Naga, Camarines Sur

This article is about the independent city in Camarines Sur. For the city in Cebu, see Naga, Cebu. For other uses, see Naga (disambiguation).

Naga
Independent component city
City of Naga
San Francisco Church and Quince Martires Plaza Peñafrancia Shrine Our Lady of Peñafrancia Naga Metropolitan Cathedral Ateneo de Naga Naga City Hall Malabsay Falls Peñafrancia Festival Peñafrancia Basilica Minore Holy Rosary Minor Seminary
Flag Seal
Nicknames:  Queen City of Bicol The Heart of Bicol An Maogmang Lugar (The Happy Place) Pilgrim City of Naga One of the Seven Golden Cities of the Sun
Motto:  Ika, Ako, Kita an Naga (You, Me, We are Naga)
Anthem: Heart of Bicol March
Map of Camarines Sur with Naga highlighted
Interactive map of Naga
Naga Location within the Philippines Show map of Luzon Naga Naga (Philippines) Show map of Philippines
Coordinates: 13°37′28″N123°11′11″E / 13.6244°N 123.1864°E / 13.6244; 123.1864
Country	Philippines
Region	Bicol Region
Province	Camarines Sur (geographically only)
District	3rd district
Founded (as Ciudad de Nueva Caceres)	1575
Royal City-Charter	1595
Renamed as Naga	1919
Cityhood	June 18, 1948
Founded by	Capt. Pedro de Chavez
Barangays	27 (see Barangays)
Government [1]
• Type	Sangguniang Panlungsod
•  Mayor	Maria Leonor G. Robredo [2]
•  Vice Mayor	Gabriel H. Bordado, Jr. [3]
•  Representative	Nelson S. Legacion
•  City Council	Members Elmer S. Baldemoro Jessie R. Albeus Ghiel G. Rosales Vito C. Borja, II Gilda Gayle A. Gomez Melvin Ramon G. Buenafe Wilfredo Jude A. Diokno Francisco M. Mendoza Atty. Allan Reiz C. Macaraig David Casper Nathan A. Sergio Ma. Corazon M. Peñaflor (ex officio) Jefson Romeo B. Felix (ex officio)
•  Electorate	121,773 voters (2025)
Area [4]
•  Independent component city	84.48 km2 (32.62 sq mi)
• Urban	225.79 km2 (87.18 sq mi)
• Metro	1,342 km2 (518 sq mi)
Elevation	66 m (217 ft)
Highest elevation	1,864 m (6,115 ft)
Lowest elevation	−1 m (−3.3 ft)
Population  (2024 census) [5]
•  Independent component city	210,545
• Density	2,492/km2 (6,455/sq mi)
•  Urban	342,769
• Urban density	1,518.1/km2 (3,931.8/sq mi)
•  Metro	858,414
• Metro density	639.7/km2 (1,657/sq mi)
•  Households	45,984
Demonym(s)	Nagueño (masculine) Nagueña (feminine) Nagueñians (English, unofficial)
Economy
•  Income class	1st city income class (R.A. 11964)
•  Poverty incidence	21.37 % (2021) [6]
•  HDI	0.767 (High)
•  Revenue	₱ 1,764 million (2022)
•  Assets	₱ 6,225 million (2022)
•  Expenditure	₱ 1,580 million (2022)
•  Liabilities	₱ 1,256 million (2022)
Service provider
• Electricity	Camarines Sur 2 Electric Cooperative (CASURECO 2)
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	4400
PSGC	0501724000
IDD  :  area code	+63 (0)54
Native languages	Central Bikol
Feast date	Third Saturday and Third Sunday of September
Catholic diocese	Archdiocese of Caceres
Patron saint	Our Lady of Peñafrancia
Website	naga.gov.ph

Naga (officially the City of Naga; Central Bikol: Siyudad nin Naga; Rinconada Bikol: Siyudad ka Naga; Tagalog : Lungsod ng Naga; Spanish : Ciudad de Naga; or the Pilgrim City of Naga) is an independent component city in the Bicol Region of the Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 210,545 people. ^[7] It is the most populous city in Camarines Sur and the smallest city in Bicol by land area.

The town was established in 1575 by order of Spanish Governor-General Francisco de Sande. The city, then Nueva Cáceres (New Cáceres), was one of the Spanish royal cities in the Spanish East Indies, along with Manila, Cebu City, and Iloilo City. Historically, it is to be the third oldest. ^[8]

Geographically and statistically classified, as well as legislatively represented within Camarines Sur, but administratively independent of the provincial government, Naga is considered to be the Bicol Region's trade, ^{[9] [10]} business, ^[10] religious, cultural, industrial, commercial, ^[11] medical, ^{[12] [13]} educational, ^{[11] [14] [15]} and financial center.

Naga is known as the "Queen City of Bicol" due to the historical significance of Naga in the Bicol Region; ^[16] as the "Heart of Bicol", ^{[17] [18]} due to its central geographical location on the Bicol Peninsula; and as "Pilgrim City," since Naga is also the destination of one of the largest Marian pilgrimages in Asia to the shrine of Our Lady of Peñafrancia, an image that is one of the country's most popular objects of devotion. ^[19] Naga is described as "One of the Seven Golden Cities of the Sun" by Nick Joaquín. ^[20]

It is one of the two Philippine cities named Naga, the other being in Cebu.

Etymology

Lignum nephriticum cup made of narra wood (the namesake of the province) produced opalescent colors when water is poured into it. These wooden cups were a major pre-colonial and colonial industry of Naga.

Naga is the native pre-colonial name of the city. It is named after the narra tree ( Pterocarpus indicus ), which is known as naga in the Bicol language. It was abundant in the region and was part of a pre-colonial industry of wooden cups and bowls made from narra that produced distinctive blue and yellow opalescent colors when water is poured into them (later known to Europeans as lignum nephriticum ). During the Spanish colonial era, they were exported to Mexico as luxury goods for their purported diuretic properties via the Manila-Acapulco Galleons, and from there, to Europe. They were often presented as gifts to European nobility. ^{[21] [22]}

The Jesuit missionary and historian Juan José Delgado (1697–1755) describes the industry in the following:

The city called Nueva Caceres by the Spaniards bears among the natives the name Naga, on account of the abundance of this tree throughout those provinces of Camarines and Albay, where they carve very curious cups out of it for drinking water. Those made of female naga (pale white wood) are much the better, for this wood tinges the water very quickly to a celestial color, more quickly than the male (reddish wood). These cups are much esteemed in Europe and are regarded as a gift well worthy of any prince. Out of one of these cups they made me drink when I was a child, in Cadiz (Spain), as a remedy for hydropsy and oppilation, and I think that it might have helped me had I not drunk too much.

— Juan José Delgado, Biblioteca Histórica Filipina: Historia general sacro-profana, política y natural de las islas del poniente llamadas Filipinas (1751), ^[21]

History

Precolonial era

Background

The Bicolandia was closely allied with the Kedatuan of Madja-as Confederation, which was located southeast on Panay Island. According to the epic Maragtas , two datus and their followers, who followed Datu Puti, arrived at Taal Lake, with one group later settling around Laguna de Bay, and another group pushing southward into the Bicol Peninsula, placing the Bicolanos between people from Luzon and people from the Visayas. An ancient tomb preserved among the Bicolanos, discovered and examined by anthropologists during the 1920s, refers to some of the same deities and personages mentioned in the Maragtas . ^[23] It is however worth noting that no other material written records remain that can accurately back the epic's narrative. ^[24]

Precolonial duluhan of Naga

Prior to the arrival of the first Spanish conquistadors in what is now present day Naga City, the pre-colonial settlement of Naga was a regionally hegemonic polity geographically located on a strategic tributary, now known as the Naga River, flowing from Mount Isarog to the Bicol River. ^{[25] : 8}

According to historians William Henry Scott and Danilo Madrid Gerona, precolonial societies were referred to by the natives as duluhan, a broader socio-political structure than the purported familiality of the natives. ^{[26] : 17} In Naga and in the rest of Bicol during that period, the only known tripartite social classes derived from Visayan barangays were the maguino ("maginoo" in Tagalog), the richest noble class addressed as Kagoangnan ("elder" in Bikol) that were only permitted to datoship; timagua, or timawa , the commoners that constituted the general population; and the oripon ("alipin" in Tagalog), a slave class composed of other subclasses, such as the guintubo (pandoan in plural). ^{[27] : 183–184  [26] : 16–17}

Naga river and soil

Naga's tributary was highly potable due to the prevalence of cascading springs from Mount Isarog, purifying the mountain's downstream. ^{[25] : 15} A rich ecosystem of flora and fauna sparsely inhabited within mangrove thickets were largely endemic to this district. ^{[28] : 21} From the igenous composition of Mount Isarog and within the vicinity of the Bicol River as the peninsular drainage basin, the soil of Naga was highly fertile in nature, attesting to its natural wealth. ^{[28] : 21}

Territorial extent

The territorial extent of the settlement of Naga was contained on the tributary's eastern bank, adjacent to a highly dependent barangay that was Tabuc, now present day barangays Tabuco and Abella ^{[28] : 20}; the name derived from the Bikol word "taboc", a "cockfighting blade", due to the landform's resemblance. ^{[25] : 15} The Naga settlement is now roughly within the area where the present-day barangays of Lerma and Tinago are located. ^{[28] : 18}

Tabuco was highly instrumental in the development of Naga, ^{[25] : 15} simultaneously with the other vassal barangays in the riverine district paying tribute to Naga in gold and rice. Coupled with the tributary's choke point, these effectively made Naga a highly influential village in domestic inter-barangic politics. ^{[25] : 12}

