City of Dumaguete Dakbayan sa Dumaguete Lungsod ng Dumaguete
Official seal of City of Dumaguete Seal
Nickname(s): The City of Gentle People, University Town
Map of Negros Oriental showing the location of Dumaguete City
Coordinates: 09°19′N 123°18′E / 9.317°N 123.3°E / 9.317; 123.3
Country	Philippines
Region	Central Visayas (Region VII)
Province	Negros Oriental
District	2nd district of Negros Oriental
Income Class	3rd Class
Chartered as City	June 15, 1948
Barangays	30
Government
• Mayor	Chiquiting Sagarbarria[1]
• Vice Mayor	Alan Cordova[1]
Area
• Total	34.26 km2 (13.23 sq mi)
Population (2010)
• Total	120,883
• Density	3,500/km2 (9,100/sq mi)
Time zone	PST (UTC+8)
Zip code	6200
Area code	35
Website	none

The Dumaguete Belfry is the city's most popular architectural landmark. It was built in 1760s and 1870s to warn townfolks of attacks by marauding pirates.

The City of Dumaguete is a city in the Philippine province of Negros Oriental. It is the capital, principal seaport, and largest city of the province. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 120,883 people. A person from Dumaguete is called a "Dumagueteño". The city is nicknamed The City of Gentle People.^[2]

Dumaguete is referred to as a university town because of the presence of four universities and a number of other colleges where students of the province converge to enroll for tertiary education. The city is also a popular educational destination for students of surrounding provinces and cities in Visayas and Mindanao. The city is best known for Silliman University, the country's first Protestant university and the first American private university in Asia.^[3][4] There are also 12 elementary schools and 9 high schools. The city's student population is estimated at 30,000.^[2]

The city attracts a considerable number of foreign tourists, particularly Europeans, because of easy ferry access from Cebu City, the availability of beach resorts and dive sites, and the attraction of dolphin and whale watching in nearby Bais City.

The city has a domestic airport which provides three daily flights to and from Manila through Cebu Pacific and two daily flights through Philippine Airlines and daily flights to Cebu City through Cebu Pacific.^[5]

The power source of the city comes from the geothermal power plant in Palinpinon, Valencia. The city has redundant fiber optic lines and is a focal point for telecommunications. It is the landing point for fiber optic cables linking it to Manila, the capital of the Philippines, the cities south of Luzon, as well as to other major cities in southern Philippines.^[6]

History[link]

"Dumaguete" was coined from the Visayan word "daggit" which means "to snatch". Because of the frequent marauding attacks of the pirates on this once coastal town, and the power to attract and keep her visitors for good, the word "dumaguet" was coined, meaning "to swoop". Thus the name was christened to the village of Dumaguete. However, Diego Lopez Povedano in 1572 indicated the place as "Dananguet". But in 1734, Murillo Velarde referred to it using its present name of Dumaguete.

In 1890, the island-province of Negros was divided into two politico-military provinces, Occidental and Oriental. As earlier constituted, in 1898, Dumaguete was included in Negros Oriental. After the Philippine-American War, on May 1, 1901, a civil government was established by the Americans in the Province of Negros Oriental, including Dumaguete.

When World War II broke out, the city was occupied by the Japanese Imperial Forces on May 26, 1942. It was liberated on April 26, 1945 by the combined forces of the United States, Filipino Soldiers and the recognized guerrillas.

The establishment of the local military general headquarters and camp base of the Philippine Commonwealth Army from 1942 to 1946 and the Philippine Constabulary 7th Infantry Regiment from 1944 to 1946 was stationed and located in Dumagette during World War II.

Three years later on June 15, 1948, 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 climate[link]

The promenade along Rizal Boulevard, facing the Tañon Strait.

Topography[link]

The City has a land area of 34.26 km², situated on the plains of the southeastern coast of Negros Island near the mouth of the Banica River. Of the province's 19 municipalities and 6 cities, Dumaguete is the smallest in terms of land area. It is bounded on the north by the Municipality of Sibulan; on the south by the Municipality of Bacong; and on the west by the Municipality of Valencia. As a coastal city, it is bounded on the east by the Mindanao Sea and the Tañon Strait, serving as a natural border to the neighboring provinces of Cebu, Bohol, 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 land have slopes of less than 3%. The remaining areas have 3% to 5% slope.

Climate[link]

Dumaguete has two seasons, namely; the dry and the wet seasons. The wet season covers the period from June to November, and the dry season starts from December to May, the hottest being April and May. The average maximum temperature is 34.3 °C and the average minimum temperature is 22.9 °C for the past years. The relative humidity of the locality for the past years was 78¾% with the month of December registering the highest.

