Hometown - Pangasinan


Pangasinan is one of the provinces of the Republic of the Philippines. The provincial capital is Lingayen. Pangasinan is located on the west central area of the island of Luzon along the Lingayen Gulf. The total land area of Pangasinan is 5,368.82 square kilometers. According to the latest census, it has a population of 2,645,395 people in 477,819 households. The total population is projected to rise to 3,039,500 in 2010.[1]. According to the 2007 Philippine general elections, Pangasinan has a voting population of 1,360,807, the second highest in the Philippines.

The Pangasinan language is the primary language in Pangasinan. The estimated population of the indigenous speakers of this language is about 1.5 million.

The name Pangasinan means "land of salt" or "place of salt-making"; it is derived from asin, the word for "salt" in the Pangasinan language. The province is a major producer of salt in the Philippines

An ancient kingdom called Luyag na Kaboloan existed in Pangasinan before the Spanish conquest that began on the 15th century. Princess Urduja, a legendary woman warrior, is believed to have ruled in Pangasinan around the 14th century. The maritime trade network that once flourished in ancient Southeast Asia connected Pangasinan with other peoples of Southeast Asia, India, China, and the Pacific.

Pangasinan is famous for the Hundred Islands National Park. This is a marine park located off the coast of Alaminos City in the Lingayen Gulf and is composed of some 123 islands, most of which are quite small and uninhabited.

During the summer, several feasts and festivals are celebrated in Pangasinan, including the Fiestay Dayat (Sea Feast) or Bagat ed Dayat (Sea Feast), the Bangus (Milkfish) Festival, and the Mangga tan Kawayan (Mango and Bamboo) festivals.

Pangasinan is noted as the birthplace of President Fidel V. Ramos, and Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr. The mother of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was from Binalonan, Pangasinan. The father of the late actor and former presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. was from San Carlos City, Pangasinan. The maternal great-grandfather of Jose Rizal, a Philippine national hero, was a Pangasinan lawyer named Manuel Facundo de Quintos who was the gobernadorcillo of Lingayen in the 1850s. Jacqueline Aquino Siapno, a professor from Dagupan City, is the interim first lady of East Timor.

The 1200 megawatt Sual Coal-Fired Power Plant, and the 345 megawatt San Roque Multi-Purpose Dam are located in Pangasinan. Pangasinan has extensive areas devoted to salt making and aquaculture along the coasts of Lingayen Gulf and South China Sea. Pangasinan is a major producer of rice, mangoes, and bamboo crafts.

Pangasinan occupies a strategic geo-political position in the central plain of Luzon, known as the rice granary of the Philippines. Pangasinan has been described as a gateway to northern Luzon and as the heartland of the Philippines.

The province is 170 kilometers north of Manila, 50 kilometers south of Baguio City, 115 kilometers north of Subic International Airport and Seaport, and 80 kilometers north of Clark International Airport.



Ancient History

The Pangasinan people, like most of the people in the Malay Archipelago, are descended from the Austronesian-speakers who settled in Southeast Asia since prehistoric times. Genetic studies locate the origin of the Austronesian languages in Sundaland, which was populated as early as 50,000 years ago.[2][3] The Pangasinan language is one of many languages that belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian languages branch of the Austronesian languages family.

[edit] Southeast Asian Maritime Trade Network

The ancient Malayo-Polynesian-speakers were expert navigators who had sailing ships capable of crossing the distant seas. The ancient Malagasy sailed from the Malay archipelago to Madagascar, an island across the Indian Ocean, and probably reached Africa. The ancient Polynesians navigated the distant Pacific islands as far away as Hawaii and Easter Island, and probably also reached America. At least several hundred years before the arrival of Europeans, Macassans, from Makassar in Sulawesi, Indonesia, sailing with their prau, established settlements in the north coast of Australia, which they called Marege.

A vast maritime trade network connecting the distant Malayo-Polynesian settlements from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean existed in ancient times. The Pangasinan people are one of the heirs of the ancient Malayo-Polynesian civilization.

Pangasinan was founded by Malayo-Polynesian settlers in ancient times who established settlements along the Agno River. Archaeological evidence and early Chinese and Indian records show that the inhabitants of Pangasinan traded with India, China and Japan as early as the 8th century A.D.

[edit] Princess Urduja and Luyag na Caboloan

The Srivijaya and Majapahit empires arose in Indonesia and their influence extended to much of the Malay Archipelago. Pangasinan probably maintained ties with the other peoples of the Malay Archipelago through the vast maritime trade network that once flourished in ancient Southeast Asia. An ancient kingdom called Luyag na Kaboloan once existed in Pangasinan. Luyag na Kaboloan was located in the Agno River valley and the Pangasinan Plain with Binalatongan as its capital. Princess Urduja, a legendary woman warrior, is believed to have ruled in Pangasinan around the 14th century. The legend of Urduja is shared by the Ibaloi people in the northern province of Benguet. Most likely, the Pangasinan people and the Ibaloi people were once united or had a common origin. Pangasinan enjoyed full independence before the Spanish conquest.

