How Bayambang was Founded
(by National Historical Commission of
the Philippines)
The Municipality of Bayambang traces
its beginnings to the old pueblo of Malunguey1, (at times spelled as
Balunguey2).
It is believed to have been one of the well-populated
communities in Pangasinan situated along the Pangasinan coast or riverbanks
that had thrived long before the Spaniards came.3 Governor General
Gomez Perez Dasmariñas’ report of 1591 on the encomiendas awarded by the Spanish king
gives a glimpse into these productive communities, reason why they were made
into encomiendas, including Lingayen (King’s encomienda with 1,000 tributes);
Mangaldan, Labaya; Tuqui and Bolinao.4 In the case of Malunguey, it
was situated on the Agno River bank, “west of … Bayambang”.5
Many of these pre-Spanish
settlements, such as Malunguey, were eventually organized into pueblos de indios
during the early years of Spanish colonization.6 [John Leddy Phelan described the pueblo
as a “collection of barangays”, barangay being the primary social unit, and
foremost of which was made the cabecera (capital /seat) of the pueblo. The
lesser barangays became the visitas, later
called barrios or villages.7]
Pangasinan authority
Rosario Mendoza Cortes writes that Malunguey was first mentioned in the “Actas
Capitulares” of the Dominican order as one of the visitas (parochial satellite) of Binalatongan (now San Carlos),
under the year 1614.8
Still according to the
Dominican “Actas Capitulares”, the year 1619 marked its establishment as a
separate vicariate, as it was assigned its own vicar and its religious house
recognized by the Dominican order.9 This date of its foundation is confirmed
by the Guia de Forasteros of 1890.10
It can be concluded therefore, that by the 1620s, Malunguey was already a
full-fledged pueblo (town).11
In 1654 Fr. Juan
Camacho, O.P. was the priest assigned to Malunguey, serving there for two years
before being transferred to the vicariate of Mangaldan12. However,
during the times that no parish priest was assigned to Malunguey (and its visita Telbang) its religious affairs
were administered by the priest of Binalatongan.13
Along with Binalatongan,
Malunguey was one of the last bastions of the revolt led by Andres Malong in
Pangasinan in 1660-1661.14
In 1741, due to
recurrent inundation from the Agno River, the church and convent of Malunguey
were transferred to a more elevated place called Bayambang.15
It would appear that the
name Malunguey continued to be retrained for some time as evidenced by a Jesuit
chronicle regarding the state of ecclesiastical administration in the
Philippines in 1751-1754, including that of the Dominicans, which cites
“Malunguey” instead of Bayambang.16 On the other hand, a Dominican
list of the parishes administered by them in 1753- already cites “Bayambang”
together with “Telbang”, with a population of 10,928 “souls”. 17
The transfer of the
Malunguey church and convent to Bayambang proved difficult and dangerous for
the residents of its visita Telbang as they had to cross the river and the
forest, where Negritos usually attacked them with their arrows.18 This
naturally hampered their religious practice, prompting them to seek the help of
the Dominican Prior Provincial, who in 1760 petitioned the parochial
independence of Telbang from Bayambang.19 In 1875, Bayambang gave up a number of
its barrios as these were organized into the pueblo of Alcala.20
This establishment was approved by the King through a Real Orden in 1879.21
In 1881, Alcala was also made
spiritually independent of Bayambang.22
Two traditional
secondary sources on Spanish pueblos also mention Bayambang. Agustin de la
Cavada’s Historia (published in 1876)
states that the pueblo or town of Bayambang was founded in 1669 with a
population, at the time, of 12,25423, while Fr. Manuel Buzata’s Diccionario
cites Bayambang, at the time of its publication in 1851 as a “pueblo con cura y
gobernadorcillo [“a town with its own priest and head”], and that it had around
755 houses of “simple construction”. Its church by then was made of stone and
dedicated to San Vicente Ferrer [whose feast falls on April 524]. It
was also described as a thriving town whose products were “arroz (rice), maiz
(corn), caña dulce (sugarcane), añil (indigo), algodon (cotton), abaca, cacao,
legumbres (lentils), y toda clase de frutas.” Its chief industries then
included agriculture, weaving, and fishing. It had, also, rich pastureland
watered by the nearby Lake Mangabol, where grazed “a multitude of buffalo,
cattle and horses” and in the nearby mountains grew thick forests of various
kinds of trees. All in all, Bayambang is described as being part of one of the
richer regions in the archipelago.25
It can therefore be
concluded that Bayambang is formerly the pueblo of Malunguey. While no
definitive data was found on the civil establishment (or foundation as
Pueblo/Town/Municipality) of Malunguey (therefore, of Bayambang), 1619 is cited
by the Dominicans as the year Malunguey/Bayambang was organized into an
independent parish, with a visita (barrio) called Telbang.
