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ALFONSO CASTANEDA

Brief History:

The town had its beginning in 1930 when five families, supposedly from Batac

(Ilocos Norte), settled in the Ilongot-inhabited place of Lublub which later

became a sitio of Brgy. Marikit.

In 1950, Lublob became an independent barangay of Pantabangan (Nueva

Ecija).It later became part of Dupax del Sur.

On April 20, 1979, Lublob was made into a separate municipality by virtue of

Batas Pambansa No. 27 and was renamed after the first governor of Nueva

Vizcaya.

Location and Topography

Alfonso Castaneda is bounded on the north by Dupax del Norte; on the east by

Dipaculao (Aurora); on the northwest by Dupax del Sur; on the northeast by

Nagtipunan (Quirino); on the southwest by Pantabangan (Nueva Ecija); and on

the southeast by Maria Aurora (Aurora). Alfonso Castaneda in Cagayan Valley

(region) is a place in Philippines - about 85 mi (or 137 km) North of Manila, thecountry's capital city.

General Information:


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Area (sq. kms.): 375.4 (8.57% of total land area)

Population (2010): 7,428

No. of Barangays: 6

Income Class: Fourth

Zip Code: 3714

Area Code: 078

Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija

Pantabangan is a first class municipality in

the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. According to the2010 census, it has a population of 27,353 people. This is

the site of the Pantabangan Dam and Lake.

Located in the northern part of Nueva Ecija, Pantabangan is located at the foot of Mt. Mabilog

below Mt. Dalimanok which are found between Sierra Madre and Caraballo Mountain ranges.

Barangays

Pantabangan is politically subdivided into 14 barangays:

Cadaclan

Cambitala

Conversion
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Ganduz

Liberty

Malbang

Marikit

Napon-Napon

Poblacion East

Poblacion West

Sampaloc

San Juan

Villarica

Fatima

History

The place was discovered on November 30, 1645, by Fr. Juan Alonzo de Abarca, an

Augustinian priest who with the 29th Spanish mission in the Philippines.

The village grew into a settlement and was officially included in the map of the

Philippines in 1747. In 1900, Pantabangan formally became a town.

In early 16th to 17th centuries, the Id -dules (Aetas or Baluga) and Egongots (Ilongots)

tribe inhabited the southern Sierra Madre and Caraballo Mountains. Based on Mr. Elito V. Circa,

a folk visual artist and a writer who wrote most of the Pantabangan-Egongot arts and culture and

interviewed some of the Egongot chieftains from Aurora province. He discovered that

Pantabangan (Pantabanganan in early 18th century) came from the root Ilongot word "Sabangan

or Sabanganan" that means "junction of water streams". It was learned that most of the places in

Central Luzon were derived from Ilongot word like Caanaoan, Puncan, Cadanglaan

(now Carranglan), Kabaritan (Now San Jose City) and others.

When the World War II was start the outbreak, Japanese Imperial forces has occupation

the town municipality of Pantabangan in 1942 under the Japanese Occupation. During the

Liberation, combined military forces of the Filipino troops under the Philippine Commonwealth

Army and Philippine Constabulary units and the American troops of the United States Army and


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the U.S. Army Air Forces was came recaptured and invaded the town of Pantabangan and

defeating Japanese soldiers and starts the Battle of Pantabangan and ended World War II.

In May 1966, the Old Philippine Congress passed the Upper Pampanga River Project Act

(Republic Act 5499) authorizing the construction of the Pantabangan Dam and its appurtenantstructures. The groundbreaking ceremony led by then President Ferdinand E. Marcos took place

on June 11, 1971. The project was finally completed in August 1974.

The construction of the Dam had great economic and social impact on the lives of

Pantabangeos. About 8,100 hectares (20,000 acres) of productive farmland and the town center

(East and West Poblacion) along with seven outlying barangays (Villarica, Liberty, Cadaclan,

San Juan, Napon-Napon, Marikit and Conversion) were submerged under the new lake.

Residents were relocated to higher ground overlooking the vast reservoir, which became the newPantabangan town center. Before the expansion of the dam through the Casecnan Project in the

1990s, the belfry of the 18th century church resurfaced from the dam's summer low water level.

During drought in 1983, some areas of the old town emerged.

The Pantabangan Dam is claimed to be the second largest dam in Asia, and supplies the

irrigation requirements for about 77,000 hectares (190,000 acres) of agricultural lands in Central

Luzon. Its power station generates 112 megawatts of hydroelectric power.

In February 1996, former President Fidel V. Ramos led the groundbreaking ceremony of

the Casecnan Transbasin Project, a 27 kilometres (17 mi) tunnel from the Casecnan River in

Nueva Viscaya to a terminal point at the Pantabangan reservoir and was commissioned on

December 11, 2001. The project aims to augment the capacity of the dam to irrigate an additional

50,000 hectares (120,000 acres) of agricultural land and generate an additional 140 megawatts of

hydroelectric power for the Luzon grid.