Regional trade hegemony

The settlement of Naga, attributed to its strategic location, was a major trading outpost, controlling traffic between the gold mining barangays of Paracale and Mambulao (now Jose Panganiban) and the rice cultivating district of Yraya, where pre-Hispanic Bato and Libon were located. ^{[25] : 14} The settlement's prowess in trading, not limited to domestic ties but to inter-maritime affairs, acquired Naga a comparatively advanced armament consisting of "iron corselets, greaves, wristlets, gauntlets, helmets, arquebuses, and culverins" ^{[29] [30]} from foreign Asian traders, evidently Chinese traders of the Ming dynasty from the Silk Road. ^{[25] : 16}

Economic affluence

The fertile soil in Naga reflected the "export-scale" rice and abaca production, also harboring an abundance of hardwoods such as narra, yakal ( Shorea astylosa ), guijo ( Shorea guiso ), kamagong ( Diospyros blancoi ), and molave ( Vitex parviflora ). ^{[28] : 21} Popular regional livelihoods in the Naga district also included fishery, accompanied by the Bicol River's marine biodiversity of freshwater fish, mollusks, and crustaceans. ^{[28] : 21} Additionally, Naga once led a major regional metal industry that the Spanish came to soon propose of further territorial ambitions into the purported opulence of Los Camarines. ^{[25] : 15}

Spanish colonial period

Early discovery of Naga (1573-1579)

Salcedo's expedition

Main article: Nueva Cáceres

In July 1573, Governor-General Guido de Lavezaris ordered the first Spanish expedition into Southern Luzon. Led by conquistador Juan de Salcedo, they eventually landed in the settlement of Naga. Augustinian chronicler Fray Gaspar de San Agustin, detailed the amount of the barangay's native edifices to number 3,000, beyond Libon's 800. ^{[25] : 11  [28] : 18} Disputedly, as San Agustin infamously inflated statistics beyond proportion, it was indicated in his report that "in the river of Vicol and Camarines which capital was the village of Naga and had one hundred thousand armed men excluding laborers and merchants." ^{[25] : 11  [31]}

Juan de Salcedo (1549-1576) was a Spanish conquistador who led the first voyage into the Bicol peninsula. He was the grandson of famed conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi.

Reporting Naga's craftsmanship in metallurgy and affluence from maritime trading afforded the establishment of a garrison and Bicol's first Catholic mission base, now the San Francisco Parish Church, formerly made of wood and hay; on the western bank of Naga's river. ^{[25] : 15} Three months after Salcedo's return to Manila with his 800 taels (400 grams) of gold, his garrison stationed in Naga hoarded a total of 2,800 taels (140 kilograms) of gold from the riverine district. ^{[25] : 17–18}

Conquest of the Naga settlement

In 1574, Doctor Francisco de Sande, in continuation of the archipelagic colonization, executed the military campaign to conquer the newly discovered polities in Southern Luzon. ^{[25] : 19  [28] : 24} This contingent was led by Salcedo's most prominent field commanders: Captain Pedro de Chavez, Alferez Cristobal de Saldaña, Francisco Saavedra, and Esteban de Solis. ^{[25] : 19} Armed with hundreds of soldiers and native allied warriors, the overall contingent departed Manila southbound and initially engaged with the hostile villages of Mambulao and Paracale, then, upon further incursions down south, Baao, Bula, and Naga. ^{[28] : 24}

In Naga, the armed residents waged a fierce defensive battle on the settlement's river banks against the Spanish forces. ^{[25] : 19} Ultimately, despite the stubborn resistance, the natives succumbed to the Spanish; throughout the ordeal, the locals suffered substantial casualties. ^{[25] : 19} Upholding the warriors of the conquered barangay in profound esteem, Augustinian chronicler Fray Martin de Rada once said, ^{[25] : 19  [32]}

"The people there are the most valiant and best armed men of all these islands. Consequently, although they never attacked the Spaniards, they defended themselves in all their villages, and would not surrender unless conquered by force of arms. Consequently, all those villages were entered in the same way, by first summoning them to submit peacefully, and to pay tribute immediately unless they wished war. They replied that they would first prove those to whom they were to pay tribute, and consequently, the Spaniards attacking them, an entrance was made among them by force of arms, and the village was overthrown and whatever was found pillaged."

— Fray Martin de Rada to Viceroy Martin Enriquez, pp. 286-288

In 1575, Captain Pedro de Chávez, the commander of the garrison left behind by Salcedo, founded on garrison grounds a temporary settlement. ^[33] He christened the settlement after incumbent Gov.-Gen. Sande's hometown of Cáceres, Spain. ^{[25] : 27  [28] : 26}

Naga encomenderos in service of the Crown

The Spanish administrative capital settled in Libon was transferred to the area of Naga due to its centrally strategic location administering the other newly erected encomiendas, rapidly populating the riverine district. ^{[28] : 25} By 1578, Christianization efforts were first spearheaded in the Camarines region by Franciscans Pablo de Jesus and Bartolome Ruiz in collaboration with the encomiendas through the system of reducción, ^{[25] : 36–37  [28] : 25} embodied in the voluminious compendium of the Recopilacion de Leyes de los Reinos de las Indias (Laws of the Indies) urging for: ^[34]

"the natives for their own advantage and comfort should live together in the pueblos, and not scattered around the hills and mountains, deprived of all material and spiritual benefits of the minister and of the natural interaction by law of nature, among men."

— Recopilación de Leyes de las Indias

During the period of protracted pacification, the encomienda system was officially ratified in the region, supplanting the inter-barangic and hegemonic administrative order over Imperial rule. ^{[25] : 20—21  [28] : 24}

The first wards incorporated in the encomienda system were Naga and Camaligan, assigned to encomendero Pedro Cid. ^{[25] : 20} The Crown appropriated the conquered lands to the highly decorated Spanish soldiers who participated in the incursions, enjoining them to a "threefold responsibility" of "(1) to maintain peace among the natives within the encomienda, (2) to support the missionaries, (3) to protect and defend the natives from any hostile elements." ^{[25] : 20  [28] : 24}

In return, the encomenderos were formally authorized to exact a tribute of eight reales annually upon their male subjects, ranging from ages of nineteen to sixty. The former polities' chieftains had to regularly collect tributes from his residents, then forward the currency or commodity to the encomendero in charge, who typically resided in the administrative capital. A quarter of a ward's tribute was made taxable to royal coffers, simultaneously funding the clergy. ^{[25] : 20–21  [28] : 24}

Establishment of the Villa de Nueva Cáceres (1579)

Founding of Villa de Cáceres

A facsimile cover of the Recopilacion de Leyes de los Reynos de las Indias, in its 1681 edition however.

The centralized bureaucracy of the Spanish dealt a crucial role in its urban planning thereafter, which in turn, influenced the establishment of Nueva Caceres. ^{[25] : 24} Imperial legislation, prescribed primarily by the Laws of the Indies, tailored the preferable urban settlement to a cosmopolitan congregation of self-sustainable industries, a natural bottle neck of commerce, and the strategic base of both ecclesiastical and military operations. ^{[25] : 24—25  [34]}

On 27 May 1579, Capt. Juan Arce de Sadornil, the garrison commander in Naga, received instructions from the Imperial administration in Manila pertaining to the appropriate selection of a Spanish settlement in Bicol. ^{[25] : 37} Capt. Sadornil coordinated with the Franciscan missionaries at the San Francisco de Naga convent to chart their settlement's expanse to observe the logistical, strategical, and technical feasibility of a formal settlement's construction. ^{[28] : 26}

Sometime in 1579, the departure of the two pioneering missionaries brought about Fray Geronimo Aguilar, who sat at the San Francisco de Naga convent from 1579 until 1586. He was the first missionary to teach the natives Iberian music such as Spanish cantos, including Western notation such as tonic sol-fas that made their way toward the 1700s in Camarines parishes. ^{[25] : 39} Cáceres, which were mostly wired to missionary operations, had gained the St. John the Evangelist parish church (now the Naga Metropolitan Cathedral) upon Philip II's royal order to construct an explicitly secular parish attending the ecclesiastical needs of the Spanish community of Nueva Cáceres. (a division of labor between those of religious orders serving as missionaries and secular priests serving to Cáceres residents only) ^{[25] : 39–43} Its first curate, founded in 1579 as evinced by a report he wrote in Nueva España dated 10 May 1580, was Bachiller Balthasar de Miranda. ^{[25] : 39–43}

The parish priest was allotted stipends of fifty thousand maravedis directly from the royal treasury, converting the balance to three hundred pesos, parallel to the alcalde mayor's which were shouldered by the residents of Nueva Cáceres.

Composed of a couple hundred Spanish colonists at this point, on 16 September 1579, Gov.-Gen. Sande acquired royal recognition decreeing the appellation of "villa" onto the newly dubbed settlement of Cáceres. ^{[25] : 27  [28] : 26} In subsequent documents within the Manila bureaucracy, "nueva," Spanish for "new," was prefixed to "Cáceres," thus "Nueva Cáceres," to distinguish the locality from its namesake in the mainland. ^{[25] : 27}

A panoramic view of Gov.-Gen. Francisco de Sande's hometown, Cáceres.

The prerequisites of being elevated to villa, historically subject by Nueva Cáceres, were the settlement had to have atleast a semblance of preliminary urbanization sheltered by a strategic military base with aims for further conquest. ^{[25] : 26} The Villa de Cáceres had about 24 encomenderos taking quarters in it by 1581 according to a report from Capt. Miguel de Loarca. ^{[25] : 29  [35]}

Administrative bureaucracy of the locality

From 1580—1581, the burgeoning Spanish community in Nueva Cáceres laid the framework for the earliest city-styled local governance in Southern Luzon. Inspired by Latin American municipal bureaucracies, the alcaldia (the province) Nueva Cáceres had an alcalde mayor with a salary of three hundred pesos, serving as its Capitan de Guerra (military commander); counciled by a lower echelon of public officials referred to as the cabildo (municipal council), which consisted of 2 alcaldes-in-ordinary and 6 regidores, the council of elderlies, appointed by the governor-general. ^{[25] : 29  [35]}

The alcaldia's (referring to the pacified province) territorial jurisdiction in 1581 extended from Camarines toward Catanduanes, instilling the regidores to "elect" (although it was represented as democratic, elections were merely an elitist selection of whom the governor-general could appoint) among the general populace of the vecino (colonists), mayors, and the alguaciles (constables). ^{[25] : 29–31}

Elevation of Nueva Cáceres to cuidad status (1586)

Rapid Christianization of the indigenous

On 8 September 1585, Gov.-Gen. Santiago de Vera ordered the municipal government, in collaboration with Fray Juan de Garrovillas of the San Francisco convent, to ^{[25] : 38–39}

"inspect the poblaciones to be built, the size and form of the churches, you must also consider the work to be carried out by the natives where these poblaciones and churches will be established."

