126. HISTORIC JONES @ 100
HISTORIC JONES @ 100
Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano
01
January 2021
My maternal
grandmother, the late Councilor Marciana Borromeo Ramos-Gozum, was born in
Jones town in southern Isabela province particularly in Barrio Addalam when her
family, who were from Bacarra in Ilocos Norte province, was on a journey in
search for greener pasture. I came to know later that there was no Jones town
yet when my lola was born in 1914 and the territory around Addalam was still a part
of the old pueblo of Echague.
Securing a copy of her birth certificate in 1992 revealed that the document
(though destroyed by the liberating American Forces in 1945) was registered
under the local government unit of Echague. After five years, Nanang’s (as we fondly
called her) family moved out again and settled in what is now Cabatuan and
after two years the Municipality of Jones, Isabela was born.
Very much interested, I started to glimpse at the past of my Nanang’s birthplace. One of the present barangays of Jones is historic Payac. Two famous incidents of yesteryears happened in this locality nestling along the great Cagayan River. During the Spanish Colonial Period in 1785, the Yogads of Llanuras del Diffun in the southern territory of the old alcaldia of Cagayan (Isabela was not yet created until 1856) revolted. The Yogad Revolt was a result of the forcible relocation of Camarag (old Echague), the tribute and the ban in cultivating tobacco. On March 30 of that year, Mengal Lagutao of Angadanan and wife Magaya together with Mengal Baladdon (Yogad priest and medicine man), the Christian Juan Gumpin, Mengal Manganusu and Mengal Baguatan (Bagguadon in other manuscripts) ignited this rebellion. Lagutao also convinced his brother Onofre Liban, gobernadorcillo of Angadanan who was sick of smallpox, to join his cause. The rebellion spread to the whole District of Paniqui with eight hundred Yogads armed with bows and arrows and campilans from Camarag, Carig and Angadanan joined Lagutao’s rebellion which started in Karulay, now a barangay of Echague town. On April 5 of the same year, native commandant Mateo Cabal led five hundred soldiers from Gamu, Furao, Calanusian, Cauayan, Carig, Bagabag, Lumabang (now Solano) and Bayombong and engaged Lagutao’s forces at Rancho Payac. Lagutao was killed together with his brother and nephew and eleven others in this encounter while Baladdon and others escaped towards the Sierra Madre. Eighty were captured and on the following day another battle took place where over a hundred rebels were killed. This incident was labelled by historians as the infamous Battle of Payac and is now immortalized at the Obelisk in front of the municipal hall of Jones.
During the early American Colonial Period in 1903, Payac again was in the limelight when revolutionary Colonel Manuel Tomines y Lintao set camp at the rancho on January 3. His men, mostly Ilocanos from Naguilian, Isabela, had several encounters in Carig (now Santiago City) and Echague, thus, delaying the pacification campaign of the Americans in Isabela. It is interesting to note that President Emilio Aguinaldo was already captured in the coastal town of Palanan also in Isabela on March 23, 1901 dissolving the first Philippine Republic and civil government was established in Isabela on August 24 of the same year; however, Tomines continued the struggle after he was commissioned as Colonel by the revolutionary ring in Manila. On January 2, 1904, Tomines and his men attacked the Naguilian Town Hall wherein the wife of the Justice of the Peace was murdered. On March 27 of the same year, Tomines was captured and on April 11, the following year, he was executed in Ilagan. Oral narrations revealed that Tomines had a family with a son in Payac. After the Tomines Revolution, peace hovered the province and the country in the next four decades.
At the turn of the century, the pioneering Ilocanos from Ilocos Norte settled in the vast virgin forest and fertile soil in what is now Jones town and were followed by the Yogads from the mothertown and the Ibanags from the north. The Ilocano migrants brought with them their religion, the Aglipayan Church. The pioneers main mode of transportation was by banca and traversed the barrios located along the banks of the great Cagayan River for only narrow roads and trails interconnect the villages. Tobacco and corn were the chief crops of the new settlers.
During the governorship (1916-1922) of Pascual G. Paguirigan, the southern portion of Echague town was endorsed for segregation from the mother-town of Echague for a more effective administration of far flung barrios across the great river. Governor-General (1913-1921) Francis Burton Harrison authorized the organization of the new Municipality of Jones effective January 1, 1921 by virtue of Executive Order No. 35 series of 1920. The creation was stipulated in the Annual Report of the Governor-General of the Philippine Islands for the year 1921.
Twenty-one barrios with Barrio Cabannuangan as the seat of government was officially detached and the house of Tirso Mateo served as the first seat of the municipal government. Antonio Vallejo was appointed the first municipal president (precursor of mayor) together with Benito Tiburcio as vice municipal president. The appointed councilors were: Modesto Payuyo, Antonio Pintang, Gregorio Santos, Dionicio Cristobal, Valentin Torio and Damaso Leaño. The other officials were: Francisco Gumpal as secretary, Pio Tomines as treasurer, Daniel Apostol as justice of the peace and Zoilo Gadingan as the chief of police.
The first proposed town site of Jones was in Barangay Daligan which is located at the other side of what is now the poblasyon. Municipal President Antonio Vallejo insisted that the town site must be at what is now the present site. He eventually donated two hectares of land for the municipal hall and public market lots and later the site of Jones Rural School and Jones North Central School.
