Olongapo
Highly urbanized city
City of Olongapo
From top, left to right: Business district in Olongapo, Ulo ng Apo Monument, City Hall, Harbor Point (Subic), SM City Olongapo Central
Flag Seal
Nickname:  City of Volunteers[1][2]
Motto(s):  Transparency and Good Governance[3]
Anthem: Himno ng Olongapo (Hymn of Olongapo)
Map of Central Luzon with Olongapo highlighted
OpenStreetMap
Olongapo Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 14°50′N 120°17′E / 14.83°N 120.28°E / 14.83; 120.28
Country	Philippines
Region	Central Luzon
Province	Zambales (geographically only)
District	1st district
Founded	November 4, 1750
Cityhood	June 1, 1966[4]
Highly urbanized city	December 7, 1983
Barangays	17 (see Barangays)
Government  [5]
• Type	Sangguniang Panlungsod
• Mayor	Rolen C. Paulino, Jr.
• Vice Mayor	Aquilino Y. Cortez Jr.
• Representative	Jefferson F. Khonghun
• City Council	Members Cristabelle Marie C. Paulino Rodel S. Cerezo Kaye Ann S. Legaspi Jamiel Jules K. Escalona Jerome Michael S. Bacay Sarah Lugerna F. Lipumano Rodolfo S. Catalogan Sr. Vicente H. Magsaysay II Gina S. Gulanes-Perez Ermelando N. Anonat
• Electorate	123,707 voters (2022)
Area [6]
• City	185.00 km2 (71.43 sq mi)
• Metro	472.16 km2 (182.30 sq mi)
Elevation	193 m (633 ft)
Highest elevation	1,281 m (4,203 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (2020 census)[7]
• City	260,317
• Density	1,400/km2 (3,600/sq mi)
• Metro	337,811
• Metro density	720/km2 (1,900/sq mi)
• Households	66,450
Demonym(s)	Olongapeño (masculine) Olongapeña (Feminine) Olongapenean
Economy
• Income class	1st city income class
• Poverty incidence	7.60 % (2021)[8]
• Revenue	₱ 1,731 million (2020)
• Assets	₱ 10,149 million (2020)
• Expenditure	₱ 1,328 million (2020)
• Liabilities	₱ 7,291 million (2020)
Service provider
• Electricity	Olongapo Electricity Distribution Company (OEDC)
ZIP code	2200
PSGC	037107000
IDD : area code	+63 (0)47
Native languages	Tagalog Ilocano Sambal Kapampangan Ambala
Website	www.olongapocity.gov.ph

Olongapo ([ʔɔˈlɔŋɡɐpo]), officially the City of Olongapo (Filipino: Lungsod ng Olongapo; Ilocano: Siudad ti Olongapo; Sambal: Siyodad nin Olongapo; Kapampangan: Lakanbalen/Ciudad ning Olongapo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 260,317 people.^[7]

It is geographically situated and grouped under the province of Zambales by the Philippine Statistics Authority but governed independently from the province and it is also the largest city.

Along with the municipality of Subic, it comprises Metro Olongapo, one of the twelve metropolitan areas in the Philippines.^[9]

History

Spanish colonial era

In 1868, a Spanish military expedition was dispatched to study the possibility of relocating the Cavite Naval Station in Subic Bay due to its unhealthy condition.

Spanish King Alfonso XII through a Royal Decree made Subic Bay (then called Subig) as Spain's stronghold in the Far East in 1884. Vice Admiral Juan Bautista de Antiquiera made Olongapo a settlement for the Spanish Navy.

On March 8, 1885, the Spanish Naval commission authorized construction of the Arsenal in Olongapo. The Spanish planned to transform their naval station and the village of Olongapo into an island, safeguarding it from potential rebel attacks. The Spanish Navy Yard occupied the entire area east of the Spanish Gate. Employing Filipino labor, they did extensive dredging of the harbor and the inner basin and built a drainage canal. The canal served both to drain the swampy area around the yard and also to form a line of defense.

Within ten years, the Spaniards had erected walls and markers to fence off the arsenal. They had shops and buildings erected. The Spanish government spent almost fifteen years developing the naval station. From higher naval commands, the order was sent to fortify Grande Island at the mouth of Subic Bay with mines and cannons. However, this project had barely commenced when it was abruptly interrupted by the overwhelming defeat of the Spanish Navy in Manila Bay at the hands of US Admiral George Dewey.^{[10][11][12][13]} In the meantime, during the Philippine Revolution, a fleet led by the Cuban-Filipino Admiral Vicente Catalan seized the naval base at Subic-Olongapo from the Spanish for the First Philippine Republic.

American occupation

On May 1, 1898, the construction of the Spanish Administration Building was nearly complete when Admiral Dewey's flagship, USS Olympia, led the Asiatic Fleet into Manila Bay. A detachment of Dewey's fleet bombarded the navy yard. Eventually, after the surrender, Spain relinquished all her rights in the Philippines to the United States. This marked the end of more than three hundred years of Spanish rule over the islands.

