The , ( in the
Philippines . Located just north of the
City Of Manila , Caloocan is the country's third most populous city with a population of 1,177,604.
Caloocan is
divided into two areas . Southern Caloocan City lies directly north of the
City Of Manila and is bounded by
Malabon City and
Valenzuela City to the north and west,
Navotas to the west, and
Quezon City to the east. Northern Caloocan City is the northernmost territory of
Metro Manila ; it lies east of Valenzuela City, north of Quezon City, and south of
San Jose Del Monte City in the province of
Bulacan .
The city is politically subdivided into 188
Barangay s, which are not officially named but numbered simply as Barangay 1 through Barangay 188.
National Statistical Coordination Board www.nscb.gov.ph. Accessed Nov 28, 2006 However, names of barrios and districts which do not necessarily coincide with barangay perimeters, rather than numbers, are more commonly used, and some are given below.
- Amparo
- Baesa
- Bagbaguin
- Bagong Barrio (east and west)
- Bagong Silang
- Bagumbong
- Camarin
- Dagat-Dagatan
- Deparo
- Grace Park
- Kaybiga
- Libis
- Llano
- Malaria
- Maypajo
- Morning Breeze
- Pangarap
- Sangandaan
- Santa Quiteria
- Tala
- Talipapa
- University Hills Subdivision
- Villa Luisa
]]
See Also: Philippine Revolution
The city is historically significant because it was the center of activities for the ''
Katipunan '', the secret militant society that launched the
Philippine Revolution . It was in a house in Caloocan where secret meetings were held by
Andres Bonifacio and his men, and it was within the city's perimeters where the very first armed encounter took place between the ''Katipunan'' and the Spaniards.
The word ''caloocan'' comes from the
Tagalog root word ''lo-ok''; ''kalook-lookan'' (or ''kaloob-looban'') means "innermost area". The City borders many other cities such as Quezon City, Manila, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela and San Jose Del Monte Bulacan on the north. During the formation of Rizal Province, Caloocan was included in its matrix until it became a city in 1962.
The city's most celebrated landmark is the monument of Philippine revolutionary
Andres Bonifacio , which is located at the end of
Epifanio De Los Santos Avenue (EDSA). The memorial was erected in 1933 with sculptures crafted by national artist
Guillermo Tolentino to mark the very first battle of the Philippine revolution on
August 3 ,
1896 . Recent renovations have been made on the environs of the monument, including the
Bonifacio Circle , its former site, and the Caloocan stretch of EDSA, which is 100 meters away from the landmark. The whole area is now known as
Monumento .
The
Light Rail Transit (LRT-1) has a terminal at Monumento. The railway traverses Rizal Avenue Extension of Caloocan City, into the City of Manila and Pasay City. The whole stretch can be traveled in about 30 minutes.
Caloocan City's 10th Avenue area is well-known for the clusters of motorcycle dealers and motorcycle spare parts dealers. Among the major and famous streets are P. Zamora Street and A. Mabini Street.
The city's lone public university is the
University Of Caloocan City (formerly Caloocan City Polytechnic College). Other educational institution of higher learning are the
University Of The East - Caloocan ,
World Citi Colleges and
Manila Central University . Several prestigious high schools, such as
Notre Dame Of Greater Manila ,
Caloocan City Science High School ,
Systems Plus Computer College ,
Philippine Cultural High School (Annex),
St. Mary's Academy Of Caloocan City (Known as SMACC and formerly known as OLGA or
Our Lady Of Grace Academy ),
St. Clare College Of Caloocan , and
La Consolacion College , are situated in the city.
The city hall is located on A. Mabini Avenue, across the street from
San Roque Parish Cathedral .
The
North Luzon Expressway Operations and Maintenance Center and the Balintawak Toll Barrier are also housed in Caloocan City.
Caloocan once encompassed a much bigger area without being bisected into north and south. During the formation of Quezon City, the districts that are now Balintawak and Novaliches were divvied up and excluded from Caloocan and added to the newly-established Quezon City. Balintawak is a historic district because it was the original site of the "Cry of Pugad Lawin" (''Unang Sigaw sa Balintawak'') at a location called "Kang-kong" near Tandang Sora's house. Novaliches was an expansive sector with some hillsides that served as meeting places and hideouts for Andres Bonifacio and the ''Katipunan''. Teodoro Agoncillo, a Filipino historian, once qouted in the book authored by another historian and National Artist Nick Joaquin ''MANILA! MY MANILA!'' the apportioning of Caloocan: "It is a barbaric act that Balintawak was chopped off from its original matrix.. Kalookan".
