baptist Church
• Born Again Christian Fellowships (Jesus Faith Christian Fellowship, Jesus Is Lord, Victory, Word for the World, Community Harvest, Community of Praise, Jesus Christ Spreading the Good News, Lord's Vineyard Covenant Community etc.)
• The United Pentecostal Church of Jesus Christ (Oneness Apostolic)
• Philippine Independent Church (Aglipayan)
• Seventh-day Adventist Church

Notable people from Imus

• Actress Kaye Abad
• Singer Christian Bautista
• Senator Panfilo Lacson
• Former Governor and Congressman Erineo S. Maliksi
• Former Representative Gilbert C. Remulla
• Former Governor Juanito R. Remulla
• Former Senator Ramon B. Revilla, Sr.
• Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla, Jr.
• Marian Rivera
• Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio G. Tagle DD, SThD.
• Prime Minister Cesar E.A. Virata
• PGT Grand Champion Marcelito Pomoy
• Cavite Governor Juanito Victor C. Remulla, Jr.

Imus today

The municipal hall was back to normal Thursday with a new mayor in office after Mayor Homer Saquilayan temporarily conceded to rival Mayor Manny Maliksi of President Benigno Aquino’s Liberal Party. Tension eased at around 5 p.m. Wednesday when supporters of Saquilayan, numbering about a thousand, decided to leave the town hall where they had held ground since Tuesday night to prevent Maliksi from taking over. But Saquilayan, through his brother, declared that the ousted mayor’s fight did not end with his supporters departure from the municipal hall. “We will return". But for now, we will have to leave peacefully. We ask the police to give us two hours for everyone to leave and take our things out,” announced Saquilayan’s brother, Edgardo, on the microphone, before they left Wednesday. Edgardo, who also happens to be the chairman of Barangay Bucandala here, talked on the phone with his brother, Homer. Saquilayan had left the municipal hall in the morning. He held a press conference at the Island Cove resort in Kawit town around 3 p.m. to announce that he was vacating the mayor’s office but would be elevating to the Supreme Court the Regional Trial Court ruling that had declared Maliksi the true winner of the 2010 mayoral election. Maliksi, on the other hand, arrived at the town hall shortly after 5 p.m. with a hundred of his supporters for a Thanksgiving Mass at the town plaza. Maliksi said the Department of Interior and Local Government, who is favoring them always, had also issued a statement recognizing his assumption of the Imus mayoralty. Earlier on Wednesday, all the gates of the town hall were padlocked except for the front gate that remained open but was heavily guarded by Mayor Saquilayan’s supporters. Maliksi went on to take his oath of office at the Regional Trial Court Branch 22 in Imus accompanied by his family, including his father, former Cavite Governor Erineo “Ayong” Maliksi. Senator Panfilo Lacson, with whom the Maliksis are known to be closely allied, administered the oath. From the RTC, Maliksi and his supporters, wearing yellow clothes, proceeded to Maliksi’s home, locally known here as the “White House” in Barangay Bayang Luma where the younger Maliksi announced he was giving Saguilayan’s and his supporters enough time to leave the municipal hall to prevent violence. Truckloads of policemen, some with truncheons, and a Special Weapons and Tactics team, stood around the town hall as the court sheriff served the writ of execution shortly after noon Wednesday. Saquilayan (Nacionalista Party), had earlier refused to step down, insisting that a 60-day temporary restraining order issued on December 20 by the Commission on Election’s First Division, headed by Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, prevented RTC Branch 22 from installing Former Mayor Manny Maliksi. However, in the cited Comelec ruling dated December 20, Commissioners Armando Velasco and Christian Robert Lim of the Comelec First Division had affixed their handwritten dissenting opinion that in turn invalidated the issuance of the TRO. This allowed the RTC to implement its November 15 ruling that declared Maliksi as the rightful winner. Saquilayan left the municipal hall hours before court sheriff Elmer Ascueta arrived at noon to serve the writ of execution. Saquilayan’s legal counsel, lawyer Charles Mercado, received the court order in behalf of the unseated Mayor.

External links

• Official Website of the Provincial Government of Cavite
• Official Website of the Municipality of Imus
• Official Website of the Diocese of Imus
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• 2007 Philippine Census Information