Political Subdivisions[link]

Provincial Capitol of Negros Oriental.

Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria and a monument to José Rizal in Quezon Park.

Dumaguete is politically subdivided into 30 barangays, all classified as urban. The eight barangays in the city's downtown area are known primarily by number. The smallest barangay is Barangay 4 with an area of only 5.11 hectares, while the biggest barangay is Barangay Banilad with 362.71 hectares.

Demographics[link]

As of the census of 2007, there are 116,392 people and 21,582 households residing in the city. It has also an average daylight population of 400,000 people, mostly shoppers and employees of establishments in the city coming from nearby municipalities and provinces such as Southern Cebu, Siquijor, Northern and Southern Negros. Dumaguete City is the most populous city in Negros Oriental, comprising 9.05% of the province's total population. Unlike the national profile, the male population dominates by 6% more than the female population.

Dumaguete has one of the lowest crime rates among Philippine cities of its size.

Education[link]

Dumaguete is best known for Silliman University.^[8]

Dumaguete has earned the distinction of being known as "the center of learning in the south," or a "university town" due to the presence of universities that have made their mark nationally and abroad. The city is a melting pot of students, professionals, artists, scholars and the literati coming from different parts of the country and the world.

Silliman University is the dominant institution of higher learning in Dumaguete, providing the city with a distinct university town atmosphere. It is the first Protestant university in the country and the first American private university in Asia. The 610,000 m² campus is adjacent to and intermixed with the city's downtown district. It is the 4th top performing school in the Philippines, and 2nd if the University of the Philippines System is taken as one, according to a survey conducted by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).^[9] It is ranked among the top 150 universities in Asia in International Students' Review by the QS Quacquarelli Symonds, an institution that ranks the world's top universities.^[10] Some of its buildings have likewise been recognized as landmarks. These buildings include the Silliman Hall, Katipunan Hall, the Luce Auditorium, and the Silliman Main Library (considered as one of the biggest libraries in the Philippines) ^{[2][11][12][13]}

Other universities located in the city are Foundation University, a private non-sectarian university, it does not only offer college education but it also offers kindergarten, grade school, and high school education. Negros Oriental State University (or NORSU, with two main campuses: NORSU main 1 and 2), and Saint Paul University of Dumaguete (1904), which is the first Saint Paul educational institution to be established in the Philippines by the Sisters of Saint Paul of Chartres (SPC) from France.SPUD is best known for College Courses like Tourism, Business Education,Mass Communication and Nursing Education. With the exception of NORSU, these universities also have grade schools and high schools.

Economy[link]

Tourism, the academe, BPO and technology-related activities, and the retail industries are the major sources of income for the city. The academe alone pumps more than Php2 billion of economic activity to the city annually. BPOs and IT firms, as well as retailing, are the fastest rising industries.

Banking and Finance[link]

Among the biggest financial institutions with branches in various parts of the city are Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI),^[14] Metrobank,^[15] Banco de Oro (BDO)^[16], RCBC, Robinsons Bank, Philippine Veterans Bank, and the Bank of Commerce. Also present are finance-based cooperatives such as the Perpetual Help Credit Cooperative, Inc. (PHCCI) and the Dumaguete Cathedral Credit Cooperative Inc. (DCCCO). The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has opened a new office building located on a one hectare land in the city's uptown area.^[17]

Hotel and Tourism[link]

Data from the Department of Tourism show that Dumaguete and Negros Oriental are among the top ten most visited tourist destinations in the country.^[18] Tourists visit popular sites such as the Rizal Boulevard, Silliman Hall, and Campañario de Dumaguete which is considered as one of the oldest heritage landmarks of Central Visayas.

The city has numerous hotels that cater to the growing number of tourists visiting the city every year. Robinsons Land Corporation's gohotel has recently opened at the vicinity of Robinsons Place Dumaguete.^[19] Other notable hotels are Bethel Guest House along the Boulevard, Hotel Palwa and Hotel Nicanor in the downtown area, as well as Coco Grande and Harold's Mansion near Silliman University. Numerous hotels are currently under construction in various areas in the city, including a high rise hotel-the C&L Bay View Inn owned by the C&L Hotel group. A 10-storey high rise hotel along Veterans Avenue is expected to be completed within 2012.

TeleTech office in Dumaguete

Real Estate[link]

Along with the city's brisk economy, the real estate industry here is also showing vibrancy. Dumaguete and surrounding areas have been rated by the country's realtors as one of the fastest growing areas in the Philippines. Aside from Robinsons Land Corporation (RLC), the major real estate developers in the city and surrounding areas that are developing subdivisions are Camella Homes of Vista Land Corporation, and Philsouth Properties.

