Among the 16 cities and one town of Metro Manila or the National Capital Region, the 56-year-old Caloocan City is the only one with two noncontiguous parts separated land it cannot call its own. One such part is contiguous with Manila in the south, while the other one abuts with the Central Luzon province of Bulacan in the north. The two parts are separated by the Quezon City territory in Novaliches as well as a portion of Valenzuela City, formerly Polo town of Bulacan.
In a sense, the composition of Caloocan City technically violates certain provisions of the Local Government Code (LGC), particularly Chapter II, Section 7-C, which provides that the land area of local government units (LGUs) such as provinces, cities, towns and barangays must be contiguous unless they consist of several islands separated by bodies of water.
In the case of Caloocan, there is no body of water in Novaliches except the man-made La Mesa reservoir or lake and the Tullahan River, which ends at the Manila Bay after passing through portions of the adjoining cities of Quezon, Caloocan, Valenzuela, Malabon and Navotas.
However, it is important to note that when Caloocan was declared as a city on February 16, 1962, the Local Government Code was still nonexistent. The LGC was enacted in 1991, after the revival of the Congress during the administration of the late President Corazon C. Aquino.
At present, officials of Caloocan City cannot go from the main city hall in Grace Park to the city’s other half near Bulacan without passing either through Quezon City in Novaliches or Valenzuela City. This is particularly true if they pass through the North Luzon Expressway (Nlex) and the old Novaliches-Polo Road renamed Gen. Luis St. The same is true if they choose to pass through Quirino Highway from Balintawak.
How come the large area of Caloocan City is divided?
When Quezon City was created under Commonwealth Act 502, which was signed by President Manuel L. Quezon on October 12, 1939, it comprised of 73.35 square kilometers (sq km) or 7,335 hectares taken from the then adjacent Rizal towns of Caloocan, San Juan, Pasig, Marikina and Mandaluyong.
Caloocan was the biggest town among these areas at that time as it then included the neighboring 48-year-old municipality of Novaliches, which was abolished and reduced to a barrio in 1903 as part of the economic measures of the early American regime in the Philippines. Novaliches was created as a town during the Spanish regime in the Philippines in 1855.
After Quezon’s death at Saranac Lake, New York, on August 1, 1944, the Philippine Congress passed Republic Act 333 on July 17, 1948, which made Quezon City the new capital of the Philippines, replacing Manila.
This law required the relocation of the QC boundary further north, thereby slicing Novaliches almost through the middle. It also marked the inclusion in the new capital city of the summer residence of then- President Elpidio Quirino, which was on a hill that overlooked the scenic vicinity of the La Mesa dam or Novaliches reservoir.
With the addition of half of Novaliches to QC, the new capital city’s area expanded to over 15,000 hectares. A series of amendments to the original QC charter since then resulted in the increase of the city’s area to 171.17 sq km or 17,171 hectares at present, the largest in Metro Manila.
Since Quezon City has the largest area in the metropolis, it also accounts for the biggest population of 2,936,116 as of 2015, based on Philippine Statistics Authority data. It is followed by Manila with 1,780,148 people; Caloocan City, 1,583,978; Taguig City, 804,935; Pasig City, 755,300; Parañaque City, 665,822; Valenzuela City, 620,422; Las Pinas City, 588,894; Makati City, 582,602; Muntinlupa City, 504,509; Marikina City, 450,741; Pasay City, 416,522; Mandaluyong City, 386,276; Malabon City, 365,525; Navotas City, 249,463; San Juan City, 122,180; and Pateros, 63,840.
On May 29, 1976, then-President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. issued Presidential Decree (PD) 940 restoring Manila as the national capital and reverting QC to its original status as a city created in honor of its late founder, former President Manuel Quezon. The decree became effective on June 24 of that year, coinciding with the celebration of Manila’s 405th anniversary.
In PD 940, Marcos said: “Manila has always been, to the Filipino people and in the eye of the world, the premier city of the Philippines, it being the center of trade, commerce, education and culture; and from time immemorial has been the seat of the national government of the Philippines.”
https://businessmirror.com.ph/why-caloocan-city-consists-of-two-separate-areas/
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