History of Isabela Part IV: During the Reign of Queen Isabella II

It was during the reign of Queen Isabella II that the Islands begin to progress by the turn of the 19th Century. The Vice Royalty of Mexico ceased administration of the archipelago upon receiving the grant of independence from Spain in 1821. From thereon, Philippines was under the direct rule of the Queen.
Spain has invested heavily on the infrastructure development in the archipelago among them was the Claveria (now Quezon) bridge which is the first suspension bridge in southeast Asia and the establishment of the Tramway conveyance system.
On August 1, 1851; the Banco Espanol-Filipino De Isabel II was established in keeping up with the economic boom in the period as Philippines was ahead of its Asian neighbors.
The institution of Education was the most prominent and important legacy in the reign of Queen Isabella II to the country; she has initiated a system of free, compulsory primary education through a decree she issued in December 20, 1863. Spanish was the medium of instruction.
With the opening of the Suez Canal in Panama on 1869, days of travel by ship to Europe was cut short. This saw the influx of natives gaining access to education abroad. This period in history gave rise to the class of the illustrados; prominent among them is our national hero- Dr. Jose Rizal.
By 1898 during the height of the Philippine Revolution, enrollment in schools at all levels exceeded 200,000 students. It was also in this period that saw the execution of Rizal that ushered the eventual departure
of Spanish colonization of over three centuries
The enforcement of the tobacco monopoly was the main reason why the capital of the alcadia (Cagayan valley) was transfered to Tuguegarao from the city of Nueva Segovia (Lallo) by the mid 1800s. Queen Isabella II sought an effective setup for the management of the industry because two of the vast tobacco plantations are in Tuguegarao and the other in San Fernando de Ilagan.

A Royal Decree was enacted in May 1,1856 forming one separate province out of the territories of Cagayan and Nueva Vizcaya to effectively address the tobacco industry.
The new territory in the the middle of the valley derived its territorial jurisdiction half from the south of Cagayan comprising Abuatan (Tumauini-Cabagan) Bolo (Ilagan) and Batanag (western Gamu). These territories were later known as “Irraya” or “upriver” following its separation.
Lower Isabela is derived from Diffun (lower Gamu), Paniqui (Cauayan), Camarag (Echague) and Carig or the modern day Santiago city north of Nueva Vizcaya.
The new territory was named in honor of Queen Isabella II.

It was not really regular province with a Governor or Alcadia-Mayor; Isabela- like its neighboring Nueva Vizcaya earlier in 1841, was established as a Politico-Militar province.
Nueva Vizcaya was integrated into the militarized zones in the neighboring highlands of the Cordillera to brace the mountain territories against attacks from the Igorots and other mountain dwellers who refused to be converted to Christianity.
Isabela on the other hand, was placed under the protectorate of the military (commandancia) to enforce the tobacco monopoly in the still unpacified province also known as corrigimento.
Then known as San Fernando de Ilagan, where the vast tobacco plantation in the territory lies; became the Provincial Capital.

