Camp Lapu-Lapu | |
---|---|
Cebu City, Philippines | |
Type | Military Base |
Site information | |
Controlled by | Philippines |
Site history | |
Built | 1950 |
In use | 1950–present |
Garrison information | |
Current commander | Maj. Gen. Pio Diñoso III |
Garrison |
Camp Lapu-Lapu is a military installation of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the Lahug District of Cebu City, Philippines. It is currently the headquarters of the AFP Visayas Command, although in October 2022 it was announced that the AFP Visayas Command would relocate their headquarters after the Cebu provincial government announced that they would take back the land on which the camp stands. [1]
During the Marcos dictatorship, it was designated as one of the four provincial camps to become a Regional Command for Detainees (RECAD). It was designated RECAD III, housing prisoners from throughout the Visayas. Political detainees were typically brought there after initially being detained in other camps, such as nearby Camp Sergio Osmeña. [2]
Camp Lapu-Lapu was first established after World War II, when the 3rd Military Area (3MA), a wartime military unit under the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) was moved from its headquarters at Camp Guadalupe (now Barangay Guadalupe) to what was then the Lahug District of Cebu City. This move later led to the establishment of the present Barangay Apas and laid the foundation for the transformation of it and its neighboring barangays into highly urbanized areas. [3]
Camp Lapu-Lapu remained the headquarters of the units which evolved of the 3MA after the war, including the Battalion Combat Team in the 1950s, and then the 3rd Brigade Separate which later President Fidel V Ramos commanded as a Philippine Army general before his stint as Philippine Constabulary Chief. It also hosted the Central Mindanao Command (CEMCOM)which covered the Mindanao military operations during the 1970s phases of the Moro conflict. After the reorganization of the Armed Forces in 1975, the area became home to the 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) of the Philippine Army. [4]
During the Marcos dictatorship, Camp Lapu-Lapu was designated as one of the four provincial camps to become a Regional Command for Detainees (RECAD). It was designated RECAD III, housing prisoners from throughout the Visayas. Political detainees were typically brought there after initially being detained in other camps, such as nearby Camp Sergio Osmeña. [2]
Among those arrested in the first week of Martial Law was Lawyer Meinrado Paredes, who would later become a Regional Trial Court executive judge, was imprisoned at Camp Sergio Osmeña for three months, and then moved to Camp Lapulapu where he would remain for the remainder of the year he would spend as a political detainee. [5] Redemptorist Priest Amado Picardal was also initially imprisoned and tortured at Camp Sergio Osmeña to before he was moved to Camp Lapulapu. [6]
Further reorganization of the AFP in the late 80s, transferred the 3ID to Jamindan, Capiz, and the subsequent creation of the Regional Unified Command (RUC). The RUC later merged with other regional commands to form the Visayas Command (VISCOM). VISCOM was organized as an operating unit of the AFP to control Internal Security Operation (ISO) in the Visayas, which then became the forefather of the present-day Central Command (CENTCOM), AFP. [4]
On August 11, 2021, the name of the Central Command was reverted to its original name as the Visayas Command. [7]
In October 2022 it was announced that the AFP Visayas Command would relocate their headquarters after the Cebu provincial government announced that they would take back the land on which the camp stands. [1]
Cebu, officially the Province of Cebu, is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas (Region VII) region, and consists of a main island and 167 surrounding islands and islets. The coastal zone of Cebu is identified as a site of highest marine biodiversity importance in the Coral Triangle.
The Battle of Mactan was fought on a beach in Mactan Island between Spanish forces led by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan along with local allies, and Lapulapu, the chieftain of the island, on the early morning hours of April 27, 1521. Magellan, a Portuguese-born commander serving the Spanish Empire who led an expedition that ultimately circumnavigated the world for the first time, commanded a small Spanish contingent in an effort to subdue Mactan led by Lapulapu under the Spanish crown. The sheer number of Lapulapu's forces, compounded with issues associated with the location and the armor, ultimately resulted in a disastrous defeat to the Europeans and the death of Magellan. Surviving members of Magellan's crew continued the expedition under the command of Juan Sebastian de Elcano, who completed the journey in September 1522.
Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu, is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 964,169 people, making it the sixth-most populated city in the nation and the most populous in the Visayas and in Central Visayas Region.
Lapu-Lapu City, officially the City of Lapu-Lapu, is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 497,604.
Sergio "Serging" Veloso Osmeña Jr. was a Filipino politician who served as a Senator of the Philippines, and ran against Ferdinand Marcos in the 1969 Philippine Presidential election. He was the son of Sergio Osmeña, the fourth president of the Philippines. His son, Sergio "Serge" Osmeña III, was also a Senator of the Philippines.
Camp General Rafael T. Crame is the national headquarters of the Philippine National Police (PNP) located along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) in Quezon City. It is situated across EDSA from Camp Aguinaldo, the national headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). Prior to the establishment of the civilian PNP, Camp Crame was the national headquarters of the Philippine Constabulary, a gendarmerie-type military police force which was the PNP's predecessor.
