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Bacolod City, is the capital and largest highly
urbanized Philippine city of the province of Negros
Occidental, famous for its MassKara Festival
held during October. Known for being a relatively friendly
city, it bears the nickname "City of Smiles."
History
Prior to the coming of the Spaniards in Negros in
1565, there existed a small village near the mouth of the
Magsungay river. It was a small settlement inhabited by
Malayans who belonged to the "Taga-ilog" group. When the
neighboring settlement of Bogo (now Bago City) was elevated
into the status of a small town in 1575, it had several
religious dependencies, one of which was the village of
Magsungay. The early missionaries place the village of
Magsungay under the care and protection of St. Sebastian
sometime in the middle of the 1700s. A "corrigidor" by the
name of Luis Fernando de Luna (1777-1779), donated a relic
of St. Sebastian for a growing mission, and since then, the
village came to be known as "San Sebastian de Magsungay".
In 1770, the small village of Magsungay was firmly
established under the leadership of the first "governadorcillo"
or "Capitan Municipal" by the name of Bernardo de los
Santos. With the cloud of insecurity hanging over them due
to the rampant attacked of the Moro pirates, the people of
Magsungay decided to move a few kilometers inland where upon
on a hilly terrain, which they called "Buklod", the people
established a new settlement. There, on this hilly terrain,
Magsungay became the settlement of Bacolod.
In 1806, Fr. Leon Pedro,
having appointed as "propitario" of Bacolod, became the
first parish priest. From there, a young priest from
Barcelona, envisioned the construction of San Sebastian
Cathedral, in the name of Fr. Gonzaga. Gradually, the people
left the hilly terrain where they had started to progress,
and eventually the place became known as "Camingawan" which
means the place of loneliness. In 1846, upon the request of
Msgr. Romualdo Jimeno, Bishop of Cebu and Negros at the
time, Governor-General Narciso claveria sent to Negros a
team of Recollect missionaries headed by Fr. Fernando Cuenca.
The following year, 1849, Gov. Valdevieso y Morquecho
declared Bacolod as the capital of the whole island of
Negros.
In 1938, under the
administration of President Manuel L. Quezon, a bill was
passed and approved making Bacolod a Chartered City, and was
inaugurated as the 5th Chartered City under the Commonwealth
period on October 19, 1938. The late Don Alfredo L.
Montelibano, Sr. was appointed as its Chief Executive. After
nearly a couple of centuries from its founding as small
settlement, Bacolod is now a bustling modern metropolis in
the Western Visayas region and it is also the "Gateway
to the Sugarland" because Bacolod is highly
accessible to air or sea from its neighboring region.
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Negros
Occidental, Bacolod City