History of Isabela Part III: Conquest thru Evangelical Missions

The social unrest beleaguering neighboring Alcadias were not as atrocious in Cagayan Valley except for the natives' initial resistance to religious conversion.
Christianity was established in Cagayan Valley in 1582.
It was under the administration of Governor General Ronquillo when Dominican Cristobal Salvatierra and the Augustinian Francisco Rodriguez accompanied by the Spanish troops under the command of Captain Juan Pablo Carreon, who incidentally- was appointed first Governor of Cagayan a year earlier; initiated the first religious mission.
Carreon was responsible for Driving away Japanese pirates in the upstream Cagayan and has established settlement in Lallo.
The religious made Lallo their base which they later renamed to Nueva Segovia and became the seat of the Diocese by that name. The Diocese of Nueva Segovia has jurisdiction over the entire Northern Luzon and its first Bishop is Miguel de Buenavides who later became Archbishop of Manila and founder of the country's oldest educational institution- the University of Sto. Tomas..
Nueva Segovia was not only known as the seat of Christianity in Cagayan Valley that time but also the very first territory to be considered a City with 27,000 Christianized population. The Pacified territory of Nueva Segovia in the late 1580s has 50 private and royal encomiendas, with at least 10 of which are paying regular tribute to the government in 1588.
It has an Alcalde Mayor, a fort manned by 40 soldiers, and an Augustinian monastery.
The Spanish pacification efforts was a difficult task for the religious mission in the territory where they observe that the natives are not too friendly, lazy, drunkards and have no regards to morals since divorce was a usual practice.
The problem did not deter the missionaries to continue with their work.
With the help of Spanish Encomendero Juan Fernandez Najara and an influential native chieftain, Yringan; together they assisted the mission in its task of conversion using the native tongue starting from the territory of Abulug which is south of Nueva Segovia. They helped the missionaries translate Christian doctrines to dialect.
By 1610, a church dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary was erected in Fotol along the Abulug river bank. In the succeeding years the churches of San Lorenzo de Capinatan, and one in honor of Sta. Cecilia were also erected in different areas in the same town.
In the territories north of Nueva Segovia; a church in honor of San Jacinto was erected in Camalaniugan in 1596. The conversion of an influential chieftain, Bacani, further bolstered the evangelical campaign to Aparri in 1604 and Gattaran in 1623.
In 1612, the Dominicans conducted missions in the territories of Pilitan, Tuguegarao and Malaguey. Fray Jacinto Pardo has learned the dialect of Ybanag and effectively carried out its mission in the area.
The mission has reached Zimbuey, which is proximate to the modern-day town of Tumauini in 1598; upon the initiative of Captain Alfonso Carvajal who invited Fray Antonio de Soria to undertake religious mission in the area.
In 1608, the mission has reached the southern territories of Abuatan (Tumauini-Cabagan) , Bolo (Ilagan) and Batanag (Lullutan, western Gamu) populated by Gaddang natives with some 1,000 households.
With the cultural shock brought by the surge of social and economic changes introduced by the Spanish authorities; resistance was noted in these territories until 1622, when the Spanish government pardoned and exempted the natives from paying tribute within three years.
In its continuing drive of pacification in the entire territory thru evangelical missions, the Dioceses saw the need to reach further south of Cagayan Valley. The aim is to likewise make the region politically controlled for sourcing out tributes and other revenues.
In 1839, Governor General Luis Lardizabal issued an order separating the southern half of the Alcadia which is known today as Nueva Vizcaya into a politico-militar province upon the advice of the alcalde mayor of Cagayan. The order was approved by a Royal Decree on April 10, 1841 integrating Nueva Vizcaya into the militarized zones of its neighboring highland territories of the Cordillera against attacks by the Igorots and other mountain natives.
In April 1846 Governor General Narciso Claveria named his aide de camp Mariano Oscariz Governor of Nueva Vizcaya.
To enable Spanish authorities further facilitate the civil administration; a Royal Decree was enacted in May 1,1856 forming three separate provinces.
Cagayan Province lies on the northernmost part covering the entire northern coast. Cagayan territories include the Babuyanes group consisting of five islands: Camiguin, Calayan, Babuyan, Fuga and Dalupiri. Tuguegarao became the capital 482 kilometers north of Manila.
Nueva Viscaya is at the southernmost part whose territories are bounded by three mountain ranges: Sierra Madre on the east, Caraballos on the south and Cordilleras at west.
Isabela in the middle of the valley derived its territorial jurisdiction half from the south of Cagayan comprising Abuatan (Tumauini-Cabagan) Bolo (Ilagan) and Batanag (western Gamu). These territories were later known as “Irraya” or “upriver” following its separation.
Lower Isabela is derived from Diffun (lower Gamu), Paniqui (Cauayan), Camarag (Echague) and Carig or the modern day Santiago city north of Nueva Vizcaya.
Isabela got its name in honor of Queen Isabella II. Ilagan became the Provincial Capital.

Tabacalera: First economic player in Cagayan Valley

TOBACCO INDUSTRY: FIRST ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IN CAGAYAN VALLEY

The Tobacco monopoly was established in Cagayan Valley in 1785 were the industry flourished as the main commerce in the territory.
Spanish Galleon “San Clemente” brought into the archipelago 200 ounces of Cuban Tobacco seeds which found its way to the valley by friars who saw the rich soil and favorable climate to grow the plant.
Although the revenues from the industry dropped in 1788 due to rampant smuggling of Tobacco leaves by Igorot natives from the neighboring Cordillera, Spanish authorities did not took the problem serious.
In 1881, the Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas S.A. - Compania de Filipinas popularly known as Tabacalera was founded in November 26 by Antonio Lopez, the first Marquis of Comillas.
Lopez was a financial genius in his times as his influence extend to the Spanish King whom he counted among his personal friends. His tobacco enterprise took over the existing tobacco monopolies of the colonial government. He successfully it took management of five tobacco plants.
Among its plants is located in the City of Nueva Segovia (now Lallo, Cagayan) where the industry played a vital role in the economic development of the Alcadia.
In 1895, Tabacalera expanded and opened its factory – the “La Flor de Isabela” in Ilagan. It acquired properties in what is known as the Haciendas San Antonio, Sta. Isabel (Ilagan) and Hacienda San Luis (Cauayan) in Cagayan Valley.
The Lopez business empire expanded and has also established the Tabacalera Insurance Company and its own shipping business- the Compania Transatantica.
The company enjoyed the privileges from the Spanish Monarch until the outset of the Philippine revolution in 1898. Tabacalera lost its special status with the entry of the American colonial government where the company has to adjust and compete with other world market players in the industry.

