History of City of Mandaue

The City of Mandaue was founded in April 7, 1521, when a “Cove of Cebu”, called Mandawe, was sighted by a Spanish expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan. The “Cove of Cebu”, which is located in the present Barangay Tipolo, became the host to the first facility in the country. Its establishment marked the origins of the industrialization of the country as it helped in the promotion and sustainability of the Acapulco Trade which took place at that time.

In 1571, Legaspi established the country’s first drydock complex on the shoreline of Tipolo, Mandaue, in order to hasten the colonization of the area. The drydock facilities, which were a few meters away from the existing location of the San Miguel Brewery Complex, reportedly serviced the Galleons of Legaspi.

Historically, Mandaue got its name from a thick, clinging vines known as “mantawi”, which were abundant in the early times, long before the coming of the Spanish conquestadores. During these times, Mandaue, with its eastern and southern boundaries facing the Mactan Strait, was already referred to as the “merchants’ paradise”. The major economic points within the area were already interlinked with several crude transportation network.

The “Cove of Cebu” was formally constituted into a “pueblo” between 1580 to 1700 and was officially known as the town of Mandaue in the year 1899.

From that “Cove of Cebu” emerged the now industrial city of Mandaue. Mandaue became a chartered city on June 21, 1969 through Republic Act 5519. It was considered a highly-urbanized city in the year 1991.