The present Pantabangan town has 14 barangays and a total land area of about

41,735,314 hectares. The succeeding years since its relocation saw its progress from a fifth-class

municipality in 1975, then to a fourth-class, then to a second class Municipality in 2006 and

finally, in July 2008, pursuant to Section 2 of the Department of Finance Order No. 23-08,

Pantabangan was reclassified as First-Class Municipality. It is the only town in the Philippines

which boasts of three hydroelectric plants within its territorial jurisdiction.


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Demographics

Pantabangan Town Hall

Population census of Pantabangan

Year Pop. % p.a.

1990 18,341

1995 22,183 +3.63%

2000 23,868 +1.58%

2007 25,520 +0.93%

2010 27,353 +2.56%

Source: National Statistics Office

A. LGU Name Pantabangan

B. LGU Type 1st CLASS MUNICIPALITY

C. Province NUEVA ECIJA

D. Congressional District 2nd

E. Income Class FIRST CLASS
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F. List of Component Cities, Municipalities or Barangays

Name of Component City /Municipality /

Barangay

Land Area

(Ha.)

1.CADACLAN 2098.0630

2.CAMBITALA 1713.2052

3. CONVERSION 6515.8556

4.FATIMA 4051.7478

5.GANDUZ 575.5875

6.LIBERTY 4294.1634

7.MALBANG 2978.4576

8.MARIKIT 1906.6462

9.NAPON-NAPON 692.5695

10.EAST POBLACION 1511.4600

11.WEST POBLACION 4474.9921

12.SAMPALOC 3191.0522

13.SAN JUAN 1787.9248

14.VILLARICA 5943.5918

CLIMATE41.73514

The Pantabangan area largely falls under the Philippine Climatic Type I, with two pronounced

seasons, namely, dry from December to April and wet the rest of the year. A small portion of the

watershed, especially those at the boundary of the province of Aurora, falls under Climatic Type II,

characterized by no dry season and very pronounced maximum rainfall from November to January. Its

average annual rainfall based from 1960 to 1999 measurements in four gauging stations within and

adjacent to the watershed area ranges from around 1,800 to 2,300 mm (Saplaco et al. 2001). Monthly

temperature ranges from 23C to 34C, while the average annual relative humidity is 83% (NPC 1995,

1997).


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Landforms

Forestlands, open grasslands and reforestation sites are the major land use types found in the

watershed (Figure 2). Vegetation in the watershed is predominantly second growth. Only a miscellany of

primary forest can still be found, which is caused by the logging boom in the 1960s (Saplaco et al. 2001).Nevertheless, there was an increase in the area of reforested sites, although these sites are now under

intense pressure from increasing population. Residential and barangay (smallest unit of local

government) sites, as well as cultivated areas, are included in the alienable and disposable areas.

Baler, Aurora

Geographic features

Baler is situated in the eastern coast of Luzon, in the central part of Aurora Province. It is 232 kilometers

from Manila. It is located at coordinates 12135 east longitude and 1545 north latitude. The vast

expanse of Pacific Ocean is in the east of the town. The topography of Baler is 41% upland, located at

the southeastern part of the municipality and 59% lowland in northwestern part. The upland consists of

hills and mountains which formed part of the great Sierra Madre mountain range. The municipalitys

lowland, which is the populated and agricultural area, serves as the drainage way of the municipality,

which accommodates the water discharge to its two main rivers.

LOCATION AND LAND AREA

BALER is located in the mid- eastern part of Luzon at coordinates between 15*4736 and 16*0905

North latitudes and 121*4732 East longtitudes.

It is bounded by the municipalities of Dipaculao and Maria Aurora in the northwest, San Luis in the

southwest, BALER Bay in the north, and the Pacific Ocean in the east. Baler has a total land area of

9,255 hectares.

POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS
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The municipality is composed of 13 barangays. Barangay Zabali has the largest land area which

comprises 3,748 hectares (40.5%). On the other hand, Barangay 02 covers the least area with just 2.54

hectares (0.03%)

CLIMATE

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) classify all

the towns of Aurora as Type IV climate of the Coronas classification. There is no distinct dry and wet

season where rainfall of greater than 150mm generally occurs in every month.

The prevailing winds from October to May come from the east, more commonly known as Hanging

Amihan, with a constant speed of 2 m/s. On the other hand, the months of June to September have

prevailing winds that have a Southwest and West direction.

TEMPERATURE

The maximum annual average temperature in the municipality is 27.4*C. The mean temperature varies

from 24*C to 28*C with June as the warmest month and January and December as the coolest months.

The most humid months are April, October and November with relative humidity of 83%. On the other

hand, June, July and August are the least humid months with 80%. The mean relative humidity is 82%.

