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Wikipedia / Mandaue

Mandaue (), officially the City of Mandaue (; ), is a highly urbanized city of Cebu in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 364,482 people.

It is geographically located on the central-eastern coastal region of Cebu by Philippine Statistics Authority but administratively independent from the province. Its southeast coast borders Mactan Island where Lapu-Lapu City is located and is connected to the island via two bridges: the Mactan-Mandaue Bridge and Marcelo Fernan Bridge. Mandaue is bounded on the north by the town of Consolacion, to the east by the Camotes Sea, and to the west and south by Cebu City.

Mandaue is one of the three highly urbanized cities in Cebu, alongside Cebu City and Lapu-Lapu City, and is part of the Metro Cebu metropolitan area. It was part of the sixth district of Cebu joined with the municipalities of Consolacion and Cordova - it was qualified for a lone district since 1991. On April 5, 2019, the city became a lone legislative district. As of June 30, 2022, Mandaue had its first representation in the 19th Congress of the Philippines.

History

A community was established in Mandaue by a flourishing group of Austronesian people. The Venetian chronicler Antonio Pigafetta wrote of a settlement called "Mandaui" which existed in the area with a chieftain named Apanoaan some called him Lambuzzan in other accounts.

Mandaue natives were forced into a town as decreed by the Spanish authorities. This may have started off as a mission village (which included present day Consolacion, Liloan and Poro) serving as a bulwark for the church in the northern Cebu and was managed by the Jesuit in 1638 then a century later by the Recollects. During the year 1818, Mandaue had tributes representing 2,729 native families and 20 Spanish-Filipino families.

The Philippine Revolution of 1898 gave the town a new form of administration in accordance with the organic decree of the Central Revolutionary Government. The short-lived revolution was overthrown by the American troops and a battle nearly destroyed the town in 1901, killing Presidente Benito Ceniza.

Mandaue functioned as a semi-autonomous town under the jurisdiction of Cebu. Although it was developed and organized during the Spanish period and experienced population growth over time, it was not elevated to an independent municipality by Spanish authorities. Following the death of Presidente Ceniza and the establishment of American rule, the town’s long-standing aspiration for independence was realized. In 1901, Mandaue was formally established as an independent municipality.

Mandaue became independent from being an American Commonwealth and a Japanese garrison on July 4, 1946, along with the entire nation.

Cityhood

On August 30, 1969, Mandaue became a chartered city and decades later it was recognized as a highly urbanized city on February 15, 1991. In early-April 2019, Mandaue separated from the sixth district and, since 2022, is represented under its lone district.

Geography

The city has a total area of . According to the 2020 census, the population density is . The city is the 6th smallest government unit in terms of land area; among the Metro Cebu local government units the city is the second smallest next to the municipality of Cordova in the island of Mactan. The city's land area is only 4.5% of the total land area of Metro Cebu and less than 1% of the total land of the province of Cebu.

The North Reclamation Project, now known as the North Special Administrative Zone, currently has about reclaimed land. Of the 180 hectares, about belong to the city.

It is one of the two (the other one being the municipality of Consolacion) local government units located within the mainland Metro Cebu where the elevation of land is less than .

Many of the areas of the city are extremely flat. About 77.37% is within the 0-8% slope category. Barangays belonging to this region are Centro, Looc, South Special Administrative Zone, Cambaro, Opao, Umapad, Paknaan, Alang-alang, Tipolo, Ibabao, Guizo, Subangdaku, Mantuyong, Maguikay and Tabok. The greater portion of the city, comprising about 70%, is dominated by the Mandaue Clay Loam soil series. This is found in the 0-2% and 2-5% slope ranges. Faraon clay loam characterizes the rest of the land with slope range from 5-8% and up to 25-40%.

Climate

Barangays

Mandaue is politically subdivided into 27 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Demographics

Data showed that the oldest written accounts of Mandaue came from a population of 160 in 1637 to 1638. Mandaue had 10,309 souls according to the . During the first year of its township in 1899, Mandaue had 42 barrios with a population of 21,086. When Mandaue was a second-class municipality in 1964, its population was 33,811.

