Bacolod the City

Bacolod City, is the capital and largest highly urbanized Philippine city of the Province of Negros Occidental, famous for its MassKara Festival, held during October.  Known for being a relatively friendly city, it bears the nickname "City of Smiles."

History:

Prior to the coming of the Spaniards in Negros in 1565, there existed a small village near the mouth of the Magsungay river. It was a small settlement inhabited by Malayans who belonged to the "Taga-ilog" group. When the neighboring settlement of Bogo (now Bago City) was elevated into the status of a small town in 1575, it had several religious dependencies, one of which was the village of Magsungay. The early missionaries place the village of Magsungay under the care and protection of St. Sebastian sometime in the middle of the 1700s. A "corrigidor" by the name of Luis Fernando de Luna (1777-1779), donated a relic of St. Sebastian for a growing mission, and since then, the village came to be known as "San Sebastian de Magsungay".
In 1770, the small village of Magsungay was firmly established under the leadership of the first "governadorcillo" or "Capitan Municipal" by the name of Bernardo de los Santos. With the cloud of insecurity hanging over them due to the rampant attacked of the Moro pirates, the people of Magsungay decided to move a few kilometers inland where upon on a hilly terrain, which they called "Buklod", the people established a new settlement. There, on this hilly terrain, Magsungay became the settlement of Bacolod.

In 1806, Fr. Leon Pedro, having appointed as "propitario" of Bacolod, became the first parish priest. From there, a young priest from Barcelona, envisioned the construction of San Sebastian Cathedral, in the name of Fr. Gonzaga. Gradually, the people left the hilly terrain where they had started to progress, and eventually the place became known as "Camingawan" which means the place of loneliness. In 1846, upon the request of Msgr. Romualdo Jimeno, Bishop of Cebu and Negros at the time, Governor-General Narciso claveria sent to Negros a team of Recollect missionaries headed by Fr. Fernando Cuenca. The following year, 1849, Gov. Valdevieso y Morquecho declared Bacolod as the capital of the whole island of Negros.

In 1938, under the administration of President Manuel L. Quezon, a bill was passed and approved making Bacolod a Chartered City, and was inaugurated as the 5th Chartered City under the Commonwealth period on October 19, 1938. The late Don Alfredo L. Montelibano, Sr. was appointed as its Chief Executive. After nearly a couple of centuries from its founding as small settlement, Bacolod is now a bustling modern metropolis in the Western Visayas region and it is also the "Gateway to the Sugarland" because Bacolod is highly accessible to air or sea from its neighboring region.

How to get there

Bacolod City is 55 minutes from Manila and 30 minutes from Cebu by air.
By sea it is an 18-hour cruise from Manila and one hour aboard sea crafts from Iloilo. By land and sea travel, it is seven hours from Cebu. From Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental, Bacolod is 5 hours away via Mabinay in the south.

Festivals

Feast of San Sebastian - Jan. 20
MassKara Festival -Oct. 19