Disclaimer: Most of the events cited here, apart from being personal knowledge, were mostly from my readings during my graduate program in Public Management, which I never finished, from 2004 to 2015. No supplemental honest-to-goodness research work was undertaken to enrich the factual bases of this articles. All the photos are mine, except for one that I grabbed from my brother's FB account.
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| Our illegally quarried 2.6-hectare farmland. |
Will the wanton quarrying contribute any to the comprehensive rehabilitation of my hometown, Bacolor, from the crippling devastation it suffered from two intertwined natural hazards, i.e., the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 and the resultant lahar flows in the succeeding five years?
Will Bacolor be like the immortal bird Phoenix that will acquire new life by rising from its ashes?
Before we proceed, let's get to know my hometown first.
Bacolor prides an illustrious past. From 1698 to 1904, it was the capital of Pampanga. In addition, it became the capital of the Philippines, albeit briefly, from 6 October 1762 to 30 May 1764. This was when the British colonial forces occupied Manila and the nearby port of Cavite during the Seven Years' War. Spain initially opted to be neutral but subsequently sided with France as it became apparent that the successive British victories will endanger its lucrative colonial exploits if these are unchallenged.
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The Bacolor LGU claims this is farmland scrapping; this obviously is quarrying and it was done without our permission. That's my brother in the middle showing the extent of quarrying. |
Spanish Governor General Simon de Anda was forced to flee Manila to avoid capture by the British. And where else would he seek refuge other than the province that sustained them and their occupation of Manila and provided the wherewithal, including soldiers--who have not heard of the Voluntarios de Macabebe, the forerunner of the Macabebe Scouts?--in subjugating and controlling not just the rest of Luzon but its other overseas exploitative ventures, too. During this nearly two-year interregnum, de Anda held court at the Pampanga Casa Real which is where the Bacolor Elementary School now stands. It was here where de Anda planned and directed operations to retake Manila and, at the same time, oversaw the administration of the rest of the Philippine islands.
The confluence of these events, coupled with the ethnicity, industry, and resiliency of the "taga pampang", made the Capampangan race dominant in our nation's evolving history. Bacolor was unquestionably politically, economically, and socially pivotal in this evolution. It was the primus inter pares among the Capampangan towns, which included municipalities that are now geopolitically parts of Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, and Bataan.
Succession of double whammies
But, an abrupt fortune shift happened at the dawning of the 20th century. San Fernando was declared as the new provincial capital by the American colonizers in 1904 and the economic and political development gravitated away from Bacolor. With this declaration, Bacolor was by-passed by the Philippine National Railway. A third town, Mexico, also vied for the privilege but San Fernando was the compromise to break the impasse. Its stature as the center of Capampangan literature and the moniker "Athens of Pampanga" was all that was left for this once illustrious town.
This was the first significant double whammy that the town would suffer. Its replacement as the provincial capital and being by-passed by the national railway system inhibited it from grabbing a lion's share of the socio-political and economic windfall that the American imperialist dispensation would usher in the country. A missed opportunity that could have cemented its prominence and importance, especially in Central Luzon, that the City of San Fernando now enjoys.
