Place:Bacoor, Las Piñas City, Cavite, CALABARZON, Philippines

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Bacoor, officially known as the City of Bacoor, is a 1st class component city in the province of Cavite, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 664,625 people, making it the 15th most populous city in the Philippines and the second largest city in the province of Cavite after Dasmariñas.

History

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

Spanish period

Bacoor was one of the flashpoints of the Cavite Mutiny of 1872. Bacoor's parish priest at that time, Fr. Mariano Gómez, was one of the GOMBURZA trio implicated in the mutiny for advocating the secularization of priesthood in the Philippines. He and the rest of GOMBURZA were executed at Bagumbayan in 1872. The death of the GOMBURZA served as the inspiration for Jose Rizal's El Filibusterismo, which in turn influenced the ignition of the Philippine Revolution.

During the Philippine Revolution against Spain in 1896, Bacoor was one of the first towns in Cavite to rise up. A Katipunan chapter, codenamed Gargano, led by Gil Ignacio from barrio Banalo, started the hostilities in Bacoor on September 2, 1896, three days after the revolution began.

On February 17, 1897, General Emilio Aguinaldo's 40,000-strong force confronted a 20,000-strong Spanish reinforcement at the Zapote River. The Katipuneros reinforced the southern bank of the river with trenches designed by Filipino engineer Edilberto Evangelista. Edilberto Evangelista was known as the "Engineer of the revolution" and the "Hero of the revolution". They also blew up the Zapote Bridge with explosives which killed several Spaniards crossing it and thereby preventing them from reaching Cavite and forcing them to retreat to Muntinlupa. Despite the Filipino victory, they lost the brilliant Evangelista who was killed in action.^[1]

However, after the Spanish counteroffensive in May 1897, Bacoor and the rest of Cavite finally fell to the Spaniards, forcing Aguinaldo and his men to retreat to Biak-na-Bato.^[1]

American period

With the Philippine declaration of independence from Spain on June 12, 1898, hostilities reignited in Cavite and Bacoor was designated as the first capital of Emilio Aguinaldo's revolutionary government until it was transferred to Malolos, Bulacan in August 1898, a month before the convening of the Malolos Congress.^[1] The Zapote Bridge became the site once again of another battle on June 13, 1899, this time between Philippine and American troops. An American force of 1,200 men supported by naval gunfire from the American squadron in Manila Bay crushed a 5,000-strong Filipino force led by General Pío del Pilar. Zapote Bridge's special place in Philippine history is depicted today in Bacoor's city seal.

Japanese occupation

During World War II, in 1942, Japanese occupation forces entered Bacoor and other towns of Cavite province. From May 7, 1942, to August 15, 1945, many Caviteños joined the Cavite Guerrilla Unit (CGU), a recognized guerrilla group headed by Colonel Mariano Castañeda. This group would eventually become the Filipino-American Cavite Guerrilla Forces (FACGF). Colonel Francisco Guerrero and the FACGF's 2nd Infantry Regiment was put in charge of Japanese resistance in Bacoor. The FAGCF, together with Filipino soldiers under the 4th, and 42nd Infantry Division of the Philippine Commonwealth Army liberated and recaptured Bacoor and 4th Constabulary Regiment of the Philippine Constabulary was defeated the Japanese Imperial Army forces from January 1, to August 15, 1945, during the Allied liberation of the Philippines.

Cityhood

During the 1990s and 2000s, Bacoor attempted to achieve cityhood status due to its growing population and tax income, with several cityhood bills filed in Congress in 1997, 2000 and 2007. On July 25, 2011, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III signed into law Republic Act No. 10160 creating the City of Bacoor. It was ratified through a plebiscite on June 23, 2012, wherein 36,226 of the town's 40,080 registered voters voted in favor of cityhood while those against were 3,854. With the incorporation of Bacoor as a city, it was divided into two legislative districts, Bacoor West and Bacoor East. During the 2013 mid-term elections, the citizens of Bacoor voted for six councilors for each districts forming a 12-person city council.

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