Early history Pangasinan, like the rest of the Philippines, was settled by
Austronesian peoples by sea during the
Austronesian expansion. They established settlements along the
Lingayen Gulf and was part of the
ancient Austronesian trade routes to
India,
China, and
Japan, since at least the 8th century. The primary industry along the coastal areas was salt-making, which is the origin of the name "Pangasinan" ("place of salt-making"). The interior lands were called "
Caboloan" ("place of bolo bamboos"), referring to the abundance of bolo bamboo (
Gigantochloa levis). Pangasinan is identified with "
Feng-jia-shi-lan" which appears in
Ming Dynasty Chinese records. They are believed to have sent emissaries to China with symbolic "tributes" from 1403 to 1405, which was
required to establish trade relations. In the 16th century, Pangasinan was called the "Port of Japan" by the Spanish. The locals wore native apparel typical of other maritime Southeast Asian ethnic groups in addition to Japanese and Chinese silks. Even common people were clad in Chinese and Japanese cotton garments. They blackened their teeth and were disgusted by the white teeth of foreigners which were likened to that of animals. They used porcelain jars typical of Japanese and Chinese households. Japanese-style gunpowder weapons were encountered in naval battles in the area. In exchange for these goods, traders from all over Asia would come to trade primarily for gold and slaves, but also deerskins,
civet and other local products. Other than a notably more extensive trade network with Japan and China they were culturally similar to other Luzon groups to the south. Pangasinans were also described as a warlike people who were known for their resistance to Spanish conquest. Bishop Domingo Salazar described Pangasinans as the fiercest and cruelest in the land. They were untouched by Christianity but like Christians they used vintage wine in small quantities for sacramental practices. The church bragged that they, not the Spanish military, won the northern part of the Philippines for Spain. The church was strict with adulterers; the punishment was death for both parties. Pangasinans were known to take defeated
Sambal, (
Aeta) and
Negrito warriors to sell as slaves to Chinese traders.
Spanish colonial era On April 27, 1565, the Spanish
conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi arrived in the Philippine islands with about 500 soldiers and established a Spanish settlement. On May 24, 1570, the Spanish forces defeated
Rajah Sulayman and other rulers of Manila and later declared
Manila the capital of the
Spanish East Indies. After securing Manila, the Spanish forces conquered the rest of the island of Luzon, including Pangasinan.
Provincia de Pangasinán In 1571, the Spanish conquest of Pangasinan began with an expedition by the Spanish
conquistador Martín de Goiti, who came from the Spanish settlement in Manila through
Pampanga. About a year later another Spanish conquistador,
Juan de Salcedo, sailed to
Lingayen Gulf and landed at the mouth of the
Agno River.
Limahong, a Chinese pirate, fled to Pangasinan after his fleet was driven away from Manila in 1574. Limahong failed to establish a colony in Pangasinan, as an army led by de Salcedo chased him out of Pangasinan after a seven-month siege. What is known today as the Province of Pangasinan dates back to an administrative and judicial district as early as 1580. Its capital was Lingayen, but its territorial boundaries were first delineated in 1611. Lingayen has remained the capital of the province except for a brief period during the revolutionary era when
San Carlos City served as temporary administrative headquarters and during the slightly longer Japanese occupation, when
Dagupan was the capital. The province of Pangasinan was formerly classified as an
alcaldía mayor de término or first-class civil province during the Spanish regime. Its territorial jurisdiction once included most of the province of
Zambales and portions of what are now the Provinces of
Tarlac and La Union.
Rebellion against the Spanish rule Malong liberation Andres Malong, a native chief of the town of Binalatongan (now named San Carlos City), liberated the province from Spanish rule in December 1660. The people of Pangasinan proclaimed Andres Malong
Ari na Pangasinan ("King of Pangasinan"). Pangasinan armies attempted to liberate the neighboring provinces of Pampanga and Ilocos, but were repelled by a Spanish-led coalition of loyalist tribal warriors and mercenaries. In February 1661, the newly independent Kingdom of Pangasinan fell to the
Captaincy General of the Philippines.
Palaris Liberation On November 3, 1762, the people of Pangasinan proclaimed independence from Spain after a rebellion led by
Juan de la Cruz Palaris. The Pangasinan Revolt was sparked by news that Manila had fallen to the British on October 6, 1762. The
Traité de Paris ended the
Seven Years' War among Britain, France, and Spain on March 1, 1763. On January 16, 1765, Juan de la Cruz Palaris was captured and Pangasinan was again subjugated by the Spanish.
Philippine Revolution The
Katipunan, a nationalist secret society, was founded on July 7, 1892, with the aim of uniting the peoples of the Philippines in the fight for independence and religious freedom. The
Philippine Revolution began on August 23, 1896, and was led by the
Supremo,
Andrés Bonifacio. On November 18, 1897, a Katipunan council was formed in Western Pangasinan with Presidente Generalisimo Roman Manalang and General Mauro Ortiz. General
Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed Philippine independence on June 12, 1898.
