Aurora is Back!

Kapampangans boast of the fact that Pampanga was the very first province created on the island of Luzon.  Thinking about it however, December 11, 1571 is a date Kapampangans should not be too happy about.  In fact, it was the day the great Kapampangan Region was reduced to a mere province of the Spanish Empire.  This of course, spelled the beginning of further reductions in the territory of the Kapampangan Region.

For over a hundred years, the territory of Pampanga covered the whole of Central Luzon, stretching as far as the missions of Cagayan in the north, up to the towns of Caranglan, Pantabangan and Puncan of Nueva Ecija, and the Bulacan towns of Hagunoy and Calumpit in the south.  On the west, it included an area comprising what are now the Bataan towns of Dinalupihan, Llana Hermosa, Orani, Samal, Abucay, Balanga, Pilar and Udiong (Orion).  And on the east, it stretched as far as Baler.

That is why it is timely that the province of Aurora was returned to Region III, because historically, it had always been a part of Central Luzon, first under the province of Pampanga, then later as part of Nueva Ecija, when the province was created.  A big part of Quezon province, in fact, was part of Nueva Ecija.  It was only in 1701, that the province of Kalilaya (today's Quezon province) was separated from Nueva Ecija.

When the capital of Kalilaya was transferred from the town of Kalilaya to Tayabas, sometime in 1749, the name of the province was changed to Tayabas as well.   Aurora remained with Tayabas until 1818, when the towns of Baler, Casiguran, Infanta and Polilio Island were again returned to Nueva Ecija.  And the reasons are very obvious. The only way to get to the towns of Aurora province is via Nueva Ecija.

It was only in the mid-1800s that the idea of an Aurora province came into existence, when the Commandancia Politico-Militar of El Principe was created.  But this was still under the jurisdiction of the province of Nueva Ecija.  In 1902, the district of El Principe was returned to Tayabas, and remained with the province until the sub-province, and later, the province of Aurora was created. 

It does not take a geographer to recognize the fact that Aurora is very much isolated from Region IV, and that the only way to get to Aurora from the other provinces of the Southern Tagalog, is by first passing through Metro Manila, Bulacan and Nueva Ecija.  In fact, the City of San Fernando, the regional capital of Central Luzon, is much closer to Aurora than any city of the Southern Tagalog.

Just by simply looking at a map, one can easily notice that Aurora is too far north to be part of the Southern Tagalog provinces.  Aurora is obviously part of Central Luzon.  In fact, its territory reaches further north, beyond those of any other Central Luzon province, with the town of Casiguran finding itself at almost the same latitude as Baguio City.

So how can Congresswoman Bella Angara-Castillo say that it is an "erroneous assumption" to claim that the transferring Aurora to Region III was done to ensure the full development of the province?  In fact, it is the best solution to end the isolation of the province from its own regional center. 

Even Senator Angara joins in, saying "the executive order is a desecration not only of the historical, geographical, and emotional ties of Aurora to the rest of Region 4, particularly to Quezon."

Let us set the facts straight.  Historically, as mentioned earlier, the province of Aurora was part of Central Luzon.  Geographically, it is most definitely linked to Region III.  In fact, Aurora could even be considered part of Region II, since Casiguran is connected to Palanan, Isabela.  Finally, the emotional ties of Aurora to Region IV and Quezon province would not have existed if not for President Manuel Quezon.  Therefore, such emotional ties are not even century-old.  And, there must even have been stronger emotional ties between Baler and other Central Luzon towns long before Aurora existed.  But these were eventually lost when President Quezon came into power. 

"Is this the first step in dismembering the Tagalogs and a proud region that has played a pivotal role in the nation's history," Congresswoman Angara-Castillo  adds.  Looking at her statements, she failed to realize that it was the same feeling for the Kapampangans when our territory was dismembered during the early part of the Spanish colonization.  But, the bottom-line is, are we to prioritize our regional pride over national interests?

It is not correct to say that Executive Order 103 "tampered with history," as Congresswoman Angara-Castillo claims.  It is in fact, simply correcting the errors previously made by the miscalculated and illogical move to include Aurora with the Southern Tagalog Region.  The district of Principe (now Aurora) was always a part of Central Luzon.  And geographically, it will remain a part of Central Luzon because only God can move mountains, or provinces for that matter.

Please send your comments or suggestions to ivanhenares@yahoo.com.

We would like to request those who will be using the information above, especially for publication, to properly cite the author and the Kapampangan Homepage.  The above column was published in Sun*Star Pampanga.