Realizing the tremendous importance of Olongapo as a naval facility, the U.S. Navy decided to keep the base in functioning order; US President Theodore Roosevelt, on November 9, 1901, by executive order, reserved the waters of Subic and some of the adjacent lands for naval purposes.

The naval station was widened and with the establishment of the American rule in the Philippines. American defenses in the islands were facilities left by the Spanish Navy which were taken over by the United States.

Olongapo grew in direct proportion to the growth of the naval station. More people came to live in Olongapo since the Navy offered employment. To most Filipinos during that time, it was a welcome change. The promise of a different kind of experience as shop workers and office help induced many young men to leave their farms and fishing boats to work in the Navy Yard. Others finding the lure of the sea irresistible joined the U.S. Navy.

Olongapo impressed its visitors as being one of the finest communities in the country. People passing through the town never failed to comment on its cleanliness and orderliness.^[10][11]

Japanese occupation

When the war broke out in 1941, the old town was obliterated. Olongapo was twice destroyed.

On December 14, 1941, Japanese bombers attacked the Olongapo/Subic Bay area. Ten days later, the order was given to burn Subic Bay Naval Station and withdraw. Olongapo was set aflame by the Filipinos in anticipation of the Japanese arrival. The USS New York was scuttled in Subic Bay.^[14] When the American forces made a last-ditch stand on the Bataan peninsula, the Naval Station was abandoned and most of its facilities were burned before the Japanese came.

In 1945, Olongapo was again bombed, shelled and burned. Joint American and Philippine Commonwealth ground troops aided guerrilla fighters in liberating Olongapo from the Japanese forces. With the exceptions of the Station Chapel (the Olongapo Parish Church before the war) and the Spanish Gate, none of its former landmarks withstood the war. The general headquarters between the United States Army, Philippine Commonwealth Army & Philippine Constabulary were located in Olongapo during and after World War II, and were active until 1946 after operating against the Japanese for the liberation of Central Luzon.

Postwar Era

In 1946, the Philippines was granted independence. Olongapo was one of the principal naval bases retained by the United States. The Navy started rebuilding the town after hostilities ceased. Olongapo was built on a new undeveloped site a couple of miles north of its former location. The prewar town site became part of the base.

The first few years after the war were difficult for the new town, as everything in the new Olongapo was damaged. There were no electric power and no drainage system. The water supply and sanitation facilities were inadequate, and streets were unpaved.^[11] Gradually, Olongapo evolved into a new community: new businesses were established, housing projects were planned and civic facilities were restored.

During the Korean War, the United States spent over US$170 million to convert the base into the homeport of the Navy's Seventh Fleet, developing the Cubi Naval Air Station as the largest US installation of its kind in Asia. Naval authorities relocated the residence from the area of the former Public Works Center area to the intersection of what is now known as Rizal Avenue and Ramon Magsaysay Drive, and in the Barangays New Asinan and New Kalalake areas. Zoning of Olongapo was patterned after American practice where streets are constructed along straight lines. The magnitude of facilities construction in the Olongapo and Subic Bay area brought growth and prosperity to Olongapo. By 1956, migrants from nearby towns and provinces had swelled the population to 39,180.^[15]

Cityhood

Unlike the rest of the Philippines which gained independence from the United States after World War II in 1946, Olongapo was governed as a part of the United States naval reservation. The Subic Bay Naval Base commanding officer was chairman of the Olongapo town council, school board, and hospital board. Olongapo's 60,000 Filipino residents paid taxes to the US Navy and those accused of crimes involving American servicemen were tried in US Navy courts. In July 1955, Manila mayor Arsenio Lacson announced that American service personnel accused of crimes in Manila would be tried in Philippine courts because of US Navy abuses of Filipinos in Olongapo.

On October 23, 1959, Olongapo was placed under martial law when Robert Grant, the American owner of an Olongapo auto parts store was killed and the US Navy declined to identify or try the Naval Supply Depot sentry who shot him.^[16]

Olongapo was the last piece of Philippine territory surrendered by the United States to the country in the 1950s.^[11][17] On December 7, 1959, 56,000 acres of land with electrical, telephone and water utilities was relinquished to Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Felixberto Serrano.^[16] The first mayor appointed was civic leader Ruben Geronimo. He was later succeeded by business entrepreneur Ildefonso Arriola.

