Bacolod City

Bacolod City, home of the Masskara Festival, the ciity of smiles, the capital city of Negros Ocidental, one of the twin provinces in the Island of Negros in the group of the Visayan Islands, is physically located in the heart of the Philippine islands.

The lure of Bacolod City lies in her people - bright and breezy, affectionate, sociable and positive even with some harsh conditions in life. As a capital and contemporary city, Bacolod is an ambivalence of the luxuriant vegetation of her countryside and the rhythm and tempo of a highly urbanized city.

Characterized today by an exceptional boom in infrastructure, construction and commerce and trade, Bacolod is a haven for investments and business prospects. The life of refinement and taste for excellence is seen in the comforts and conveniences of world-class hotels, restaurants and other visitors' amenities as well as in many Bacoleño homes and personal standards of living.

Physiography

Bacolod has 61 barangays--41 urban and 20 rural--and a total of 640 puroks. Situated on an area with average hills of approximately 0.9% from suburban areas, Bacolod has a total land area of about 16,146 hectares, of which 4% are bodies of water.

Accessibility

Bacolod City is about 55 minutes by air to and from Manila; 30 minutes to and from Cebu City and is serviced by four airline companies.

By sea, Bacolod is a 20-hour cruise to and from Manila; 55 minutes to and from Iloilo City by fast sea crafts; 7 hours by land and sea travel to and from Cebu.

History

From a simple community settlement in the "buklods" (hills) in 1770 with only about 5,000 people, the city has developed into a metropolitan area with a population of about half a million people. Bacolod was named capital of the province of Negros Occidental in 1884; proclaimed as a chartered city in 1938; classified as a highly urbanized city in 1984 and in 1996 was named as one of the Outstanding Cities of the Philippines.

Under the able leadership of Honorable Mayor Evelio R. Leonardia, Bacolod City was proclaimed as one of the two Cleanest and Greenest Highly Urbanized Cities in the Philippines.

With a government that is firmly ingrained in a strong management that knows what it wants and with a positive and unswerving masses, Bacolod City will certainly be on the right track for the 21st Century.