Pangasinan

Early history

Pangasinan, like the rest of the Philippine islands, was settled by Austronesian peoples by sea during the Austronesian expansion. They established settlements along the Lingayen Gulf and was part of the ancient Austronesian trade routes to India, China, and Japan, since at least the 8th century AD. The primary industry along the coastal areas was salt-making, which is the origin of the name "Pangasinan" ("place of salt-making"). The interior lands were called "Caboloan" ("place of bolo bamboos"), referring to the abundance of bolo bamboo (Gigantochloa levis).^[6]

Pangasinan is identified with "Feng-chia-hsi-lan" which appears in Ming Dynasty Chinese records. They are believed to have sent emissaries to China with symbolic "tributes" from 1403 to 1405, which was required to establish trade relations.^[7]

In the sixteenth-century Pangasinan was called the "Port of Japan" by the Spanish. The locals wore native apparel typical of other maritime Southeast Asian ethnic groups in addition to Japanese and Chinese silks. Even common people were clad in Chinese and Japanese cotton garments. They blackened their teeth and were disgusted by the white teeth of foreigners which were likened to that of animals. They used porcelain jars typical of Japanese and Chinese households. Japanese-style gunpowder weapons were encountered in naval battles in the area.^[8] In exchange for these goods, traders from all over Asia would come to trade primarily for gold and slaves, but also deerskins, civet and other local products. Other than a notably more extensive trade network with Japan and China they were culturally similar to other Luzon groups to the south.

Pangasinans were also described as a warlike people who were known for their resistance to Spanish conquest. Bishop Domingo Salazar described Pangasinans as the fiercest and cruelest in the land. They were untouched by Christianity but like Christians they used vintage wine in small quantities for sacramental practices. The church bragged that they, not the Spanish military, won the northern part of the Philippines for Spain. The church was strict with adulterers; the punishment was death for both parties. Pangasinans were known to take defeated Sambal, (Aeta) and Negrito warriors to sell as slaves to Chinese traders.^[9]

Spanish colonial era

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

Philippine revolution

Main article: Philippine Revolution Against Spain

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

The Battle of Dagupan was fought by local Katipuneros under the command of General Francisco Makabulos and the last remnants of the once mighty Spanish Army under General Francisco Ceballos. Three local heroes fought in the five-day battle, Don Daniel Maramba of Santa Barbara, Don Vicente Prado of San Jacinto and Don Juan Quezada of Dagupan. Their armies amassed in Dagupan 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 Santa Barbara fell to the rebels Spanish forces in Dagupan attempted to retake the town but were repelled by Maramba's forces. After the setback the Spanish decided to concentrate their forces in Lingayen in order to protect the provincial capital. This allowed Maramba to expand his operations to include Malasiqui, Urdaneta and Mapandan which he defeated in succession. He then defeated the town of Mangaldan before proceeding to the last Spanish garrison in Dagupan. On March 7, 1898, rebels under the command of Prado and Quesada attacked convents in the province of Zambales which now constitute western Pangasinan.

Attacked and brought under Filipino control were Alaminos, Agno, Anda, Alos, Bani, Balincaguin, Bolinao, Dasol, Eguia and Potot. The revolt then 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 Prado and Quesada before they attacked Dagupan.

On April 17, 1898, General Makabulos appointed Prado to politico-military governor of Pangasinan with Quesada as his second in command. In May 1898 General Emilio Aguinaldo returned from his exile in Hong Kong following the signing of the Pact of Biac-na-Bato in December 1897. Aguinaldo's return gave renewed the flames of the revolution. On June 3, 1898, General Makabulos entered Tarlac.

So successful were the Katipunan in their many pitched battles against Spanish forces that on June 30, 1898, Spanish authorities decided to evacuate all forces to Dagupan for a last stand against the rebels. They were ordered to go to Dagupan were all civilian and military personnel, including members of the volunteer 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 the items brought to Dagupan was the image of the Most Holy Rosary of the Virgin of Manaoag which was the patron saint of Pangasinan.