According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 364,482 people. Among all the Philippine's highly urbanized cities, the City of Mandaue posted the highest proportion of household population who reported Roman Catholic as their religious affiliation at 95.2%. Mandaue has a significantly large population at or below the poverty line.

Economy

About 40 percent of Cebu's export companies are found in Mandaue. The city is dubbed as the industrial hub of Region VII and hosts about 10,000 industrial and commercial businesses, making it a "little rich city" in the country.

It is home to some of the world's biggest companies such as San Miguel Corp., Coca-Cola Bottling Corp. Shemberg, the number one exporter of carrageenan, Monde Nissin, Profood International Corp., and 7D Dried Mangoes. The bakery chain Julie's Bakeshop also opened its first branch in the city's Wireless district on January 6, 1981. Mandaue City also accounts for 75 percent of the country's total exports in the furniture sector, making the city the furniture capital of the country. One of these furniture companies is Mandaue Foam which started in 1971 and now has 25 factories and showrooms nationwide.

Tourism

Mandaue's point of interests, destinations, and attractions include:

  1. Natural areas

  2. Monkey Caves

  3. Cansaga Bay

  4. Butuanon River

  5. Casili Hills

  6. Jagobiao Spring

  7. Cabancalan-Banilad Sinkholes

  8. Mahiga River

  9. Historical locations

  10. Bantayan Sa Hari

  11. National Shrine of Saint Joseph

  12. Mandaue Presidencia, City Hall

  13. Ouano Wharf

  14. Mandaue Salt Beds

  15. Eversley Childs Sanitarium

  16. Rizal-Bonifacio Memorial Library

  17. Bathan Press

  18. San Miguel Brewery

  19. Rainbow Lane

  20. Cebu International Convention Center

  21. Museums

  22. 856 G Gallery

  23. Luis Cabrera Ancestral House and Museum

  24. Mandaue City Public Library

  25. Quijano Museum

  26. Parks

  27. City Plaza

  28. Bridge Park

  29. Ibabao Mandaue Agri-Eco Park

  30. Subangdaku Wireless Sports Center

  31. Cebu Westown Lagoon

  32. WaterWorld Cebu

  33. Sports

  34. Wireless Plaza and Sports Complex

  35. Mandaue City Sports and Cultural Complex

  36. Mandaue Tennis Complex

  37. Portside Badminton Plaza

  38. Quick Points Badminton Club

  39. San Roque Football Club

  40. Sacred Heart–Ateneo de Cebu Sports Complex

  41. Cebu Golf Academy

  42. Gorilla Booth Camp

  43. Retail and mixed-use developments

  44. Ayala Malls Gatewalk Central (under construction)

  45. Bridges Town Square

  46. City Times Square

  47. Insular Square Mall

  48. Mandani Bay

  49. Oakridge Business Park

  50. Pacific Mall

  51. Parkmall

  52. SM J Mall (formerly J Centre Mall)

Fiestas

Mandaue Fiesta: Celebrated on May 8 in honor of the town patron, Saint Joseph. Activities that are typically held during this feast are the procession, inter-barangay sports competition, Miss Mandaue (the longest-running beauty competition in the province), rodeos, street festival (Mantawi Festival), bailes, fairs, and many more.

Panagtagbo sa Mandaue: This is Mandaue's current major festival in honor of the Holy Family. This is celebrated every 2nd week of January on the eve of the Traslacion (Transfer of Relic), of one of the significant religious events of the Sinulog Festival which commemorates the union of the Holy Family. In the Translacion, the Santo Niño and the Virgin of Guadalupe come and stay over at the shrine of Saint Joseph in Mandaue for an overnight vigil. This happens on a Friday, and on the early morning of the following Saturday, a fluvial procession is held on Cebu Strait going back to the Basilica . In the festival, there are singing and dancing competitions with a street dancing during the Bibingkahan in honor of Santo Niño. At night, there is a ritual showdown performance which is the highlight of the cultural-religious events.

