Dumaguete

Etymology

"Dumaguete" was coined from the Cebuano word dagit, which means "to snatch". The word dumaguet, meaning "to swoop", was coined because of frequent raids by Moro pirates on this coastal community and its power to attract and keep visitors, both local and foreign. In 1572, Diego López Povedano indicated the place as Dananguet, but cartographer Pedro Murillo Velarde in 1734 already used present name of Dumaguete for the settlement.

Geography and Climate

Dumaguete has a land area of 3,362 hectares (8,310 acres), situated on the plains of the southeastern coast of the large island of Negros, near the mouth of the Banica River. Of the province's 19 municipalities/towns and 6 cities, Dumaguete is the smallest in terms of land area. It is bounded on the north by the town of Sibulan, on the south by the town of Bacong and on the west by the town of Valencia.

As a coastal city, it is bounded on the east by the Bohol Sea and the Tañon Strait, serving as a natural border of southeastern Negros Island Region to the neighboring Central Visayas. The city's topography is generally flat from two to six kilometers from the shoreline. It slopes gently upwards to the adjoining municipality of Valencia. The highest ground elevation is located at the boundary of the municipality of Valencia, about one hundred meters above mean sea level. About 93% of the land have slopes of less than 3%. The remaining areas have 3% to 5% slope.

Climate

Dumaguete has two seasons, namely; the dry and the wet seasons. The wet season covers the period from June to November, and the dry season starts from December to May, the hottest being April and May. The average maximum temperature is 34.3 °C and the average minimum temperature is 22.9 °C for the past years. The relative humidity of the locality for the past years was 78¾% with the month of December registering the highest.

Barangays

Dumaguete is politically subdivided into 30 barangays, all classified as urban. The eight barangays in the city's downtown area are known primarily by number. The smallest barangay is Barangay 4 with an area of only 5.11 hectares, while the biggest barangay is Barangay Banilad with 362.71 hectares.

Demographics

As of the census in 2015, there are 131,377 people and 21,582 households residing in the city (as of 2010). The city has the least poverty incidence among urban centers in Visayas, according to the 2009 Small Area Estimates (SAE) of Poverty done by the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB). It has an average daylight population of 400,000 people. Dumaguete is the most populous city in Negros Oriental, comprising 9.05% of the province's total population. Its total voting population is 68,648 as of 2010.

Education

Dumaguete has earned the distinction of being known as the "center of learning in the South," or a university city due to the presence of universities that have made their mark nationally and abroad. The city is a melting pot of students, professionals, artists, scholars and the literati coming from different parts of the country and the world.

Silliman University is the dominant institution of higher learning in Dumaguete, providing the city with a distinct university town atmosphere. It is the first Protestant university in the country and the first American university in Asia. The 610,000 m² campus is adjacent to and intermixed with the city's downtown district. Some of its buildings have likewise been recognized as landmarks. These buildings include the Silliman Hall, Hibbard Hall, Katipunan Hall, the Luce Auditorium, and the Silliman Main Library (considered as one of the biggest libraries in the Philippines).

Other universities located in the city are: Foundation University (1949), a private non-sectarian university, its Main Campus where the site of a very popular Sofia Soller Sinco Hall dubbed as White House of Dumaguete is located at Meciano Road offers tertiary education programs while North Campus along Locsin Street is the home of Foundation Preparatory Academy for basic education programs. The Negros Oriental State University (NORSU) which was founded on 1907, has its two main campuses in the city, the Main Campus 1 is beside the Provincial Capitol building while Main Campus 2 is located in barangay Bajumpandan. It is the only state university in Negros Oriental and is very popular among students from different towns and cities of the province and some other parts of the country. St. Paul University Dumaguete (1904) is the first Saint Paul educational institution to be established in the Philippines by the Sisters of Saint Paul of Chartres (SPC) from France and considered as premier Catholic university of Dumaguete City.

Economy

Tourism, the academe, the retail industries, BPO and technology-related activities are the major sources of income for the city. BPOs and IT firms, as well as retailing, are the fastest rising industries.

