Caloocan, officially the City of Caloocan (; ), is a highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 1,712,945 people, making it the fourth-most populous city in the Philippines.
Caloocan is divided into two geographical locations with a total combined area of , a result of the 1949 expansion of Quezon City, which absorbed much of its territory. It was formerly part of the Province of Rizal in southern Luzon. It comprises what is known as the CAMANAVA area along with the cities of Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela.
South Caloocan is bordered by Manila, Quezon City, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela. The presence of commercial and industrial activities combined with residential areas make it a highly urbanized central business district and a major urban center in the Northern District of Metropolitan Manila. North Caloocan shares its border with Quezon City and Valenzuela, Marilao, Meycauayan and San Jose del Monte in the province of Bulacan, and Rodriguez in the province of Rizal. It is composed of mostly residential subdivisions and extensive resettlement areas with scattered distribution of industrial estates mostly within road transit points and intersections.
Etymology Caloocan as a toponym comes from the Tagalog words lo-ok that translates to "bay", and sulok meaning "corner" as suggested by its location between the ends of the present-day Malabon and Tondo, Manila, and kaloók-lookan (or kaloób-looban) meaning "innermost area". The city's name is colloquially spelled Kalookan. Historically, it was called Kaloogan, meaning "interior territory," which evolved from the old Tagalog word "loog" (synonymous with "loob," meaning "inside"). The "g" sound could have shifted to the "k" sound in Tagalog phonetics (e.g. baksak → bagsak), leading to the present name.
There is a mixed preference over the preferred spelling of the city's name. Variation and apparent confusion over the spelling arose around the early 1970s, when a resolution was adopted by the municipal board, requiring the city departments to use the name "Kalookan." However, implementation of the resolution was interrupted by the nationwide imposition of martial law in late September 1972. In 1988, Councilor Aurora Asistio-Henson proposed Resolution No. 006, aiming to promote Filipino nationalism by enforcing the spelling "Kalookan" in all city departments and establishments. The change was opposed by residents, businesses, and officials, with former representative and vice mayor Virgilio Robles deeming it illegal, and asserting the spelling "Caloocan" as per the city charter. Although confusion persists, the general inclination in the city is towards "Caloocan," as evidenced by the official logo and favored by many barangays, schools, and newspapers. However, some entities, like the Directories of the Philippines Corporation, prefer the spelling "Kalookan."
History
Spanish colonial era Originally, Caloocan was the area where the old town of Tondo and Tambobong met, located along the shores of Dagát-Dagatan, a crescent-shaped inland lagoon to the west. The settlement along the shore was known as "Aromahan", or "Espina" to the Spaniards, and separated from Manila Bay by a narrow ridge from Tondo towards an opening in Kinabutasan leading to the sea.
By the late 1700s, the fishermen of Aromahan have expanded towards a hill east of Dagat-Dagatan. This naturally stony hill was called "Kaloogan", meaning "interior territory." With Aromahan relegated to the periphery, this hilltop area was also settled by oppressed people from Tondo, becoming the new center of the community by 1802. To the east was a vast stretch of cogon-covered land. Eventually called "Kalaanan", meaning "flat grassland" in old Tagalog, this area is now generally known as Grace Park.
Caloocan became a municipality when it was separated from Tondo in 1815. Its original territory extended to the foothills of Marikina, San Mateo and Montalban to the east; Tinajeros, Tanza, and Tala rivers to the north; San Juan del Monte, San Francisco del Monte, Sampalok, Santa Cruz and Tondo in the south; and Dagat-dagatan and Aromahan to the west. The local government building was set up on the relatively well-settled portion just above Libis Espina. The old Aromahan chapel was finally abandoned and a new church was built facing the municipal hall. To escape the Spanish authorities, many from the area abandoned the town proper and sought refuge in the grasslands of Balintawak and Pugad-Lawin, in which the people fought the landlords of Hacienda de Maysilo for terrestrial rights, which went on for almost a hundred years.
In 1888, the steam tranvia preceded that linking the town to the capital and the then coastal towns of Malabon and Navotas. In 1891, the Manila Railroad Company opened a railway station in the town.
The Philippine revolution
Caloocan is historically significant because it was the center of activities for the Katipunan, the secret militant society that launched the Philippine Revolution against the Spanish Empire. In a house in Caloocan, secret meetings were held by Andrés Bonifacio and his men, and it was in the city's perimeters where the first armed encounter took place between the Katipunan and the Spaniards. The revolution erupted after the "Cry of Balintawak" led by Bonifacio against Spain on August 30, 1896.
American invasion era
In 1899, the people of Caloocan showed resistance to coming to terms with the Americans, who were bent on extending their supremacy over the country. The men of Caloocan fought the new invaders on February 23, 1899, however victory eluded the local troops on the pretext of Antonio Luna's rift with Emilio Aguinaldo's loyalists. The city then saw heavy fighting in the Philippine–American War, at the Battle of Caloocan and the Second Battle of Caloocan.
In 1901, under the American regime, Caloocan, previously a part of the province of Manila, became one of the municipalities of the newly established province of Rizal. Due to the consolidation of several municipalities in 1903, Novaliches, then an independent municipality, became part of Caloocan pursuant to Act No. 942, as amended by Act Nos. 984 and 1008 of the Philippine Commission.
