Making a Difference ::.

OUR MISSION FIELD

This page is all about the country where my family and I are working as Missionaries. We are currently residing in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, the 6th Region of the Philippine Archipelago.

About Bacolod City:

LOCATION, LAND AREA AND POLITICAL SUBDIVISION

Bacolod City is located on the northwestern coast of the Province of Negros Occidental. It is bounded on the northwest by the town of Talisay; on the east by the City of Silay; on the east and southwest by the town of Murcia; on the southwest by the City of Bago; and in the west by the Guimaras Strait. The global location of Bacolod City is 10 degrees, 40 minutes 40 seconds - north and 122 degrees 54 minutes 25 seconds - east with Bacolod Public Plaza as the benchmark.

Bacolod has a total land area of 16,145 hectares, including straits and bodies of water and the 124 hectare reclamation area; and is composed of 61 barangay (villages) and 639 purok (smaller units composing a village). It is accessible by sea through the ports of Banago; the BREDCO Port in the Reclamation Area, and the port of Pulupandan. By air, it is accessible through the Bacolod Airport, which is approximately three (3) (four is counting from the Lagoon) kilometers away from the center of the city.

TOPOGRAPHY

The City is ideally located on a level area, slightly sloping as it extends toward the sea with average slopes of 0.9 percent for the city proper and between 3 to 5 for the suburbs. The altitude is 32.8 feet or 10.0 meters above sea level. The benchmark is the Bacolod Public Plaza.

WATER BODIES

There are three big rivers passing the city namely, Lupit, Magsungay, and Ngalan. Lupit River and its tributaries emanates from the eastern slopes of a chain of mountain ranges in the northeast part of Mandalagan, Silay and Marapara mountains and empty into the Guimaras Strait.

Magsungay River starts from the Northwest Cordillera passing the Municipality of Murcia to Binitin, Barangay Mansilingan, Taculing, and empties into Guimaras Strait. Ngalan River and its tributaries emanates from the Northwest Cordillera passing several barangays in the city and emptying into Guimaras Strait.

Several creeks that serve as tributaries to these three big rivers are: Kataywa, Loygoy, Ambacan, Igmaluya, Mandalagan, Mambucal, Adiangan, Magsungay Pequeno, Magno, Banga-Banga, Canumayan, Pahanocoy, Quipot, Panludungon, Vito, Cabacawan, Cabadiangan, Sulum, Pitogo, Hagnaya, Quinturilan, Butuan, Calubcok, Bakyas, Cabalagnan, Tangub, and Sum-ag.

SOIL

The different varieties of soil to be found fall into several broad types and qualities. The soil in the level areas of the city are suitable for production of primary crops such as: rice, sugarcane, coconuts and vegetables. Areas adjacent to the shoreline are suited for aquamarine culture.

CLIMATE AND RAINFALL

Bacolod City has two (2) pronounced seasons, wet and dry. The rainy season is from May to January of the following year with heavy rains occurring during the months of August and September. Dry season starts in February and extends until April. December and January are the coolest months while April is the hottest. Bacolod' registers an average temperature high of 88.5 degrees Fahrenheit and an average low of 74.8 degrees Fahrenheit.

LAND USE

On January 27, 1957, the City Council of Bacolod passed and approved an ordinance "providing for the zoning of Bacolod in accordance with the general plans prepared and adopted by the National Planning Commission pursuant to Executive Order No. 98, series of 1946 and No. 367, series of 1950 of the President of the Philippines." This City Ordinance No. 140, series of 1957 was the first zoning ordinance passed in an attempt "to put order and plan for the future growth of the city". The ordinance provided only for the land use regulation. Districting or the zonification of the city was not done.
In 1966, the City Council passed an ordinance No. 859, Series of 1966, which provided for the Revised Zoning of Bacolod City in accordance with the general plans prepared and adopted by the City Planning Board of Bacolod. This ordinance divided the city into residential, commercial, light and heavy industrial districts, zones that were not stipulated in the earlier ordinance. However, Ordinance 859, series of 1966 only zonified the "poblacion" or city proper and some portions of some major roads such as Araneta Street to the south, Lacson Street to the north, Burgos Street to the east and Banago-Sibucao Road to the north-west. In effect, only about 12% to 15% of the total area of the city was zonified in 1966.

The following discussion focuses on the existing land use and estimated land use requirements of Bacolod City. The estimated land use requirements in this report are based on projected population growth, existing land use, recent trends in construction activity and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) physical planning standards.

