Imus, Cavite

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Municipality of Imus Bayan ng Imus
Seal
Nickname: Flag Capital of the Philippines
Map of Cavite showing the location of Imus.
Country	Philippines
Region	CALABARZON (Region IV-A)
Districts	2nd District of Cavite[1]
Barangays	97[1]
Government
- Mayor	Emmanuel Maliksi (Liberal)
- Vice Mayor	Armando Ilano (Liberal)
Area
- Total	64.70 km² (25 sq mi)
Population (2007)
- Total	253,158
- Density	3,912/km² (10,132/sq mi)
Time zone	PST (UTC+8)
Area code(s)	46
Website: Municipality of Imus Website

The Municipality of Imus (Filipino: Bayan ng Imus) is a first class^[1] municipality in the province of Cavite, Philippines and it is the officially-designated capital of Cavite (see below section). It has a population of 253,158 people according to the 2007 census.^[2]

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 (September 3, 1896) and the Battle of Alapan (May 28, 1898 - when the Philippine flag was first flown), that are celebrated annually in the municipality. The Imus Historical Museum honors the municipality's history with lifelike scenes from the revolution.

[edit] Barangays

Imus is politically subdivided into 97 barangays.

[edit] People and culture

[edit] Strategic location

Imus is strategically located near the Metropolitan Manila area, just 21 kilometers (13.1 miles) south of Manila.

Boundaries

• North - Mun. of Kawit
• Northeast - Mun. of Bacoor
• West - Mun. of Gen. Trias
• South - Mun. of Dasmariñas

[edit] Land area

Covers a land total area of 9,701 hectares or 97.01 sq.km, 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.

[edit] Climate

[edit] Economy

The colorful & surviving Robinson's Place Imus in Aguinaldo Highway. Imus also has other big malls such as Lotus & FRC Supermall.

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 the best truely 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 Pamilihang Bayan ng Imus) 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.

[edit] 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 kilometers 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 27,500-acre hacienda (about 11,129 hectares, more or less) 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 with1 little victory or achievement. In 1774, Recollect Fr. Pedro San Buenaventura petitioned the government to “separate the inquilinos 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. 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. Aguinaldo as upland towns. Tagaytay City is at the peak of a mountain ridge, and Imus at the foot.

Although there is no pure source on 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 las syllable “imus”.

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 Chinaman who fell head over heel in love with a local lass. However, the maiden did not reciprocated his affection. One day the girl eloped with her lover, and learning about it, the Chinese broke down and ran about the village crying loudly, “Ana bo! Ana bo! (Ana is gone! Ana is gone!)1

Not long afterwards the Chinese died, and to perpetuated 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 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 rlegend, was mimicking of the dull, hollow sound of the first church bell heard in that place, “To clong! To clong!”

Imus has a total population of 243,811 as of 1998, from twenty one barangays, there are now a total of 97, but the principal barangays which have been divided into two or more each, are known still as Barangays 1, 2, 3 & 4 (Poblacion); Malagasang 1 & 2; Bucandala; Anabu 1 & 2; Pasong Buaya; Bayan Luma; Medicion 1 & 2; Carsadang Bago; Alapan 1 & 2; Tanzang Luma; Pag-asa (formerly Tinabunan); Buhay na Tubig; Toclong 1 & 2 and Palico.

[edit] 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 has been moved back to Trece Martires in 1979.^[3]

[edit] Points of interest

Landmark		Description
	Battle of Alapan	Paved the way for the birth of the First Philippine Republic. Where the Philippine flag sewn by Marcela Agoncillo was first unfurled on May 28, 1898, now celebrated as Philippine Flag Day.
	Gen. Pantaleon Garcia Headquarters	Used by the Spanish constables as headquarters during the war. At present serves as the Provincial headquarters of the Cavite PNP.
	Julian Bridge	A concrete structure with an old battered canon and bullets where the bloodiest battle against the Spanish conquerors took place in 1899.
	Isabela Bridge	A concrete arch bridge with marker located at Palico; signifies the battle that took place during the Philippine-Spanish war.
	Old Tirona's House	A Spanish house where Gen. Tirona resided.
	Our Lady of the Pillar Cathedral	Located beside the covered court, along Gen. Castaneda St.

[edit] Municipal heads

[edit] Schools and Colleges

• Elizabeth Seton School - South
• Cavite State University - College of Business and Entrepreneurship
• St. Francis Of Assisi College
• Casa Real Montessori Inc. Parkplace
• Tierra Santa Montessori School
• St. Emilene Academe
• Maranatha Christian Academy 4th watch
• Vel Maris School
• International British Academy
• Emmanuel Christian College
• Seriah Academy
• UNIDA Christian Colleges
• Holy Spirit School of Imus
• Fiat Lux Academe
• Jesus Good Shepherd School
• Imus Institute
• Imus Computer College (ICC) Imus Branch
• Unida Evangelical Colleges
• Del Pilar Academy
• Imus National High School

[edit] Notable people from Imus

• Ramon Revilla Sr.
• Ramon Revilla Jr.
• Juanito Remulla
• Gilbert Remulla
• Crispin Remulla
• Amado Castrillo
• Kaye Abad
• Christian Bautista
• Dominador Camerino
• Panfilo Lacson
• Ayong Maliksi
• Oscar Jaro
• Soxy Topacio
• Cesar Virata

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Municipality of Imus Website
• Official Website of the Provincial Government of Cavite