<figure class="image-550">
<img src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-29/bonifacio-monument.webp" alt="Aerial photo of Bonifacio Monument at a rural Caloocan road junction, 1933." loading="lazy" />
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In 1933, the Bonifacio Monument stood mostly alone, ringed by farmland and a scatter of houses - a preview of the busy Metro Manila landmark it would become.
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<h2>
Where the Name Came From
</h2>

Nobody agrees on exactly where the name "Caloocan" came from. There are a few stories.


One story says it comes from the Tagalog word "loob," meaning "inside." The full form, "kalook-lookan", means "the innermost area". This made sense because the old town sat inland, away from the coast of Manila Bay.


Another story says the name comes from "lo-ok", meaning "bay". The first settlement was near a small lagoon called Dagat-Dagatan, close to Manila Bay, so this story fits too.


A third story points to the word "sulok", meaning "corner". Old Caloocan sat at the point where the towns of <a href="/articles/3255/tondo-manila-from-ancient-kingdom-to-urban-icon" class="news_link">Tondo</a> and Tambobong (now Malabon) met, like a corner between the two.


All three stories may hold a piece of the truth. Either way, the name has stuck for centuries, though it is sometimes spelled "Kalookan" as well.

<h2>
A Small Barrio Becomes a Town
</h2>

Long before it had its own town hall, Caloocan was just a small barrio under Tondo. Spanish records called it Aromahan or Libis Espina, since it sat in a "libis", a low-lying area.


In 1815, Caloocan broke off from Tondo and became its own town. At the time, its land stretched far beyond the borders it has today. It reached east toward the foothills of Marikina, San Mateo, and Montalban, and covered land that is now part of several other cities.


By the late 1800s, Caloocan was growing. In 1884, <a href="/articles/3193/the-history-of-la-loma-cemetery-a-timeless-chronicle-of-manilas-past" class="news_link">La Loma Cemetery</a> was built within its borders. It was considered one of the largest and finest cemeteries in the country at the time. Then in 1892, the <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/771/today-in-philippine-history-november-24-1892-the-195-kilometer-long-railway-line-from-manila-to-dagupan-in-pangasinan-was-inaugurated" class="news_link">Manila-Dagupan railway opened</a>, and Caloocan became its first stop out of Tutuban station. This turned the town into an early transport hub, a role it never really lost.

<h2>
The Birthplace of the Revolution
</h2>

Caloocan holds a special place in the story of the Philippine Revolution. <a href="/articles/3326/andres-bonifacio-life-legacy-and-the-first-president" class="news_link">Andres Bonifacio</a> and the <a href="/kauswagan/articles/906/about-the-katipunan" class="news_link">Katipunan</a> were active in the area, and the barrio of Balintawak, then part of Caloocan's wide territory, is remembered as the site of the "Cry" that kicked off the armed revolt against Spain in August 1896. Some accounts call it the Cry of Balintawak, others the <a href="/articles/3289/cry-of-pugad-lawin-august-23-1896" class="news_link">Cry of Pugad Lawin</a>, but both point to land that was Caloocan's at the time.


People from Caloocan joined the fighting that followed, and two years later, Spanish rule in the Philippines came to an end.

<h2>
War Comes to Caloocan Again
</h2>

Freedom from Spain did not bring peace. The United States, which had taken over the Philippines after the Spanish-American War, soon found itself fighting the very revolutionaries it once helped. The Philippine-American War broke out in February 1899, and Caloocan was pulled straight into it.


On February 10, 1899, American troops under General <a href="/articles/3154/the-life-of-major-general-arthur-macarthur-jr-a-focus-on-his-philippine-campaigns" class="news_link">Arthur MacArthur Jr.</a> attacked Filipino forces led by General <a href="/articles/3380/antonio-luna-the-scientific-soldier" class="news_link">Antonio Luna</a> at Caloocan. The Americans won and took control of the town, along with the southern end of the Manila-Dagupan railway. Later that month, from February 22 to 24, Filipino forces tried to fight their way back into Manila through Caloocan in a second battle. The counterattack failed, mostly due to poor coordination among the different Filipino units.


These battles were costly for the town and its people, but they also placed Caloocan firmly in the record of the war for independence.

<h2>
Losing Land, Gaining Shape
</h2>

For much of the 1900s, Caloocan kept losing territory to its growing neighbors. In 1939, the government created Quezon City and took a large chunk of Caloocan's land to do it, including areas like La Loma, Balingasa, and Masambong. More boundary changes followed after World War II, when even more land, including most of old Novaliches, was handed over to <a href="/articles/2989/the-historical-journey-of-quezon-city" class="news_link">Quezon City</a>.


By the time the dust settled, Caloocan had been split into two separate pieces: a busier, more commercial south, and a quieter, more residential north. This north-south divide is still a defining feature of the city today.

The History of Caloocan City


The history of Caloocan City - from a small Tondo barrio to a battlefield in two wars, to a chartered city in 1962.