Japanese occupation era In 1942, Caloocan was one of the municipalities of Rizal merged alongside Manila and Quezon City to form the City of Greater Manila as an emergency measure by President Manuel L. Quezon. It regained its pre-war status as a municipality of Rizal when the City of Greater Manila was dissolved effective August 1, 1945.
Cityhood
In 1961, after Republic Act No. 3278 was approved by the Philippine Congress, a plebiscite was conducted. Caloocan was officially inducted into cityhood on February 16, 1962.
Caloocan remained a city of the province of Rizal until November 7, 1975, when it became a part of the National Capital Region or Metro Manila, by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 824.
Territorial changes
Caloocan once encompassed a much larger, contiguous area. The districts of Balintawak, La Loma and Novaliches were once part of Caloocan. Balintawak is a historic district because it was the original site of the "Cry of Pugad Lawin" (Unang Sigaw sa Balintawak) at a location called "Kang-kong" near Tandang Sora's house. Novaliches was an expansive sector with some hillsides that served as meeting places and hideouts for Andrés Bonifacio and the Katipunan.
During the American occupation, there was a consolidation of several municipalities. Caloocan annexed the neighboring town of Novaliches on October 12, 1903, as stated in the Act No. 942 of the Philippine Commission, bringing its total area to about . When Commonwealth Act No. 502 created Quezon City in 1939, Caloocan ceded 1,500 hectares of land from the barrios or sitios of Bagubantay (Bago Bantay), Balintauac (Balintawák), Balingasa, Kaingin, Kangkong (present-day Apolonio Samson), La Loma, Malamig, Matalahib (present-day Santo Domingo), Masambong, Galas, San Isidro, San José, Santol and Tatalon.Philippine Commission of the Census, Census of the Philippines, 1939, vol. 1, part 4: Rizal (Manila: Bureau of Printing, 1940), p. 5 Instead of opposing the transfer, Caloocan residents willingly gave the land in the belief it will benefit the country's new capital city.
However, in 1949, Congress passed Republic Act No. 392, which redefined the Caloocan–Quezon City boundary. The barrios of Baesa, Sangandaan, Talipapâ, San Bartolomé, Pasong Tamó, Novaliches Proper (poblacion), Banlat (present-day Tandang Sora), Kabuyao, Pugad Lawin, Bagbag, Pasong Putik, which once belonged to Novaliches and had an area of about , were excised from Caloocan. The remaining portion of the Novaliches is now called North Caloocan. This split Caloocan into two parts: a more urbanized southern section and a suburban-rural northern section, which is part of Novaliches.
In 1957, the sitio of Bagbaguin was separated from the barrio of Caybiga (Kaybiga) and converted into a distinct barrio known as Barrio Bagbaguin.
Reorganization attempts Issues concerning budget and handling village governments led to attempts to restructure the city's barangays since late 1980s. A bill authored by city's 1st district representative Virgilio Robles, which aimed to reduce the barangays from 188 to 60—thirty in each legislative district—was approved as Republic Act (RA) No. 6714 on February 28, 1989. A plebiscite was held on March 10; with a turnout of only 10% of 384,981 registered voters, majority of the participated voters reportedly opposed the proposal.
On the other hand, residents of Bagong Silang (Barangay 176), then the country's most populous barangay and was used as a relocation site for informal settlers, appealed the partition of the barangay since 2013. On April 3, 2024, President Bongbong Marcos signed RA No. 11993 which would divide the village into six. This was ratified by the majority of voters in a plebiscite held on August 31.
Philippine drug war Police chief Date of assignment Bartolome R. Bustamante November 4, 2014 Johnson C. Almazan July 2016 Chito G. Bersaluna February 2017 Jemar D. Modequillo September 4, 2017 Restituto B. Arcangel March 27, 2018 Noel R. Flores May 30, 2019 Dario M. Menor February 7, 2020 Samuel V. Mina Jr. October 23, 2020
Throughout Oscar Malapitan's mayorship from 2013 to 2022, he regularly boasted of a decreased crime rate in Caloocan. However, the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF) noted in 2020 that Malapitan's mayorship was characterized with a passivity towards President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs during its first year (2016–2017), with Malapitan asking the local branch of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to take charge of crime control and work vigorously against illegal drugs, which PRIF claimed to have "resulted in a huge spike of deadly police violence" and "excessive levels of vigilantism" during this period. Many of the high-profile incidents in Duterte's national drug war occurred in Caloocan, including the murders of Luis Bonifacio and his son Gabriel in 2016, the murder of jeepney driver Michael Lee in March 2017, and the murders of Kian delos Santos, Carl Arnaiz and Reynaldo de Guzman in August 2017. Barangay 188, known to be a long-time hotspot for illegal drugs, saw its barangay captain Edres Domato, alleged to be connected to the drug trade, assassinated by motorcycle-riding gunmen on June 25, 2016, one of the earliest casualties in the drug war; all but one councilor of the barangay were eventually assassinated. City councilors were also discouraged from attending the wakes of drug war victims and providing burial assistance to their families.