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city of the Philippines in Metro Manila
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Taguig (Tagalog: [taˈɡiɡ] ⓘ), officially the City of Taguig (Filipino: Lungsod ng Taguig), is a highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 1,308,085 people, making it the fifth most populous city in the country. It is a national center for culture, finance, technology, entertainment and media, academics, and the arts and fashion. The city hosts several embassies, making it an important center for the country's international diplomacy. As the home of Fort Bonifacio, which contains the largest financial districts such as Bonifacio Global City, Bonifacio Capital District, and McKinley Hill, major local and multinational corporations have their headquarters in the city, and it has the third largest skyline in the Philippines, with 289 high-rises, 80 of which exceed 100 m (328 ft).
Taguig is located alongside the northwestern shores of Laguna de Bay and is situated in the southeastern portion of Metro Manila. The city covers about 47.28 square kilometers (18.25 sq mi) and it is bordered by Pasig and Pateros to the north, Makati and Mandaluyong to the northwest, Pasay and Parañaque to the west, Taytay, Rizal to the northeast and Muntinlupa to the south.
Taguig was once a hamlet during the Spanish colonial period, Pateros become a visita of Taguig from 1742 until it become a separate municipality in 1815. During the American colonial period, large swaths of the city became a military reservation, and the town was merged with the municipalities of Pateros and Muntinlupa at some point until the 2 municipality becomes independent from it. Redevelopment of the military reservation spearheaded by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) in the 1990s established Taguig as a center of finance and commerce in the Philippines, with the establishment of districts such as Bonifacio Global City (BGC), McKinley Hill, and the Bonifacio Capital District. Taguig became a highly urbanized city with the passage of Republic Act No. 8487 in 2004, which was ratified by a plebiscite.
The name of the city was derived from taga-giik, the Tagalog word for rice threshers. In the 1570s, the male citizens of the town which numbered to about 800 were good at threshing rice after harvest. Hence, they were referred to as "mga taga-giik" and the settlement as "pook ng mga taga-giik" (lit. transl. place of the rice threshers). Spanish friar Fray Alonso de Alvarado, together with conquistador Ruy López de Villalobos who crossed the Pasig River to reach the city's present site in 1571, found "taga-giik" difficult to pronounce. "Tagui-ig" was later shortened to its current form "Taguig". It was also spelled "Tagui" or "Tagig," apparently influenced by Spanish orthographic conventions.
Before the Spaniards came, Taguig was an established Tagalog settlement with Moro and Chinese present in the area as revealed by the recent archaeological diggings of various artifacts like cups, plates and other utensils, which bear Chinese characters. This was believed to have originated from China's Ming dynasty. Duck culture was practiced by the Tagalogs, particularly in the areas where the city and the Municipality of Pateros stands today.
Taguig was one of the earliest known territories of the Provincia de Tondo, that became the Provincia de Maynila to have been Christianized when the Spaniards succeeded in subjugating mainland Luzon through the Legazpi expedition in 1571. Between the years 1573 and 1587, Taguig was an encomienda under Captain Cervantes y Vergara with 3,200 inhabitants paying 1,879 and 1/2 tax. On September 4, 1584, Melchor De Ribera of the Augustian Order became the 1st non-resident Vicar of Taguig. Taguig was established as a separate "pueblo" (town) on April 4, 1587, "Tomamos de nuevo la casa de Tagui", when the Augustinian Order reaccepted the vote of the convent of Taguig during a meeting of the Augustinian Chapter in Intramuros according to Friar Gaspar de San Agustin. This is after the local Chinese community burned the old church made out of sawali in 1586. Juan Basi, a nephew of Lakan Dula and son-in-law of the Sultan of Brunei, was the Lakan of Taguig from 1587 to 1588 who participated in the Tondo Conspiracy of 1587, an attempt to overthrow the Spanish government which failed. Basi was exiled for two years as punishment. According to records, Taguig had nine barrios then, namely: Bagumbayan, Bambang, Hagonoy (Hagunoy), Palingon (Palingong), Santa Ana, Tipas, Tuktukan (Toctocan), Ususan, and Wawa (Uaua). Santa Ana was then the municipal center (poblacion) of Taguig.
