Bayambang's Political History

 

Bayambang

by Luciano S. Vila

Municipal Secretary

 

          Bayambang is bounded on the north by Malasiqui, on the south by Camiling, on the east by Bautista, and on the west by Urbiztondo. Bayambang is the farthest town south of the province of Pangasinan.

 

          The name of this town, according to legend, came from the name of a plant called “balangbang” which grew in abundance during the early days. The verdant hills of Bayambang were almost covered by these plants. The people made pickles out of them. As years passed by, these plants became extinct in the vicinity, but the name “Bayambang,” which sounds like an echo of the plant’s name, was retained and was given to designate this town. Others believed that the name of the town came from a part of the human body, the waist. Waist is “balangbang” in the Pangasinan dialect, and so people from other places attribute the name to it. Still others claim that the name of the town came from the once numerous “culibangbang” trees (these trees are growing on the hills of Bayambang and at present we can still find some of them). It was said that when the Spaniards first came to this town, they asked some natives what this place was called. The people thought the Spaniards ware asking about trees, and so they answered “culibangbang.” The Spaniards thought it was “Bayambang” and henceforth they called the town by that name.

 

          According to the records of the gobernadorcillos and capitanes of the town during the Spanish regime and the testimony of their contemporaries who are still living, Bayambang was founded about the end of the eighteenth century by an Aeta known as Alagat. The Aeta led the founding of the town by organizing his own tribes. He formed the so called “barangay” which composed a small village. The town was first located in the barrio of Inirangan. Later it was moved to the barrio of Telbang until finally the barangay occupied the present location of this town. The town progressed so rapidly that its territory even extended as far as Gerona, Tarlac. The municipalities now known as Alcala, Bautista, and Camiling, Tarlac were then the leading barrios of Bayambang. However, they became so progressive that they were converted into municipalities upon proving that they could stand on their own.

 

          In history, Bayambang stands with enduring pride as the first town of Pangasinan to experience the most disastrous and terrifying events that occurred in the province. It was in this town where the first “juez de cuchillo” brought havoc in 1897. Many of the prominent men of the town were executed. Almost all the houses were razed to the ground. The rich and poor alike had to flee for their lives because of the cruelty of the Spaniards. It was only through the intervention of a Spanish-Filipino general that the form of torture ended.

         

Heads of the Town Under the Different Periods

 Spanish regime

Under the Spanish regime, the first [chief] executive of the town was Vicente Cayabyab who held office as gobernadorcillo. This office was held from 1792 to 1891 with Julio Gloria as the last gobernadorcillo. 

In 1892, the title was changed to capitan municipal, with Mauricio de Guzman as the first capitan. His successors were Honorato Carungay, Lorenzo Rodriguez, a Spaniard, and Julian Mananzan, who was the last of the capitanes. 

During the Revolutionary period, Saturnino Junio was appointed the chief executive of the town. 

American era

When the military government was inaugurated by the Americans, Evaristo E. Dimalanta was appointed president. 

At the inauguration of the Civil Government, Laureano Roldan was appointed first president of the town. The succeeding presidents according to their terms of office [were as] follows: Albino Garcia, Gavino de Guzman, Mateo Mananzan, Marciano Fajardo, Agustin Carungay, Emeterio Mananzan, Eusebio Camacho who held office for two terms but died during the second year of his second term. He was succeeded by his vice president, Eustaquio Bautista. Then he was followed by Emeterio Camacho, who won in an election against Enrique M. Roldan. In the next election for presidency, however, Enrique M. Roldan won and held office for three terms. Then in 1938, Gerundio Umengan took over the office of the president of Bayambang after winning over Valentin Caragan. There was a time, however, when Faustino van Bosch was appointed Acting President. In an election in 1940, Leopoldo de Aquino won as municipal mayor and served up to the outbreak of the war. 

Japanese occupation

During the Japanese occupation, Bayambang was the provincial capital of Pangasinan for a time with a certain Dr. Diaz as acting governor of the province. Sometime in 1943, when the military government of the Japanese Imperial Army relinquished its military rule, Leopoldo Aquino was named municipal mayor and served the same up to the middle part of 1944 when Mariano Fernandez took over as acting municipal mayor up to the liberation. He was appointed by governor Santiago Estrada. 

Liberation

Ambrosio Gloria became the next municipal mayor who was appointed by the Philippine Civil Affairs Unit of the United States Army and served for about a year.