— Gov.-Gen. Santiago de Vera

This eventually culminated to a decree in 1594 formally authorizing the Franciscans at the helm of the San Francisco church to take over all ecclesiastical operations in all of the region.

By the start of 1586, the Franciscans from the San Francisco convent established the Hospital de San Diego, referred to more popularly as the Hospital de San Lazaro. This was also granted upon royal degree by Philip II of Spain. ^[36]

Request to the King

In 1586, recognizing the cruciality of the cuidad (city) status, a formal letter was sent to Philip II, thereby requesting the King: ^{[25] : 32  [28] : 33  [37]}

"...(a) to confirm the present status of Caceres as a city created by virtue of the governor-general's will and authority; (b) to allocate a propio of about 1,000 men or more to the city; (c) to preserve the present set-up of the city government; (d) to confirm and honor the appointments to the various offices."

— Memorial de lo que se ha pedir a su Magestad haga merced a la cuidad de Caceres en la provincia de Bicor y Camarines en las isla de Luzon, en estas islas del poniente

In this document, the Spanish officials mentioned were Luis Briceño, alguacil mayor ; and Juan de Guzman and Sebastian Garcia, regidores. ^{[25] : 32  [37]} Augmenting the elevation of a cuidad meant a propio (native settlement providing basic goods to the city) was required to supplement such substantial urbanization of Nueva Cáceres, ultimately to the expense of the natives in the alcaldia. ^{[25] : 32–33} The rapid gentrification of Nueva Cáceres prompted the assignment of the "component villages" Naga and Tabuc to propio's bidding.

By 1588, the population of Nueva Cáceres were numbering the hundreds upon upholding of city status. The incipient city consisted of 30 citizens, 20 of whom married (some settling after Capt. Juan Maldonado's expedition in 1585) and 6 among them married to native women; 30 soldiers; "a church with a vicar, a Franciscan Monastery with two priests and two brothers besides and one alcalde mayor." ^{[25] : 33  [38]} Encouragement from authorities to interbreed with the native population was decisively a means to maintain the growth of the city, "even blurring the racial gap." ^{[25] : 33}

Up toward the 1590s, the honorifics of villa and cuidad were often used interchangeably, denoting the blurred distinctions of the locality among its vast residencies, especially among clerical spheres in contrast to the newfound municipal bureaucracy.

Establishment of the See of Cáceres (1595)

By the 17th century, almost most of the propios under the Spaniards had been completely converted to Catholicism, abandoning their animistic heritage altogether.

"Nueva Cáceres" was identified in the papal bull of Pope Clement VIII on 14 August 1595, which established the see of Cáceres, together with Cebú and Nueva Segovia, and made it the seat of the new bishopric subject to the Archdiocese of Manila. Unfortunately, the Diocese's first priest passed away before his assumption, Luis Maldonado, O.F.M., with a successor who also had the same fate, Francisco Ortega, O.S.A., in 1599.

Nueva Cáceres was settled by around 100 Spaniards from Europe, ^[39] reinforced by migrations from Mexico during Capt. Maldonado's expedition. From a report by Don Antonio Morga of the Oidor of the Royal Audencia, he characterized the urban life of Nueva Cáceres as: ^{[25] : 44–45}

"...well populated since the time of Doctor Sande, Governor of the Philippine Islands. It has approximately one hundred Spaniards, with its city corporations and mayors, aldermen, and officials."

— Don Antonio Morga's report of the Oidor of the Royal Audiencia

Visit of Gov.-Gen Narciso Claveria y Zaldua at Nueva Caceres in Feb 16, 1845. Painting by Honorato Lozano

Ciudad de Nueva Cáceres in the 17th century

Further information: Archdiocese of Cáceres

Bishrophic vacuum and widespread poverty

A bishrophic vacuum brought about by the diocese's shortlived episcopasies, an insufficient taxation system, the constancy of hostile Dutch naval incursions, led by two ships from Van Noort's fleet of Lambert Vleisman starting in 1600; and Moro raids resulted in a demented civic development of Nueva Cáceres.

One of the causes of poverty was the inadequent population, both indio and Spaniard, to sufficiently fund Nueva Cáceres' public systems. Coupled with this is the dependence of Hispanic Naga on the now defunct regional trade among duluhans in the Vicor riverine district.

Baltazar de Cobarrubias y Múñoz, O.S.A. was officially appointed as successor, taking on the diocese in 1603, but ultimately losing it in 1605. ^{[25] : 51} The following, Pedro de Godinez, O.F.M., was among one of those who passed before seating the diocese; he was however the only one with a preliminary plan such as a document revealed in Seville to construct a concrete cathedral upon immediate arrival. ^{[25] : 51}

The first to be elected among the ensemble of the former missionaries of the Diocese of Cáceres was Pedro Matía, O.F.M., serving from 1612 then perishing a year later. ^{[25] : 51} Diego Guevara, O.S.A. followed in 1617 until 1621, then Luis de Cañizares, O.M. dying before being seated in the diocese in 1624. In 1628, Cañizares' successor, Francisco de Zamudio y Avendaño, O.S.A., breathed new hope to the city's ecclesiastical sphere, not succumbing as immediately as many before had. ^{[25] : 51} Despite this, Zamudio's episcopate was marred with controversies, ultimately passing in 1639. Nicolás de Zaldívar y Zapata, O.S.A. arrived in 1642, then died in 1646.

In 1653, Antonio de San Gregorio, O.F.M. was the first to serve the post five years onward, dying only eight years later in 1661. ^{[25] : 52–55} Abhorring the squalor of the city, San Gregorio provided a comment through a letter requesting royal assistance, stating: ^{[25] : 52–54}

"there is in the city of Nueba Cazeres the following: the cathedral, which is a small chapel of bamboo without bells nor ornaments, burned down by the Dutch enemy years before. After the cathedral is the house of the alcalde mayor, made of good bricks and lime; there are also the houses of the escribano and the alguacil mayor which are of bamboo. Following this is a structure which they call the hospital, also of bamboo and the last is the convent of San Francisco, a very massive structure of lime and bricks."

San Gregorio also proposed to Philip IV the complete rehaul of the cathedral edifice, which was considered largely decrepit and neglected. In 20 March 1660, the king officially decreed its renovation, but by this point, San Gregorio had already passed a year later, not living to see the completion of the cathedral. ^{[25] : 55}

Succeeding San Gregorio was Andrés González, O.P., the longest of which ruled the See of Cáceres. Assuming the episcopate in 1661, González ordered further repairs in the cathedral. This backfired however, resulting in a fissured wall "made worse by the earthquakes." ^{[25] : 55} After González, Domingo de Valencia seated the diocese in 1718, dying a year later. ^{[25] : 55} His successor was Felipe de Molina, now appalled at the backward state of Naga. Molina also pointed out the rundown condition of the house of priests turned bishop's residence through his comment, "that there was no place for him to live in." ^{[25] : 56}

This demonstrates the underdeveloped edifices scattered across the city, implying the episcopacy's ineffectivity resulting in such thwarted advancement of the city. In time, the Spanish city and the native village merged into one community. It had a city government as prescribed by Spanish law, with an ayuntamiento and cabildo of its own. At the beginning of the 17th century, there were only five other ciudades in the Philippines. Nueva Cáceres remained the capital of the Ambos Camarines provinces and later of Camarines Sur province until the formal creation of the independent chartered city of Naga under a sovereign Philippines.

For hundreds of years during the Spanish colonial era, Naga grew to become the center of trade, education, and culture, and the seat of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Bicol.

Oragon Monument (Historical Marker)

Liberation (1898)

Main article: Liberation of Nueva Cáceres (1898)

On 18 September 1898, Gen. Vicente Lukbán's successful military campaign in Ambos Camarines, and subsequently throughout the peninsula, prompted reactive Spaniard authorities to disarm the local Guardia Civil garrison in Nueva Cáceres, disclosing to them that they were to be in active deployment in Iloilo against the Revolutionary Government.

Initial frights of an organized mass execution by Spanish auxilliaries immediately escalated into an internal revolutionary plot in one day, organized by Corporals Elias Angeles and Felix Plazo with majority support among the units against the Spanish.

During Nueva Cáceres' Peñafrancia Festival on 19 September, the Spanish decided to rearm the Guardia Civil upon considerations of an insufficient Spaniard police force incapable of crowd control. Upon the fall of midnight, the revolutionaries caught the civil authorities by surprise in their sleep, forcing a citywide battle throughout the entire night. The remaining Imperial personnel numbering 400 resorted to the besieged San Francisco convent, until Don Vicente Zaldin ordered the total capitulation of the Spanish defense. The terms of capitulation were formally signed at the women's college Colegio de Sta. Isabel, taking effect at 10:00 a.m. on the morning of 20 September.

From then on, Angeles assumed the position of Gobernador Politico-Militar, with Plazo as the commander of the Guardia Civil. Upon the arrival of Gen. Lukban in October of 1898, the Spanish authorities were officially declared as ousted from office upon the constitutional institution of the Philippine Revolutionary Government.

A display at Museo Historico de Universidad de Sta. Isabel depicting Elias Angeles and Felix Plazo, two Bicolano revolutionaries during the Spanish period.

