27. LONG DISTANCE RIDE THROUGH THE TWO NUEVAS

LONG DISTANCE RIDE THROUGH THE TWO NUEVAS

Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano

01 April 2017

Exactly three years ago, I experienced my first long distance drive riding my single motorcycle commencing from Saranay, Cabatuan, Isabela to Philand Drive, Pasong Tamo, Quezon City in Metro Manila, a total of 378.5 kilometers based on my odometer travelling ten hours and nine minutes with nine stop over. Aside from being in my bucket list, motorcycling and crossing the three provinces of northern Luzon was a personal decision for me to be in the metropolis in time for our fifth wedding anniversary, which was the following day, April 2. This feat; however, was matchless compared to my older brother’s combined journeys in bike from the northernmost tip of Luzon in Aparri to southern Mindanao in Sarangani. I remember he even biked from Manila-Cagayan Valley-Ilocos-Manila for only 16 hours using his black Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R.

Passing through the four provinces in northern Luzon, I noticed two LGUs which uses the term “Nueva” as its prename. “Nueva” is a Spanish word which means “new” in English. I scanned the net for the name origin of the two “Nuevas” and found Wikipedia’s “List of Philippine Provincial Name Etymologies”. The two province’s websites further expanded not only how their names came to be but also a glimpse of their rich histories.

The name “Vizcaya” was derived from the name of the province of Biscay (called “Vizcaya” in Spanish and “Bizkaia” in Basque) in northern Spain. It is accepted in linguistics that “Bizkaia” is a cognate of “bizkar” with both place-name variants well attested in the whole Basque Country which means “low ridge” or “prominence” referring to its mountainous terrain. The new province was named after the hometown of the 68^th Basque Spanish Governor-Governor (1838-1841) Luis Lardizabal who endorsed the creation of Nueva Vizcaya to the Queen of Spain.

Biscay has been inhabited since the Middle Paleolithic (100,000 and 40,000 years ago), as attested by the archaeological remains and cave paintings found in its many caves. Biscay was identified in records of the Middle Ages (5^th to the 15^th century) as a dependency of the Kingdom of Pamplona (11^th century) that became autonomous and finally a part of the Crown of Castile. The first mention of the name “Biscay” was recorded in a donation act to the monastery of Bickaga, located on the Ria of Mundaka. According to Anton Erkoreka, the Vikings had a commercial base there from which they were expelled in 825. During the Modern Age (1500 to around 1800, most often 1815), the province became a major commercial and industrial area. Its prime harbor in Bilbao became the main Castilian gateway to Europe. In the 19^th and 20^th centuries, the abundance of prime quality iron ore and the lack of  feudal castes  led to rapid industrialization.

The land area of present-day Nueva Vizcaya used to be a territory of the vast La Provincia del Valle de Cagayan. In 1607, the Dominican Order arrived to preach Roman Catholicism. In 1702, a convent was erected in Burubur at the foot of the Caraballo Mountains in Santa Clara, which is now a barangay of Aritao town. It was on this site that the first mass in Nueva Vizcaya was celebrated and the first baptism of a Christian convert was held. In 1839, upon the advice of the alcalde mayor of Cagayan, Governor-General Lardizabal issued an order creating the politico-military province of Nueva Vizcaya. The order was approved by virtue of a Royal Decree on April 10, 1841. The original province covered the areas of present-day Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Mountain Province, Isabela (all territories from Ilagan to the south), and Aurora (later became part of Isabela and much later became the District of Principe) with the capital stationed at Camarag (now a barangay of San Isidro, Isabela). The territory of Nueva Vizcaya was greatly reduced as a result of the formal creation of the province of Isabela (1856), Ifugao (formerly the Comandancia of Quiangan; 1908), Quirino (1971). In 1856, the capital became Bayombong. In 1902, civil government was established in the province by the Philippine Commission by virtue of Act No. 337. In 1914, the survey executed by the Bureau of Lands further caused the diminution of its area and reduced again upon the enactment of the Administrative Code of 1917. Nueva Vizcaya presently comprises 15 municipalities with a total land area of 3,975.67 square kilometers.

Nueva Ecija, on the other hand, derived its name from the City of Ecija in Spain. Three versions; however, claims that Ecija was the hometown of the following: Governor Acuyar (the province’s first Spanish governor), Governor-General (1690-1701) Fausto Cruzat y Gongora and Governor General (1793-1806) Rafael Maria de Aguilar y Ponce de Leon. One thing is for sure, the hot climate of what is now Nueva Ecija is similar to the atmospheric condition of the old Ecija and both are traversed with navigable waters, the Rio Grande de Pampanga and the Genil River in Spain. The current pronunciation of the province's name in both English and Filipino is different from the Spanish original, in that the emphasis is placed on the second syllable ("e-SI-ha") and not on the first ("E-si-ha"). The area was once known as “Pinagpanaan”, which means “the place where the arrow hit” referring to the pre-colonial artistry in archery in the area.

Écija, with a land area of 978.73 square kilometres, is a city belonging to the province of Seville, in southern Spain located in the Andalusian countryside. The economy of Écija is based on agriculture (olives, cereals and vegetables), cattle (cows and horses) and textile industry. Ancient Iberian finds date back to the 8^th century BC, and there are several archaeological remains of later Greek and Roman settlements. In Roman times the town was at first known as “Astigi”. After the Romans, it was ruled by successively by Suevs and Visigoths before the Umayyad conquest in 711. Arabs renamed Astigi as "Istija" (إستجة), from which the present name is derived. It was under Arab rule until its conquest in 1240 by Fernando III, King of Castile.

The first settlers of Nueva Ecija included the tribes of Ilongots (Egungot) or Italons, Abaca and Buquids. Between 300-200 B.C., waves of Malay migrations took place. Intrepid travellers and traders set up settlements along Luzon's western coast. The Kingdom of Tondo (from what is now central Manila) invaded the area until the Spanish forces began their upward trek. In 1595, the first mission was established by the Augustinians in Gapan. In 1636, the missionaries abandoned the area maintaining only the mission in Bongabon. In September 1, 1759, King Carlos III of Spain issued a Royal Decree removing the Augustinians in favor of the Franciscan missionaries. In 2016, researchers of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) and the provincial government found documents showing that in 1799, Carlos IV ordered the separation of towns and parishes of Upper Pampanga, near the Sierra Madre range, as well as coastal towns of Tayabas, along the Pacific Ocean and their organization into a corregimiento (political-military administrative unit). Royal directives were implemented on April 25, 1801, and the corregimiento was named Nueva Ecija with Baler as its capital. The province had undergone numerous changes in territorial composition. During the American administration, the capital of Nueva Ecija was in San Isidro town (1901-1912). It was transferred to Cabanatuan City (1912-1965) by virtue of Act 1748 and finally to Palayan City by virtue of RA 4475. Nueva Ecija presently comprises 27 municipalities and five component cities with a total land area of 5,751.33 square kilometers.

Passing through the twin Nuevas in my black Kawasaki Fury 125R reminds me of the rich history of Vizcaya and Ecija both in Spain and in the Philippines. Our colonizers not only christened the localities they conquered to immortalize the place of their birth but because they realized the similarity of the area in terrain and climate with that of the Iberian peninsula.