The 2000 census survey shows that in the suburban area, the three barangays adjacent to the poblacion, namely Villamonte, Taculing and Singcang, registered the highest populations. These are followed by barangays Mansilingan, Tangub, Banago, Bata, and Mandalagan. Barangays Montevista and Cabug registered the least number of people.

Present data for Land Use reveals that 5.0 percent of the City’s total land area is commercial; 30.0 percent is residential; 7.4 percent is institutional, 2.2 percent is industrial and 51.4 is agricultural. Roads, rivers and bodies of water comprise 610 or 4.0 percent of the total land area, making a grand total of 16,145.00 hectares. Compared with the 1995 land use of the city; there is an increase of 1% in commercial land use, 3% for residential, 0.4% for institutional, 1.2% for industrial, and a decrease of 5.6% in the agricultural land area. Roads, rivers and bodies of water remain unchanged at 4%.

Table 1. Comparative Land Use
CPDO, Bacolod City

Land Use	1980	1990	1995	2000
Residential	3,165.64	3,312.57	4,420.00	4,835.00
Commercial	259.55	552.00	614.00	833.00
Industrial	28.92	82.82	170.00	350.00
Institutional	375.70	788.00	1,080.00	1,190.00
Agricultural	11,805.75	10,836.16	9,251.00	8,297.00
Sub-Total	15,606.56	15,571.55	.00	.00
Roads/Rivers	539.27	574.28	610.00	640.00
Grand Total	16,145.83	16,145.83	16,145.00	16,145.00

Table 2. Existing Land Use, 2000
CPDO, Bacolod City

Classification	Ha	%
Residential	4,675	29.0
Commercial	321	2.0
Industrial	155	1.0
Institutional	442	2.7
Parks & Open Spaces	167	1.0
Agricultural	9,101	56.4
Vacant (A)	41	0.3
Fishponds	173	1.1
Roads	827	5.1
Rivers	243	1.5
TOTAL	16,145	100.00

POPULATION LEVELS AND GROWTH

Table 3. Historical Population Growth, Annual Growth Rate
1948-2000

Year	Population	Variance	AGR %
1948	101,432	-	-
1960	119,315	17,883	1.24%
1970	187,300	67,985	3.63%
1975	223,392	36,092	3.23%
1980	262,415	39,032	2.97%
1990	364,180	101,765	3.33%
1995	402,345	38,165	1.88%
2000	429,076	26,731	1.39%

Table 3 shows that the city population grew very rapidly from 1960 to 1990. The growth rate may be attributed to the very high birth rates (just after World War II) but moderately low and declining mortality rates, also to inward migration from surrounding areas.

The 1.39 % growth rate for Year 2000 is 1.58 percent lower than the annual geometric census growth rate during the eighties and nineties. If this growth rate is maintained, the city’s population is expected to increase by almost 8,500 persons every year (almost 23 persons a day) and to double in 50 years.

Table 4. COMPARATIVE BACOLOD CITY (URBAN) POPULATION
1995 and 2000 (NSO-Actual), CPDO

