I. BRIEF HISTORY AND DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF TRECE MARTIRES

CITY

Trece Martires, officially City of Trece Martires (Tagalog: Lungsod ng Trece

Martires) is a component city in the province of Cavite, Philippines. The city was the

former provincial capital, and still serves as the seat of the provincial government of

Cavite, where most of the provincial offices are located. The city was named after the

Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite, a group of prominent Caviteños who were convicted of

rebellion and executed by the Spanish colonial government on September 12, 1896 in

the old port city of Cavite during the Philippine Revolution. According to the 2010

census, the city has a population of 104,559 people with a land area of 39.10 km2

(15.10 sq mi) and an income classification of 1st class.

The City was once the Cavite Capital City before former president Ferdinand

Marcos transferred it to Imus City.

Trece Mártires is located in the heart of Cavite. It is bounded by Tanza town to

the north and west; Naic to the west; Amadeo and Indang to the south; and General

Trias to the east. It is located about 48.3 km (30.0 mi) from Manila, the capital of the

Philippines, or about an hour by car.

a. Barangays

Trece Martires City is politically subdivided into 13 barangays (4 urban and 9

rural). The city was subdivided into thirteen barangays, which was planned by Senator.

Justiniano Montano and Congressman Jose Cajulis when creating the city. Each

barangay was named after one of the Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite to commemorate their

bravery and heroism. Below are the names of the thirteen barangays and their previous

names before the City's Charter was passed on May 24, 1954.

b. History

Trece Martires started as one of the largest and most remote barrios of Cavite.

Originally named Quinta or Quintana, it was part of the municipality of Tanza. The land

was basically agricultural subdivided into cattle ranches and sugar farms, with less than

one thousand hectares, located at the intersection of the present Tanza-Indang Road

and the Naic-Dasmariñas Road (now Governor's Drive).

The city was established on May 24, 1954 under Republic Act No. 981 ("The

Charter of Trece Martires City") as approved by President Ramon Magsaysay. The

Republic Act also transferred the provincial seat of government from Cavite City to

Trece Martires.The original bill, House Bill 1795, was authored by Congressman Jose T.

Cajulis (1954–1957) and Senator Justiniano S. Montano (1949–1956).

Under the city charter, the Governor of Cavite is also ex-officio Mayor of Trece

Martires; then-Governor Dominador Mangubat was installed as the city's first chief

executive. On January 2, 1956, the provincial capitol was formally inaugurated, the

same day the newly elected Governor, Delfin N. Montano (the son of former Senator

Justiniano Montano) was sworn into office. He served in both offices from 1956 to 1971.

On June 22, 1957 the original act was amended by Republic Act 1912 increasing

its territory to 3,917 hectares (9,680 acres), more or less. Consequently, the

municipalities of Indang and General Trias had to yield parts of their respective areas to

this territorial expansion.

Former President Ferdinand E. Marcos signed Presidential Decree No. 1163

relocating the capital and seat of government from Trece Martires to Imus City.

Governor Juanito Remulla requested Marcos in September 1979 to transfer the capital

back to Trece Martires City. As of 2011, the provincial capital is still Imus City, but most

of the provincial offices are still located in Trece Martires City.

On March 31, 1992, the Republic Act no. 7325 was approved by President

Corazon C. Aquino amending the charter of Trece Martires City, allowing the city to vote

their own local officials for the first time.

c. Demographic Profile

Population of Trece Martires City

Year Pop. ±% p.a.

1990 15,686 —    

1995 20,451 +5.10%

2000 41,653 +16.47%

2007 90,177 +11.24%

2010 104,559 +5.53%

II. MAP OF ROAD NETWORKS

III. LAND USE MAP, TRECE MARTIREZ CITY

IV. EXISTING TRAFFIC SIGNS, SCHEMES AND ROAD MARKINGS

DIRECTIONAL SIGNS

DIRECTIONAL SIGNS

WARNING SIGNS

V. KEYPOINTS ON INTERVIEW CONDUCTED

A. Mr. Alberto S. Ararao

City Planning and Development Officer

City Planning and Development Office

City of Trece Martirez

In the interview with Officer Ararao, he stated important facts regarding

pedestrian, traffic and demographic information about the City. Officer Ararao

mentioned that the traffic was due to the city being the easiest access point to reach

any part of the Cavite. He said that on an average, the busy streets of the City,

especially the intersection between the Public Market and commercial buildings,

accommodate 3000 pedestrians per hour during peak hours and serves 1000

pedestrians per hour on a regular basis. He also mentioned that the city’s population

increases at a rate of 9.64% yearly.

Regarding transportation facilities, there exist a transport terminal near 7-11

Convenience Store but it seem inadequate to serve the many vehicles that need the

facility. So, to augment this need of a transport terminal, the Office proposed the

construction of a Central Transport Terminal near Don Aldrin Transit Bus Terminal; also,

construction of another station at Hugo Perez was proposed.