Hotels and tourism

Data from the Department of Tourism show that Dumaguete and Negros Oriental are among the top ten most visited tourist destinations in the country. Tourists visit popular sites such as: the historic Rizal Boulevard aligned with some hotels, coffee shops, fine-dining restaurants and bars including the latest dining commercial complex, Paseo Perdices is the preferred location of Max's Restaurant, Yellow Cab Pizza and among others; Silliman Hall-home of University's Anthropology Museum; St. Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral being the oldest stone church of the island of Negros and ecclesiastical seat of the bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Dumaguete and Campanario de Dumaguete which is considered as one of the oldest heritage landmarks of Negros Island Region. Dumaguete serves as the main gateway to Negros Oriental.

Business process outsourcing

A Tholons 100 outsourcing destination, Dumaguete's outsourcing industry has a wide and diversified range from call centers, publishing, medical transcription, animation, editing, and architectural outsourcing. With over 20 IT and BPO locators, Dumaguete City is becoming one of the most preferred Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Information Technology (IT) hubs of the Philippines. These industries drive economic activity even at night time with the strong presence of 24-hour food-chains like Jollibee, McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts, Chowking, etc. and a considerable number of well-known convenience stores such as 7-Eleven and Ministop.

Some PEZA-accredited IT Parks and buildings located in the city are:

Retail

Major malls and shopping centers in Dumaguete include Cang's Inc. Shopping Complex and CityMall Dumaguete along national highway both located in Brgy. Daro; Lee Super Plaza and Robinsons Townville Perdices in the downtown area; and the upcoming Festival Mall Dumaguete at Escaño Beach, Piapi (North Boulevard) as one of the major components of Filinvest township project called Marina Town Dumaguete. Robinsons Place Dumaguete, the first full-service mall in the city is about 02 km (1.2 mi) from the city center heading to the south.

Employment

Due to the booming BPO industry in Dumaguete, many jobs were created and many of the citizens of Dumaguete, as well as neighboring towns, are hired. There is also a free job website named Dumjobs that offers free job posting for Dumaguete City and Negros Oriental employers.

Health care and services

Dumaguete has three major tertiary hospitals, namely the Holy Child Hospital, Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital, and the Silliman Medical Center which is currently associated with St. Luke's Medical Center in Metro Manila and considered one of the best hospitals outside Metro Manila and Metro Cebu. Under proposal is a medical resort with a 100-bed tertiary hospital, and which will cater primarily to the retirement market from North American, European and East Asian countries. Also being constructed is ACE Dumaguete Doctors Hospital, an eight storeys, 200-bed hospital near the downtown area. Dumaguete City is one of the five areas identified by the Philippine government as retirement hubs.

Air

Sibulan Airport (IATA: DGT, ICAO: RPVD), also known as Dumaguete Airport or Dumaguete-Sibulan Airport, is the city's domestic airport located in neighboring Sibulan town in the north. It provides daily flights to and from Manila and Cebu City through Cebu Pacific, Cebgo and PAL Express while Cebgo is servicing both Mindanao premier cities, thrice weekly flights to Davao City and Cagayan de Oro City. However, a new airport is being planned to be built in Bacong, a town bordering Dumaguete in the south The proposal for the transfer and upgrading of this airport to international standards has already been approved and should be completed before 2025. An initial PHP 500 million budget has already been released for initial study and procurement of free lands.

Sea

Dumaguete, as a major port city is a jump-off point for passengers/tourists who are going to other Visayas and Mindanao areas. There are daily ferry connections to the islands of Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor and Mindanao operated by Archipelago Philippine Ferries Corporation (Fast Cat), Montenegro Lines, Ocean Jet Shipping, Cokaliong and other companies. Dumaguete is an access city for passengers/tourists going to Cebu which is dubbed as economic hub of the Visayas. There are smaller ports north of the city where short and frequent ferry connections are available to that island as an alternative. Dumaguete is a port of call for travelers to Manila and Zamboanga City by ship serviced by 2GO Travel.

Land

The main form of public transport in Dumaguete is the motorized tricycle. The Dumaguete version of the motorized tricycle can fit up to 6-8 passengers. For transport to destinations outside the city limit, there are jeepney and buses travelling set routes. Meanwhile, Vallacar Transit Corporation, the company that operates Ceres buses recently constructed a 2-storey terminal building in Dumaguete just beside the newly erected commercial center, the Marketplace.

Notable residents

The following people are notable residents, past and present, from Dumaguete City:

Architecture and Allied Arts

Business

Cinema

Culinary Arts

Dance

Education

Fashion

Literary Arts

Music

Politics

Religion

Sciences

Sports

Theatre Arts

Visual Arts

Sister cities

Dumaguete has the following sister cities:

Local

International