Governor Luke E. Wright, the civil governor of the Philippine Islands on October 25, 1904 issued Executive Order No. 2649 setting aside and reserving the island of Cauit, Province of Cebu, "for the use of the Quarantine Service and the Marine Hospital Service. It also said that island was being used as a United States quarantine station.
The United States Congress approval on August 29, 1916, provides that all the property and rights which may have been acquired in the Philippine Islands by the United States under the Treaty of Peace with Spain, except such land or other property as has been or shall be designated by the president of the United States for military and other reservations of the Government of the United States. It was placed under the control of the government of the islands to be administered or disposed of for the benefit of the inhabitants thereof.
Then on June 28, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson designated, confirmed and set aside the Island of Cauit, Province of Cebu for use as a quarantine station under the Treasury Department of the United States. Cauit is one of the 167 islands and islet of Cebu.
On May 9, 2008, then president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued Proclamation No. 1505, entitled: "Amending Executive Order No. 43 dated October 25, 1904 which reserved Cauit Island, Cebu for the use of the quarantine service and the marine hospital service and the Chief Quarantine Officer, by declaring the area as alienable and disposable and transferring its administration and ownership from the Department of Health to the city government of Cebu to form part of the Cebu South Reclamation Project."
It was upon the recommendation of the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources that president Arroyo declared Cauit Island as alienable and disposable and transferring its administration from the Department of Health to the Cebu City government.
Cauit Island, situated in the City of Cebu has a salvage zone of 20-meter wide by Bohol Strait. It contains an area of 39,854 square meters. It was Cebu City Geodetic Engineer Edgar T. Batiquin that conducted the reclamation survey on November 7, 2005 and was approved on February 10, 2006.
Cauit as spelled by the Americans is spelled "Kawit" by Filipinos. Its use as quarantine was approved because of its proximity to the Cebu City Port. What used to be an islet separate from Cebu mainland is now part of Cebu City as the area between the island and the mainland was reclaimed.
It was not only Cauit Island that formed part of the South Reclamation Project. As on May 16, 2005 president Arroyo issued Proclamation No. 843 entitled "Amending Proclamation No. 200-A, dated May 22, 1967, which reserved for national improvement purposes certain parcels of land of the public domain in San Nicolas, Pardo (now part of Cebu City) and Tangke, Talisay (now Talisay City), Province of Cebu, by reserving a certain portion thereof as the Cebu South Reclamation Project and transferring its ownership to the city government of Cebu and declaring such area as alienable and disposable.
The presidential proclamation also authorized the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources to issue a special patent in the name of the city government of Cebu.
The proclamation covers two lots, first containing an area of 2,949,266 square meters and the second lot, containing an area of 7,663 square meters.
The main island of Cebu contains an area of 4,468 square kilometers, making it the 9th largest island in the Philippines. The Island of Cebu stretches to 196 kilometers from north to south and 32 kilometers across at its widest point. It has a coastline of 513.9 kilometers.