A city ordinance, passed by the Naga City Government, designates September 19 as Liberation Day in the City of Naga. This is ordinance number 2006-050. The ordinance also outlines activities for commemorating Liberation Day and allocates funds to support them. ^[40]

American colonial period

On 17 February 1900, With the advent of American rule, the city was reduced to a municipality. In 1919, it has been renamed as Naga.

World War II and Japanese occupation

Naga came under Japanese occupation on December 18, 1941, following the Japanese invasion of Legaspi a few days earlier. ^[41]

On May 1, 1942, the Camp Isarog Guerilllas from Upper Partido, led by Teofila Padua and Faustino Flor, along with other local resistance contingents, stormed the Japanese garrisons in Naga to liberate American and Filipino prisoners from the Naga Provincial Capitol (now the site of Puregold Naga) . After two days of besieging the Naga Provincial Capitol, the guerilla forces liberated Naga from Imperial Japanese forces and released the prisoners. In response, Governor-General Masaharu Homma, on May 5, dispatched 8,000 Japanese soldiers from Manila to relieve the garrison in Naga, prompting the contingents to flee and concede. ^{[42] [43]}

In March 1945, heavy Allied firebombing from the United States Army Air Forces’ Fifth Air Force levelled most of Naga’s infrastructure, with only the Cathedral, Capitol, Seminary, Peñafrancia Shrine, and a house north of Naga being left unscathed. This elicited the Japanese garrisons to resort to more stalwart strongholds and to strengthen their local counter-intelligence capabilities. ^[44]

On April 5, 1945, Allied Intelligence Bureau (AIB) officer Major Russel Barros, in a meeting at Pamukid Central School, San Fernando, organized a local taskforce to liberate Naga. Major Juan Q. Miranda, one of the famed commanders of the Tangcong Vaca Guerilla Unit, was voted as its overall commander. The task force was composed of six other company columns; Capt. Mamerto Sibulo, Lt. Honorato Osio, Lt. Nicolas Penaredondo, all of the Tancong Vaca Guerilla Unit (TVGU); The Blue Eagle under Lt. Felicisimo De Asis; the Philippine Army Air Corps under Lt. Delfin Rosales; and the Blue Eagle under Capt. Serenilla. ^[45]

On April 9, the joint task force recaptured the abandoned garrisons of Ateneo De Naga campus and Naga Provincial Capitol, engaging only then with the encamped Japanese garrison at the Abella residence by the Panganiban Bridge and the MRR-owned Naga Station at Tabuco. ^[45]

On April 10, the joint task force met heavy resistance at the Manley residence, requisitioned HQ of the Kempeitai in Camarines Sur, by the Colgante Bridge, with the siege lasting all night until the depleted Japanese fortification fled for the Dayangdang Street. On the following day, the guerillas pursued the tactical withdrawal of the Japanese, until the retreat manned the Diaz hardware. A deadlock was

Bombed out rubble of a building in present-day J. Hernandez Ave. in Naga during the retaliatory aerial bombings of the Japanese in mid-May of 1942.

then set in place between the guerillas and the Japanese for the entire day. ^[45]

On the next day of the 12th, with the overwhelming firepower of a 50. caliber machine gun however, the contingents forced the Japanese to retreat the hardware onwards toward Palestina and Cadlan and eventually out of the town's premises. Some straying Japanese units retreated to Mt. Isarog via Pacol, consigning them to the U.S Army’s Fifth Cavalry Regiment commencement of mopping up operations afterward. ^[45]

On April 13, 1945, Naga was officially liberated from Japanese occupation.

Naga, Camarines Sur (1935)

Postwar era

After Naga was liberated from the Japanese, Naga began rebuilding. Having suffered only a few casualties, Naga was able to rebuild quickly after the war.

Temporary 5th Cavalry Regiment encampment at the Naga Metropolitan Cathedral on April 15, 1945.

Cityhood

Main article: Cities of the Philippines

After many petitions, Naga once again became a city on June 18, 1948, when it acquired its present city charter; and its city government was inaugurated on December 15 of the same year by virtue of Republic Act No. 305. ^[46]

Geography

Naga is located within the province of Camarines Sur at the southeastern part of Luzon, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from Pili and 435 kilometres (270 mi) southeast of Manila, the nation's capital, and near the center of the Bicol Region. ^[47]

Naga River along San Francisco, Naga City

It is surrounded on all sides by forests and by rich agricultural and fishing areas. It has an area of 84.48 km² and is located on the serpentine and historic Naga River, at the confluence of the Naga and Bikol rivers. Thus, it has always been an ideal place for trade, and as center for schools, church, and government offices. Included its territory is a portion of Mount Isarog, Barangay Panicuason, a declared protected area known as Mount Isarog Natural Park covering 10,090.89 hectares. ^[48]

Bicol River watershed

Mount Isarog

Climate

Climate data for Naga
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	30.2 (86.4)	31.1 (88.0)	32.8 (91.0)	34.3 (93.7)	34.2 (93.6)	32.4 (90.3)	31.3 (88.3)	30.8 (87.4)	31.1 (88.0)	31.2 (88.2)	31.0 (87.8)	30.3 (86.5)	31.7 (89.1)
Daily mean °C (°F)	25.6 (78.1)	26.1 (79.0)	27.6 (81.7)	29.1 (84.4)	29.5 (85.1)	28.4 (83.1)	27.7 (81.9)	27.4 (81.3)	27.6 (81.7)	27.3 (81.1)	26.9 (80.4)	26.0 (78.8)	27.4 (81.4)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	20.9 (69.6)	21.1 (70.0)	22.5 (72.5)	24.0 (75.2)	24.8 (76.6)	24.4 (75.9)	24.1 (75.4)	24.0 (75.2)	24.0 (75.2)	23.5 (74.3)	22.8 (73.0)	21.6 (70.9)	23.1 (73.6)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	6.3 (0.25)	3.3 (0.13)	7.1 (0.28)	9.3 (0.37)	100.4 (3.95)	272.7 (10.74)	341.2 (13.43)	398.3 (15.68)	326.0 (12.83)	230.0 (9.06)	120.4 (4.74)	48.8 (1.92)	1,863.8 (73.38)
Average rainy days	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	7.0	14.0	16.0	19.0	17.0	13.0	9.0	5.0	104
[ citation needed ]

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Naga has a tropical savanna climate.

The weather in the city from March to May is hot and dry, with temperatures ranging from 24 to 34 °C (75 to 93 °F). The typhoon season is from June to October, and the weather then is generally rainy. From November to February, the climate is cooler with temperatures ranging from 22 to 28 °C (72 to 82 °F). The average year-round humidity is 77%. ^[49]

Barangays

Naga is politically subdivided into 27 barangays. ^[50] Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Political subdivisions of Naga

Barangays	Class	Population [51]	Barangay head
Abella	Urban	5,757	Hon. Apolinario Malana Jr.
Bagumbayan Norte	Urban	2,203	Hon. Raquel Tutanes
Bagumbayan Sur	Urban	7,867	Hon. Josephine Camba
Balatas	Urban	11,112	Hon. Ferdinand De Hitta
Calauag	Urban	11,295	Hon. Ma. Corazon Peñaflor
Cararayan	Urban	19,692	Hon. Rodrigo Agravante Jr.
Carolina	Urban	6,870	Ho. Leoncio Libuit
Concepcion Grande	Urban	11,125	Hon. Jerrold Rito
Concepcion Pequeña	Urban	25,139	Hon. Juan Francis Mendoza
Dayangdang	Urban	4,130	Hon. Julius Cesar Sanchez
Del Rosario	Urban	10,337	Hon. Jose Peñas III
Dinaga	Urban	344	Hon. Ma. Cristina Intia
Igualdad Interior	Urban	3,008	Hon. Angelito Bendiola
Lerma	Urban	1,640	Hon. Domingo Serrado
Liboton	Urban	3,105	Hon. Ronald Luntok
Mabolo	Urban	8,125	Hon. Arthur Matos
Pacol	Urban	14,747	Hon Ruben Limbo
Panicuason	Urban	3,100	Hon. Domingo Ramos
Peñafrancia	Urban	4,503	Hon. Jacky Villafuerte
Sabang	Urban	6,838	Hon. Cyrus Caballero
San Felipe	Urban	21,098	Hon. Alfonso Rodriguez
San Francisco	Urban	722	Hon. Efren Nepomuceno
San Isidro	Urban	3,432	Hon. Veronica Panganiban
Santa Cruz	Urban	7,135	Hon. Felix Matias Largo
Tabuco	Urban	4,240	Hon. Elisa Carmona
Tinago	Urban	2,904	Hon. Estelita Bautista
Triangulo	Urban	8,702	Hon. Raymund Arevalo

Demographics

Population census of Naga

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1903	17,943	—
1918	9,396	−4.22%
1939	22,505	+4.25%
1948	56,238	+10.71%
1960	55,506	−0.11%
1970	79,846	+3.70%
1975	83,337	+0.86%
1980	90,712	+1.71%
1990	115,329	+2.43%
1995	126,972	+1.82%
2000	137,810	+1.77%
2007	160,516	+2.13%
2010	174,931	+3.18%
2015	196,003	+2.19%
2020	209,170	+1.38%
2024	210,545	+0.16%
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority [52] [53] [54] [55] [56]

According to the 2020 census, the population of Naga is 209,170 people, with a density of 2,300/km². Naga had an average annual population growth of 1.29% between 2010 and 2020 according to same census. All populated areas of the city are classified as urban. Naga City has about the same population as Legazpi City (209,533).

Religion

Roman Catholicism

Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Peñafrancia

The city is the ecclesiastical seat of the Archdiocese of Caceres, which oversees the Catholic population in the Bicol Region, whose archbishop is the primate of the region. This dominant faith is supported by the presence of old and influential Catholic institutions, from universities to churches run by different religious institutes, notably the Ateneo de Naga University by the Jesuits; the Universidad de Santa Isabel by the Daughters of Charity; the Naga Metropolitan Cathedral, which is the oldest cathedral that is still standing in Luzon outside Metro Manila; Peñafrancia Basilica Minore, which is the largest Catholic structure in southern Luzon in terms of size and land area; Our Lady of Peñafrancia Shrine; the historic San Francisco Church; and Peñafrancia Museum.

