Bayambang: The Fifth Capital of the Philippines
Proposed Museum Points of Interest for Bayambang,
Pangasinan
Our Municipal Museum, located at the heart of our Town
Plaza, is nearing completion.
Since Bayambang has a number of interest points as far
as culture and history is concerned, I have listed down the following as the
major points in our narrative around which our collections of artifacts will be
organized.
Our collection of artifacts is limited to old photos,
not-so-old publications, religious items, and traditional agricultural
implements.
I. First Inhabitants
Agalet, an Aeta, is said to have first settled in
Bayambang, forming a village of sorts.
Originally called Balunguey or Malunguey, the village
evolved to become Bayambang, from the indigenous tree called bayambang or
balangabang which thrived in the area.
Proposed artifact to display: photos of bayambang
plant, book of history of Bayambang
II. Spanish Colonization
- Under the Dominican missionaries, Bayambang became
the home of a 400-year old parish, the parish of St. Vincent Ferrer, the
“patron saint of builders” and a great miracle worker.
- In this parish once served a Spanish priest named
Fr. Fernando Cosgaya, who compiled local words and came up with the first
Pangasinan-Spanish dictionary, whose original copy is said to be currently
displayed in a London museum. (A surviving copy is kept at the UST’s Benavidez
Library, so we are wondering if we could secure a facsimile for our museum, so
students and other visitors can freely browse through it.)
Proposed artifact to display: copy of said dictionary
- It is said that being a refuge of revolutionary
heroes is no accident for Bayambang, for it has a history of pocket rebellions.
The Pangasinan historian Rosario Cortez notes that Andres Malong staged a
revolt against the ruling Spaniards in 1660 in this place, followed by Juan
dela Cruz Palaris’ first battle in the barrio of Manambong in 1763, the place
being a part of Binalatongan (present-day San Carlos City).
Proposed display: artwork/paintings depicting these
events
- The fertile plains of Bayambang were turned by
farmers into a major rice-producing area. The inhabitants have evolved a wealth
of terms and expressions in relation to the cultivation and cooking of rice.
- The place was formerly a producer of sugarcane
because of the sugarcane quota imposed by the Spanish colonial authorities.
- Bayambang is also the home of the “binasuan” dance.
Proposed display: video of binasuan dance
III. Turn of the Century: SingKapital (The Fifth
Capital of the 1st Philippine Republic)
- On November 12, 1898, General Emilio Aguinaldo temporarily
transfers the capital of the Philippines to Bayambang – the fifth and last
capital of the 1st Philippine Republic. "The Council of Government
convenes for the last time in Bayambang, in which meeting it was finally
decided to disband the army and resort instead to guerilla warfare. The formal
workings of the central government of the first Philippine Republic thus ended
in Bayambang."
Aguinaldo's infant daughter Flora Victoria died along
the way and was buried at the parish church's original cemetery, but her name
may be seen as a good portent of things to come: the birth of the Philippine
Republic was inevitable.
- On August of that year, Jose Palma wrote the
Philippine National Anthem inside a train coach in a railroad station located
at the barrio of Bautista, now a neighboring town.
- An issue of the Revolution's newspaper, "La
Independencia," was published around this time.
- Months before this, General Antonio Luna transferred
the Department of War to this town.
- Note that, in the annual “Heroes’ Trek,” which
traces General Gregorio del Pilar’s escape to Tirad Pass and eventual
martyrdom, ‘pilgrims’ all the way from Bulacan and Manila routinely include
Bayambang among their pit stops in recognition of the town’s historical
significance.
- No less than our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, was
reported to have set foot in Bayambang repeatedly, to visit his muse, Leonor
Rivera, in the then barrio of Camiling.
Proposed artifact to display: copy of La
Independencia, Philippine flag, replica of Aguinaldo’s statue or bust, busts of
Goyo, Luna and Rizal (Bayambang as refuge of heroes)
IV. American Colonial Period
- The town became a center of education, the site of
the oldest school in Pangasinan, the Bayambang Central School, as well as the
site of an historic institution of higher learning, the Pangasinan State
University-Bayambang, which once served as the laboratory of the country’s
first pre-elementary (kinder) class, first opportunity class for gifted
children, and the site of the country’s first pilot nutrition program, being
the host of the Philippine-UNESCO National Community Training Center.
- Bayambang has at least six surviving Gabaldon
buildings from this period.
- A huge chunk
of central Bayambang became the US government’s Camp Gregg Military
Reservation.
Proposed artifacts to display: miniature of Municipio,
old photos of Municipio, BCS, BNHS, PSU
V. Japanese Occupation
Bayambang became the headquarters of the legendary American
military officer, Lt. Edwin P. Ramsey, for the East Central Luzon Guerrilla
Army (ECLGA) he organized after escaping the fall of Bataan from the pursuing
Japanese militia, with our very own Lt. Claro Camacho as his aide de camp.
Bayambang was extensively devastated during the war,
with the biggest buildings bombed out and reduced to ashes. Local guerrillas
fell victim to the Death March and other depredations of war. But the local
church was spared miraculously after bombs fell on it.
Proposed artifacts to display: Photos of Ramsey, Lt. Claro
Camacho, ECLGA
VI. Post-War Period
- The producer of the province’s most delicious fish
buro – thanks to the enduring legacy of Mangabul Lake’s once famed bounty of
freshwater catch. (It is also reportedly where binuburan originated, though
this still needs to be confirmed by research.)
- The “cornbelt” of Pangasinan
- The “onion capital” of Pangasinan
- An exporter of mangoes
Proposed artifacts to display: Traditional
agricultural implements related to the raising of rice, corn, onion, mangoes,
freshwater fish
- It is the hometown of the “father of Philippine
cycling,” Atty. Geruncio “Gerry” Lacuesta, a former Manila-based media man.
Proposed artifacts to display: old bicycle, with
photos of Tour of Luzon
- Other notable personalities: the actors Vic Pacia,
Oscar Salazar, Donita Rose, Wendell Ramos; the comedian Ramon Bautista; the
fashion designer Rusty Lopez; the activist nun Sr. Mary John Mananzan of St.
Scholastica’s College and the founder of the women’s group Gabriela; respected
educators, Dr. Prospero ‘Popoy’ de Vera and Dr. Jose V. Camacho; the
award-winning indie filmmakers, Christopher Gozum, who made the first-ever
full-length film in the Pangasinan language, and Allan Ibañez; and businessman-philanthropist Cezar T. Quiambao,
who is now the current municipal mayor, now serving his second term, together
with his wife from the entertainment world, Niña Jose. We can even claim that
UN Secretary General Carlos P. Romulo came from here.
Proposed artifacts to display: Photos of the above
personalities with brief writeups
VII. Balon Bayambang (New Bayambang)
- The holder of the Guinness Book of World Records for
the longest barbecue grill in 2014
Proposed artifact to display: Photos of the event
- The holder of the Guinness Book of World Records for
the tallest supported bamboo sculpture in 2019
Proposed artifact to display: Photos of the event
- The St. Vincent Ferrer Prayer Park rises as a major
tourist attraction in the province.
Proposed artifact to display: Replica of statue and a
host of other St. Vincent Ferrer statues in various styles
- And now a pioneer in town-wide farm mechanization in
the Philippines, among a host of other firsts, thanks to good governance under
Mayor Quiambao
Proposed artifact to display: Miniature models of farm
machineries
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