Kabayo Festival: The Kabayo (Horse) festival also known as Governor's Cup is a horse racing and different equestrian sports with the western way of riding event held annually in the second week of February.

Pasigarbo sa Sugbo: It is a festival showcasing Cebu's culture, faith, history, products, and festivals from each individual town. It is held annually around August 6 which is the Charter day of the Province of Cebu. It was formerly held in Mandaue City at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC), but was transferred to the Cebu City Sports Complex in Cebu City in 2019 due to the abandoned and disrepaired state of the convention center.

Cuisine

Mandaue has many restaurants which cater to gourmets and international cuisines like Italian, Japanese, Indian, Mediterranean, Lebanese, Arabic, Russian, Korean, Mexican, and Western cuisines. A variety of restaurants also serves meals of local cuisine.

Many famous Cebuano meals like the lechon or inasal, eaten with achara or pickled vegetables. The sugba or barbecue of either isda (fish), baboy (pork), manok (chicken) or baka (beef) is found all over Mandaue eaten with puso, a diamond-shaped hanged rice covered in coco leaves. Kinilaw is raw meat usually pork or fish drenched in vinegar and salt. The buwad or dried seafood, either fish or squid, can be pungent with a crunchy and chewy texture. There are some exotic meals that can be found like dinuguan or pig's blood which is eaten like a soup. Barbecued chicken feet are liked by many locals.

Original cuisine in Mandaue includes bibingka which is steamed rice cakes mixed with coconut and sometimes egg. Binangos paired with rice is made of ground up corn with Bolinao fish. This dish is found only in Mandaue; other delicacies includes the tagaktak, the seasonal buriring fish (stewed with iba) and the famous masareal.

Transportation

Mandaue City's road network is composed of a national highway which connects the city to its neighboring cities and municipalities, and a national secondary road which traverses the city's metropolitan area. The total length of the city road network (paved and unpaved) and the four bridges, is about , broken down into:

  • National road -

  • City road -

  • Barangay road -

Road density is of land. In terms of population, road density is per one thousand inhabitants.

Land transportation is being served by PUJ, utility vehicles, mini-buses, multi-cabs, tricycles, trisikads and for cargoes, trailers and vans. Sea transport of Mandaue is highly dependent on Port of Cebu and Cebu International Port, because of the city's proximity to these facilities.

MyBus expansion is a 9.5 kilometers new road starting from boundary of SM City Cebu – Cebu International Port to SM City J Mall in October 2024. In 2017, it began operations along City di Mare at the South Road Properties.

Education

Mandaue's higher education institutions within the city limits include Mandaue City College (MCC), the University of Cebu – Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue (UCLM), Cebu Doctors' University (CDU), Gullas College of Medicine (GCM), the University of Cebu School of Medicine (UC Med), Benedicto College, Saint Louis College – Cebu (SLC-C), the University of the Visayas – Mandaue Campus, ACLC College Mandaue, and Larmen De Guia Memorial College.

The city’s K–12 education system of Mandaue comprises 49 public schools, including 27 elementary and 22 high school alongside roughly 56 to 57 private and international schools, which generally offer integrated programs covering Kindergarten through Senior High School on single campuses.

Mandaue has institutionalized learning with the Cabahug Medal which was started on 1923 by Sotero Cabahug as a medal of academic excellence annually. The Mandaue Fraternal Society was also created in the early part of the 19th century to provide a community for the professionals during the time when Mandaue was still a sleepy town.

Media

NOTE: Television and radio stations from Cebu City are also primarily served in this area.

Television

Television stations based in Mandaue City:

Radio

Radio stations licensed in Mandaue City:

Sister cities

Local

International

Notes

References

Sources

  • [ Philippine Standard Geographic Code]