Rainfall the municipality of BALER has an average annual rainfall of 457 mm and a monthly mean of

258.54 mm. The wettest month is December having the highest mean rainfall with 457.5 mm. February

has the least amount of rainfall with 136.2 mm. The high and extreme rainfall events are most likely to

occur from October to December when condition in the Western Pacific is more conducive to the

formation of tropical depressions, storms, and typhoons. Typhoons usually lead to very high rainfall

intensity.

Wind a normal wind speed of 2 meters per second (7kph) prevails in the municipality of BALER . Wind

direction is Northeasterly from December to February, Westerly during the months of March and May

to September, Southeasterly for April and October and Southerly for November.

INDUSTRY and INVESTMENT PRIORITIES a. a. Consumer Durables / Giftware & Holiday Dcor (GHD) / Wearable

1. 1. Sabutancraft (One Town One Product Industry or OTOP)

2. 2. Coconut by Products / Novelty Items

b. b. Food and Food Preparations

1. 1. Coconut by Products Processed Food & VIRGIN COCONUT OIL (VCO)
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c. c. Livestock

1. 1. Cattle and Goat Production

d. d. Others

1. 1. Industrial Tree Plantation / Community Forest Development Project

2. 2. Eco-Tourism (OTOP 2nd Priority Industry)

3. 3. Inland Fishery and Aquaculture

4. 4. Public Utilities (Telecom, Internet Caf, etc.

TRANSPORTATION

Buses, jeepneys and tricycles are the common forms of transportation going to the different barangays

and other areas such as Dipaculao, Maria Aurora, San Luis, Cabanatuan and Manila. Tricycles are

commonly used within the Poblacion and neighboring barangays. Buses generally depart from 5:00 to

10:00 AM and arrive from 1:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Public utility vans usually leave in the afternoon.

WATER TRANSPORTATION

For water transportation, occasional motorized bancas are being used to transport people, goods, and

agricultural products between Baler and Casiguran, Baler and the coastal barangays of San Luis, as well

as Isabela and Infanta, Quezon.

AIR TRANSPORTATION

The BALER Airport is located seven (7) kilometers off the nearby town of San Luis. The newly improved

road network leading to the airport is hoped to attract regular commercial flights and boost BALER s

economy.

POPULATION The population growth of Baler in the last six (6) centuries area as follows, in 1960, the population rose

from 10,350 to 14,632 which has the population growth of 4.14%, the highest recorded up to present

year. In the last forty (40) years, the population tripled from 10,350 to 29,923.

EDUCATION

Education, in the municipality of Baler, is being provided by 11 public elementary schools, 4 public

secondary schools and 1 public tertiary school. An additional of 3 private elementary schools, 2 private

secondary and 2 private tertiary schools also provides education in Baler. Mount Carmel College is the

only school that offers all levels of education.

HISTORY

The early history of Baler is fragmentary though sufficient to indicate that during the early years that

preceded the arrival of Franciscan Missionaries, continuous change took place in the human and
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political geography or the regions, as a result of the migration of people and dissemination of new ideas

and cultures.

It has been foresaid that Baler was already a very progressive and prominent community long before its

discovery by the Franciscans. The populace source of economic was fishing, hunting, and farming.

The early Spanish Missionaries of two different religious orders are pioneer builders co Catholicism in

Baler, They are the Franciscans and the Recollects, men of God imbued with the gallant courage of

crusaders, the fervent faith of martyrs, and noble virtues of saints, without arms, but only with their

crucifixes and their rosaries, they penetrated unexplored jungles and crossed uncharted mountains to

bring the gospel of Christ to the people; so doing, they suffered untold miseries, even untimely deaths.

And to make the evangelization of the people successful, none of these die-hearted and dedicated

missionaries left their assigned parishes unless reassigned or ordered elsewhere by their superiors. Their

quest to instill the seed for Christianity, their desire for economic wealth, and their aspiration for the

grandeur and political glory of Spain led to the exploration of the Sierra Madre and its coastal areas.

However, despite the food deeds attributed to the missionaries, dissension arose between them and the

military. Using their religious zeal, they overshadowed their military counterparts.

On their arrival into the Philippines, missionaries of different religious denominations were reorganized

according to the regions they were assigned to evangelize. For the Franciscans Orders, their assigned

region was designated Provincia de San Gregorio Magno (Province of Saint Gregory the Great).

The first Franciscan to reach the eastern coastal region of the Sierra Madre was Fray Ortiz, O.F.M., in

June 1579. At that time, he was ministering the parishes of Tayabas, Mindoro and Batangas. Incidentally,

before he achieved his goal for the evangelization of the regions, he was recalled and assigned for a

more priority mission.