The siege began when the forces of Maramba and Prado converged in Dagupan on July 18, 1898. The arrival of General Makabulos strengthened the rebel forces until the Spanish, holed up inside the Catholic Church, waved the flag of surrender five days later. The poorly armed Filipino rebels were no match for the Spanish and loyal Filipino soldiers holed inside the Church. The tempo of battle changed when the attackers under the command of Don Vicente Prado devised a crude means of protection to shield them from Spanish fire while advancing. They used trunks of bananas bundled up in sawali which enabled them to move upon the Church.

American Invasion Era

In 1901, towns of Nueva Ecija, Balungao, Rosales, San Quintin and Umingan were annexed to the province of Pangasinan, because they were further away from the capital and already considered pacified by US forces.^[14]

On November 30, 1903, several municipalities from northern Zambales including Agno, Alaminos, Anda, Bani, Bolinao, Burgos, Dasol, Infanta and Mabini were ceded to Pangasinan by the American colonial government for historical basis.

Pangasinan and other parts of the Spanish East Indies were ceded to the Americans after the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Spanish–American War. During the Philippine–American War Lieutenant Col. José Torres Bugallón of Salasa fought together with Gen. Antonio Luna to defend the First Philippine Republic against American colonization in Northern Luzon. Bugallon was killed in battle on February 5, 1899. The First Philippine Republic was abolished in 1901. In 1907 the Philippine Assembly was established and for the first time five residents of Pangasinan were elected as its district representatives.

In 1921, Mauro Navarro, representing Pangasinan in the Philippine Assembly, sponsored a law to rename the town of Salasa to Bugallon in honor of General Bugallon.

Manuel L. Quezon was inaugurated as the first president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines with collaboration from the United States of America on November 15, 1935.

The 21st Infantry Division were stationed in Pangasinan during the pre-World War II era. Anti-Japanese Imperial military operations included the fall of Bataan and Corregidor along with aiding the USAFFE ground force from January to May 1942 and the Japanese Insurgencies and Allied Liberation in Pangasinan from 1942 to 1945.

Postwar era

After the declaration of Independence on July 4, 1946, Eugenio Perez, a Liberal Party congressman representing the fourth district of Pangasinan, was elected Speaker of the lower Legislative House. He led the House until 1953 when the Nacionalista Party became the dominant party.

During the Marcos dictatorship

Pangasinan, which is historically and geographically part of the Central Luzon Region, was made politically part of the Ilocos Region (Region I) by the gerrymandering of Ferdinand Marcos, even though Pangasinan has a distinct language and culture, Pangasinan. The political classification of Pangasinan as part of the Ilocos Region generated confusion among some Filipinos. The residents of Pangasinan are Ilocanos, even though Ilocanos constitute a minority in the province. Its economy is larger than the Ilocano provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur and La Union and its population is more than 50 percent of the population of Region 1.

The Philippine economy took a turn for the worse in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the 1969 Philippine balance of payments crisis being one of the early landmark events.^[15] Economic analysts generally attribute this to the ramp-up on loan-funded government spending to promote Ferdinand Marcos’ 1969 reelection campaign.^{[15][16][17][18] : "43" [19][20]} Many students from Pangasinan were part of the protests that began in 1970 and continued through 1971 and early 1972, calling for government and economic reforms.^[21] In September 1972, one year before the expected end of his last constitutionally allowed term as president in 1973, Ferdinand Marcos finally placed the Philippines under Martial Law^[21] - an act which allowed him to remain in power for fourteen more years, during which Pangasinan went through many social and economic ups and downs.^[21]

The human rights abuses, crony capitalism, propagandistic construction projects, and personal expensive lifestyles of the Marcos Family^[21] prompted opposition from various Filipino citizens despite the risks of arrest and torture.^[22] The Pangasinan Philippine Constabulary (PC) Provincial Camp in Lingayen^[23]: 48 (renamed Camp Antonio Sison in 2017)^[24] was so full of political prisoners that the chapel, which measured a mere 4x9 meters, was divided in two by a wall of bars, with one part treated as a jail.^[23]: 174 Among the most prominent human rights violations victims the regime were student leader Eduardo Aquino who was from Mapandan, Pangasinan and beauty queen turned activist Maita Gomez of Bautista, Pangasinan. Aquino was ambushed by Soldiers during a meeting of activists in Tarlac, while Gomez was jailed numerous times, but survived to be co-founder of women's rights group GABRIELA. Both were eventually recognized by having their names posthumously inscribed on the wall of remembrance of the Philippines' Bantayog ng mga Bayani, which honors the martyrs and heroes which fought the dictatorship.