Other Christian faiths

Protestant denominations in the city include Seventh-day Adventists and Bible Baptists, whose churches are located along Magsaysay Avenue, while other Protestants attend the Methodist Church which is among the old structures along Peñafrancia Avenue.

The Assemblies of God maintains a fast-growing ministry in Naga. Aside from Naga Bethel Church (formerly Naga Bethel Temple), which is located on Felix Plazo Street, other local congregations are Philippians Christian Fellowship (in barangays San Felipe), Gethsemane Christian Ministries (in Carolina), and outreach ministries in other barangays.

The largest minority religion in Naga is Iglesia ni Cristo (INC). INC has several chapels in different barangays in the city, and the local congregation is the largest in the district. It is followed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (formerly known as "Mormon") which has several congregations (wards) with their main church building situated along Panganiban Drive not far from the INC's.

There is also a concentration of Jesus Miracle Crusade ministries in the city.

Other religions

Taoist Temple along Naga river

Muslims, Sikhs, and Taoists can also be found in the city.

Language

The Coastal Bikol-Central dialect of the Coastal Bikol language is the dominant dialect spoken by the population in Naga. ^[57] Central Standard Bikol is also the basis for other dialects in the Bicol Region. ^[58] The majority of the city's population can understand and speak English, Filipino, and Tagalog. Because of the influx of people from the Rinconada area that are studying in different universities, Rinconada Bikol can also be heard in different schools and throughout the city. Some Nagueños have varying degrees of proficiency with Rinconada Bikol, since the southern half of Pili, which is the boundary between Rinconada Bikol and Coastal Bikol speakers, is just few kilometers away from Naga. Although the main language is Bikol, and the medium of instruction in school is English, people in Naga usually tell time and count in Spanish.

Isarog Agta Language

In 2010, UNESCO released its 3rd volume of Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger , where three critically endangered languages were in the Philippines. One of these is the Isarog Agta language, of the Isarog Agta people, who live on Mount Isarog and are one of the original Negrito settlers in the Philippines, belonging to the Aeta people classification but with language and belief systems unique to their own culture and heritage.

Only five Isarog Agta spoke their indigenous language in the year 2000. The language was classified as "Critically Endangered", meaning the youngest speakers are grandparents and older, speak the language partially and infrequently, and hardly pass the language to their children and grandchildren. If the remaining 150 Isarog Agta do not pass their native language to the next generation, it will be extinct within one to two decades.

Economy

Poverty incidence of Naga

5

10

15

20

25

30

2000
18.91

2003
23.49

2006
16.60

2009
24.39

2012
15.69

2015
19.29

2018
9.12

2021
21.37

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority ^{[59] [60] [61] [62] [63] [64] [65] [66]}

Central Business District 2

Naga is the Bicol Region's center of commerce and industry. Strategically located at the midway of Bicol, Naga is the trade center in Bicol for goods from Luzon and Visayas. Naga was inducted into the “Hall of Fame – Most Business Friendly City” by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce & Industry for being a reliable partner to the business community. Consistently, Naga is the No. 1 competitive independent component city of the Philippines from 2015-2016; and 2021-2024. ^[67]

The city's economy was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic during mid-2020 and was estimated that its assets contracted by around 4% and an unidentified number of small to medium businesses closed. In the 2nd quarter of 2021 following the 11-12% quarterly growth of the country, several businesses in the city reopened. From 2021, the city is experiencing steady economic improvement and growth.

Business districts

Panganiban Drive

Naga City People's Mall (Public Market)

Downtown Naga (commonly called "Centro") is located in the southern part of the city. It is bordered on the north by the Naga University Belt and on the south by the historical Naga City People's Mall or simply Naga City Community Supermarket. It encompasses the three public plazas of Naga: The Plaza Quince Martires, The Plaza Quezon, and the Plaza Rizal, which is the center of Central Business District 1 (CBD-1). Downtown Naga is the location of local businesses that sell local delicacies and native products from neighboring municipalities and provinces.

San Francisco Church behind Plaza Quince Martires

Plaza Rizal

The Oragon Monument in front of Naga City People's Mall

A second business district, known as the Central Business District 2 (CBD-2), is located along Panganiban Drive and Roxas, Ninoy, and Cory avenues. It is also the location of several shopping complexes (S&R, Landers, SM, Robinsons and LCC Malls, a central bus terminal and PUV south-bound terminal, ^[68] and the Naga City IT Park, which houses several business process outsourcing offices. ^[9]

South Riverfront growth area

South Riverfront is composed of the whole of Barangay Sabang except those areas that are socialized housing sites or are otherwise excluded by the Naga City land-use plan for commercial or industrial development. It is bordered by CBD-1 (to the east), the Naga River, and the town of Camaligan, Camarines Sur. ^[69]

Magsaysay district

Naga City-Magsaysay skyline.

UMA Residences Condo, Magsaysay

The main road in the city is Magsaysay Avenue, or Boulevard, which runs from Bagumbayan Road (Naga-Calabanga – Siruma – Garchitorena – Partido North Road), connecting it to Magsaysay district, where accommodations and restaurants catering to travelers are found. ^[70] Businesses are usually open until late at night, with some shops open 24/7. Naga also has its share of fastfood restaurant chains. The city hall and several provincial offices are also located in the district, around the Peñafrancia Basilica.

Naga City Industrial Park

A sprawling 25+ hectares of land is the Naga City Export Processing Zone in Barangay Carolina, Naga City (Proclamation No. 299, s. 2023), to cater light manufacturing industries focused on high-value engineering products destined for export. First of its kind in Naga and the Bicol Region, the export processing zone will boost the city's economy, provide employment opportunities, and bolster the country’s export manufacturing sector.

Banking and finance

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines) Naga Office, handling Clearing house and Gold trade.

In 2017, the banks in the city numbered around 66, excluding Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The city hosts the regional bank offices of Banco de Oro, Philippine National Bank, Development Bank of the Philippines, Metrobank, RCBC, Allied Bank, China Banking Corporation, Philtrust Bank, UnionBank of the Philippines, Philippine Veterans Bank, Asia United Bank, Maybank, Bank of Commerce, East West Bank, Bank of Makati, Bank of the Philippine Islands, and the Philippine Postal Savings Bank. Other government banks include Landbank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines.

Shopping malls and Hotels

SM City Naga

Avenue Plaza Hotel (Avenue Square), Magsaysay

SM City Naga, the first SM Supermall in Bicol Region opened in 2009. LCC Mall Naga arose at Felix Plazo Street, Sabang in 1997, while Nagaland E-Mall, set up in 2004, is in Downtown Naga. Built in 2005, Avenue Square is the region's first "lifestyle center", along Magsaysay Avenue. Metro Mall Naga (2012) is in front of Bicol Medical Center. Later, Robinsons Place Naga opened in 2017. Followed by Vista Mall (2018) along Maharlika Highway, in Barangay Del Rosario. Both S&R Membership Shopping and Landers Superstore which opened in 2023 and 2024, respectively, are located along Roxas Avenue. Leisure hubs abound in the city proper and suburbs but most of which are in Magsaysay Avenue, Dayangdang, and along Roxas Avenue (Diversion Road). There are more than sixty (60) hotels and inns within the city proper, having two 4-star hotels: Avenue Plaza Hotel and Summit Hotel Naga, and ten (10) 3-star hotels.

S&R Naga

Landers Naga

IT–Business Process outsourcing

Naga City Technology Park

Naga was cited as one of the best places to conduct information technology–business process outsourcing (IT–BPO) activities in the Philippines. ^[71]

As of 2024, the city currently has several IT parks and centers (registered special eco-zones) — the Naga City IT Park (Triangulo IT Park, Proclamation No. 616, s. 2013), ALDP E-Park, ANR Business Center, and the Robinsons Cybergate Naga.

Cybergate Naga

Current clients include IBM, ^[72] Quantrics, Concentrix, ProbeCX, Stellar, and Klasp Global Solutions, Inc.

Culture

Naga is considered to be Bicol's cultural center, due to the largest festival in the region, the Peñafrancia Festival, being held in the city.

Festivals

Fluvial Procession for Our Lady of Peñafrancia

Peñafrancia Festival

The city celebrates the feast of Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia (Our Lady of Peñafrancia), the patroness of the Bicol Region. Starting on the second Friday of September each year, the 10-day feast, the largest Marian devotion in the country. The start of the festival is signalled by a procession (or Translacion) when the centuries-old image of the Blessed Virgin Mary is transferred from its shrine at the Peñafrancia Basilica Minore de Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia to the 400-year-old Naga Metropolitan Cathedral. Coinciding with nine days of novena prayer at the cathedral, the city celebrates with parades, pageants, street parties, singing contests, exhibits, concerts, and other activities. Finally, on the third Saturday of September, the image is returned, shoulder-borne by so-called voyadores, to the basilica via the historic Naga River. The following day marks the feast day of Our Lady of Peñafrancia, when Pontifical High Masses are celebrated in the basilica, attended by hundreds of thousands of faithful devotees.

Kamundagan Festival

Naga celebrates the Kamundagan Festival every Christmas. It begins with the lighting of the Christmas Village in the Plaza Quezon Grandstand.

Kinalas Festival

Naga celebrates the Kinalas Festival during its yearly anniversary of chartership or cityhood. It honors local delicacies, including kinalas and siling labuyo, with a food contest.

Food and delicacies

Naga is known for some native foods and delicacies.