[edit] Religion before Catholicism

The people of Pangasinan practiced Shamanist or animist beliefs and rituals before the Spanish conquest. The people of Pangasinan maintained this set of beliefs and rituals through priests, priestesses, and healers who represented a pantheon of anitos ("deities"). They had temples dedicated to an anito ("deity") called Ama Kaoley (Supreme Father) who communicated through mediums called manag-anito. These mediums wore special costumes when serving an anito and they made offerings of oils, ointments, essences, and perfumes in exquisite vessels; and after the offerings were made the anito is supposed to reply in a secret room to their questions. (See Nick Joaquin. "Culture and History," page 274).

[edit] Spanish Colonization

On April 27, 1565, the Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi arrived in the Philippine islands with about 500 soldiers to establish a Spanish settlement and begin the conquest of the archipelago. On May 24, 1570, the Spanish forces defeated Rajah Sulayman and other rulers of Manila and later declared Manila as the new capital of the Spanish East Indies. After securing Manila, the Spanish forces continued to conquer the rest of the island of Luzon, including Pangasinan.

[edit] Provincia de Pangasinan

In 1571, the Spanish conquest of Pangasinan began with an expedition by the Spanish conquistador Martín de Goiti, who came from the Spanish settlement in Manila through Pampanga. About a year later, another Spanish conquistador, Juan de Salcedo, sailed to Lingayen Gulf and landed at the mouth of the Agno River. Limahong, a Chinese pirate, fled to Pangasinan after his fleet was driven away from Manila in 1574. Limahong failed to establish a colony in Pangasinan as an army lead by Juan de Salcedo chased him out of Pangasinan after a seven-month siege.

By 1580, Pangasinan was made into an Alacadia Mayor by the Spanish Governor of the Philippines. Roman Catholic Augustinian, Franciscan, and Dominican missionaries arrived with the conquistadors and most of the inhabitants of Pangasinan converted to Roman Catholicism. In 1611, Pangasinan became a Spanish colonial province, comprising the territories of Zambales and some areas of La Union and Tarlac. Lingayen was made the capital of the province (and still is to this day). Continued resistance to Spanish rule was forced to go underground or flee to the mountains.

[edit] Rebellion against the Spanish Rule

[edit] Malong Liberation

Andres Malong, a native chief of the town of Binalatongan, now named San Carlos City, liberated the province from Spanish rule in December 1660. The people of Pangasinan proclaimed Andres Malong Ari na Pangasinan ("King of Pangasinan"). Pangasinan armies attempted to liberate the neighboring provinces of Pampanga and Ilocos, but were repelled by a Spanish-led coalition of loyalist tribal warriors and mercenaries. In February 1661, the newly independent Kingdom of Pangasinan fell to the Spanish.

[edit] Palaris Liberation

On November 3, 1762, the people of Pangasinan proclaimed independence from Spain after a rebellion led by Juan de la Cruz Palaris overthrew Spanish rule in Pangasinan. The Pangasinan revolt was sparked by news of the fall of Manila to the British on October 6, 1762. However, after the Treaty of Paris on March 1, 1763 that closed the Seven Years' War between Britain, France and Spain, the Spanish colonial forces made a counter-attack. On January 16, 1765, Juan de la Cruz Palaris was captured and Pangasinan independence was again lost.

[edit] Philippine Revolution

Main article: Philippine Revolution

The Katipunan, a nationalist secret society, was founded on July 7, 1892 with the aim of uniting the peoples of the Philippines and fighting for independence and religious freedom. The Philippine Revolution began on August 26, 1896 led by Andres Bonifacio, the leader of the Katipunan. On November 18, 1897, a Katipunan council was formed in western Pangasinan with Roman Manalang as Presidente Generalisimo and Mauro Ortiz as General. General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed Philippine independence on June 12, 1898. Dagupan City, the major commercial center of Pangasinan, was surrounded by Katipunan forces by July 18, 1898. The Battle of Dagupan lasted from July 18 to July 23 of that year with the surrender of 1,500 soldiers of the Spanish forces under Commander Federico J. Ceballos and Governor Joaquin de Orengochea.

The Battle of Dagupan, fought fiercely by local Katipuneros under the overall command of General Francisco Makabulos, chief of the Central and Directive Committee of Central and Northern Luzon, and the last remnants of the once mighty Spanish Army under General Francisco Ceballos, led to the liberation of Pangasinan from the Spaniards. The five-day battle was joined by three local heroes, Don Daniel Maramba from Santa Barbara, Don Vicente Del Prado from San Jacinto and Don Juan Quezada from Dagupan, whose armies massed in Dagupan to lay siege on the Spanish forces, making a last stand at the brick-walled Catholic Church.