The newly inaugurated town was christened “Jones”, in honor of U.S. Congressman William Atkinson Jones (March 21, 1849 – April 17, 1918) who authored of the Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916 otherwise known as Jones Law. Jones served as a member of the House of Representatives for 13 consecutive terms from 1891 to1918 and represented the first district of the Commonwealth of Virginia. A lawyer by profession, he was a Democrat and served as Chairman of the House Committee on Insular Affairs which had jurisdiction over areas including the Philippines and Puerto Rico. He is best remembered as the sponsor of the Jones Law which promised ultimate independence to the Philippines.
In the first quarter of 1942, newly elected Governor Gabriel R. Visaya transferred the provincial capitol of Isabela to Jones since the capital in Ilagan was captured by the Japanese Imperial Army (JIA). Jones was eventually reached by the JIA; however, strong resistance from the guerrilla continued. On September of the same year, the Japanese High Command launched radial attacks from Baguio towards the Ilocos, Central Cordillera and Cagayan Valley which led to the break-up of the guerilla units and forced the troops into hiding. During this campaign, Colonel Nakar was captured after a traitor by the name of Damaso Leaño accompanied the Japanese soldiers in a cave at Barrio Minuri in Jones town. Even as a prisoner, Nakar remained defiant. Offered his freedom in exchange for signing his surrender papers and swearing allegiance to the Japanese, he bluntly refused and was taken to Fort Santiago in Intramuros, Manila where he was executed on September 29. The JIA controlled the valley and the country and new sets of officials were appointed with the capital returned to Ilagan. In 1945, Filipino troops of the 2nd, USAFFE 11th, 12th and 13th Infantry Division and the USAFIP-NL 11th Infantry Regiment of the Philippine Commonwealth Army and the 1st Constabulary Regiment of the Philippine Constabulary liberated Cagayan Valley which includes Jones town.
On September 28, 1949, during the governorship (1946-1951) of Silvino M. Gumpal, Barrio Masaya and the adjoining barrios in the southern portion of Jones were segregated to form the new Municipality of San Agustin by virtue of Executive Order No. 269 with former Jones Mayor Agustin D. Agpaoa as the first mayor. Jones territory was reduced significantly but additional barrios were created and carved out from bigger barrios. At present, Jones has 42 barangays.
Jones most illustrious sons were: Hon. Silvino M. Gumpal who served as Provincial Governor from 1946 to 1951 and who represented Isabela in Congress from 1934 to 1935, and Hon. Prospero G. Bello who served as Assemblyman for Region II from 1978 to 1984 and the Lone District of Isabela from 1984 to 1986. The following served as town head: Don Antonio Alvarez Vallejo (1921-1922 & 1922-1925), Don Manuel San Jose (1922), Don Tomas Pascaran (1925 - 1928), Don Lucas Manrique Gallardo (1928-1934), Don Bernabe Alejandro (1934 - 1937), Hon. Agustin Daguro Agpaoa (1938 - 1940), Hon. Marcelino Gerardo Juan (1941-1942 & 1945-1946), Hon. Nicolas Garcia (1942 - 1943), Hon. Gaudencio Lintao (1943 - 1945), Hon. Alejandro L. Gumpal (1946 - 1955), Hon. Simeon Lorenzo Sebastian (1956-1963), Hon. Prospero Guzman Bello (1964-1978 & 1992-1995), Hon. Roy Borgonio Enrico (1978-1986), Hon. Francisco Calamba Gallardo (1986 - 1988), Hon. Jesus Tito Sebastian (1988-1992 & 1998-2002), Hon. Gloria Pascual Agustin-Pandongan (1995-1998), Hon. Florante Agustin Raspado (2002-2013), and Hon. Leticia Tito Sebastian (since 2013).
After a hundred years, Historic Jones had made a mark in the history of the province and the valley as a bastion of freedom since the time of the Spanish, American and Japanese occupation. This 1st Class municipality and home of the “Pinilisa Festival, is immortalized in the lyrics of the Isabela Hymn written by Avelina N. Cabasal; “From Palanan to Jones they stood. For freedom and for truth.”
(Philippine Independent Catholic Church) was the first established church. There were very few primary schools, all hinged to an intermediate school called Jones Farm School at the Poblacion. The early inhabitants concentrated on agriculture with tobacco and corn as the chief crop. Revenue principally came from the real property tax, cedula and sled tax. The town was greatly dependent on national aid.
The new town faced many problems one of which was transportation since there were no good roads and the barrios were only interconnected with narrow roads and trails only either for hiking or cart drawn by horses and carabaos. The Cagayan River was the principal means of transportation as it traverses all the barrios.
Today, Jones is a 1st Class municipality dwelled by 45,666 (2015 census) Jonesians. Home of the “Pinilisa Festival 17th day of March for the bountiful harvest of rice Pinilisa product, a unique organic plum colored rice known not only in the region but as well as on other country, due to its unique fragrant and unique flavor compared to other ordinary rice. Unlike other varieties that rely on synthetic commercial fertilizer to grow healthy, it is rare breed of rice thrives only rainwater and natural features to make it a favorite food for consumer 45,666
Almost all main roads are concreted and two big bridges now cross the great river.
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