Ternate, Cavite


Ternate, officially the Municipality of Ternate, is a municipality in the province of Cavite, Philippines. According to the, it has a population of people.
Formerly known as Bahra, the municipality is named after Ternate island of Indonesia where migrants from then Dutch East Indies originated.
WWW ternate.cavite.gov.ph

Etymology

The town is named after the Indonesian island of Ternate, which was the homeland of settlers in the region in the late 1600s as they were emigrants from the Moluccas. The town was also known as Barra or Bahra in Chavacano. Prior to the arrival of migrants, the area was known as Wawa by the native Tagalogs, from the Tagalog wawa.

History

The Merdicas were Catholic natives of the islands of Ternate and Tidore of the Moluccas, converted by Jesuit missionaries during the Portuguese occupation of the islands. The islands were later captured by the Spanish, who vied for their control with the Dutch. In 1663, the Spanish garrison in Ternate were forced to pull out to defend Manila against an impending invasion by Koxinga on the Kingdom of Tungning in modern Taiwan, sacrificing the Moluccas to the Dutch. Two hundred families of Merdicas volunteered, and were resettled in a sandbar near the mouth of the Maragondon River and Tanza, Cavite. Among them was their ruler, Sultan Said Din Burkat, who deported to Manila together with his entourage and family and later converted to Christianity.
The invasion did not occur as Koxinga fell ill and died. The Merdicas community eventually assimilated into the local population. Today, the descendants of the Merdicas continue to speak their Spanish creole, which came to be known as Ternateño Chabacano.
Ternate was once a barrio of Maragondón, and was the first town to attain full independence from it on March 31, 1857. The agreement was signed on behalf of the residents of Ternate by Tomás de León, Félix Nigosa, Pablo de León, Florencio Nino Franco and Juan Ramos.
On October 15, 1903, Ternate was merged with Naic by virtue of Act No. 947. It was later separated by virtue of Executive Order No. 96 in November 1915 but was effective only on January 1, 1916.
On March 3, 1992, Mayor Octavio Velasco, along with his two bodyguards and the town chief of police Felipe Enero, were assassinated in front of the municipal hall by five unknown gunmen, alleged to be bodyguards of then-Cavite Representative Jorge Núñez. As of March 1994, the assassins were still at large.

Geography

Ternate is from Imus and from Manila.

Barangays

Ternate is politically subdivided into 10 barangays, as indicated in the matrix below. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
Currently, there are 3 barangays which are classified as urban.

Demographics

In the 2024 census, the population of Ternate, Cavite, was 24,891 people, with a density of.

Language

In addition to Tagalog, the community continue to use one of several Spanish-based creole varieties found in the Philippines, collectively known as Chabacano. Locals, however, simply call the vernacular language as Bahra.

Religion

Most Ternateños are Catholics, with the majority belonging to the Catholic Church, and the rest subscribing to other Christian denominations.
A number of residents also profess Islam, belonging to the Sunni branch predominant in the country.

Government

Elected officials

The following are the elected officials of the town elected last May 12, 2025 which serves until 2028:
PositionOfficial
MayorLamberto D. Bambao
Vice MayorCalvin Kenneth C. Soberano

Education

The Ternate Schools District Office governs all educational institutions within the municipality. It oversees the management and operations of all private and public, from primary to secondary schools.

Primary and elementary schools

Secondary schools

Higher educational institution