The City Of Cagayan De Oro

Cagayan de Oro is now under the leadership of City Mayor Constantino Galagnara Jaraula, one of the fastest growing cities in the country and was declared a “ Highly Urbanized City” by the Ministry of Local Government as early as November 22, 1983.

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Cagayan de Oro City is located along the central coast of Northern Mindanao. It is bounded by Macajalar Bay on the north, Bukidnon and Lanao provinces on the south, and Misamis Oriental province on the east and west. It is divided into 80 barangays, 40 of which are within the Poblacion, and 40 other barangays outside Poblacion. The total land area of Cagayan de Oro City is 48,889.83 hectares,including about 25 kilometers of coastline and a fine deep harbor, the Macajalar Bay. The data set by the National Statistics Office registered the city’s population as 525,667 as of May 2000.

History:

Cagayan de Oro already existed many centuries prior to the arrival of the Spaniards when the territory was called “Kalambagohan.” Its main town, Himologan, was a hilltop fortress situated some eight kilometers south of the present Poblacion..

At the time when the first Spanish missionaries came in 1622, the people of Cagayan had tributary relationship with Sultan Kudarat, the Muslim Sultan of Maguindanao Empire in Cotabato. But despite of this, the people had not embraced Islam. Instead, many became Christians after sometime. It is for this reason that Muslim warriors began to attack the settlement. As a defense strategy, the priests, led by Fray Augustine de San Pedro, persuaded the people to transfer from the hilltop to a better location, which is now the present site of Saint Augustine Cathedral. And since 1624, the Cagayanons were able to defend themselves for almost four centuries from Muslim harassment.

In 1738, Spanish dominance was felt in Cagayan. Christian baptism was first recorded in 1799. Most of the village’s political and economic transformation took place in the 1880’s: from a Partido of Misamis district in 1818 into a town in 1871 and made permanent capitol of the district; and from a purely farming and fishing economy into a booming commerce and trade center dominated mostly by the Chinese which paved the way for the establishment of stores in the 1860’s and operation of three schooners which transported goods from Cagayan to other major parts of the Philippines in 1872.

In 1883, Cagayan de Oro was made the seat of government for Mindanao area, which was comprised of the provinces of Bukidnon, Misamis ( both Misamis Oriental and Misamis Occidental), Lanao del Norte and Zamboanga del Norte. It was used to be called Cagayan de Misamis in order to make a distinction from Cagayan Province in Northern Luzon.
The war years in Cagayan de Oro were prompted by the presence of the Americans in 1898. The Cagayanon’s loyalty to the Spanish crown had been nurtured by the Spanish officials for centuries only to be tested during the 1896 revolution. As a result, the Americans were initially successfully repulsed by the local forces led by Major Apolinar Velez at the historic battle of Macahambus on June 4, 1890.

After the troubled years in the history of Cagayan de Oro, peace has finally brought back the economic activities to normal under the American tutelage. The first automobile arrived on 1907, which ushered in the age engine-operated means of mobility. St Augustine School, the forerunner of the present Xavier University ( Ateneo de Cagayan ) and Lourdes College was inaugurated in 1928. A well-equipped hospital was also established in 1939 to serve the health needs of Cagay-anons numbering to less than 50,000 at the time.

On June 15,1950, the late President Elpidio Quirino signed the Charter of the City of Cagayan de Oro known as Republic Act No. 521 in the presence of the first City Mayor, Maximo Suniel.

Following these events, the socio –economic order underwent some far – reaching changes. Activities grew in scale and importance until it developed as the administrative center for the entire Northern Mindanao.