In 1946, Leopoldo Aquino again reassumed the mayorship of the town for several months and later Bernardo Lagoy took over as municipal mayor. Upon the assumption of President Manuel Roxas, Eligio Sagun was appointed municipal mayor and held office up to the time of election in 1947. In 1950 he gave an opportunity to several municipal councilors to act as acting municipal mayor while he was on official business in Manila. Those appointed as acting mayor in succession were Paulino Martinez, Miguel Matabang, Leonardo dela Cruz, and Marcos Junio. The term of Leopoldo Aquino would have expired in December 1951 but he resigned to run for Provincial Board Member in Pangasinan. Numeriano de Castro was appointed acting municipal mayor by then President Elpidio Quirino. In 1951, elections were held and Eligio Sagun won. Sagun also appointed his Vice Mayor Luis Cancino to act as municipal mayor while on official trip to Manila to make representation for the town. After his term of office, he was followed by Salvador F. Quinto whose term expired in 1959. Vice Mayor Jose Lopez acted as municipal mayor whenever Mayor Quinto went to Manila for official business.

Ex-Councilor Miguel C. Matabang won the election in November, 1959 and served his term of office from 1960 to 1963. He ran for re-election in November 1963 but was defeated by Atty. Jaime P. Junio, a candidate of the Liberal Party. In the election of 1967, Mayor Jaime P. Junio ran for re-election and won the election against Ex-Mayor Miguel C. Matabang for the second time. During the administration of Mayor Jaime P. Junio, there were several improvements made for the benefit of the people, such as the asphalting of municipal streets, opening of feeder roads, construction of the two public market buildings, improvement of the public plaza and auditorium; income of the municipality was increased annually and now is more than ₱35,000.00; salaries of employees were increased as provided by the minimum wage law; municipal building annex no. 2 was constructed; concrete fence of the municipal campus, monument of President Magsaysay, children’s park and fountains were constructed and several equipment were acquired such as the firetruck, siren, and many others. At present, this local administration has many more important projects yet to be accomplished such as the construction of a velodrome, the first of its kind to be constructed in the Philippines.

                   

Historical Significance

 

          Bayambang was once the capital of [the] short-lived [First] Philippine Republic. It became the last seat of our Philippine Republic because when the American forces of General Arthur MacArthur captured Tarlac on October 12, 1899, General Aguinaldo moved the capital here. It remained so until November 13, after which they escaped to the north, until they reached Isabela.

 

          Sometime in August 1899, our Philippine National Anthem was written by Jose I. Palma y Velasquez in Bautista when this municipality was still a barrio of Bayambang. The lyrics are credited to Jose Palma [but the music was composed by Julian Felipe in a house near the Bautista railroad station] (?- RSO). This house still stands there.

 

          It may be interest to note that General Antonio Luna and his men came here once when they were fleeing from the American forces. Our national hero had for a number of times visited Camiling because of his love for Leonor Rivera. Camiling was then a part of Bayambang.

 

Products and Industries

 

          Bayambang, which supports a population of about 37,000, was once a commercial center. The Agno River, which cuts its way through this town, promotes commerce not only between the people of Bayambang and Lingayen, but also with its neighboring towns that make use of this navigable river. Since time ­­­­immemorial, Bayambang has been trading with people of northern Pangasinan the most common goods like salt, bagoong (salted fish), nipa wine, vinegar and also nipa shingles. These are loaded in big bancas manned by about six men.

 

          Land transportation is facilitated by means of the railroad and provincial roads (macadamized road). The railroad and the provincial roads make possible the travel of people not only in this municipality but also the whole province from the north to south, as from Dagupan to Manila via Camiling (through the provincial road). The provincial road is the easiest means of travel from the north to south. The Pantranco and other buses going to Manila from Dagupan pass through this provincial road. The road facilitates the transportation of the town’s products to Dagupan and other southern provinces.

 

          One will note that the greater part of Bayambang is hilly. The principal occupations are farming and fishing. These two industries yield the greatest income for the municipality. The important products are rice and corn. Rice is planted once a year, i.e., during the rainy season, unlike in the Tagalog regions where rice is planted twice a year.

 

          Besides farming, Bayambang is well known for its fishing grounds. The Mangabol Lake, which is the biggest of Bayambang lakes, encourages people to engage in fishing. The lake yields the biggest profit for the municipality. The municipality is classified as first class. Bayambang appropriates ₱10,000.00 every year for the maintenance of the Pangasinan Normal School. Other municipalities cannot meet such amount. This is one of the reasons why the Normal School is located in this town.

 

Schools of Bayambang

 

          At present there are forty (40) barrio schools and one central school located in the heart of the town.

 

          There are two schools of the secondary level. They are the Bayambang High School and the Saint Vincent’s High School, a private institution housed in the Bayambang parochial convent.

 

          The Bayambang Normal School on a secondary level was opened sometime in 1922 during President Eusebio Camacho’s term of office.

 

          In 1948 the Bayambang Normal School on the collegiate level became the seat of the Philippines-UNESCO National Community Training Center. The PNS is now called Central Luzon Teachers College (per R.A. 5705).

 

Reference: Town Fiesta Souvenir Program