Liloan, officially the Municipality of Liloan, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 153,197 people making it the most populated municipality in Visayas. Liloan lies within Metro Cebu.
Metropolitan Cebu, or simply Metro Cebu,, is the main urban center of the province of Cebu in the Philippines. Metro Cebu is located along the central eastern portion of the island including the nearby island of Mactan. It accounts for 19.9 percent of the land area and 61.5 percent of the population of the entire province of Cebu.
Mactan–Benito Ebuen Air Base, originally known as Opon Airfield and later Mactan Air Base, is an active military airbase of the Philippine Air Force (PAF). It is located on the island of Mactan, Cebu, in the Visayas region of the Philippines. It shares its two runways with the civilian Mactan–Cebu International Airport. Mactan Air Base was originally built by, and was a facility of the United States Air Force (USAF), until the American military units left the country in 1991, whereby full and total control was handed over to the Philippine Air Force.
On March 17, 1957, a Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft crashed on the slopes of Mount Manunggal on the island of Cebu, Philippines, killing 25 of the aircraft's 26 occupants, including the incumbent president of the Philippines, Ramon Magsaysay. Several high-ranking Philippine government officials, military officials, and journalists were also among the dead. The sole survivor was a reporter for the Philippine Herald, Nestor Mata.
The Reserve Command is a major support command of the Philippine Army. It was created for the sole purpose of reserve force management, organization and Government Arsenal procurement.
The Visayas Command is the Armed Forces of the Philippines' unified command in charge of all the visayas islands. It is responsible for the defense of these areas against external aggression, as well as combating terrorism and insurgency. It was formerly known as the Central Command (CENTCOM) before being effectively renamed on 11 August 2021 based on the approved memorandum from the Department of National Defense.
Camp Olivas is the regional headquarters of the Police Regional Office 3: and is located in Brgy San Nicolas along Mac Arthur Highway, Camp Olivas, City of San Fernando, Pampanga. It was named after Captain Julian Olivas.
The 7th Regional Community Defense Group, Army Reserve Command; is a line unit of the Army Reserve Command. It was created for the sole purpose of Reserve Force management, procurement, and organisation in the areas encompassing Central Visayas.
Transportation within Cebu City is mainly land-based with most parts of the city accessible by road. There is no existing mass transit but construction is currently being undertaken on the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit System as well as an existing proposal for a Cebu Monorail, both of which will be crucial in solving the city's worsening traffic congestion, as existing transportation modes will soon become insufficient to move residents around the city if the local government fails to urgently implement infrastructure projects and measures to address the issue.
National Route 815 (N815) is a national secondary route that forms part of the Philippine highway network, connecting the city of Cebu and the municipality of Balamban. There are four components of the route, namely: Juan Luna Avenue, Pope John Paul II Avenue, Salinas Drive, Veterans Drive and the Cebu–Balamban Transcentral Highway.
Camp Vicente Lim is a facility of the Philippine National Police located in Barangay Mayapa in the City of Calamba, Laguna, which currently serves as the regional headquarters of the PNP in Calabarzon. It has played a significant part in the local history of the Calabarzon region, as well as the national history of the Philippines; it was part of the Calamba Airstrip during the Philippines' American Colonial era, and was occupied by the Japanese during World War II although it is not recorded as having been used for military purposes during the war. It later became a facility of the Philippines' integrated local police forces, hosting the Integrated National Police Training Command. During Martial law under Ferdinand Marcos, Camp Vicente Lim was one of the four provincial camps to be designated a Regional Command for Detainees (RECAD). It was designated RECAD I and it housed thousands of political detainees from the Southern Tagalog and Bicol regions.
Historians estimate that there were about 70,000 individuals incarcerated by the authoritarian regime of Ferdinand Marcos in the period between his 1972 declaration of Martial Law until he was removed from office by the 1986 People Power Revolution. This included students, opposition politicians, journalists, academics, and religious workers, aside from known activists. Those who were captured were referred to as "political detainees," rather than "political prisoners," with the technical definitions of the former being vague enough that the Marcos administration could continue to hold them in detention without having to be charged.
Visayan Force is a US Forces in the Philippines subcommand which was created and took effect on March 17, 1942, after General Douglas MacArthur departed for Australia. It was disintegrated in the month after its creation due to the loss of contact of Visayan Force headquarters during the Japanese invasion of Cebu in April 16 to 19, 1942, it resorted to guerilla warfare. Eventually all forces in the Visayas was ordered to surrender on May 11, 1942.
On April 14, 1942 Kawaguchi Detachment who just landed in Lingayen, Pangasinan intended as reinforcement of the 14th Imperial Japanese Army to finally subdue Philippine-American forces in Bataan. However, General King surrendered days earlier before they arrived. Instead, General Homma Masaharu commander of 14th Army ordered them south to secure Cebu island in the Visayas intended as launching place for invasion of Mindanao after it is secured.