Dumaguete History
The city’s name derived from the two Visayan words “Daggit” which means to “snatch”, because of the frequent attacked of the Muslim pirates in the coastal area of the place they robbed and snatch the properties of the people living near the area. The other one is “Dumaguet” which means to swoop or to attract and keep visitors for good, and in 1572 Diego Lopez Povedano signified “Dananguet” as the new name of the place but it was later changed by Murillo Velarde in 1734 into Dumaguete.
The island of Negros was divided into two politico-military provinces under Spanish colony 1890, the Occidental and Oriental Negros. Dumaguete was constituted under the governance of Negros Oriental in 1898 and after the Philippine –American War, on May 1, 1901; a civil government was established by the American in the Province of Negros Oriental, including Dumaguete.
Another foreign invader occupied the city of Dumaguete when the World War II heated up in May 26, 1942. The Japanese military established their own government and control the city for almost three years before they fall to the American soldiers. On April 26, 1945 the city was freed in the hands of Japanese tyranny by the combined force of American solders and Filipino fighting guerillas. On June 15, 1948 or three years later, Republic Act No. 327, created the City of Dumaguete. Later, on June 21, 1969, Republic Act No. 5797 was enacted, otherwise known as the Revised Charter of Dumaguete City.
Geography and Topography
The city of Dumaguete only acquired small land area compared to the other neighboring cities. The city is situated by municipality of Sibulan in the north; municipality of Bacong in the south and on the west by the beautiful town of Valencia. Dumaguete was also considered as a coastal city, it surrounded on the east by the sea of Mindanao and the Tanon Strait, which serves as a natural border to the neighboring island of Cebu and Siquijor.
The city’s topography is generally flat from two to six kilometers from the shoreline. It slopes gently upwards to the adjoining municipality of Valencia. The highest ground elevation is located at the boundary of the municipality of Valencia, about one hundred meters above mean sea level. About 93% of the lands have slopes of less than 3%. The remaining areas have 3% to 5% slope.