Kinalas and log-log are noodle soup dishes served Bicol style, similar to mami except for a topping of what looks like a pansit palabok sauce, and the meaty dark soup made from boiling a cow's or a pig's head until the flesh falls off. Kinalas is from the old Bicol word kalas, ^{[73] [74]} which refers to the "fall off the bone" meat that is placed on top of the noodles. The soup is the broth of beef bone and bone marrow (sometimes skull and brain included) or what Manileños call bulalo. ^[75] The soup is topped with very tender meat slices that also come from the head. It is usually served hot with an egg, and sprinkled with roasted garlic and spring onions. Kalamansi and patis may be added according to taste. Kinalas is usually paired with Baduya, or with Banana or camote cue.

Other delicacies, such as, buko juice, nata de coco , and pan de Naga are found in the city. ^{[76] [77]}

Sports

Jesse M. Robredo Coliseum

The Metro Naga Sports Complex, in Barangay Pacol, has Olympic-sized swimming pools, tennis courts, and a track oval. ^[78]

The Jesse M. Robredo Coliseum, formerly the Naga City Coliseum which is renamed in honor of the late DILG secretary and former mayor of Naga, is the largest indoor arena in southern Luzon.

Transportation

Airport

Naga Airport

The city is served by Naga Airport (WNP) located in Barangay San Jose in the neighboring town of Pili. It has a runway of 1,402 meters (4,600 ft) and thus is capable of handling only small aircraft.

Railways

Philippine National Railways Naga Station

Naga is the regional head office and the center point of the Philippine National Railway's Bicol Line.

Naga, along with adjacent towns and cities from Tagkawayan, Quezon Province to Ligao in Albay, is served daily by the Bicol Express. Naga City to Ligao City, Albay route resumed operations in July 2023, while Naga to Legazpi route resumed in December 2023.

Roads and bridges

As of December 2009 ^[update] , Naga's total road network is 185.02 kilometers (114.97 mi) in length, of which 147.67 kilometers (91.76 mi) are paved with concrete, 14.63 kilometers (9.09 mi) with asphalt overlay, 4.10 kilometers (2.55 mi) with asphalt, 11.87 kilometers (7.38 mi) are gravel, while 5.76 kilometers (3.58 mi) are dirt. This translates to an increase of 19.74 kilometers (12.27 mi) since 1998. ^[79]

The city is connected to the capital Manila by the Andaya and Maharlika highways.

To spur development in the city, the Toll Regulatory Board declared Toll Road 5 as the extension of South Luzon Expressway. ^[80] A 420 kilometres (260 mi), four-lane expressway starting from the terminal point of the under-construction SLEX Toll Road 4 at Barangay Mayao in Lucena City, Quezon, to Matnog, Sorsogon, near the Matnog Ferry Terminal. On August 25, 2020, San Miguel Corporation announced that it would fund the project, which would reduce travel time from Lucena to Matnog from 9 hours to 5.5 hours. ^[81]

Public transportation

Bicol Central Station

The most common vehicles used for intra-city travel are public utility jeepneys (PUJ), multicabs, tricycles (trikes) and e-trikes, and padyak .

PUJs and multicabs, a total of 300+ units, are a major mode of intra-city transport used by regular commuters.

Trikes are the most used land transport in the city. There are around 1,500 units available for hire while 1,150 are for private use. Concerns with abusive local transport drivers, overcharging and traffic violations are reported and handled by the Naga City Public Safety Office and city transport franchising.

Padyak is commonly used in short distances such as subdivisions and barangay roads transportation. They are generally slow and small, perfect for cul-de-sacs and alleys.

Inter-town trips are served by 400+ filcab vans and 700+ jeepneys, while inter-provincial trips are served by an average of 300+ airconditioned and non-airconditioned buses and 80+ Filcab vans.

Recently, about 50+ taxi units is available in the city. SM City Naga serves are their waiting area for passengers ^[79]

Public services

Health care

Naga is the medical center of the Bicol Region. The largest hospitals include the government-owned Bicol Medical Center (1000-bed capacity by virtue of Republic Act No. 11478), Camarines Sur Medical Center in Bula, Camarines Sur, and the Universidad de Sta Isabel – Mother Seton Hospital, owned and operated by the Daughters of Charity. The Metropolitan Naga Medical District, in Naga, is the only medical district in Bicol.

Bicol Medical Center

Bicol Medical Center (BMC) offers residency programs in anesthesia, otolaryngology, head and neck surgery (ENT), internal medicine, pathology and laboratories, obstetrics & gynecology, orthopedics, pediatrics, radiology, and surgery, among others. It is also a base hospital of the Helen Keller Foundation, where eye specialists from all over the country are trained and later assigned to different parts of the Philippines. ^[82]

Naga City General Hospital

Universidad de Santa Isabel - Mother Seton Hospital (USI – MSH), is the largest private hospital in the region by number of admissions, medical equipment facilities, number of beds available, physical structure, and number of board-certified medical consultants. It is the only private hospital in Bicol offering specialty training programs, accredited by the Philippine Medical Association's component society, in major fields of medicine, such as internal medicine, pediatrics, and general surgery. ^[83]

Located in Balatas Development Center, Balatas, Naga City, the Naga City General Hospital (NCGH) [Phase I], was inaugurated last December 12, 2023, to provide top-notch additional medical care and services to Naga City constituents.

NICC Doctors Hospital

NICC Doctors Hospital (Naga Imaging Center Cooperative Doctors Hospital, commonly “NICC”) is one of the leading private tertiary hospitals in Naga City, Camarines Sur, and a major component of the health care landscape of the Bicol Region. Strategically located along Roxas Avenue, Diversion Road, Barangay Triangulo, the Level-II hospital has a capacity of 156 beds and serves as a modern referral center for patients in Naga City as well as neighboring provinces across the region. ^[84]

The Plaza Medica houses the Naga Endocrine Laboratory (also called the Endolab), a modern hormone laboratory and facility.

Bicol Access Health Centrum is another large hospital located in the city. It houses the Regional Disease Research Center, the first and only in the region.

Several secondary and tertiary hospitals can be found in the city.

Waste management and disposal

Solid waste

The main pollutants in the city come in the form of solid waste generated daily. Generally, these wastes come from various sources: residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional.

Naga generates approximately 85.8 tons of waste per year, based on the latest 2009 estimates, where agricultural waste makes up a little more than one-fourth (26%) of the total volume. Food waste makes up a slightly smaller share, at 23%. Paper-based materials compose 12%, while other categories contribute smaller percentages.

Solid wastes are disposed of and collected via the city's garbage trucks, which traverse ten routes on a daily basis. Collected wastes are then dumped at the new sanitary landfill in Barangay San Isidro, where they are segregated according to type of waste, and whether biodegradable or non-biodegradable. ^{[85] [86]}

Liquid waste

A study of wastewater treatment facilities is incorporated in the proposed septage management ordinance, where the city will be very strict in forcing compliance with proper waste treatment by housing and establishment owners. The local water-utility agency has made the Metro Naga Water District its local partner in providing septage services, in exchange for adding environmental fees to water bills.

The new wastewater treatment facility of SM City Naga, operational since April 20, 2009, has a capacity of 500 cubic meters per day; but at present, it is treating only around 200. ^[86]

Fire safety

The Naga City Central Fire Station (BFP) is one of the most well equipped fire stations in the country. Other fire stations include Naga Chin Po Tong Fire Brigade, and the Naga White Volunteers. ^[87]

Police and law enforcement

The city is the location of two of the largest police stations in the Bicol Region. The historic Naga City Police Station (now Naga City Police Office), which had been the military base of operations of the Guardia Civil in the region, during the time of Spanish rule. ^{[88] [89]} Another police office, located in Barangay Concepcion Grande, is the provincial office of the Philippine National Police for Camarines Sur. ^[90]

New Development Areas and upcoming development areas

Sta. Cruz Development Area Balatas New Development Area

Balatas New Development Area

Almeda New Development Area

Naga River Development Area

Naga River Development Area

Education

Naga is the home of the three largest universities in the Bicol Region. The city is also the home of several colleges.

Tertiary education

Ateneo de Naga University

Universidad de Santa Isabel

Ateneo de Naga University is a Jesuit university and the largest Catholic university in the Bicol Region. The school has been accredited by PAASCU since 1979 and is the first university in the Philippines to achieve PAASCU Institutional Accreditation, on top of its Autonomous and Level III status. It is a "center of excellence" in teacher education, and a center of development in business administration, entrepreneurship, and information technology. It has produced animators for the country since it launched its bachelor's degree in animation.

The Universidad de Santa Isabel was inaugurated on April 12, 1869, as a private Catholic university owned and run by the Daughters of Charity and is the "first normal school for women in the Philippines and Southeast Asia and the Heritage and Historical University of Bicol". ^{[91] [92]} It was established by six sisters of the order who arrived in the Bicol Region on April 4, 1868, with the Bishop of Caceres, Francisco Gainza, O.P., the founder of Colegio de Santa Isabel.

University of Nueva Caceres was the very first university in Bicol, and is considered to be largest in the region, due to its attendance and size, that offers courses from kindergarten to graduate school. Founded by Dr. Jaime Hernandez in 1948, it has grown to become one of the leading institutions of higher learning in the Philippines. All course offerings are recognized by the government, and the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Education, and Commerce are accredited by the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACU-COA). Its College of Engineering and Architecture is now one of the few regional centers for technological education in the Philippines. ^[93]

Technical colleges in the city include the Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology (South East Asian University of Technology), Naga College Foundation, Mariner's Polytechnic Colleges Foundation, AMA Computer College, and STI College. ^{[94] [95]} Specialized computer schools include Worldtech Resources Institute (WRI), among others.

The country's oldest live-in Christian higher educational institute for the clergy was established in the city in the early part of the 18th century. The Holy Rosary Seminary (El Seminario del Santissimo Rosario), a Roman Catholic seminary run by the Archdiocese of Caceres, has produced 22 bishops, including the first Filipino bishop, Jorge Barlin, and the first Filipino cardinal to work in the Roman Curia, Jose Tomas Sanchez. The seminary has contributed, as well, to the national heritage, through José María Panganiban, Tomás Arejola, and seven of the Fifteen Martyrs of Bicol. On January 29, 1988, the National Historical Institute declared the Holy Rosary Seminary a National Historical Landmark.

