ABOUT CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY

CAGAYAN DE ORO REAL ESTATE & COMMUNITY GUIDE

Cagayan de Oro, abbreviated CdeO, CDO, CDOC and or Cag. de Oro, is a highly-urbanized and
capital city of the province of Misamis Oriental in Mindanao, southern part of the Philippines. It
serves as the regional center and business hubs for the Northern Mindanao (Region 10), and is
part of a growing Metropolitan Cagayan de Oro, which include the city of El Salvador.
The City of Cagayan de Oro is located along the central coast of northern Mindanao island
facing the Macajalar Bay and is bordered by the municipalities of Opol to the west; Tagoloan to
the east, and provinces of Bukidnon and Lanao del Norte to the south of city.
An hour-and-a-half plane ride from Metro Manila, and a 35-minute plane trip from Davao City,
it serves as the main entry point to Northern Mindanao, and the jump-off point for excursions in
Camiguin Island, Bukidnon, Iligan City and Marawi City.
Cagayan De Oros name was derived from the word cagaiang, the name given by the Spanish
colonizers to the settlements river because of its close similarity to the Cagayan River in
Cagayan Valley in Luzon. When the Spanish colonizers found gold in the riverbeds of Cagayan
in the mid-16th century, the words de Oro, meaning golden were attached to its name.
WHATS THE REALTY MARKET LIKE?
Housing in Cagayan de Oro mainly consists of single family houses on lots of 100 to 500 square
meters. The old residential areas are adjacent to the downtown area which are Barangay
Nazareth and Macasandig in the south, Consolacion and Macabalan on the north side,
Camaman-an on the east side and Carmen on the west side . The new residential developments
are in the uptown area which are compose of Pueblo de Oro, Xavier Estates and Vista Lands in
upper Carmen.

Pueblo De Oro a 360-hectare property for mixed use development started in 1995. Pueblo de
Oro is a township project masterplanned by Louis Berger International, where SM mall and
Xavier University Secondary and Elementary Schools are located. It is also the future site of the
Roman Catholic Church and Residence of the Archbishop of Cagayan de Oro.
More importantly, it also features joint-venture subdivision projects covering basically all the
economic classes from A to E. And, of course, it also has, a golf estate with its 18-hole, allweather championship golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones II, and ranked as the
countrys fourth best golf course by Golfing Philippines.
A consummation of Pueblo de Oros progressive development into a complete township would
be the establishment of an IT hub within the business and commercial area of the property. The
IT hub planned to be an eight-hectare development is being positioned right next to the mall.
It is registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), enterprises within the
area would enjoy investor incentives including income tax holiday for four years for non-pioneer
and six years for pioneer IT enterprises, additional tax deduction equivalent to 50 percent of
training expenses, and permanent resident status to foreign investors with initial investments of
US$150,000 or more.
According to Mr. Guillermo Luchangco, Chairman & CEO of the ICCP Group, the main
proponent of Pueblo de Oro, the estate is an ideal site for IT-related businesses as it has, in the
past years, completed the key necessary factors water, electric power, telecommunications,
amenities, and services that make such businesses flourish. Add to that the pool of about 4,300
graduates being churned out per year by CDOs 18 universities, colleges, computer, and
vocational schools.
HOUSING & POPULATION STATISTICS
As of the 2010 Census of Population in the Philippines, the population of the city was of 602,088
making it the 10th most populous city in the Philippines.