During and after the People Power revolution

In February 1986, both the COMELEC and the NAMFREL counts showed that Corazon Aquino had won the city of Dagupan (in the north along with the provinces of Benguet and Mountain Province) during the 1986 Philippine presidential election,^[25] despite widely acknoweledged election fraud meant to assure a victory for Ferdinand Marcos.^[26][27] Weeks later, Vice Chief of Staff General Fidel V. Ramos, a Pangasinense who was head of the Philippine Integrated National Police, became an instrumental figure in the EDSA people power revolution which removed Ferdinand Marcos and compelled him to flee the country.

After the downfall of Marcos all local government unit executives were ordered by President Corazon Aquino to vacate their posts. Some local executives were ordered to return to their seats, as in the case of Mayor Ludovico Espinosa of Dasol, who claimed to have joined UNIDO during the height of the EDSA Revolution. Fidel Ramos was appointed as AFP Chief of Staff and later as Defense Secretary replacing Juan Ponce Enrile. Oscar Orbos, a congressman from Bani, was appointed by Aquino to head the Department of Transportation and Communications and later to Executive Secretary.

On May 11, 1992, Fidel V. Ramos ran for President. He became the first Pangasinense President of the Philippines. Under his leadership, the Philippines recovered from the oil and power crisis of 1991. His influence sparked the economic growth of Pangasinan when it hosted the 1995 Palarong Pambansa (Philippine National Games).

Jose de Venecia, who represented the same district as Eugenio Perez (his former father-in-law), was the second Pangasinense to become Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1992. He was reelected again in 1995. De Venecia was selected by the Ramos' administration party Lakas NUCD to be its presidential candidate in 1998. De Venecia ran but lost to Vice President Joseph Estrada. Oscar Orbos ran for vice president but lost to Senator Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, whose mother, former First Lady Evangelina Macaraeg-Macapagal, hails from Binalonan.

Arroyo ascended to the presidency after the second EDSA Revolution when President Joseph Estrada was overthrown.

Contemporary

In May 2004, actor-turned-politician Fernando Poe, Jr. of San Carlos City ran for president against incumbent Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The Pangasinan vote was split by the two presidential candidates, both with Pangasinan roots. Arroyo was elected president but her victory was tainted by charges of electoral fraud and vote-buying.

Physical

Pangasinan is located in the west central area of Luzon in the Philippines. It is bordered by La Union to the north, Benguet and Nueva Vizcaya to the northeast, Nueva Ecija to the southeast, and Zambales and Tarlac to the south. To the west of Pangasinan is the South China Sea. The province also encloses Lingayen Gulf.

The province has a land area of 5,451.01 square kilometres (2,104.65 sq mi).^[28] It is 170 kilometres (110 mi) north of Manila, 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of Baguio, 115 kilometres (71 mi) north of Subic International Airport and Seaport, and 80 square kilometres (31 sq mi) north of Clark International Airport. At the coast of Alaminos, the Hundred islands have become a famous tourist spot.

The terrain of the province, as part of the Central Luzon plains, is typically flat, with a few parts being hilly and/or mountainous. The northeastern municipalities of San Manuel, San Nicolas, Natividad, San Quintin and Umingan have hilly to mountainous areas at the tip of the Cordillera mountains. The Zambales mountains extend to the province's western towns of Labrador, Mabini, Bugallon, Aguilar, Mangatarem, Dasol, and Infanta forming the mountainous portions of those towns.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) reported several inactive volcanoes in the province: Amorong, Balungao, Cabaluyan, Cahelietan, Candong, and Malabobo. PHIVOLCS reported no active or potentially active volcanoes in Pangasinan. A caldera-like landform is located between the towns of Malasiqui and Villasis with a center at about 15° 55′ N and 120° 30′ E near the Cabaruan Hills.

Several rivers traverse the province. The longest is the Agno River which originates in the Cordillera Mountains of Benguet and eventually terminates at Lingayen Gulf. Other major rivers include the Bued River, Angalacan River, Sinocalan River, Pantal River, Patalan River and the Cayanga River.

Administrative divisions

The province of Pangasinan is subdivided into 44 municipalities, 4 cities, and 1,364 barangay (which means "village" or "community"). There are six congressional districts in the province.