Six years later, through the efforts of Representative Ramon Magsaysay Jr. in Congress and Senator Genaro Magsaysay in the Senate, President Ferdinand Marcos signed R.A. 4645. Olongapo was reconverted to a chartered city on June 1, 1966.^[4]

Olongapo was eventually upgraded to the status of a highly urbanized city (HUC) on December 7, 1983.^{[citation needed]}

Marcos dictatorship era

The beginning months of the 1970s marked a period of turmoil and change in the Philippines, as well as in Olongapo and Zambales.^[18][19] During his bid to be the first Philippine president to be re-elected for a second term, Ferdinand Marcos launched an unprecedented number of foreign debt-funded public works projects. This caused^[20][21] the Philippine economy to take a sudden downwards turn known as the 1969 Philippine balance of payments crisis, which in turn led to a period of economic difficulty and a significant rise of social unrest.^{[22][23][24] [25]: "43"}

With only a year left in his last constitutionally allowed term as president, Ferdinand Marcos placed the Philippines under Martial Law in September 1972 and thus retained the position for fourteen more years.^[26] This period in Philippine history is remembered for the Marcos administration's record of human rights abuses,^[27][28] particularly targeting political opponents, student activists, journalists, religious workers, farmers, and others who fought against the Marcos dictatorship.^[29]

In Olongapo, the continuation of the Vietnam war through this period meant the arrival of a constantly growing number of U.S. Sailors to adjacent U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay,^[30] which was headed by Manuel Ardonia.^{[citation needed]} The base was visited by 215 ships per month as the Vietnam War peaked in 1967, and it employed 15,000 Filipino civilians.^[30]

However, this also meant the rapid growth of prostitution in the areas around the base.^[31] The policies of the Marcos administration encouraged the growth of the sex-industry^[32]: 128 because it increased the flow of higher value currency into the Philippine economy.^[33]: 13

The economies of Olongapo and the nearby areas of Zambales evolved from a largely agricultural orientation at the end of the 1960s^[32][33] towards one built around sex industry related businesses such as bars by the mid-1970s.^[32][33] The nightclubs along Ramon Magsaysay Drive between the naval base main gate and Rizal Avenue were notoriously popular among the 4,225,000 servicemen visiting the base that year.^[30] Sailors' accounts recall the popularity of musical performances, inexpensive San Miguel beer, attractive teenage prostitutes, erotic floor shows, Jeepney rides back to the naval base and children diving for coins tossed from the bridge over the estuarine drainage channel in front of the naval base main gate were popular amenities among the sailors.^[34][35][36]

Mount Pinatubo eruption

On June 15, 1991, Mount Pinatubo, 20 miles (32 kilometres) from the city, violently erupted with a force eight times greater than the May 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. Volcanic clouds blocked out the sun. Volcanic earthquakes and heavy muddy rain, as well as thunderstorms from a typhoon passing over Central Luzon, darkened the area for 36 hours in what would become known as "Black Saturday".^[37] This caused widespread damage to the United States facility and Olongapo City.

On September 16, 1991, the Senate leaders of the Philippines did not grant an extension of the existing RP-US Military Bases Agreement between the Republic of the Philippines and the United States, thus terminating the stay of the United States military in the Philippines.

Contemporary era

Olongapo surged to national prominence during the incumbency of Mayor Richard Gordon, who, like his father before him, was against the departure of US military forces, yet lobbied for the turnover of the facility and its conversion into a freeport in 1992. Gordon spearheaded a volunteerism strategy to return an ailing economy to prosperity after Mount Pinatubo's eruption and the withdrawal of US forces. The strategy worked across all demographics and involved a strong corps of 8,000 volunteers who protected and preserved the abandoned base facilities from poachers. Gordon complemented this with an aggressive advocacy campaign to convert the area into a protected area and industrial zone. Later, he launched an aggressive international investment promotion which resulted in the accelerating the development of a prime industrial and tourism zone in the country, the Subic Bay Freeport Zone (SBFZ).^[37]

As the first chartered city and highly urbanized city in its province, Olongapo's reputation among Filipinos rose from being a "sin city" in the 1960s and 1970s into a "model city" in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.^[17]

A recent racial study showed that Angeles City, Pampanga; alongside Manila; and Olongapo, Zambales; was the locations of several concentrations of 250,000 Amerasians (Mixed American-Asians) who were born as a result of the American colonization of the Philippines and the presence of US bases in the country.^[38][39]

Geography

Situated at the southern entry point of Zambales and the northeastern interior of the Subic Bay area, Olongapo City is 78 kilometres (48 mi) from Iba and 126 kilometres (78 mi) northwest of Manila.

The land area of Olongapo is 103.3 square kilometres (39.9 sq mi). The city proper is located on 6.48 square kilometres (2.50 sq mi) of tidal flatland, with the rugged Zambales Mountains on its three sides, and Bataan and Subic Bay at its base. Because of this peculiar geographic location, development of city land is limited. Also, the territorial borders from nearby towns are not properly marked.^[40]

Climate

Olongapo has a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification: Am).^[43] Temperatures are relatively cooler during the months of December, January and February, and increase slightly from March to May, which are the warmest months of the year in this part of the Philippines.

The months of December to April are extremely dry but the wet season persists for the remaining period in a year. In August, the monthly rainfall total even reaches 40.87 millimetres (1.609 inches).

The city receives an average of 3,375 millimetres (132.9 in) rainfall every year. Temperatures range from an average of around 26.3 degrees Celsius (79.3 degrees Fahrenheit) degrees in January to around 29.4 °C (84.9 °F) in April.

Barangays

Olongapo is politically subdivided into 17 barangays. ^[44] Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios. Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Olongapo
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