Isabela History Part II: Rise of the Cagayan Alcadia and Encomienda

For the systematic administration under the laws of the Indies, the “Pacified” territories are divided into political subdivisions; the Alcadia being the highest.
The Luzon Alcadia is comprised of four wealthy provinces namely: Manila, Camarines, Ilocos and Cagayan Valley where the Rio Grande (now Cagayan river) - the longest in the country; traverse the territory longitudinally.
These Alcadias are administered by the Alcadia Mayores.
Upon the arrival of the new Governor General Gonzalo Ronquillo Penalosa in 1580, an Ordinance was enacted instituting the resettlement of villages in the Alcadias into units of compact communities called “Pueblos” patterned after European towns in that era. In these communities where they concentrate the church, the market and the public plaza.
The community is held so close together within the hearing distance to the church bell required to every pueblos. Other than church functions, the bell is used for other purposes such as alarm during emergencies and call for public assembly.
The pueblos are headed by the Gobernardorcillo who designates the Cabeza de barangays (modern day barangay chairmen) to assist them in tax collection and perform administrative functions in the locality.
The zoning conducted during that time was strongly opposed by most natives specially those who have to live in far distance from their farm lands. Those who fought the Spaniards were arrested and tortured while those loyal were given trusteeships to vast track of lands by the Spanish government giving rise to the “encomiendas”in 1595.
With the economy in the archipelago dependent mainly to the Galleon trade, the Spanish government formulated the encomienda system to exploit the vast rich soils and other natural wealth of the island.
Ecomenderos are alloted the stewardship- not ownership, of vast tracks of lands to exploit under name of the Spanish Monarch.
These encomenderos assisted the civil government hasten its administration and tax collection in their respective territories.
The setting allows the Spanish rule to dictate which crops to plant and other economic activities to perform in specific areas. The marketing of the Indios' production is likewise controlled by the Spanish monopoly to inhibit the participation of other foreign players in the economy to include the Chinese, Dutch and the British investors.
The situation give fuel to pocket revolts in Pangasinan, Ilocos and the rest of the islands in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The Philippines was never profitable as a colony during the period. Spain's war against the Dutch together with the intermittent conflict with the Muslims in the South nearly bankrupted the colonial treasury.The Royal Fiscal of Manila even wrote a letter to King Charles III of Spain in which he advises to abandon the colony.

The Tobacco monopoly was established in Cagayan Valley in 1785 were the industry flourished as the main commerce in the territory. Although the revenues from the industry dropped in 1788 due to rampant smuggling of Tobacco leaves by Igorot natives from the neighboring Cordillera, Spanish authorities did not took the problem serious.
The social unrest beleaguering neighboring Alcadias were not as atrocious in Cagayan Valley except for the natives' initial resistance to religious conversion.