The capital of the province is Lingayen. In ancient times, the capital of Pangasinan was Binalatongan, now San Carlos. During Japanese occupation, Dagupan was made a wartime capital.

Barangays

Pangasinan has 1,364 barangays comprising its 44 municipalities and 4 cities, ranking the province at 3rd with the most barangays in a Philippine province, only behind the Visayan provinces of Leyte and Iloilo.

Longos Amangonan Parac‑Parac Fabrica is the longest named barangay in the Philippines, it is situated in the municipality of San Fabian, Pangasinan. The most populous barangay in the province is Bonuan Gueset in Dagupan with a population of 22,042 as of 2010. If cities are excluded, Poblacion in the municipality of Lingayen has the highest population at 12,642. Iton in Bayambang has the lowest with only 99 as of the 2010 census.^[29]

Historical Towns

These list includes the historical towns that that were once used to be in the province before they are ceded to nearby provinces:

Population

The population of Pangasinan in the 2020 census was 3,163,190 people,^[2] with a density of 580 inhabitants per square kilometre or 1,500 inhabitants per square mile.

The Pangasinan people (Totoon Pangasinan) are called Pangasinan or the Hispanicized name Pangasinense, or simply taga-Pangasinan, which means "native of Pangasinan". Pangasinan people were known as traders, businesspeople, farmers and fishers. Pangasinan is the third most-populated province in the Philippines. The estimated population of the indigenous speakers of the Pangasinan language in the province of Pangasinan is almost 2 million and is projected to double in about 30 years. According to the 2000 census, 47 percent of the population are native Pangasinan and 44 percent are Ilocano settlers. Indigenous Sambal people predominate in the westernmost municipalities of Bolinao and Anda, with others scattered in towns formerly under Zambales. The few ethnic Tagalogs mostly live in towns bordering Tagalog-speaking Nueva Ecija, mostly descendants of settlers from Nueva Ecija itself, with the rest from Bulacan and Aurora. The Pangasinan people are closely related to the Austronesian-speaking peoples of the Philippines as well as Indonesia and Malaysia.

Languages

The Pangasinan language is an agglutinative language. It belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian languages branch of the Austronesian language family and is the primary language of the province of Pangasinan, as well as northern Tarlac and southwestern La Union. The Pangasinan language is similar to the other Malayo-Polynesian languages of the Philippines, as well as Indonesia and Malaysia. It is closely related to the Ibaloi language spoken in the neighboring province of Benguet, located northwest of Pangasinan. The Pangasinan language along with Ibaloi are classified under the Pangasinic group of languages. The other Pangasinic languages are:

• Karao
• Iwaak
• Keley-I
• I-Kallahan
• Ibaloi
• Tinoc
• Kayapa

Aside from their native language, many educated Pangasinans are highly proficient in Ilocano, English and Tagalog. Pangasinan is mostly spoken in the central part of the province in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th districts, is also spoken by many residents as 1st language in eastern part of the province in the 5th and 6th districts, and is the second language in other parts of Pangasinan. Ilocano is widely spoken in the westernmost and easternmost parts of Pangasinan in the 1st, 5th and 6th districts, and is the second language in other parts of Pangasinan. Ilocanos and Pangasinans speak Ilocano with a Pangasinan accent, as descendants of Ilocanos from first generation who lived within Pangasinan population learned Pangasinan language. Not all of Pangasinans speak Ilocano, as Pangasinan was part of Central Luzon before it was transferred to Ilocos Region. Bolinao, a Sambalic language is widely spoken in the western tip of the province in the towns of Bolinao and Anda; Sambal, another Sambalic language, is spoken in other towns formerly under Zambales. Like Pangasinan people, many educated Bolinao-speaking Sambals and other Sambals are highly fluent in Ilocano, Tagalog, & English, aside from Pangasinan. Sambals are already fluent in Ilocano, as west Pangasinan formerly under Zambales was settled by Ilocano settlers, & interaction between Sambals & Ilocanos happened as years pass by. Tagalog is spoken by residents in towns along the border with Nueva Ecija.

Languages not native in Pangasinan (aside from Ilocano) are spoken by other minority ethnic groups, such as Kapampangan which is related to Sambalic languages, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Maranao and Cordilleran languages to varying degrees by their respective ethnic communities within the province.

