Place:Tuguegarao, Cagayan, Cagayan Valley, Philippines

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Tuguegarao ( or ), officially known as the City of Tuguegarao, is a 3rd class component city and capital of the province of Cagayan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 166,334 people, making it the most populous city in Cagayan Valley and Northeastern Luzon.

A major urban center and primary growth center in the Northeastern Luzon, it is the regional center of Cagayan Valley and also its regional institutional and administrative center. One of the fast emerging cities in the Philippines, the city is a convergence area for the provinces of Cagayan, Kalinga, Apayao and northern Isabela.

It is dubbed as the “Gateway to the Ilocandia and the Cordilleras,” the city is located on the southern border of the province where the Pinacanauan River empties into the Cagayan River. It is surrounded by the Sierra Madre Mountains to the east, Cordillera Mountains to the west, and the Caraballo Mountains to the south.

The highest temperature ever recorded in the Philippines——hit Tuguegarao on May 11, 1969.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Tuguegarao was founded on May 9, 1604, as a "mission-pueblo" with the new vicar Fray Tomas Villa, O.P. initiating the construction of a temporary church housing Sts. Peter and Paul as patron saints. In the 1720s, Father Antonio Lobato, O.P. developed a layout of street network together with the construction of the cathedral. In 1839, the provincial capital was transferred to Tuguegarao from Lal-lo as the Cagayan-Manila road opened which spurred socio-economic progress.^[1]

The town was occupied by American troops on December 12, 1899. Drastic improvements in Tuguegarao were discerned over the course of provincial administrations—the first Provincial Capitol was completed in 1909, a town hall and public market were built, the provincial high school—Cagayan High School—was founded in a former private residence, and the Cagayan Valley College of Arts & Trades was founded by American educator Claude Andrews.^[1]

During World War II, the city and its airfield of some significance was captured by the Japanese Imperial Army on December 12, 1941, as part of the Japanese invasion of Aparri. The General Headquarters of the 11th Infantry Regiment, Philippine Commonwealth Army, USAFIP-NL was activated on 1942 to 1946 and stationed in Tuguegarao.

Sitio Capatan was elevated into a barrio (or barangay) of Tuguegarao on April 3, 1959, by Republic Act No. 2107.

In 1975, Tuguegarao was declared as the capital and seat of the regional government of Cagayan Valley (Region II) being the region's geographic center with adequate facilities and amenities needed by such. Multistory buildings were constructed in the poblacion greatly changing Tuguegarao's skyline in the 1980s and 1990s.

Hotel Delfino siege

On March 4, 1990, former colonel and suspended Cagayan governor Rodolfo Aguinaldo seized the Hotel Delfino in Tuguegarao using his private army of about 300 men. Aguinaldo stood accused of supporting the Dec. 1–9, 1989 coup attempt against President Corazon Aquino. Brigadier General Oscar Florendo, armed forces chief of Civil Military Relations, was sent to Tuguegarao by Aquino to serve Aguinaldo with an arrest warrant.^[2] After Aguinaldo's men seized control of Hotel Delfino where the general was staying, Florendo was taken hostage along with more than 50 other hotel guests. Florendo was eventually shot inside the hotel and died of his wounds. Following hours of standoff between the two sides, nearly 1,000 government troops launched an attack to dislodge Aguinaldo's forces from the hotel. During this melee, Aguinaldo fled with about 90 fighters for mountains in the north.^[3]

Cityhood

Tuguegarao became a component city by virtue of Republic Act 8755 dated November 4, 1999, followed by a plebiscite held on December 18, 1999. Randolph Ting was the first mayor of the new city. On July 2, 2007, Ting's father, businessman and former municipal mayor Delfin Telan Ting, was elected as the city's second mayor. After the 25-year political dominance of the Tings, however, retired police general Jefferson Soriano won over re-electionist Delfin Ting in the 2013 local elections.

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