Isabela History: Sto. Nino, commence of conquest thru Catholicsm

Senyor Sto. Nino: Once a pagan idol, commence of the conquest thru Catholicsm

The Sto. Nino relic has baffling origins as to whether it is the same statuette given to couple's Humabon and his wife by Magellan in the first weeks of his arrival to the image found beneath the ashes of a burned village 44 years later in Cebu.
Senor Sto. Nino, the image of the child Jesus, has been revered by countless devotees and has upheld strong Catholic faith of Filipinos for centuries.
Together with the wooden cross used in the first mass celebrated in the archipelago, Sto. Nino is the oldest known religious relic recorded in Philippine History since Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his Spanish fleet first set foot in Homonhon, southern Leyte, in March 17, 1521.
After a few days, Magellan met friendly natives in Limasawa where he became good friends with Rajah Kolambo who in turn, introduce him to a brother- Rajah Humabon of Cebu.
Humabon and his wife were baptized after befriending Magellan and received as a gift the Sto. Nino image. The event chronicled by expedition clerk Antonio Pigaffeta said Humabon's wife was given three choices, among them; the cross, the images of the blessed virgin and that of the child Jesus.
The wife, who was given Christian name “Juana” (but in other historical account, she was named “Lisbetia” ) chose the statuette of the child Jesus.
Pigaffeta handed the image telling Humabon's wife to venerate the image in place of her pagan idol as it is “a remembrance from the son of God.” The wife promised to hold the Sto. Nino image very dearly.
Humabon became the King's representative in Cebu though during that time he has a conflict with Lapu-lapu, a rival chieftain.
The newfound alliance has convinced Magellan to assault Lapu-lapu's turf in Mactan on April 27, barely 41 days passed since his recorded arrival. Magellan was killed in the battle.
The defeated Spaniards sailed back to Europe but the story of Sto Nino did not stopped there.
Accounts bared that following the departure of the Spaniards, the natives venerated the Sto. Nino like “Bathala” in their pagan ritual of dancing before his image. From thereon the practice has survived time and is now being practiced during festivities in honor of Sto. Nino in various parts of the country.
At this juncture, history lost track of Humabon and his wife.
It was said that the natives have already learned to accept Sto. Nino as their own, stating its origin that the image suddenly sprouted out from the earth. The natives have attributed to their newfound God the miracles taking place in their tribe.
There were no record of the lost 44 years of Sto. Nino until the arrival in Cebu of another Spanish fleet whose mission is to colonize the archipelago in February 13, 1565. The Spanish armada was under the command of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi.
Legaspi made brief social contacts with the natives and was said to have brought down some articles from the ship. But in the next following days, Legaspi suddenly found himself being resisted by the natives thinking that the Spaniards have returned to exact vengeance to Magellan's death.
Legaspi left Cebu and sought alliance with friendly natives in nearby islands of Leyte and Bohol. After consolidating his forces in April 27 of the same year, Legaspi sailed back to Cebu and attacked the villages hostile to his coming.
At the aftermath of the attack, one soldier; Juan Camus claimed to have retrieved among the fire-razed houses a wooden pine box containing an unscathed image of Sto. Nino believed to have originated in Belgium.
Believing that the discovery was a miracle, the image was used to persuade the natives embrace Christianity which has given the Spaniards leeway to “pacify” the occupied territories.
From thereon, it is believed that the newfound image in Cebu and the relic given by Magellan to Humabon's wife 44 years earlier were one and the same.
Camus was said to have presented the image to Augustinian fathers who in turn established the confraternity of Sto. Nino de Cebu with Father Andres de Urdeneta as its head.
A church was built for Sto. Nino in the vicinity where the image was found. This church later became Basilica Minore de Sto. Nino.
Legaspi initiated a festivity to commemorate the finding of the Holy Image. So as not to conflict with the 40-day celebration of Easter, Pope Innocent XIII moved the celebration from April 27 to every third Sunday of January.

Isabela History Part I: First European Visit

Although Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his Spanish armada became the first Europeans to discover the archipelago in March 17, 1521; historical facts will not deny that civil governance was already existing in the islands to include trade relations with its Asian neighbors. Autonomous units called Barangays* were already functioning during the pre-conquest era.

"The people were divided or grouped into families, known as barangays (the name of a small ship or vessel), thus preserving the remembrance of the conveyance by which their forefathers reached the islands. As the the families settled in the land, their head known as cabeza partitioned the land to each families. The Head was later known as Datu or Maguinoo.

Furthermore, the Europeans were awed to learn the existence of enacted civil codes and the system of commerce and literacy from among the natives. Proving this is the 900 A.D Laguna Copperplate Inscription, the oldest recorded Philippine document, issued to Namrawan by a Tondo trader clearing him of his debts.
Magellan's stint in the archipelago was no more than two months. He figured himself to an assault to the island of Mactan to demonstrate the Spanish armed forces superiority that he hoped winning to his side more local chieftains at odds with his nemesis, Lapu-lapu- who refused to bow to Spanish authority.
Magellan was killed in the assault and his fleet sailed back to Europe.
It was until 44 years later that the actual conquest of the islands took place when the Spaniards under Miguel Lopez de Legazpi established their first settlements in Cebu in 1562.
From his outpost in Cebu; the ailing and aging Legazpi dispatched Martin de Goiti and Grandson Juan de Salcedo on a conquest mission north.
Under Legazpi's command, the Spanish expedition has successfully occupied Manila. On June 24, 1571, Legazpi ordered the construction of the walled city of Intramuros and became the island's capital and seat of the Spanish civil government in the Pacific. Legazpi became the first Governor of the island and ushered the conversion of the natives to the Catholic faith.
Meanwhile Juan de Salcedo moved further north for the prospect of looking for gold from the Cordilleras to Ilocos. From thereon he moved east and has undertaken the expedition of Cagayan Valley in 1572.
In the succeeding years, De Lagazpi's conquest saw the subjugation of several kingdoms and dynasties in the archipelago. The Spanish government consolidated these territories under the control and administration of the Vice Royalty of Spain based in Mexico.