Maramba led the liberation of the town of Santa Barbara on March 7, 1898 following a signal for simultaneous attack from Makabulos. Hearing that Sta. Barbara fell into rebel hands, the Spanish forces in Dagupan attempted to retake the town, but were repulsed by Maramba's forces. Thus, after the setback, the Spaniards decided to concentrate their forces in Lingayen to protect the provincial capital. This enabled Maramba to expand his operations to Malasiqui, Urdaneta and Mapandan, taking them one after the other. He took one more town, Mangaldan, before proceeding to Dagupan to lay siege on the last Spanish garrison. Also on March 7, 1898, the rebels under the command of Del Prado, and Quesada attacked convents in a number of towns in Zambales province, located west of Lingayen, which now constitute the western parts of Pangasinan.

Attacked and brought under Filipino control were Alaminos, Agno, Anda, Alos, Bani, Balincaguin, Bolinao, Dasol, Eguia and Potot. Then the revolt spread to Labrador, Sual, Salasa and many other towns in the west. The towns of Sual, Labrador, Lingayen, Salasa and Bayambang were occupied first by the forces of Del Prado and Quesada before they proceeded to attack Dagupan.

At an assembly convened to organize a central governing body for Central and Northern Luzon on April 17, 1898, General Makabulos appointed Del Prado as politico-military governor of Pangasinan, with Quesada as his second in command. His appointment came few days before the return of General Emilio Aguinaldo in May 1898 from his exile in Hongkong following the signing of the Pact of Biac-na-Bato in December 1897. Aguinaldo's return gave fresh impetus to the renewal of the flame of the revolution. Thus, on June 3, 1898, General Makabulos entered Tarlac and from that day on, the fires of revolution spread.

So successful were the Filipinos in their many pitched battles against the Spaniards that on June 30, 1898, Spanish authorities decided to evacuate all their forces to Dagupan where a last stand against the rebels was to be made. Also ordered to go to Dagupan were all civilian and military personnel, including members of the voluntarios locales of towns not yet in rebel hands. Those who heeded this order were the volunteer forces of Mangaldan, San Jacinto, Pozorrubio, Manaoag and Villasis. Among those brought to Dagupan was the image of the Most Holy Rosary of the Virgin of Manaoag, which at that time was already the patron saint of Pangasinan.

When the forces of Maramba from the east and Del Prado from the west converged in Dagupan on July 18, 1898, the siege began. The arrival of General Makabulos strengthened the rebel forces until the Spaniards, holed up inside the Catholic Church, waved the flag of surrender five days later. Armed poorly, the Filipinos were no match at the very start with Spanish soldiers holed inside the Church. They just became mere sitting ducks to Spanish soldiers shooting with their rifles from a distance. But the tempo of battle changed when the attackers devised a crude means of protection to shield them from Spanish fire while advancing. This happened when they rolled trunks of bananas, bundled up in sawali, that enabled them to inch their way to the Church.

[edit] American Colonization

Pangasinan and other parts of the Spanish East Indies were ceded to the Americans after the Treaty of Paris that closed the Spanish-American War. During the Philippine-American War, General Jose Torres Bugallon from the town of Salasa fought together with General Antonio Luna to defend the First Philippine Republic against American colonization of Northern Luzon. Bugallon was killed in battle on February 5, 1899. The First Philippine Republic was abolished on 1901. In 1907, the Philippine Assembly was established and for the first time, five residents of Pangasinan were elected as its district representatives. On 1921, Mauro Navarro, representing Pangasinan in the Philippine Assembly sponsored a law renaming the town of Salasa to Bugallon to honor General Bugallon.

                             PROVINCE OF PANGASINAN                       

Provincial seal of Pangasinan
                                                                                                                                                            Map of the Philippines with Pangasinan highlighted


Region Ilocos Region (Region I)
Capital Lingayen
 - Independent cities 1
 - Component cities 3
 - Municipalities 44
 - Barangays 1,333
including independent cities: 1,364
 - Congressional
1st to 6th districts of Pangasinan (shared with Dagupan City)
 - Total (2007) 2,495,841 (3rd out of 80)
including independent cities:
2,645,395 (5th out of 80)
 - Density 461.0/km² (11th out of 80)
including independent cities:
485.3/km² (8th out of 80)
 - Total 5,414.0 km² (17th out of 80)
including independent cities:
5,451.0 km² (20th out of 80)
Founded 1578
Spoken languages Pangasinan, Ilocano, Bolinao, Tagalog, English
Governor Amado Espino (Lakas-Kampi-CMD)