Besides vehicular traffic, Officer Ararao said that another problem concerning the

city is the management of pedestrian traffic at its central business district. By the

foreseen increase of population and expansion of businesses in the city, the Office

proposed the construction of a footbridge that will connect the commercial buildings and

the public market. These proposed footbridges will connect commercial districts and

the public market.

Officer Ararao stated that the City Government is working with the Metropolitan

Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to draw a more precise traffic ordinance

applicable to the city. Furthermore, he stated that budgetary constraints and lack of

public property for use for construction of facilities.

B. Mr. Michael Paiton

Resident and Bus Dispatcher

Due to the nature of Mr. Paiton’s job, the interview conducted was quite informal

and short. Despite this, he had given valuable information regarding the traffic in the

city. He said that traffic congestion in the City roads was a result of traffic schemes

implemented by adjacent towns. The implementation of a truck ban policy at Tanza, for

example, adds vehicular traffic to the city. Furthermore, he said that congestion was

very much prevalent during morning and afternoon rush hours.

C. Ms. Jamie Ganadin

Resident and Commuter

As a resident she observed that fast changes happen in the City. The opening of

more establishments, specifically malls like Walter Mart and PureGold, and the

construction of the SM Mall greatly affect to congest the streets of the city. Changes in

location of public offices also contribute to congesting the streets. Opening of bazaars

that utilizes parking facilities must also be blamed in clogging of highways and

development of heavy traffic

As a commuter, she said that the primary problem that concerns the

development of traffic and the lengthy commuting time is that the city seems to be a

choke point for all vehicles coming from all directions.

VI. CONCLUSION/ RECOMMENDATIONS

Trece Mártires City is located at the heart of Cavite. It is bounded by Tanza town

to the north and west; Naic to the west; Amadeo and Indang to the south; and General

Trias to the east. It is located about 48.3 km (30.0 mi) from Manila, the capital of the

Philippines, or about an hour by car.

Being the province’s capital, Trece Martires became the home for many

commercial establishments and central offices of government entities. This had made

Trece Martires City the central business district of Cavite.

The very downside of being a central business district is the presence of large

volume of people and vehicles moving around the city. Problems regarding traffic

congestion for both pedestrian and vehicles emerge as a city becomes economically

competent. It is the job of the local government to lay out plans so as to cope up with

this increase of traffic. The government is responsible to create rules and ordinances,

and to spend its money wise enough to build facilities that will maintain the smooth flow

of people, goods and vehicles in and around its jurisdiction.

Our interviews said much about the condition of traffic in the city and on how the

government is reacting with it. We found out that the traffic in the city was mainly due to

trucks that use the city’s roads when truck ban policies on neighboring towns were in

effect. We also knew that the lack of facilities such as mass transport terminals and

pedestrian footbridges contribute to congesting the city streets.

We can also say that City Government of Trece Martires is efficient enough in

coping up with the increasing traffic demand in its jurisdiction. Recently, we saw road

improvement projects such as road widening works around the city. This will increase

the carrying capacity of roads which is a good thing. We also get to know the plans of

the city such with regards to construction of pedestrian facilities and mass transport

terminals. Proudly, the Traffic Management Officer said that by 2016, some projects

such as the construction of a footbridge that will connect the public market to the

commercial district and the construction of another mass transport terminal will

commence. Also, the ongoing repair and expansion of roads is a good sign that the

government is wisely spending its income to improve traffic flow.

VII. RECOMMENDATION

As we can see, and with the rate of increase of developments that happen in the

city, we recommend that the city must work on acquiring more properties to construct

more transport terminals and parking facilities. The erection of these facilities will greatly

decrease the usage of outside lanes of highways as a parking facility. This will increase

the carrying capacity of the roads thus promote smooth flow of traffic.

Construction of footbridges at strategic location must also be taken into

consideration to promote fast movement of pedestrian. These facilities will also help to

minimize interaction of pedestrians with vehicle that will also minimize stopping time of

vehicles.

We also recommend that since truck ban policies were integrated on neighboring

towns around TMC, the government must also study the viability of it being

implemented also in the city. The government must coordinate with its neighboring

towns to create a more comprehensive truck ban and other policies that will be applied

at their respective place.

Another thing, the city government must also study the location of its loading and

unloading areas. The city must limit the loading and unloading areas to very specific

areas because as we can see, the stopping of public vehicles at any convenient place

to pick up passengers greatly affects traffic congestion.

We also noticed that road repairs also contribute in building up traffic. The city

government must think of a way to minimize the impact of these works to traffic. We

recommend that the city must take in consideration conducting road works during night

hours when road usage is significantly low.

We also noticed that traffic signs are quite abundant but does not follow proper

standards. It is a good move of the government to provide tarps as signs to reduce

budgetary costs but they must also take in consideration the proper placement and

installation of these signs.

We also proposed the installation of a traffic light at the Governors Drive and

Indang – Trece Road Intersection. The installation of such device will greatly help in

queuing of vehicles and promote the flow of traffic.