Secondary and primary education

The government-run Camarines Sur National High School, which was established in 1902, registers over 10,000 enrollees every school year, and it is the biggest secondary school in the region. Among other secondary schools in the city is the Tinago National High School.

Naga City Science High School was established in Naga in 1994. It has pilot curricula, including the Spanish curriculum, which is the third one in the Philippines, and the journalism curriculum, which allows students to receive training and exposure to college-level situations. The school is consistently a champion at the Doon Po Sa Amin national documentary contest. ^[96]

Two schools in the city, Saint Joseph School (SJS) and Naga Hope Christian School (NHCS), cater to Filipino-Chinese students.

Naga Parochial School (NPS) is the largest parochial school in the region; it receives 850 enrollees yearly. It is run by priests of the Archdiocese of Caceres. It is the first PAASCU-accredited parochial school in the Philippines. Some members of the clergy (63 as of 2007 with 3 bishops) assigned to the city are alumni of the school. Well-known personalities—such as the late Raul Roco, Jesse Robredo, Francis Garchitorena, Luis Villafuerte, Jaime Fabregas, Jonathan Dela Paz Zaens, Archbishop Adolfo Tito Yllana, and Bishop Jose Rojas—are graduates of NPS.

Private schools—such as Arborvitae Plains Montessori, Inc.; Naga City Montessori School; and the Village Montessori School—can be found in the city. Tutorial and review centers for higher education are also found in the city.

Media

Television networks

For the complete lists of the TV and radio stations, see List of television and radio stations in Naga, Camarines Sur.

All of the major television broadcasting channels' regional offices are located in the city. TV5 Network Inc.'s TV5 airs shows via channel 22, GMA Network's channel 7 and GMA News TV channel 28 are also available and the newscast Balitang Bicolandia. ABS-CBN TV, ceased operations prior to COVID-19 pandemic.

Cable/satellite TV, ISPs, Telcos and Cellular Networks

The city's cable and satellite TV companies include South Luzon Cable and DCTV Cable Network Naga (Formerly SkyCable Naga).

Internet service providers and Telcos include Globe, PLDT/Smart, DITO, Converge, and DCTV. 5G is available in selected areas.

Radio stations

Naga has a number of FM and AM radio stations, some of which operate 24 hours daily.

Notable personalities

• Andrew E – Filipino singer and rapper
• Bembol Roco – Filipino actor
• Johnny Abarrientos – a Philippine basketball player who played in the PBA from 1993 to 2010. He is currently serving as coach of the team B-Meg Llamados ^[97]
• Tomás Arejola – lawyer, legislator, diplomat, political writer and a propagandist during the Spanish colonial period.
• Joker Arroyo ^[98] – was a statesman and key figure in the EDSA People Power Revolution which evicted then-president Ferdinand Marcos and his family from office. He also served as Congressman of Makati for 9 years, and a member of the Senate for 12 years. Arroyo has received various awards and commendations for his significant contributions to the law profession and public service. Among these are the Philippine Bar Association's Most Distinguished Award for Justice as a "man beholden to no one except to his country" and Senate Resolution No. 100, enacted in the 8th Congress, commending him for his invaluable services to the Filipino people. ^{[99] [100] [101]}
• Wally Bayola – is a Filipino comedian, actor, and TV host of Eat Bulaga!
• Ely Buendia – whose real name is Eleandre Basiño Buendia. He is a Filipino singer, frontman of Eraserheads and Pupil
• Jose Fabian Cadiz – Filipino politician and vice mayor of Marikina.
• Dave Capucao – Filipino Catholic Bishop and the fifth Prelate of Infanta
• AJ Dee – whose real name is Angel James Dee III, is an actor and an international competitive swimmer, like his younger brother Enchong Dee.
• Enchong Dee – whose real name is Ernest Lorenzo Velasquez Dee, is an actor, director and model, and an international competitive swimmer. He is a contract artist of ABS-CBN and has won numerous awards for his work in movies and television. He is the younger brother of AJ Dee, also an actor and swimmer. He came to prominence after starring in his first major TV drama Katorse (2009). He played the role of "Luis" in the Filipino remake Maria La Del Barrio (2011). He also starred in Ina, Kapatid, Anak (2012–13), and Muling Buksan Ang Puso .
• Amalia Fuentes – Filipina actress
• Victor Dennis T. Nierva – poet, teacher, journalist, theatre actor, translator, graphic and book designer.
• Salvador Panelo – former spokesman and chief legal counsel of President Rodrigo Duterte; practicing lawyer known for representing controversial figures.
• Jesse Robredo – was a Filipino statesman and former mayor of Naga. Robredo was able to transform Naga from being dull and lethargic to being one of the "Most Improved Cities in Asia", as cited by Asiaweek Magazine in 1999. During his time in city hall, Robredo was credited for "dramatically improved stakeholdership and people participation in governance, in the process restoring Naga to its preeminent position as the premier city of Bicol Region." In 1995, in recognition of his skills and competence as a leader and development manager, Robredo was elected president of the League of Cities of the Philippines, the national association of city mayors. Robredo also chaired the Metro Naga Development Council. He served as chairman of the Regional Development Council, the regional planning and coordinative body of Bicol's six provinces and seven cities, from 1992 to 1998.
• Leni Robredo – wife of Jesse Robredo, former congresswoman of the Third District of Camarines Sur (2013–16), and the 14th Vice President of the Philippines.
• Raul Roco – was a political figure in the Philippines. He was the standard-bearer of Aksyon Demokratiko, which he founded in 1997 as a vehicle for his presidential bids in 1998 and 2004. He was a then senator and secretary of the Department of Education under the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. He had a strong following among young voters in the Philippines, due to his efforts to promote honesty and good governance.
• Tecla San Andres Ziga – female senator in the Philippines notable for being the first woman in the country to top the bar examination for law-degree graduates. ^[102]
• Adolfo Tito Yllana – catholic Archbishop serving as Apostolic Nuncio to Israel and Cyprus, and Apostolic Delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine

Other personalities include:

• Baron Geisler, whose mother hails from Naga
• Jomari Yllana, whose parents hail from Naga

Gallery

• 
  Downtown Naga
• 
  Avenue Square
• 
  Naga City Hall
• 
  Plaza Oragon
• 
  Malabsay falls at Mt. Isarog, Panicuason
• 
  Plaza de Nueva Caceres

Sister cities

Local

• Bacolod, Negros Occidental
• Cotabato City
• General Santos, South Cotabato
• Iloilo City, Iloilo
• Lucena, Quezon
• Makati
• Ozamiz, Misamis Occidental
• Parañaque
• Quezon City ^[103]
• San Fernando, Pampanga
• Vigan, Ilocos Sur
• Puerto Princesa, Palawan

International

• San Leandro, California, United States
• Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States

See also

• List of renamed cities and municipalities in the Philippines
• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Caceres
• Bicolano People
• List of Bicol Region Cities and Municipalities