Religion

The dominant religion in Pangasinan is Roman Catholicism with 80% affiliation in the population. The Aglipayan Church comes in second with 9% of the population. Other religious denominations are divided with other Christian groups such as Members Church of God International. Iglesia Ni Cristo has 5 Ecclesiastical Districts (Rosales, Urdaneta, San Carlos, Lingayen and Alaminos). Each town and barangays has already INC locale chapels and has 5-6% adherence in the province. Baptist, Methodist, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a temple in Pangasinan, dedicated on April 28, 2024, called the Urdaneta Philippines Temple, Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh-day Adventist. Few are strict believers and continue to practice their indigenous anito beliefs and rituals, like most of the people of the Philippines.

Spanish and American missionaries introduced Christianity to Pangasinan. Prior to the Spanish conquest in 1571, the predominant religion of the people of Pangasinan was similar to the indigenous religion of the highland Igorot or the inhabitants of the Cordillera Administrative Region on the island of Luzon, who mostly retained their indigenous culture and religion. A translation of the New Testament (excluding Revelation) in the Pangasinan language by Fr. Nicolas Manrique Alonzo Lallave, a Spanish Dominican friar assigned in Urdaneta, was the first ever translation of a complete portion of the Bible in a Philippine language. Pangasinan was also influenced by Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam to a lesser extent before the introduction of Christianity. Some Pangasinense people have reverted to their indigenous religion of worshiping Ama Kaoley or Ama-Gaolay, while the Sambal people of the west have reverted to their indigenous religion worshiping Malayari.^[34][35]

Energy

The 1200 megawatt Sual coal-fired power plant and 345 megawatt San Roque multi-purpose dam in the municipalities of Sual and San Manuel, respectively, are the primary sources of energy in the province.

Marine

Pangasinan is a major fish supplier in Luzon and a major producer of salt in the Philippines. It has extensive fishponds mostly for raising bangus or "milkfish" along the coasts of Lingayen Gulf and the South China Sea. Pangasinan's aquaculture includes oyster and sea urchin farms.

Salt is also a major industry. In salt evaporation ponds seawater is mixed with sodium bicarbonate until the water evaporates and the salt remains. This is their ancient tradition inspired from Egypt.

Agriculture

The major crops in Pangasinan are rice, mangoes, corn, and sugar cane. Pangasinan has a land area of 536,819 hectares, and 44 percent^{[citation needed]} of the total land area of Pangasinan is devoted to agricultural production.

Financial

Pangasinan has 593 banking and financing institutions.^{[citation needed]}

Pistay Dayat

Led by Ramon Guico Jr. and Mark Ronald D. Lambino, the April 5-May 4, 2024 month-long "Pistay Dayat" started with a fluvial parade. The street dance exhibition instead of former contests featured the Alaminos' Hundred Islands Festival, San Manuel's Padanom Balligi Festival, Lingayen's Bagoong Festival, Villasis' Talong Festival, Umingan's Karabasa Festival, San Carlos' Mango-Bamboo Festival, Bani's Pakwan Festival, and Asingan's Kankanen Festival. The PangaSINE Film Festival, Asinan Arts and Music Festival and Limgas na Pangasinan pageant with Costume Festival exhibit showcased the province's "Cultura".^[45]

District Representatives (2022–2025)

• 1st District: Arthur Celeste
• 2nd District: Mark Cojuangco
• 3rd District: Rachel Arenas
• 4th District: Christopher de Venecia
• 5th District: Ramon Guico Jr.
• 6th District: Marlyn Primicias-Agabas

Provincial Board Members (2022–2025)

• 1st District: Napoleon Fontelera Jr. and Apolonia Bacay
• 2nd District: Philip Theodore Cruz and Haidee Pacheco
• 3rd District: Shiela Baniqued and Vici Ventenilla
• 4th District: Marinor de Guzman and Jerry Rosario
• 5th District: Chinky Perez-Tababa and Louie Sison
• 6th District: Noel Bince and Salvador Perez Jr.
• Liga ng mga Barangay Provincial President: Raul Sabangan
• PCL Pangasinan President: Carolyn Dizon-Sison
• Sangguniang Kabataan Provincial President: Joyce Fernandez