Kawit

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Kawit Cavite el Viejo
Municipality
Municipality of Kawit
Aguinaldo Shrine
Flag Seal
Nickname(s):  Site of the Declaration of Independence, Flag Town of the Republic
Motto(s):  Alab ng Puso (Flaming Heart)
Map of Cavite with Kawit highlighted
OpenStreetMap
Kawit Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 14°26′N 120°54′E / 14.43°N 120.9°E / 14.43; 120.9
Country	Philippines
Region	Calabarzon
Province	Cavite
District	1st district
Founded	1587 or August 1, 1600
Renamed	September 20, 1907 (as Kawit)
Barangays	23 (see Barangays)
Government  [1]
• Type	Sangguniang Bayan
• Mayor	Angelo Emilio G. Aguinaldo
• Vice Mayor	Edward R. Samala Jr.
• Representative	Ramon Revilla III
• Municipal Council	Members Eman R. Tuazon Alvin S. Bunag Divinia R. Pulido Juan Ysmael R. Gandia Gerardo B. Jarin Bienvenido D. Cajigas III Cynthia G. Aguinaldo Medel E. Caimol
• Electorate	62,698 voters (2022)
Area [2]
• Total	25.15 km2 (9.71 sq mi)
Elevation	6.0 m (19.7 ft)
Highest elevation	47 m (154 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (2020 census)[3]
• Total	107,535
• Density	4,300/km2 (11,000/sq mi)
• Households	29,082
Demonym	Kawiteño
Economy
• Income class	1st municipal income class
• Poverty incidence	10.13 % (2021)[4]
• Revenue	₱ 364.5 million (2020), 119.3 million (2012), 137.6 million (2013), 163.1 million (2014), 174.1 million (2015), 188 million (2016), 221.4 million (2017), 261 million (2018), 319.4 million (2019), 405.1 million (2021), 546.8 million (2022)
• Assets	₱ 582.3 million (2020), 293.2 million (2012), 349.1 million (2013), 397 million (2014), 414.4 million (2015), 464.2 million (2016), 516.8 million (2017), 556.4 million (2018), 596 million (2019), 590.2 million (2021), 851.9 million (2022)
• Expenditure	₱ 383.4 million (2020), 111.3 million (2012), 101.8 million (2013), 113 million (2014), 137.8 million (2015), 161.8 million (2016), 2,078 million (2017), 233.9 million (2018), 277.4 million (2019), 398.5 million (2021), 630.3 million (2022)
• Liabilities	₱ 178.9 million (2020), 146.5 million (2012), 163.5 million (2013), 192 million (2014), 203.1 million (2015), 148 million (2016), 169.8 million (2017), 185.6 million (2018), 215.2 million (2019), 179 million (2021), 404.3 million (2022)
Service provider
• Electricity	Manila Electric Company (Meralco)
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	4104
PSGC	042111000
IDD : area code	+63 (0)46
Native languages	Tagalog
Major religions	Catholic
Catholic diocese	Roman Catholic Diocese of Imus
Patron saint	St. Mary Magdalene

Kawit, officially the Municipality of Kawit (Tagalog: Bayan ng Kawit), is a 1st class urban municipality in the province of Cavite, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 107,535.^[3] It is one of the notable places that had a major role in the country's history during the 1800s and 1900s.

Formerly known as Cavite el Viejo, it is the location of his home, and the name Kawit is from the word kalawit, the Aguinaldo Shrine, where independence from Spain was declared on June 12, 1898. It is also the birthplace of Emilio Aguinaldo, the first president of the Philippines, who from 1895 to 1897, served as the municipality's chief executive.

Kawit is 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) from Imus and 23 kilometres (14 mi) from Manila.

The name Kawit is derived from the Tagalog word kawit or kalawit (hook), which is suggestive of its location at the base of a hook-shaped 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. The Spanish left muttering the word kawit. In the course of the time, the word evolved into cauite, and finally cavite.

Kawit was the most thriving settlement prior to the coming of the Spanish. In fact, the town provided the first anchorage of the Spanish in the province, whence colonization and proselytization of the Christian religion began, spreading to all corners of the province. It was established as a town in 1587 or, as recognized by laws, August 1, 1600.^[5][6]

For a long time, the place was called by the Spanish "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. This seedy reputation of the town was erased when Saint Mary Magdalene was made patroness, under the spiritual supervision of the Jesuits as ordered by Miguel García Serrano, O.S.A. (1618–1629), the fifth Archbishop of Manila.

With the establishment in the wake of the Philippine Revolution, the Philippine Independent Church built a shrine to Saint Michael, the Archangel in the barrio of Binakayan in 1902.

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 Spanish), and Imus. Eventually, these three barrios' populations grew and they eventually seceded to become independent municipalities.

Aside from its role as the birthplace of independence, Kawit was also the site of the Battle of Binakayan-Dalahican, one of several Filipino victories during the Revolution.

In 1907, the town was renamed to Kawit, its present name, by virtue of Act No. 1718 by the Philippine Commission.^[7]

Kawit is politically subdivided into 23 barangays. ^[8] Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2023)

Population census of Kawit

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1903	6,114	—
1918	6,855	+0.77%
1939	10,783	+2.18%
1948	13,970	+2.92%
1960	19,352	+2.75%
1970	28,447	+3.92%
1975	33,813	+3.53%
1980	39,368	+3.09%
1990	47,755	+1.95%
1995	56,993	+3.37%
2000	62,751	+2.08%
2007	76,405	+2.75%
2010	78,209	+0.85%
2015	83,466	+1.25%
2020	107,535	+5.11%
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[10][11][12][13]

In the 2020 census, the population of Kawit was 107,535 people,^[3] with a density of 4,700 inhabitants per square kilometer or 12,000 inhabitants per square mile.

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2023)

Poverty incidence of Kawit

2.5 5 7.5 10 12.5 15 2006 5.80 2009 4.79 2012 5.88 2015 9.51 2018 5.66 2021 10.13 Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]

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, where the Virgin Mary and Joseph are welcomed by angels in a giant belen (Nativity Scene), which covers the whole main Retablo or altarpiece of the church. The songs performed by the angels acted by little girls are mostly in Spanish and Tagalog.

Like any other Philippine municipality, Kawit is headed by a municipal mayor, vice mayor, and 10 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 mayor is assisted by the vice mayor, who presides over a legislative council. The current mayor of the historical town is Angelo Emilio G. Aguinaldo, a descendant of the first officially recognized President of the Philippines, General Emilio Aguinaldo. The current vice mayor is Edward R. Samala Jr.

• Sakegawa, Yamagata, Japan^[22]

• 
  Procession (Karakol, dancing)
• 
  Emilio Aguinaldo tomb
• 
  Old Town Hall facade
• 
  Junction
• 
  Beach
• 
  Kawit Toll Plaza of Manila–Cavite Expressway (CAVITEX)

• Aguinaldo Shrine
• St. Michael the Archangel Parish of Binakayan (Aglipayan Church)
• St. Mary Magdalene Church (Kawit)
• Baldomero Aguinaldo Shrine
• Battle of Binakayan-Dalahican
• Kawit revolt, 1896
• Kawit shooting, 2013

• Official Website of the Provincial Government of Cavite
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Philippine Census Information

Preceded by San Miguel, Bulacan

Capital of the Philippines June–July 1898

Succeeded by Bacoor