General Emilio Aguinaldo, officially the Municipality of General Emilio Aguinaldo (), is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Cavite Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite (; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region. On the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest of Manila, i ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 23,973 people. Formerly known and still commonly referred to as Bailen, the municipality was renamed ''General Emilio Aguinaldo'' in honor of

Emilio Aguinaldo Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy (: March 22, 1869February 6, 1964) was a Filipino revolutionary, statesman, and military leader who became the first List of presidents of the Philippines, president of the Philippines (1899–1901), and the first pre ...

, the first

president of the Philippines The president of the Philippines (, sometimes referred to as ) is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-ch ...

and a native of Cavite.

Etymology

The town is also known by its former official name, ''Bailen'', named after the Spanish town of the same name. The town was established in 1858, the 50th anniversary of the Spanish victory against France in the

Battle of Bailén The Battle of Bailén was fought in 1808 between the Spanish Army's Army of Andalusia, under General Francisco Javier Castaños and the French Imperial Army's 2nd Gironde Observational Corps under Divisional-General Pierre Dupont de l'Étan ...

that was fought in 1808 during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

. The municipality's current official name was adopted in 1965 and is named after

, the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the

First Philippine Republic The Philippine Republic (), now officially remembered as the First Philippine Republic and also referred to by historians as the Malolos Republic, was a state established in Malolos, Bulacan, during the Philippine Revolution against the Spanish ...

and a native of

who died the year before. In 2012, municipality administrators voted to revert the town's name back to Bailen; however, this was never ratified.

History

The municipality of General Emilio Aguinaldo used to be a separate Catholic parish in the adjacent town of Maragondon. It was founded by virtue of a decree issued on August 28, 1857, by

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Fray Aranguren, OSA, of the

Archdiocese of Manila In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. The decree separated the barrios of Batas and Guyong-guyong from the town of Maragondon, naming the new parish ''Bailen'' after a town in the province of Jaén. It is recounted that a group of citizens from Barrio Batas petitioned Spanish Governor-General Fernando Norzagaray to convert their barrio into a municipality because of its distance from the town proper. Giving due course to the petition, the Spanish governor approved the request on August 2, 1858. The American civil government, from 1899 to 1901, reduced the number of towns to facilitate the military policy of concentrating the civilian population of the poblaciones. The

Philippine Commission The Philippine Commission was the name of two bodies, both appointed by the president of the United States, to assist with governing the Philippines. The First Philippine Commission, also known as the Schurman Commission, was appointed by Pre ...

approved Act No. 947 on October 15, 1903, annexing the municipalities of Bailen and Mendez to

Alfonso Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic Kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. I ...

, thus becoming barrios of Alfonso. Bailen was reconverted into an independent municipality in 1915 with the complete restoration of peace and order in Cavite. On June 19, 1965, with the signing of Republic Act No. 4346, the town's name, Bailen, was changed to ''General Emilio Aguinaldo'', in honor of the first Philippine president, who died the year prior. On September 3, 2012, administrators voted to revert the town's name back to Bailen. The Cavite Provincial Board unanimously approved Committee Report 118-2012, renaming General Emilio Aguinaldo, during the 95th Regular Session. However, the plebiscite to rename the municipality was never held.

Geography

General Emilio Aguinaldo is located from Metro Manila. It is bordered to the north and east by the town of Maragondon, by

to the south, and by Magallanes to the west.

Barangays

Bailen is politically subdivided into 14

barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...

s, as indicated in the matrix below. Each barangay consists of

purok A ''purok'' () is an informal division within a barangay in the Philippines. While not officially considered a local government unit (LGU), a ''purok'' often serves as a unit for delivering services and administration within a barangay. ''Pur ...

s and some have

sitios A ''sitio'' (Spanish language, Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own bar ...

. Currently, there are 4 barangays which are classified as urban.

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo was 23,973 people, with a density of .

Economy

Government

Local government

The following are the elected officials of the town elected last May 9, 2022 which serves until 2025:

References

External links

Profile: General Emilio Aguinaldo - Official Website of the Province of CaviteProfile: General Emilio Aguinaldo, Cavite - DILG Calabarzon Region
* Philippine Standard Geographic Code {{Authority control Municipalities of Cavite