There was an attempt to transfers Tipas from Taguig to Pasig because the residents of that barrio disliked the Cura or Parish Priest stationed at Taguig during that time. They raised it to the Gobernadorcillo (Leader and Judge) at that time, he said for the issue to be resolve the bells from Taguig and Pasig will be ring simultaneously. Which of these bells should be heard in Tipas will be town where it belongs to. The Bells of Taguig prevailed, that's why Tipas remained to be within the Jurisdiction of Taguig. Records also shows that Tipas had several attempts petitioning to become an independent town but was denied during the Spanish and American governments.
During that time, Taguig was accessible via the Pasig River, which was connected to two large bodies of water, Manila Bay and Laguna de Bay. The town produced more than enough rice for consumption but had less sugar cane to mill. The men lived through fishing while women wove cotton cloth and "sawali" from bamboo strips. The people of Taguig were known to have resisted both Spanish and American colonial rule. When the Katipunan was on its early years, many from Taguig became followers and later joined the uprising. The people of Taguig also joined the revolutionary government of General Emilio Aguinaldo on August 6, 1898.
Barrio Tipas, specifically the Napindan Lighthouse in Barrio Napindan became a meeting place and staging point of some revolutionary attacks against Spanish forces by the Katipunan.
In the 1880 up to 1919, flood water submerged almost all the lower portion of Taguig from Napindan to Bagumbayan during the months of August up to October. The Hacenderos of Maysapan and Taguig proposed to transfer the Town center and church to a higher place now part of Fort Bonifacio. The parish priest also supported the move and ordered to ready a parcel of land to be ready to build a new church to house the convent. However, since the local population of Taguig, during that time, are farmers and fishermen, the decision to move the town center and church was not that popular to them. They didn't want to move out away from their farmland and to the river leading them to the bay. The remnant of the church is still visible until the 1970s. The place was called "Bahay Pari" (Priest House).
During the American occupation, Taguig natives fought against the forces of General Wheaton under the command of General Pio del Pilar. It was recorded that on February 6, 1899, Filipino forces including Taguig "revolutionarios" dislodged an American position in the hills of Taguig, now a portion of Pateros and Fort Bonifacio. They were defeated eventually by the Americans with superiority in the armaments and training. Taguig finally fell to the contingent of the First Washington Volunteer Infantry led by Col. Wholly.
The defeat of the Filipinos after two years of struggle against the American forces subsequently subjected the Philippines to another system of governance. On August 14, 1898, United States occupied the islands and established a military government with General Wesley Merritt as the First Military Governor. He exercised legislative powers until September 1, 1900. At the start of American occupation, Taguig was proclaimed as an independent municipality with the promulgation of General Order No. 4 on March 29, 1900. The town was subsequently incorporated to the newly created province of Rizal when the Philippine Commission promulgated Act No. 137 on June 11, 1901.
On October 12, 1903, Taguig, Muntinlupa and Pateros were merged by the virtue of Act. No. 942 to be known as the Municipality of Pateros, with Pateros hosting the seat of the municipal government. The merger did not last long as a month later Muntinlupa was separated from it and made part of Biñan, La Laguna when Act. No. 1008 was enacted on November 25, 1903. By this time, the Municipality of Pateros comprised the territory of Pateros and Taguig. Muntinlupa was later reintegrated to the Municipality of Pateros on March 22, 1905, with the promulgation Act No. 1308. The Act also renamed the Municipality of Pateros into the Municipality of Taguig, and the seat of government was transferred from Pateros to Taguig. Eventually, Pateros separated from Taguig by January 1, 1909, and Muntinlupa was granted an independent municipality status on December 17, 1917.
It was also during the American Colonial Period that the United States government acquired a 25.78 km2 (9.95 sq mi) property of Taguig for military purposes. This large piece of land, which had a TCT dated 1902, was turned into a camp that became known as Fort William McKinley, named after the 25th president of the U.S. who was responsible for the American colonization of the Philippines.