Thirty years later, in April 1906, Fray Blas Palomino and company continued their journey northward and

found the towns of Casiguran; and Palanan in the province of Isabela. He stayed in Palanan for a while

until recalled by his superiors in Manila. His service to God tragically ended on 30 August 1622 in

Macasar in the island of Celebes. He was killed when the Dutch invaded the island.

When BALER was discovered, it was located to the right of San Jose River (todays Aguang) that wound

its way from the Caraballo (Sierra Madre) mountains to the north estuary (Kabilang Sabang) of BALER

Bay. The town was desolate with stern mountain walls enclosing it upon the landward side, and to the

east, the harborless Pacific Ocean.
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Balers location made access by both land and sea extremely dif ficult. At certain time of the year, the sea

route was almost impossible. Although, it has good anchoring place for ships, its entrance to Baler Bay

offers no danger except at the S point of point Encanto where there were several scattered reefs

known as Confites but can be avoided by rounding off the point.

The legend of the name Baler is well noted and defined in Vocabulario de la Lengua Tagala authored

by Fathers Juan de Noceda and Pedro de San Lucar, published 1754, that Baler originated from the word

Balod a large mountain pigeon (Paloma Montes) commonly found abundant in the sea. There are

many other legends by words of mouth, hearsay, telltale, and backstairs stories, however, unconfirmed.

The most advocate and accepted revelation is the aforementioned record.

On 24 October 1611, another Franciscan Fray Francisco de Dan Antonio ventured into Baler. He was the

first Parish Priest assigned to Baler and pioneered the construction of the first Catholic Church. After five

years as pastor, he was transferred to Pililia, Laguna on 31 March 1616. He died in Pila, Laguna on 6

February 1624, and was succeeded by Fray Miguel Soriano, et. al.

On 1 September 1658, due to the shortages of the Franciscan Missionaries, Fray Francisco de River,

OFM, turned over the parish of Baler to the Recollects Order, under Padre Augustin de Santa Monica,

AR. The last Franciscan administrator of the Baler parish before taken over by the Augustinian

Recollects.

On 7 May 1703, the Franciscan reclaimed their foothold on Baler; and, in like manner, it was handedover by Padre Francisco de la Madre de Dios, AR, to Fray Juan de la Torre, OFM. Since then, Baler

remained under the Franciscans until June 2, 1899, when finally the Spanish Garrison under the

command of Lt. Saturnino Martin Cerezo surrendered to the Filipinos commanded by Col. Simeon

Tecson.

In 1719, when Fray Sebastian de la Madre de Dios, OFM, administered the parish of Baler, he

established the mission of Dipaculao and the hamlet of Ditale as staging areas for the Christianization of

Ilongots and other indigenous tribes. Thirty four (34) years later, in 1753, Fray Manuel de Olivencia,

OFM, established the mission of San Jose de Casecnan and Sitio Kadayakan.

The day of 27 December 1735, was a devastating event for the town of Baler. Around 2:00 am, while the

town was asleep, an uncanny phenomenon occurred. A tidal wave tremendous proportion engulfed the

town without a warning that within an hour it was gone, Fray Jose de San Rafael, OFM, the parish priest

of Casiguran, who was on vacation in Baler survived the deluge by swimming to the hill of point Baja


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(Ermita). Others who survived the catastrophe included members of the Angara, Bihasa, Bitong,

Carrasco, Ferreras, Lumasac and Poblete clans.

The phenomenon was weird, because it happened so suddenly. There was no sign or manifestation of

bad weather and no predicted typhoon; besides, the night was clear and bright. The nearby town of

Casiguran, mission of Dipaculao, and the hamlets of Dingalan were not affected despite the fact that

they were located on the same shoreline.

After the devastation, a new town was resurrected on a land belonging to Sitio Zabali located 15045

latitude on a hilly terrain about 8 kms, west of BALER Bay. It borders 15 km. northwest, with the

mission of San Jose de Casecnan (Maria Aurora); 62 km. southwest, the district Pantabangan; 52 km. to

the north, the town of Casiguran; 97 km. south, the district of Infanta; and, 99 km west, the town of

Bongabon. The previous site of the town that was wiped out by the devastating tidal wave was renamed

Kinagunasan (washed out). Except for the memories and legend that has behind, the destruction of the

old town still remains a mystery to this day.

Life of the missionaries was not all favorable; on occasion their missionary work was disrupted by

Muslim pirates from Sulu Archipelago. With their swift vintas, they extended their depredations to the

northeastern coast of Luzon. Rounding the easternmost tip of Sorsogon province, they would swoop on

the defenseless towns. This happened in the summer of 1798; Moor (Moro) raiders plundered the

towns of Infanta, Polillio, Casiguran and Palanan. They captured the parish priests and the town leaders.

In BALER , they kidnapped Fray Lucal de la Resurreccion, OFM, and held him for ransom.
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