Kawit, Cavite

Etymology

The name Kawit is derived from the Tagalog word kawit (hook) which is suggestive of its location at the base of a hookshaped shoreline along Manila Bay extending to the tip of Cavite City.

Legend, however, gives another version on how the town got its name. One day a Spanish visitor asked a native blacksmith about the name of the village. The latter was busy at the time pounding on the anvil a piece of hot metal that looked like a hook. He hesitated to speak, not understanding what the stranger was asking, but when pressed for an answer, and thinking that he wanted to know what he was doing, he merely said kawit (hook). The Spaniards left muttering the word kawit. In the course of the time the word kawit evolved into "cauite," and finally "cavite".

History

Kawit was the most thriving settlement prior to the coming of the Spaniards. In fact, the town provided the first anchorage of the Spaniards in the province, whence colonization and proselytization of the Christian religion began, spreading to all corners of the province.

For a long time, the place was called by the Spaniards "Cavite el Viejo" or Old Cavite to distinguish it from "Cavite la Punta" or "Cavite el Puerto," the commercial port and naval base (now Cavite City) whence came many Spanish marines on shore leave who made frequent visits to Cavite el Viejo, eventually turning it into a red light district. The bad reputation of the place, however, was completely wiped out when it was placed under the spiritual supervision of the Jesuits during the administration of Manila Archbishop Miguel Garcia Serrano (1618–1629) by placing St. Mary Magdalene as Patron saint of the town.

In the barrio of Binakayan, where the Aglipayan Church is located since 1902, in honor of Saint Michael, the Archangel.

Cavite el Viejo was then a big town, comprising the municipality of Kawit today, Cavite la Punta (now Cavite City), Noveleta (called Tierra Alta by the Spaniards), and Imus. Eventually, these three barrios seceded as their population grew and became independent municipalities.

Aside from its role as the birthplace of independence Kawit also bore witness to one of the great victories of Filipinos during the Revolution - the Battle of Binakayan-Dalahican.

Barangays

Kawit is politically subdivided into 23 barangays. 

Demographics

In the 2015 census, the population of Kawit was 83,466 people, with a density of 3,700 inhabitants per square kilometre or 9,600 inhabitants per square mile.

Maytinis Festival

An original Kawit tradition that takes place every Christmas Eve, a dramatic retelling of the Virgin Mary and Joseph's search in bethlehem for a place to stay called "Panunuluyan". This reenactment happens on the streets of Kawit with different floats depicting different biblical scenes from Adam and Eve up to Mary and Joseph. The "Panunuluyan" takes place in several houses and is done in singing until it reaches the 400-year-old St. Mary Magdalene Church of Kawit where the Virgin Mary and Joseph are welcomed by angels in a giant "belen" (Nativity Scene) which covers the whole Retablo or Altar of the church. The songs performed by the angels acted by little girls are mostly in Spanish and Tagalog.

Government

Like any other Philippine municipality, Kawit is headed by a municipal mayor, vice mayor, and ten councilors, eight of them elected at large by the voting populace and two of them being sectoral representatives (one for the barangays and one for the youth, elected respectively through their federations).

The current Mayor of the historical town is Angelo Emilio G. Aguinaldo who succeeded his father, Reynaldo "Tik" Aguinaldo, after winning over former Vice Mayor Paul Plaridel A. Abaya Jr. by a historic margin of 5, 039 votes in the last May 2016 elections.

Mayor Angelo Aguinaldo served as a Sangguniang Bayan member from 2013-2016.

Former Mayor Reynaldo "Tik" Aguinaldo was elevated to the mayorship after three terms as vice mayor. The scion of the first Philippine president has twice (2007 and 2010) beaten Federico "Hit" Poblete, another descendant of Emilio Aguinaldo (youngest son of Maria Aguinaldo y Poblete: one of General Emilio Aguinaldo's daughters), Poblete served a total of five terms as its chief executive. [Poblete used to be an undersecretary for the Department of Agrarian Reform under the Estrada administration after his first three terms as mayor (1988–1998).]