Dapitan

Dapitan Lungsod ng Dapitan Lungsod ng Dapitan Dakbayan sa Dapitan Ciudad de Dapitan
Component City
A statue of Jose Rizal in City Plaza of Dapitan.
Nickname:  Shrine City of the Philippines
Map showing the location of Dapitan City in Zamboanga del Norte.

Rizal Shirine

The City of Dapitan (Subanen: Gembagel G'benwa Dapitan/Bagbenwa Dapitan, Cebuano: Dakbayan sa Dapitan, Spanish/Chavacano: Ciudad de Dapitan) is a 6th class city in the province of Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 77,441 inhabitants. It is historically significant as being the place where the national hero, Jose Rizal was exiled by the Spaniards and is known as the "Shrine City in the Philippines." The city also boasts of Fantasyland, the first amusement park in the Visayas-Mindanao region. Dapitan is notoriously known as the principal base of the infamous Jalosjos political clan.

History

The beginnings of the settlement now known as the city of Dapitan predates the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores on the island of Mindanao. The Subanens, a nomadic tribe of Indo-Malayan stock, were the earliest known settlers who lived along river banks or "suba", from which word they received their present tribal identity as Subanen. However, it is believed that the timid Subanens were forced to move further into the hinterlands of the Zamboanga peninsula out of fear that pirates may seek shelter during foul weather in the natural harbors of Dapitan’s irregular coastlines. They are now mainly found in the mountainous areas of Zamboanga del Sur and Misamis Occidental.

Early cartographers of the Philippines showed Dapitan’s location in their maps of Mindanao using a variety of names by which they had known the settlement, such as “Dapito” in Kaerius’ map of 1598, “Dapite” in Dudley’s map of 1646, “Dapyto” in Sanson’s map of 1652, and “Dapitan” in Moll’s map of the East Indies of 1729 and in Murillo Velarde’s map of 1734.

There are two versions of how Dapitan got its name. The first, from an account attributed to Fr. Urdaneta, infers that the name evolved from the original reference to it as "Daquepitan", which later became "Dacpitan" and finally "Dapitan" to make it easier to pronounce.

The second version, which is more widely accepted according to folklore, says that the name derives from the Cebuano word “Dapit”, which means “to invite”. Local tradition tells of the early settlers from Panglao in Bohol who were invited over by Datu Pagbuaya, the acknowledged founder of Dapitan, to join him in "Dakung Yuta", or literally the big land that is Mindanao. The invitation or pag-dapit that he extended to Boholanos is said to be how Dapitan got its name.

Various historical accounts also indicate that trading voyages and commercial relations existed with the nascent but thriving settlement of Dapitan. This interaction with traders from the different cultures in the region may have had some influence on the cultural evolution of Dapitan itself. The influence of the Spaniards, the Americans, the Japanese, and the different Visayan ethnolinguistic groups that settled here could not also be discounted in their contributions toward the evolution and emergence of a distinctly Dapitanon culture.

Festivals

Dapitan City has launched a diversified fiesta celebration of its Patron St. James or Señor Santiago for the locals through a three-in-one affair, combining religious, cultural and sports events in its Kinabayo Festival 2009.

The Kinabayo Festival kicked off July 16 and will culminate on July 31 with various events taking place within the Shrine City of the Philippines.

Barangays

Dapitan City is politically subdivided into 50 barangays. In 1955, the sitios of Sipalok, Barcelona, and Potungan were converted into barrios.

Aliguay Antipolo Aseniero Ba-ao Bagting (Pob.) Banbanan Banonong (Pob.) Barcelona Baylimango Burgos Canlucani Carang Cawa-cawa (Pob.) Dampalan Daro Dawo (Pob.) Diwa-an

Guimputlan Hilltop Ilaya Kauswagan Larayan Linabo (Pob.) Liyang Maria Cristina Maria Uray Masidlakon Napo Opao Oro Owaon Oyan Polo

Potol (Pob.) Potungan San Francisco San Nicolas San Pedro San Vicente Santa Cruz (Pob.) Santo Niño Sicayab Bocana Sigayan Silinog Sinonoc Sulangon Tag-olo Taguilon Talisay (Pob.) Tamion

Taguilon

Taguilon is home to the Dakak Park and Beach Resort. It is a producer of coconut and agar (based on sea weed) as well as a fishing port. The pier in Taguilon is a secondary/alternate port to the main passenger/cargo port in Dapitan City. Additionally, during severe storms at sea, ferries and other ships find shelter in the Taguilon cove. One can find the mount Lalab overlooking the islets of Silinog and part of Balyangaw.

Book on Rizal's Letters

On December 28, 2007, as highlight of Dapitan City's 2nd Handuraw Festival, former Congressman Romeo Jalosjos launched at the Jose Rizal Memorial State College his book "The Dapitan Correspondence of Dr. Jose Rizal and Dr. Ferdinand Blumentrit", a compilation on letters of the Dr. Jose Rizal, and his friend Dr. Ferdinand Blumentrit.

Sister cities

• Litoměřice, Czech Republic
• Zamboanga City, Philippines

External links

• Philippine Standard Geographic Code