Pampanga - History

History

Pampanga was the first province and the richest spoil created by the Spaniards in 1571. It was named after the Indung Kapampangan River, the largest river in the former empire. Ancient Pampanga's territorial area used to include portions of the provinces of Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Tarlac and Zambales in the big Island of Luzon of the Philippine Archipelago.

Pampanga, one of the richest provinces in the Philippines, was re-organized as a province by the Spaniards on December 11, 1571. For governmental control and taxation purposes, the Spanish authorities subdivided Pampanga into towns (pueblos), which were further subdivided into districts (barrios) and in some cases into royal and private estates (encomiendas).

Due to excessive abuses committed by some grantees of private estates, the King of Spain prohibited in 1574 the awarding of private estates (encomiendas). However, the royal decree was not fully enforced until the year 1620. In a report of Philippine encomiendas on June 20, 1591, Spanish Governor Gomez Perez Dasmarinas reported to the King of Spain that La Pampanga's encomiendas were Bataan, Betis y Lubao, Macabebe, Candava, Apalit, Calumpit, Malolos, Binto, Guiguinto, Caluya, Bulacan and Mecabayan. The encomiendas of La Pampanga at that time had eighteen thousand six hundred and eighty whole tributes.

Pampanga which is about 850 square miles (2,200 km2) in area and presently inhabited by more than 1.5 million people, had its present borders drawn in 1873. During the Spanish regime it was one of the richest Philippine provinces. Manila and its surrounding region were then primarily dependent on Pampangan agricultural, fishery, and forestry products as well as on the supply of skilled workers. As other Luzon provinces were created due to increases in population, some well-established Pampanga towns were lost to new emerging provinces in Central Luzon.

During the 17th century, The Dutch recruited men from Pampanga as mercenaries who served the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army, known as Papangers contingent which was a part of the larger Mardijkers community. Their legacy can still be found in North Jakarta, however there are no traces of their descendants, except for a small community currently lives in Kampung Tugu.

The historic province of Bataan which was founded in 1754 under the administration of Spanish Governor General Pedro Manuel Arandia, absorbed from the province of Pampanga the municipalities of Abucay, Balanga, Dinalupihan, Llana Hermosa, Orani, Orion, Pilar, and Samal.

The old Pampanga towns of Aliaga, Cabiao, Gapan, San Antonio and San Isidro were ceded to the province of Nueva Ecija in 1848 during the term of Spanish Governor-General Narciso Claveria y Zaldua. The municipality of San Miguel de Mayumo of Pampanga was yielded to the province of Bulacan in the same provincial boundary configuration in 1848.

In 1860, the northern towns of Bamban, Capas, Concepcion, Victoria, Tarlac, Mabalacat, Magalang, Porac and Floridablanca were separated from Pampanga and were placed under the jurisdiction of a military command called Comandancia Militar de Tarlac. However, in 1873, the four latter towns were returned to Pampanga and the other five towns became municipalities of the newly created Province of Tarlac.

On December 8, 1941, Japanese planes bombed Clark Air base marking the beginning of the invasion of Pampanga.

Between 1941 and 1942, occupying Japanese forces began entering Pampanga.

During the Counter-Insurgencies under the Japanese Occupation from 1942 to 1944, Kapampangan guerrilla fighters and the Hukbalahap Communist guerrillas was foought side by side around in the province of Pampanga and attacking and retreating the Japanese Imperial forces from the couple of three years and few month of fighting and invasion.

The establishment and built of the military general headquarters and military camp bases of the Philippine Commonwealth Army was active on 1935 to 1946 and the Philippine Constabulary was active on 1935 to 1942 and 1944 to 1946 in the province of Pampanga. During the military engagements of the Anti-Japanese Imperial Military Operations in Central Luzon from 1942 to 1945 in the province of Bataan, Bulacan, Northern Tayabas (now. Aurora) Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales and aided the local guerrilla resistance fighters, Hukbalahap Communist guerrillas and the U.S. military forces against the Imperial Japanese armed forces.

In the 1945 liberation of Pampanga, Kapampangan guerrilla fighters and the Hukbalahap Communist guerrillas supported combat forces from both Filipino and American ground troops in attacking Japanese Imperial forces during the Battle of Pampanga until the end of the Second World War. The sending the local military operations of local Filipino soldiers and officers of the Philippine Commonwealth Army 2nd, 21st, 26th, 3rd, 31st, 32nd, 33rd, 35th, 36th and 37th Infantry Division and the Philippine Constabulary 3rd Infantry Regiment was recaptured and liberated the province of Pampanga and fought against the Japanese Imperial forces during the Battle of Pampanga.

After the Second World War, The operations in the main province of Pampanga was downfall insurgencies and conflicts between the Philippine Government forces and the Hukbalahap Communist rebels on 1946 to 1954 during the Hukbalahap Rebellion.

The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo displaced a large number of people with the submersion of whole towns and villages by lahar.