Business Process Outsourcing[link]

Dumaguete's growing outsourcing industry is vastly diversified with services ranging from call centers, publishing, medical transcription, animation, editing, architectural outsourcing, etc. With more than a dozen IT and BPO locators, Dumaguete City is becoming one of the preferred Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Information Technology (IT) hubs of the Philippines.^[20] Among the notable BPO companies operating in the city are SPi Global (CRM, Health Care, and Content Solutions), TeleTech, NarraSupport, Qualfon, JTI Global, StudentUniverse Corporation, SOPHI, Inc, Entheos IT, Rapid Data Services, Inc., Zero One Concept, etc. There are various IT Parks in Dumaguete and surrounding areas, most of them catering to large scale operations. Being developed are the IT Park in Bantayan in the northern part of the City, and the second IT park of Federated Realty, Inc. in Sibulan.

Retail[link]

Cang's Inc.[link]

A new shopping establishment owned by Cang's Inc. located just outside the city's downtown area. It is mainly a supermarket with a nice food court occupied by popular food establishments, and other stores selling items needed by an urban dweller.

EverMall[link]

This is a newly redeveloped shopping complex in the downtown area that has a wide array of shops selling footwear, foodstuffs, clothing, gadgets, etc.

Lee Super Plaza[link]

A 5 story plus basement department store and supermarket, with boutiques of popular brands and located along Perdices street. Owned and operated by Dynamic Development Corporation, it is a major shopping establishment in the city.

Lee Plaza Hypermart[link]

A hypermarket located along the Dumaguete-Valencia Highway in Barangay Bagacay. Owned and operated by Dynamic Development Corporation, this mall has an IT zone occupied by sister companies ePLDT Ventus, a call center company now rebranded as SPi CRM, and the KPO/BPO firm SPi Technologies.

Robinsons Place Dumaguete[link]

Robinsons Place Dumaguete

A 6 hectare mall located in the Dumaguete Business Park in Barangay Calindagan. This mall with over 45,000 square meter floor area is operated by Robinsons Land Corporation with main anchors Robinsons Supermarket, Robinsons Department Store, Toys 'R Us, and Robinsons Movieworld. (see Robinsons Place Dumaguete)

Health Services[link]

Silliman Medical Center (SUMCFI)

Dumaguete has three major tertiary hospitals, namely the Holy Child Hospital, Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital, and the Silliman Medical Center which is currently associated with St.Luke's Medical Center in Metro Manila^[21] and considered one of the best hospitals outside Metro Manila and Metro Cebu. Dumaguete is also among the very few cities in the country that have world class laser eye centers.

Transportation[link]

Air[link]

Sibulan Airport

Sibulan Airport (IATA: DGT, ICAO: RPVD) also known as Dumaguete Airport.^{[citation needed]}

Land[link]

Dumaguete has three major roads namely Veterans Avenue, Perdices Street, and Rizal Boulevard. A circumferential road is currently constructed west of Dumaguete.

Tricycles, jeepneys, and taxis are the major modes of transportation in the city. Bus transportation is also available for traveling outside Dumaguete with 3 major bus stations.

Notable residents[link]

The following people are notable residents, past and present, from Dumaguete City:

• Angel C. Alcala, Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Public Service and former Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources^[22]
• Juanita Amatong, former Secretary of the Department of Finance^[23]
• César Ruiz Aquino, Writer and four-time Carlos Palanca Memorial Award winner^[24]
• Leonor Briones, former Treasurer of the Philippines^[25]
• Antonio Fortich, Catholic bishop and social activist^[26]
• Beauty Gonzalez, actress, Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Edition Plus 4th Teen Placer^[27][28][29]
• Bret Jackson, Pinoy Big Brother Housemate.^[30][31]
• Mark Javier, archer and Philippine delegate to the Beijing Olympics^[32][33]
• Eddie Romero, filmmaker and National Artist for Cinema and Broadcast Arts.^[34]
• Margarito Teves, Secretary of the Department of Finance^[35]
• Edith Tiempo, writer and National Artist for Literature.^[36]
• Edilberto Tiempo, writer^[37]

Sister cities[link]

• Yeongdong County, South Korea
• Makati City, Philippines
• Hawaii, United States

References[link]

External links[link]

• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• National Statistics Office 2007 Census
• Official Website of the City of Dumaguete
• All about Dumaguete and surrounding areas
• Local Governance Performance Management System

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Coordinates: 9°19′N 123°18′E / 9.317°N 123.3°E / 9.317; 123.3