References

1.   City of Naga | (DILG)
2. "City of Naga". Naga City. Retrieved May 14, 2025.
4. "2015 Census of Population, Report No. 3 – Population, Land Area, and Population Density" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. Quezon City, Philippines. August 2016. ISSN   0117-1453. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 25, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
5. "2024 Census of Population (POPCEN) Population Counts Declared Official by the President". Philippine Statistics Authority. July 17, 2025. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
6. "PSA Releases the 2021 City and Municipal Level Poverty Estimates". Philippine Statistics Authority. April 2, 2024. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
7. "2024 Census of Population (POPCEN) Population Counts Declared Official by the President". Philippine Statistics Authority. July 17, 2025. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
8. "The oldest royal city in the Philippines". City Government of Naga Official Website. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
9. Perez, Jose B. (February 27, 2015). "Bicol's Boom Town: Bongat sees bullish Naga". Bicol Mail. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
10. The Philippine Island World: A Physical, Cultural, and Regional Geography , p. 415, at Google Books
11. Orbita, Erlinda Hospicia V. (April 25, 2010). "Naga City, the Heart of Bicol: 'An Maogmang Lugar [The Happy Place]'". The Philippine Star. Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
12. "Home". Bicol Medical Center. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
13. "Bicol Medical Center Modernization". Naga City Deck. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
14. "Education". Naga City. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
15. "Number of Schools in Naga City". Naga City Government. February 28, 2023. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
16. Hermoso, Christina I. (September 13, 2013). "Naga City set for traslacion". Manila Bulletin. Archived from the original on April 29, 2014. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
17. Llorin, Jean N. (June 27, 2010). "Learning from 'The Heart of Bicol'". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on June 30, 2010. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
18. "Naga City: Where Bicol's heart is". GMA News. September 19, 2012. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
19. Abella, D. The Bikol Annals. Manila
20. "The Naga We Know to be launched Aug. 31". Likhaan: The UP Institute of Creative Writing. August 26, 2018. Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
21. Safford, William Edwin (1916). "Lignum nephriticum" (PDF). Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Washington: Government Printing Office. p. 271–298.
22. Muyskens, M.; Ed Vitz (2006). "The Fluorescence of Lignum nephriticum: A Flash Back to the Past and a Simple Demonstration of Natural Substance Fluorescence". Journal of Chemical Education. 83 (5): 765. Bibcode:2006JChEd..83..765M. doi:10.1021/ed083p765.
23. G. Nye Steiger, H. Otley Beyer, Conrado Benitez, A History of the Orient, Oxford: 1929, Ginn and Company, p. 122.
24. Almeda, E. M. (1992). Archaeology and Bikol Pre-History. The Journal of History, 36-37(1-2).
25. Gerona, Danilo Madrid (2014). La ciudad de Nueva Caceres: the rise of a sixteenth century Spanish city. Manila, Philippines: Galleon Publisher. ISBN   978-971-95954-0-3.
26. Gerona, Danilo Madrid (1988). From Epic to History, A Brief Introduction to Bicol History. A.M.S. Press, Ateneo de Naga.
27. Lawrence, John (1999). Barangay: sixteenth-century Philippine culture and society (4. printing ed.). Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila Univ. Press. ISBN   978-971-550-138-5.
28. Gerona, Danilo Madrid (2025). La ciudad de Nueva Caceres: the illustrious origins of the City of Naga. Camarines Sur, Philippines: Bikol Historical Research Center. p. 21. ISBN   978-621-8270-29-9.
29. de Lavazares, Guido (1573). BR 3 (in European Spanish). p. 273.
30. Blaire, Emma Helen; Bourne, Edward Gaylord (1903). The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803, Volume 03 of 55. Cleveland, Ohio: Arthur H. Clark Company. p. 273.
31. Ortega, Francisco (June 6, 1573). Fray Francisco Ortega to the King (in European Spanish). Manila. p. 257.
32. de Rada, Martin. Fray Martin de Rada to Viceroy Martin Enriquez (in European Spanish). pp. 286–288.
33. "Jesuits In The Philippines (1581-1768)" Page 59 "These settlements were much smaller than Manila. In 1582 Manila had an adult male population of 300 Spaniards; Vigan, 60; Nueva Caceres, 30; Cebu, 70; Arevalo, 20. In 1586 Manila had 329 Spanish men and youths capable of bearing arms ; the most recently established settlement, Nueva Segovia in Cagayan, had 97; Nueva Caceres, 69; Arevalo, 65; Cavite, 64; Cebu, 63; Villa Fernandina, 19.
34. Espagne, ed. (1998). Recopilación de leyes de los Reynos de las Indias (Facsímil ed.). Madrid: Centro de los estudios políticos y constitucionales Boletín oficial del Estado. ISBN   978-84-340-1040-6.
35. Loarca, Miguel de (1581). Relacion... (in European Spanish). Nueva Cáceres.
36. "Franciscan Hospitals". ofmphilarchives.tripod.com. Retrieved November 21, 2025.
37. Colín, SJ., Francisco (1900). Labor evangelica de los obreros de la compania de Jesus en las islas Filipinas[Evangelical Work of the Workers of the Society of Jesus in the Philippine Islands] (in European Spanish). Barcelona: Impr. y Litogr, de Hendrich y Comp. pp. Tomo 1, p. 451.
38. Salazar, Domingo (1588). "Report..." (in European Spanish). Nueva Cáceres. pp. BR 7, pp.40—42.
39. "A History of the Philippines by David P. Barrows". The City of Nueva Caceres, in the Camarines, was founded by Governor La-Sande. It, too, was the seat of a bishopric, and had one hundred Spanish inhabitants.
40. https://www2.naga.gov.ph/culture-and-heritage-and-naming-of-streets/. Copied 10-06-22.
41. "The First Landings" . Retrieved March 18, 2014.
42. Admin, Bicolmail Web (July 29, 2022). "Remembering World War II in the Philippines". bicolmail. Retrieved March 8, 2025.
43. Rugeria, Javier Leonardo (January 1, 2023). "Evidence of Active Resistance Against the Japanese before the Fall of Corregidor: The Case of Luzon, 1941-1942". The Journal of Philippine Local History and Heritage.
44. "World War II: The bombing and liberation of Naga". www.bicolmail.net. April 5, 2018. Retrieved March 8, 2025.
45. Novice, Narratives Of A. (February 8, 2010). "Narratives of a Novice: The D-Day of Naga City". Narratives of a Novice. Retrieved March 8, 2025.
46. "R.A. No. 305, Naga City Charter". LawPH.com. 1948. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
47. "Google Maps" . Retrieved February 25, 2023.
48. "Mount Isarog Natural Park, Sec. 5 a.1, R.A. 11038, An Act Declaring Protected Areas and Providing For Their Management, Amending For This Purpose Republic Act No. 7658, Otherwise Known As The "National Integrated Protected Areas Systems (NIPAS) Act of 1992" And For Other Purposes". February 25, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
49. "General Information" Archived January 28, 2021, at the Wayback Machine . See Naga – Official Website of Naga City. Retrieved on May 13, 2012.
50. "Municipality/City: NAGA CITY". PSGC Interactive. Makati, Philippines: National Statistical Coordination Board. Archived from the original on November 13, 2015. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
51. "City of Naga". psa.gov.ph. Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
52. "2024 Census of Population (POPCEN) Population Counts Declared Official by the President". Philippine Statistics Authority. July 17, 2025. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
53. Census of Population (2015). "Region V (Bicol Region)". Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. Philippine Statistics Authority . Retrieved June 20, 2016.
54. Census of Population and Housing (2010). "Region V (Bicol Region)" (PDF). Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. National Statistics Office . Retrieved June 29, 2016.
55. Censuses of Population (1903–2007). "Region V (Bicol Region)". Table 1. Population Enumerated in Various Censuses by Province/Highly Urbanized City: 1903 to 2007. National Statistics Office.
56. "Province of". Municipality Population Data. Local Water Utilities Administration Research Division. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
57. "Demography". Naga City. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
58. "Useful Filipino Words – Bicol Translations". Cam Sur Guide Delights. 2012. Archived from the original on April 27, 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
59. "Poverty incidence (PI):". Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
60. "Estimation of Local Poverty in the Philippines" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. November 29, 2005.
61. "2003 City and Municipal Level Poverty Estimates" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. March 23, 2009.
62. "City and Municipal Level Poverty Estimates; 2006 and 2009" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. August 3, 2012.
63. "2012 Municipal and City Level Poverty Estimates" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. May 31, 2016.
64. "Municipal and City Level Small Area Poverty Estimates; 2009, 2012 and 2015". Philippine Statistics Authority. July 10, 2019.
65. "PSA Releases the 2018 Municipal and City Level Poverty Estimates". Philippine Statistics Authority. December 15, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
66. "PSA Releases the 2021 City and Municipal Level Poverty Estimates". Philippine Statistics Authority. April 2, 2024. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
67. "2024 RANKINGS OF COMPONENT CITIES". Department of Trade and Industry. 2024. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
68. "P2.9M ingreso kan bus terminal cada bulan" [P2.9 million for the bus terminal]. Naga City (in Filipino). Retrieved February 13, 2019.
69. "South Riverfront Growth Area". City Government of Naga. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
70. Atiyah, Jeremy (2002). "Rough Guide to Southeast Asia", pg. 880. Rough Guides Ltd., London. ISBN   1-85828-893-2.
71. "Curran + Associates :: Home". www.curranrecruit.com.au. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007.
72. "IBM unit to set up BPO facility in Naga City". ABS-CBN News. ABS-CBN Corporation. May 21, 2013. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
73. Lisboa, Maŕcos de (1865). "Calas". Vocabulario de la lengua Bicol: compuesto por Maŕcos de Lisboa (in Spanish). p. 89. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
74. Lisboa, Maŕcos de (1865). "Hinglas". Vocabulario de la lengua Bicol: compuesto por Maŕcos de Lisboa (in Spanish). p. 181. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
75. Naguenian (August 23, 2010). "Kinalas". Blogspot . Retrieved April 8, 2019.
76. Gonzalez, Eduardo (January 16, 2013). "The Beneficial Buko Juice". Philippine Council For Health Research And Development. Archived from the original on April 24, 2013. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
77. Leah (October 17, 2012). "Pan de Naga (Pugon Pandesal)". The Bright Spot. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
78. "Heritage Tour". See Naga. Retrieved on June 13, 2012.
79. "Transportation". Naga City. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
80. "SLEX Toll Road 5 to connect Quezon province to Sorsogon". YugaTech. August 18, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
81. "San Miguel investing P122B for SLEX Toll Road 5, Pasig River Expressway projects". GMA News Online. August 25, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
82. "Bicol Medical Center"
83. "Universidad de Santa Isabel-Mother Seton Hospital".
84. https://niccdoctorshospital.com/about-us/
85. Neola, Jason B. "Solid Waste Management Office created; also named as Special Concerns Office". Naga City. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
86. "Waste Management". Naga City. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
87. Macatangay, Ana-Liza S. (March 4, 2014). "Naga City kicks off observance of Fire Prevention Month". Philippine Information Agency . Archived from the original on May 12, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
88. "Naga City Police Station". Naga City. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
89. http://r05.pia.gov.ph/index.php?article=861357375545%5B%5D
90. Macatangay, Ana-Liza S. (November 28, 2013). "PNP CamSur cites outstanding police stations, personnel". Philippine Information Agency. Archived from the original on May 11, 2014. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
91. "Formation - Information - Sharing - Prayer... | Filles de la Charité de Saint Vincent de Paul". Archived from the original on February 18, 2020. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
92. "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
93. "About UNC". University of Nueva Caceres. 2013. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
94. "ACLC College". ACLC College. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
95. "STI College - Naga". STI College. Retrieved on May 13, 2012.
96. "Naga generates best hometown stories". Smart Communications, Inc. (Press release). February 20, 2014. Archived from the original on March 12, 2014. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
97. "Barroca draws comparisons with Abarrientos as he steps up for injury-hit San Mig | PBA | SPIN.PH". Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
98. Chua-Eoan, Howard (September 21, 1987). "The Philippines – The Joker Was Not Laughing" . Time. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
99. Toms, S. "The Philippine name game", BBC News, January 14, 2006. Accessed last February 21, 2007.
100. Mydans, S. "Aquino, Under Pressure, Removes Her Closest Adviser", The New York Times, September 18, 1987. Accessed last February 21, 2007.
101. Chua-Eoan, H. "The Philippines The Joker Was Not Laughing", Time p. 2, September 21, 1987. Accessed last February 21, 2007.
102. "Tecla San Andres Ziga". Senate of the Philippines. Retrieved November 23, 2013.
103. "Sister Cities". The Local Government of Quezon City. Archived from the original on October 1, 2017. Retrieved April 9, 2019.

External links

• Geographic data related to Naga, Camarines Sur at OpenStreetMap
• Official website
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Philippine Census Information