Mexico, Pampanga - History

History

In the 16th century, the place we now call Mexico sat as a crossing point between the Áitâ Mag-Anchî and Áinu (Abûrlin) nations at the upper reaches of the Ábakan River and the international port cities of Bétis and Lúbao to the south. Upland products such as deerskins and beeswax became important commodities to the 16th century Japanese who made candles out of beeswax and samurai armours out of deerskins. Plying their goods down the Ábakan River, these upland traders would have had no choice but to slow down and dock at the place “where the river bends” (nung nú ya másíku ing ílug) or “where the river has an elbow” (nung nú ya makisíku ing ílug) before continuing their trip downstream. From there, the river is matúlid (straight) all the way to its mouth at Uáuâ. Enterprising merchants from L?sòng Guo (Luzón: c. 13th century – 1572) and perhaps even from Japan and China formed a trading base at this natural checkpoint known as Makisíku or Másíku. Japanese sources credited the introduction of candles into the Japanese homes to renowned Hakata merchants Shimai Shoushitsu and Kamiya Soutan both of whom were known to have had trading bases in L?sòng Guo. After the Fall of L?sòng Guo in 1571, Makisíku or Másíku became an important center for the Spanish invaders. They renamed it Nueva México and made it the capital of the newly formed Province of Pampanga. Gaspar de San Agustin wrote that being the capital, Mexico was one of the most “beautiful and charming” centers in the province. A lavish church made of stone and tiles, the Parish of Santa Monica, was built in 1581 with Masangsang and Matúlid serving as its visitas.

In 1585, Dr. Luciano P.R. Santiago wrote that a Kapampángan nobleman by the name of Don Miguel Mañago was awarded a royal encomienda of about one hundred cabalitas of land in Nueva México for his service to the Spanish King. Another Maniago from México who distinguished himself in the service the Spanish King was Master-of-Camp Don Francisco Maniago. But he distinguished himself more in the service of a much nobler cause as leader of the Kapampángan Independence Revolt of 1660. In 1700, another Maniago form Mexico placed himself in history as the first graduate of the University of Santo Tomas with a native surname. He was Bachiller Don Juán Mañago, who was ordained priest by Archbishop Camacho in 1705.

The Spanish colonial authorities stripped México of its political importance after the Kapampangan Independence Revolt of 1660 by moving the provincial capital further downstream to Bacolor. But it retained its strategic economic importance especially among the Lúsung Chinese and their mestizo descendants. México was still a regular drop off point of forest products from the upper reaches of the Ábakan River. It was also a favored destination by merchants from as far north as Pangasinan. By the 18th century, the Lúsung Chinese and their mestizo descendants living in México, Guagua and Malabon had formed and maintained business and social alliances with each other. Cascos and sampans maintained the flow of goods along the Malabon-Guagua-México chain. Like the Chinese section of Manila, the commercial center of México became known as the Parian. By the 19th century, the Chinese mestizo families not only dominated México’s economic scene, they also began to replace the native principalia in the local political arena. Novel ideas and radical movements also flowed along Malabon-Guagua-México chain. In 1892, the gobernadorcillo of México, Don Ruperto Laxamana was mentioned as one of the founders of Masonic triangles in Pampanga. In 1897, the first cells of the Katipunan in Pampanga was formed in Guagua and then in México. In 1898, General Maximino Hizon, a product of the Malabon-Guagua-México Chinese mestizo family alliance, rallied Kapampángans to fight the Spaniards under Emilio Aguinaldo’s revolutionary banner and ordered the execution of the Parish priests of México and San Fernando. When the Americans replaced the Spaniards as the new invaders, General Maximino Hizon soon rose up to become supreme commander of all the Philippine Forces in Pampanga. He was captured by the Americans in 1901 and exiled to Guam after refusing to pledge his allegiance to the United States. He died in exile on September 1, 1901.

Revolutionary sentiments remained alive in México even after the victory of the Americans. The Manila Times reported that in August 4, 1901, two principales from the town of México were buried alive for collaborating with the Americans. In 1903, the Universal Democratic Filipino Republic, a paramilitary independence movement composed of Kapampángan elite, was organized in México. In the 1930s, México’s peasant class overwhelmed the memberships of the Aguman ding Maldang Talapagobra and the Socialist Party of the Philippines. México became the scene of violent peasant unrest before World War II. During the war, México’s peasants actively fought the Japanese under the HUKBALAHAP. After the war, many joined the Peoples Liberation Army (HMB) to fight the new American-sponsored Philippine Republic. In the late 1960s, the new Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army was formed mostly by Kapampángan revolutionaries. Its leader, Jose Maria Sison, is a Kapampángan on his motherside from México. The most feared but charismatic and dynamic commander of the New Peoples Army was Rodolfo Salas of México, better known as Kumader Bílog. To this day, México continues to be the battleground for social justice and reform.

(Author: Michael Raymon Tayag-Manaloto Pangilinan (Siuálâ ding Meángûbié))

• Welcome monument and the Sto. Domingo Barangay Hall

• Town hall

• Facade

• Public market