In the absence of
documents on the erection of the Municipality of Bayambang, or its predecessor
Malunguey, it is recommended that 1619, the year it became an independent
parish, combined with April 5, the feast of its patron saint, serve as the
basis of its founding anniversary for the time being. This is based on the NHCP
policy recognizing the validity of such in the absence of a municipal
foundation. Moreover, through this policy the NHCP hopes to emphasize that
vis-á-vis the Spanish foundation of towns, their pre-colonial existence was
also important.
1 Rosario Mendoza Cortes, Pangasinan:
1572-1800 [Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 1974), p.26.
2 Ibid., p.121.
3 Ibid., p.26.
4 Dasmariñas, Gaspar de. “Account of the
Encomiendas in the Philippine Islands, May 31 [1591]” in Blair Emma H. and
Robertson, James A. The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 (Cleveland, Ohio: A. H.
Clarke, 1903-1909), Vol. 8, pp.104-105, (henceforth cited as BR).
5Cortes, p.103
[citing Fr. Raimundo Suares, O.P. s Apuntes curiosos sobre los pueblos de
Pangasinan, 1840-1850. Vol. 240, fol.194]
6Ibid., p.26.
7Phelan, John Leddy. The Hispanization of
the Philippines, Spanish Aims and Filipino Responses 1565-1700 [Madison: University
of Wisconsin Press, 1959] p.124
8Cortes, p. 103.
9Ibid.
10Curos de Almas, a preliminary listing of
parishes and parish priest in the 19th century Philippines based on
the Gulas de Forasteros, 1834-1898. Complied and annotated by Regalado Trota
Jose. Vol. III-Curatos, L-Z. (Manila: The Author and University of Santo Tomas,
2008), p.184.
11Cortes, op.cit.
12Ibid., p. 105
13Ibid., p. 120.
14BR, Vol.38, p. 172.
15Ibid., p. 121 (citing the Actas Capitulares
in the Dominican Archives, Quezon City, ( II, p. 267)
16Delgado SJ., Juan J., “Religious Condition
of the Islands”, in Blair, Emma H. and Robertson, James A. The Philippine
islands, 1493-1898, Vol. 28 (Cleveland, Ohio: A. H. Clarke, 1903-1909) pp.
173-174.
17”Razon del Numero del Almas, que tienan a
su Cargo los Religious de nta. Provincia del Ssmo, Ros.o en las Provincias de
Cagayan y Missiones de dha. Provincia, de Pangasinan, de las Missiones de Ituy
y Panasiqui, y de esta Provincia de Manila”, in Fernando O.P., Fr. Pablo,
“Dominican Apostolate in the Philippines”, Boletin Eclesiastico de Filipinas,
Vol. XXXIX, Num. 435 (January-February 1965), pp. 179-181.
18Ibid., p. 121.
19Ibid., p. 120
20Ereccion de pueblos, Pangasinan, (1872)
1874-1897), (Tomo), Exp. 12, Fol. 204-416 [PNA]
21Ibid., Exp. 16, Fol. 474-475.
22Ibid., Exp. 14, Fol. 441-441b.
23Agustin de la Cavada y Mendez de Vigo.
Historia geografica, geologica y estadistica de Filipinas [Manila: Imp. De
Ramirez y Giraudier, 1876] p. 235.
24The 2000 Catholic Directory (Quezon City:
CBCP & Claretian Publications) p. 127
25Fr. Manuel Buzeta y Fr. Felipe Bravo,
Diccionario geografico, estadistico, historico de las islas Filipinas [Manila:
Imp. J.C. de la Peña, 1851], pp.576-577.
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