Barangay	Total Population		Variance (Inc./Dec.)	% Inc./Dec.	Ave. Inc./Dec. 5 yrs.	Rank
Barangay	1995*	2000*
1	6,437	5,871	(566)	-8.79%	-113.2	15
2	3,604	3,666	62	1.72%	12.4	9
3	3,740	4,050	310	8.29%	62	5
4	2,567	2,218	(349)	-13.60%	-69.8	20
5	947	694	(253)	-26.72%	-50.6	35
6	4,367	4,448	81	1.85%	16.2	8
7	4,035	3,422	(613)	-15.19%	-122.6	22
8	5,849	5,290	(559)	-9.56%	-111.8	16
9	1,695	1,396	(299)	-17.64%	-59.8	25
10	2,540	2,682	142	5.59%	28.4	7
11	981	558	(423)	-43.12%	-84.6	39
12	2,886	1,759	(1,127)	-39.05%	-225.4	38
13	808	685	(123)	-15.22%	-24.6	23
14	4,028	4,775	747	18.55%	149.4	2
15	513	493	(20)	-3.90%	-4	10
16	4,323	3,455	(868)	-20.08%	-173.6	30
17	3,909	3,169	(740)	-18.93%	-148	28
18	1,425	1,162	(263)	-18.46%	-52.6	26
19	1,148	1,216	68	5.92%	13.6	6
20	1,485	1,210	(275)	-18.52%	-55	27
21	511	159	(352)	-68.88%	-70.4	40
22	1,285	1,134	(151)	-11.75%	-30.2	19
23	1,597	1,048	(549)	-34.38%	-109.8	36
24	202	58	(144)	-71.29%	-28.8	41
25	795	636	(159)	-20.00%	-31.8	29
26	1,942	1,716	(226)	-11.64%	-45.2	18
27	2,973	2,809	(164)	-5.52%	-32.8	11
28	2,302	1,933	(369)	-16.03%	-73.8	24
29	2,039	1,753	(286)	-14.03%	-57.2	21
30	4,224	3,871	(353)	-8.36%	-70.6	14
31	1,254	1,388	134	10.69%	26.8	3
32	1,009	1,272	263	26.07%	52.6	1
33	1,389	1,060	(329)	-23.69%	-65.8	32
34	1,248	1,111	(137)	-10.98%	-27.4	17
35	6,477	7,080	603	9.31%	120.6	4
36	2,191	2,063	(128)	-5.84%	-25.6	12
37	653	399	(254)	-38.90%	-50.8	37
38	1,165	867	(298)	-25.58%	-59.6	34
39	2,712	2,087	(625)	-23.05%	-125	31
40	3,425	3,201	(224)	-6.54%	-44.8	13
41	1,471	1,119	(352)	-23.93%	-70.4	33
City Proper	98,151	88,983	(9,168)	-9.34%	-1833.6

Table 5. COMPARATIVE BACOLOD CITY (SUB-URBAN) POPULATION
1995 and 2000 (NSO-Actual), CPDO

Barangay	Total Population		Variance (Inc./Dec.)	% Inc./Dec.	Ave. Inc./Dec. 5 yrs.	Rank
Barangay	1995	2000
Alangilan	4,223	5,827	1,604	37.98%	320.8	5
Alijis	9,801	15,342	5,541	56.54%	1,108.2	4
Banago	25,134	24,417	(717)	-2.85%	-143.4	17
Bata	22,448	23,225	777	3.46%	155.4	13
Cabug	2,262	3,960	1,698	75.07%	339.6	2
Estefania	15,719	18,691	2,972	18.91%	594.4	11
Felisa	2,326	5,183	2,857	122.83%	571.4	1
Granada	13,682	16,555	2,873	21.00%	574.6	10
Handumanan	13,255	17,756	4,501	33.96%	900.2	6
Mandalagan	15,910	18,163	2,253	14.16%	450.6	12
Mansilingan	22,811	28,464	5,653	24.78%	1,130.6	7
Montevista	1,827	1,714	(113)	-6.19%	-22.6	19
Pahanocoy	8,291	10,154	1,863	22.47%	372.6	8
Punta Taytay	4,804	4,807	3	0.06%	0.6	15
Singcang	30,546	29,019	(1,527)	-5.00%	-305.4	18
Sum-ag	13,039	11,139	(1,900)	-14.57%	-380.0	20
Taculing	33,824	34,325	501	1.48%	100.2	14
Tangub	21,398	25,962	4,564	21.33%	912.8	9
Villamonte	37,815	37,014	(801)	-2.12%	-160.2	16
Vista Alegre	5,079	8,376	3,297	64.91%	659.4	3
Total Outskirts	304,194	340,093	35,899	11.80%	7,179.8
Bacolod City	402,345	429,076	26,731	6.64%	5,346.2

The mobility of population across urban and sub-urban barangays takes various forms. Due to the development goals of the city government and land value development, it can be expected that the over-all growth rates within the urban areas will decrease, while the growth rate in the sub-urban barangay will increase.

Table 4 shows that Barangays 24, 21 and 11 had the highest decrease in population in the 2000 census. The reduction may be attributed to the relocation of squatters and the conversion of this area to commercial use.

In the sub-urban areas, Barangay Felisa, Cabug and Vista Alegre registered the highest increase in population. Population growth in these barangays may be due to the improvement of the inner circumferential road, resettlement projects, and the identification of these areas as growth nodes of infrastructure projects and other sub-urban projects.

It is projected that urban and sub-urban barangays will develop significantly as a result of the adaptation of the City Land Use Plan and the proposed growth point area with opportunity for future urban development towards the South West (Tangub, Pahanocoy) South East (Felisa, Alijis, Mansilingan) Central (Vista Alegre) and North East (Estefania, Mandalagan).