When the Japanese occupied the Philippines in 1942, Fort McKinley was taken over by the Japanese Imperial Army. Fort McKinley was renamed as Sakura Heiei (Cherry Blossom Barracks) and became one of their most important installation and expanded its network of tunnels which served as shelter of the high military officials. They occupied the military camp until the Battle of Manila in 1945, when the Japanese were cleared out by the American and Filipino forces.
After the Philippines gained its political independence from the United States on July 4, 1946, the US relinquished to the Republic of the Philippines all right of possession, jurisdiction, supervision and control over the Philippine territory except the use of the military bases. On May 14, 1949, Fort William McKinley was turned over to the Philippine government by virtue of the US Embassy Note No. 0570. Fort McKinley was made the permanent headquarters of the Philippine Army in 1957 and was subsequently renamed Fort Bonifacio after the Father of the Philippine Revolution against Spain, Andres Bonifacio. By virtue of Executive Order No. 311 signed by President Carlos P. Garcia on August 1, 1958, the municipal seat of government was transferred from Santa Ana to Tuktukan.
The Philippine government made plans to create settlements for military personnel within Fort Bonifacio. Settlements created are the Central Enlisted Men's Barrio (CEMBO) in 1949, the Riverside Enlisted Men's Barrio (REMBO) in 1954, Combat Enlisted Men's Barrio (COMEMBO) in 1957, the Panthers Enlisted Men's Barrios (PEMBO) in the 1960s, as well as the Enlisted Men's Signal Barrio in 1964, which later became Signal Village. Numerous barangays were carved out over the original settlements over time as population grows, and politics & governance evolves.
When President Ferdinand Marcos placed the Philippines under martial law in 1972, Taguig, which contained Fort Bonifacio, became the host of two detention centers full of political prisoners - the Maximum Security Unit (where Senators Jose W. Diokno and Ninoy Aquino were detained) and the Ipil Reception Center (sometimes called the Ipil Detention Center). A third facility, the Youth Rehabilitation Center (YRC), was still treated as part of Fort Bonifacio but was later turned into the Makati City Jail. These detention centers became infamous for the numerous human rights abuses of the Marcos dictatorship, including warrantless detention and torture. Ipil was the largest prison facility for political prisoners during martial law. Among the prisoners held there were some of the country's leading academics, creative writers, journalists, and historians including Butch Dalisay, Ricky Lee, Bienvenido Lumbera, Jo Ann Maglipon, Ninotchka Rosca, Zeus Salazar, and William Henry Scott. After Fort Bonifacio was privatized, the area in which Ipil was located became the area near S&R Membership Shopping - BGC and MC Home Depot, near 32nd Street and 8th Avenue in Bonifacio Global City.
In 1974, the name of Taguig's political subdivisions was changed from "barrios" to "barangays" following the nationwide implementation of the Integrated Reorganization Plan (IRP) under Presidential Decree No. 557. The IRP increased Taguig's administrative divisions to 18 barangays, namely: Bagong Tanyag, Bagumbayan, Bambang, Calzada Tipas, Hagonoy, Ibayo Tipas, Ligid Tipas, Lower Bicutan, Maharlika, Napindan, Palingon Tipas, Signal Village, Santa Ana, Tuktukan, Upper Bicutan, Ususan, Wawa, and Western Bicutan. On November 7, 1975, Taguig seceded from the province of Rizal to become part of the newly formed the National Capital Region through Presidential Decree No. 824.
In 1986, President Ferdinand Marcos issued Proclamation No. 2475, which transferred control of the Fort Bonifacio area to Makati and reserved the area for military personnel and their dependents. The Municipality of Taguig then contested the presidential proclamation, which resulted in a territorial dispute with Makati.
On November 29, 1989, President Corazon Aquino issued Proclamation No. 498, honoring residents of Barrio Tipas, Tagig, who fought and died at the hands of Japanese forces.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Taguig”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.