About 44 percent of the household population in Cagayan de Oro classified themselves as

Visayan (Binisaya or bisaya), 22.15 percent as Cebuano, 4.38 percent as Boholano, while 28.07
percent as other ethnic groups (2000 Census).
Cebuano is the citys lingua franca, due to the influx of Cebuano speakers from the Visayas.
English is mainly used for business and in the academe. Most of the local population in the city
is also fluent in Filipino.
CLIMATE FOR CAGAYAN DE ORO
Under the Kppen climate classification system, Cagayan de Oro has a tropical climate with an
annual average temperature of 28 C. In June 1998, the city recorded its highest temperature to
date of 39 C.
Cagayan de Oro does not receive an even amount of rainfall throughout the year. The driest
months are March and April while August and September are the wettest months. The rainy or
wet season lasts from June until November with the relatively drier seasons lasting from
December until May. The city lies outside the typhoon belt but is affected by the Inter-Tropical
Convergence Zone.
ECONOMY
Cagayan de Oro is the melting pot of Mindanao because of its accessibility, business growth,
attractions and most of its entire warm and hospitable people. It is also a regional center and
business hub of Northern Mindanao region, considered as one of the most progressive and
competitive cities in the Philippines.
The citys economy is largely based on industry, commerce, trade, service and tourism.
Investment in Cagayan de Oro City for the first six months of 2012 has reached 7.4 billion pesos
outpacing the local governments expectation of to nearly 100 percent. Investments in the city

are dominated by malls, high-rise hotels and condominiums and convention centers. The net
income for 2012 pegged at 2,041,036,807.89 billion pesos.
TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUTING STATISTICS
As the gateway to Northern Mindanao region, Cagayan de Oro is very accessible via land, air
and water transportations.
City Commute & Bus terminals
Several means of public transportation are available within the city. Taxi service abound in
major areas and Motorela, a unique public transport in CDO roam around the city that can
reach to any nook and cranny of the city.
The Eastbound Integrated Bus Terminal (Agora) serves regular land trips to and from eastern
municipalities of Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon including Malaybalay and Valencia City, Gingoog
City, Kabacan, Cotabato, Butuan City, Surigao City in the Caraga region, Davao City, Tagum
City, Tacurong City and the latest is General Santos City and Balingoan, Misamis Oriental (for
ferry going to Camiguin Island).
Westbound Integrated Bus and Jeepney Terminal serves the regular land trips to and from
western municipalities of Misamis Oriental including Laguindingan and El Salvador City, Iligan
City, Marawi, Oroquieta, Ozamiz City, Dipolog, Pagadian, Zamboanga City and some parts of
western Mindanao.
Laguindingan Airport
The new airport of Cagayan de Oro is now Laguindingan Airport which caters the domestic
flights to and from Metro Manila, Bacolod, Cebu City, Iloilo City, Davao City and Zamboanga
City, located in the Municipality of Laguindingan, some 46 kilometers west of Cagayan de Oro.
It officially opened on June 15, 2013.

The new Laguindingan International Airport, which replaced Lumbia Airport sits on a 4.17
square kilometer site in Barangay Moog, Laguindingan, Misamis Oriental, it is destined to
become an international airport serving the entire region of Northern Mindanao and Lanao del
Sur.
Ports
Port of Cagayan de Oro in Macabalan area is located near the estuary of Cagayan de Oro River.
It has an anchorage depth of 18 meters and is around 400 meters from the shoreline. It has two
authorized cargo-handling operators. With the recent completion of the P250 million
rehabilitation project, the port is now the biggest international and domestic seaport in
Mindanao.
The Port of Cagayan de Oro (Macabalan Port) serves regular route to major cities to and from
Metro Manila, Cebu City, Tagbilaran, Bacolod, Dumaguete, Iloilo City and Jagna, Bohol.
General Milling and Del Monte Philippines also operate their own port facilities within Cagayan
de Oro. The $85 million Mindanao International Container Port is located in Tagoloan, Misamis
Oriental 17 kilometers from Cagayan de Oro which also serves the PHIVIDEC Industrial
Estate in nearby Tagoloan.
UTILITIES AND SERVICES
There are five major land based phone companies, these are MISORTEL, PLDT-PhilCom, Smart
Broadband, BayanTel and ItalTel serving the entire city. Mobile phone services are provided by
Globe Telecom, Smart Communications and Sun Cellular.
Internet connection are operated by several major telecom companies offering Broadband DSL,
Cable and Wireless services. Pueblo de Oro Business IT Park located in Upper Carmen is the
first PEZA registered IT park in Mindanao. The IT Park currently houses one of Cagayan de
Oros call centers.