Isabela literature: A glimpse of Fernando Maramag

ILAGAN, Isabela- January 21 marks the 118th birth of an eminent and prolific writer and poet born here whose lonely marker erected by the National Historical Institute four decades ago in the Municipal park remains obscured by indifference of Ilaguenos.
The marker placed by the NHI in 1982 in one corner of what was formerly a children's playground is now dwarfed by a newly constructed amphitheater, worst, Ilagueno's rarely knew for whom that simple monument stood for.
The marker was a tribute to Fernando Maramag (1893-1936) an eminent and prolific writer and poet in his times born in Ilagan and became editor of the TRIBUNE during the period of the American colonization and commonwealth era.
Maramag also became President Manuel Quezon's speech writer and editor of the prominent Philippine Collegian, a student publication of the University of the Philippines where he finished college.
But since it was first installed by the NHI in December 1, 1982; no other occasion was feted for the monument as Maramag's memory quietly passed the years unnoticed. Not even Officials of the Isabela Cultural Council and the Provincial Museum knew it existed.
Pete Maramag Aggraviador, a descendant of Fernando Maramag recalls how the Maramag clan was invited for the Dec. 1 1982 tribute which coincided the inauguration of the Philippine National Bank (PNB) building in barangay Calamagui.
“Politicians in Ilagan wanted to please Fernando Maramag Jr. who is incidentally is Executive Vice President of the PNB that time so they expedited the erection of his father's marker,” Aggraviador told the STAR.
Maramag Jr. led the inauguration of the PNB building and his father's marker that same day.
It was during the Marcos regime that the Maramags where known to have close ties with the Marcoses. Aggraviador said a daughter of the writer, Ileana, was Imelda Marcos biographer and wrote many books about the Marcos New Society in the 1970s. He said Ileana was instrumental of her brother's appointment in the PNB.
Besides the Marker, a street in the poblacion was named after Fernando Maramag Aggraviador added.
The clan of Maramag is also a prominent in Isabela politics, a brother Rafael was the first Mayor of Ilagan and became the first Governor of Isabela under the American Government reorganization on August 24, 1901. Rafael's younger sibling Gabriel succeeded him as Ilagan mayor.
Aggraviador, who works at the Diocese of Ilagan, laments that the clan holds no other records regarding their clan though he was referred by the family to have more knowledge about their prominent ancestors. He said he knew of several unpublished manuscripts of Fernando Maramag left to a great grand aunt in Tuguegarao city before his death. Sadly, he lost track of the manuscripts.
According to Aggraviador, the Maramag sibling Fernando Jr. and Ileana were already deceased.
Fernando Maramag also worked as teacher at the Instituto de Manila (now University of Manila).
Besides the Tribune, Maramag also wrote and become editor to several magazines, including Rising Philippines, Citizen, Philippine National Weekly and Philippines Herald.
He also served in the Publication Division of the Department of Justice, and then transferred to the office of the President of the Senate under Manuel L. Quezon.
A poet and essayist, Maramág translated Ibanag folk songs into English, such as the “Cagayanon Labor Song,” “A Translation of an Orphan’s Song,” and “Cagayano Peasant Song”. His poems include “To a Youth,” “The Aetheist,” and “Moonlight on Manila Bay”.
Maramag's literary works focuses on the Filipinos “unassuming “ attitude on American colonization as reflected in his “Moonlight on Manila Bay” , a poem he composed at age 19. Despite the splendor of Manila Bay Sunset admired by foreigners, Maramag chose to focus on moonlight as it suggests the cover of darkness by which he attributes how the foreigners have been wresting Filipinos of their native land. The sonnet’s line :“The deep’s bare bosom that the breeze molests” was Maramag's vision of how the country is exploited using sexual assault figuratively as his metaphor for colonization.
His essays were anthologized in Leopoldo Yabes’ Filipino Essays in English 1910-1954 (1954). He passed away on October 23, 1936.