Monday, June 6, 2022

How Bayambang was Founded

 

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 retained 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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