Water services are provided by the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD), it was the first
water district established in the entire Philippines.
Electricity is provided by the Cagayan Electric Power and Light Company (CEPALCO).
CEPALCO, which began operations in 1952 that covers Cagayan de Oro and the Municipalities
of Tagoloan, Villanueva and Jasaan, all in the Province of Misamis Oriental, including the 3,000hectare PHIVIDEC Industrial Estate and caters to more than 100,000 consumers. The companys
distribution system network now includes 138KV, 69KV, 34.5KV and 13.8KV systems.
CEPALCO is also operating the developing worlds first and largest (at the time of its
inauguration in 2004) on-grid Solar Photovoltaic power plant. The 1-megawatt polycrystalline
silicon-based Photovoltaic (PV) plant in Barangay Indahag of this city is connected to the
distribution network of CEPALCO. It is the biggest solar power plant connected to the power
grid in Southeast Asia.
HOSPITALS / MEDICAL CENTER WITHIN CAGAYAN DE ORO
Cagayan de Oro has a hospital bed to population ratio of 1:474 as of 2003. There are 12 major
private and government-run hospitals including 50 Barangay Health Centers and 20 Family
Planning Centers.
The J.R. Borja Memorial Medical Hospital (formerly City Hospital) and Northern Mindanao
Medical Center (formerly Provincial Hospital) are the 2 main government run hospitals.
Major privately owned hospitals are Polymedic Medical Plaza, Maria ReynaXavier University
Hospital, Capitol University Medical City, and Cagayan de Oro Medical Center.
SHOPPING CENTERS
There are several shopping malls located within the city. Notable ones are national retail giants
namely SM City Cagayan de Oro, Ayala Centrio Mall and Robinsons Cagayan de Oro.

Homegrown mall and shopping center are Limketkai Mall, Gaisano City Mall, Gaisano Bulua,
and Ororama Supercenter.
There are three market malls (a hybrid of shopping mall and market) in the city namely Market
City that houses SM Savemore as its supermarket, Ororama department store and other tenants.
858-Cogon Market and Carmen Market complex that houses Unitop supermarkets and
department stores and other stalls and botiques. Hypermarkets such as Rustans Shopwise and
Puregold are slated to open before 2013 ends. The city has three Gaisano superstores and one
Ororama superstore. Big supermarkets are SM Savemore Kauswagan, SM Savemore Capistrano,
Robinsons Supermarket Gusa-branch, Gaisano Suki Club and Palana Store. There are many
department stores and large groceries owned by local and foreign Chinese, Taiwanese and
Korean businessmen in the city. Under construction malls are Gaisano Puerto, Paseo Mall under
Zealep Development. Soon to rise is another SM Premiere mall in the citys downtown and
Starmall.
EDUCATION
The city has three major private universities, these are the Capitol University, Liceo de Cagayan
University, and Xavier University Ateneo de Cagayan. The Mindanao University of Science
and Technology is the only state university in the city. Other higher education institutions
include Lourdes College, Southern Philippines College, Pilgrim Christian College, Cagayan de
Oro College PHINMA Education Network, Lourdes College and St. Marys Academy of
Carmen run by the RVM Sisters, and STI College Cagayan de Oro with a secondary education
program in Barangay Kauswagan. There are also a number of foreign schools in the city with
study programs.
Notable public and private elementary and high schools include Cagayan de Oro National High
School, Misamis Oriental General Comprehensive High School, Regional Science High School
10, City Central School, Corpus Christi School,Merry Child School, Nanuri International School,
International School, Golden Heritage Polytechnic College, Vineyard International Polytechnic

College, and Montessori de Oro. There are also schools in Cagayan de Oro that use the
Accelerated Christian Education system. Two of these schools include Lapasan Baptist Christian
Academy and Shekinah Glory Christian Academy. There are two Chinese schools in the city:
Kong Hua School (Roman Catholic) and Oro Christian Grace School (Evangelical Christian).