Dagupan, the major commercial center of Pangasinan, was surrounded by Katipunan forces on July 18, 1898. The Battle of Dagupan lasted from July 18 to 23 of that year with the surrender of 1,500 Spanish soldiers under Commander Federico J. Ceballos and Governor Joaquin de Orengochea. It was fought by local Katipuneros under the command of General
Francisco Makabulos and the last remnants of the once mighty Spanish Army under General Ceballos. Three local heroes fought in the five-day battle, Don Daniel Maramba of Santa Barbara, Don Vicente Prado of San Jacinto and Don Juan Quezada of Dagupan. Their armies amassed in Dagupan making a last stand at the brick-walled Catholic Church. ) Maramba led the liberation of the town of Santa Barbara on March 7, 1898, following a signal for simultaneous attack from Makabulos. Hearing that Santa Barbara fell to rebel forces, the Spanish in Dagupan attempted to retake the town but were repelled by Maramba's forces. After the setback, the Spanish decided to concentrate their forces in Lingayen in order to protect the provincial capital. This allowed Maramba to expand his operations to include Malasiqui, Urdaneta and Mapandan which he defeated in succession. He then defeated the town of Mangaldan before proceeding to the last Spanish garrison in Dagupan. On March 7, 1898, rebels under the command of Prado and Quesada attacked convents in the province of Zambales which now constitute western Pangasinan. Attacked and brought under Filipino control were Alaminos, Agno, Anda, Alos, Bani, Balincaguin, Bolinao, Dasol, Eguia and Potot. The revolt then spread to Labrador, Sual, Salasa and many other towns in the west. The towns of Sual, Labrador, Lingayen, Salasa and Bayambang were occupied first by the forces of Prado and Quesada before they attacked Dagupan. On April 17, 1898, General Makabulos appointed Prado as Politico-Military Governor of Pangasinan, with Quesada as his second-in-command. In May 1898, General Emilio Aguinaldo returned from his exile in Hong Kong following the signing of the Pact of Biac-na-Bato in December 1897. Aguinaldo's return renewed the flames of the revolution. On June 3, 1898, General Makabulos entered Tarlac. So successful were the
Katipunan in their many pitched battles against Spanish forces that on June 30, 1898, Spanish authorities decided to evacuate all forces to Dagupan for a last stand against the rebels. All civilian and military personnel, including volunteers from towns not yet in rebel hands, were ordered to go to Dagupan. Those who heeded this order were the volunteer forces of Mangaldan, San Jacinto, Pozorrubio, Manaoag, and Villasis. Among the items brought to Dagupan was the image of the Most Holy Rosary of the Virgin of Manaoag, the patroness of Pangasinan. The siege began when the forces of Maramba and Prado converged in Dagupan on July 18, 1898. The arrival of General Makabulos strengthened the rebel forces until the Spanish, holed up inside the Catholic Church, surrendered five days later. The poorly armed Filipino rebels were no match for the Spanish and loyal Filipino soldiers holed inside the Church. The tempo of battle changed when the attackers under the command of Don Vicente Prado devised a crude means of protection to shield them from Spanish fire while advancing. They used trunks of bananas bundled up in sawali which enabled them to move towards the Church.
American Colonial Era In 1901, towns of Nueva Ecija,
Balungao,
Rosales,
San Quintin and
Umingan were annexed to the province of Pangasinan, because they were further away from the capital and already considered pacified by US forces. On November 30, 1903, several municipalities from northern Zambales including Agno, Alaminos, Anda, Bani, Bolinao, Burgos, Dasol, Infanta and Mabini were ceded to Pangasinan by the American colonial government for historical basis. Pangasinan and other parts of the
Spanish East Indies were ceded to the Americans after the
Treaty of Paris, which ended the
Spanish–American War. During the
Philippine–American War Lieutenant Col.
José Torres Bugallón of Salasa fought together with Gen. Antonio Luna to defend the
First Philippine Republic against American colonization in Northern Luzon. Bugallon was killed in battle on February 5, 1899. The First Philippine Republic was abolished in 1901. In 1907 the Philippine Assembly was established and for the first time five residents of Pangasinan were elected as its district representatives. In 1921, Mauro Navarro, representing Pangasinan in the
Philippine Assembly, sponsored a law to rename the town of Salasa to Bugallon in honor of General Bugallon.
Manuel L. Quezon was inaugurated as the first president of the
Commonwealth of the Philippines with collaboration from the
United States of America on November 15, 1935. The 21st Infantry Division were stationed in Pangasinan during the pre-World War II era. Anti-Japanese Imperial military operations included the fall of Bataan and Corregidor along with aiding the USAFFE ground force from January to May 1942 and the Japanese Insurgencies and Allied Liberation in Pangasinan from 1942 to 1945.
Postwar era After the declaration of Independence on July 4, 1946, Eugenio Perez, a
Liberal Party congressman representing the
fourth district of Pangasinan, was elected Speaker of the lower
Legislative House. He led the House until 1953 when the
Nacionalista Party became the dominant party.
During the Marcos dictatorship Pangasinan, which is historically and geographically part of the
Central Luzon Region, was made politically part of the
Ilocos Region (Region I) by the gerrymandering of
Ferdinand Marcos, even though Pangasinan has a distinct language and culture, Pangasinan. The political classification of Pangasinan as part of the Ilocos Region generated confusion among some Filipinos. The residents of Pangasinan are Ilocanos, even though Ilocanos constitute a minority in the province. Its economy is larger than the Ilocano provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur and La Union and its population is more than 50 percent of the population of Region 1. The Philippine economy took a turn for the worse in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the
1969 Philippine balance of payments crisis being one of the early landmark events. Economic analysts generally attribute this to the ramp-up on loan-funded government spending to promote
Ferdinand Marcos’ 1969 reelection campaign. Many students from Pangasinan were part of the protests that began in 1970 and continued through 1971 and early 1972, calling for government and economic reforms. - an act which allowed him to remain in power for fourteen more years, during which Pangasinan went through many social and economic ups and downs. The Pangasinan
Philippine Constabulary (PC) Provincial Camp in
Lingayen (renamed Camp Antonio Sison in 2017) was so full of
political prisoners that the chapel, which measured a mere 4x9 meters, was divided in two by a wall of bars, with one part treated as a jail. despite widely acknoweledged election fraud meant to assure a victory for
Ferdinand Marcos. Weeks later, Vice Chief of Staff General
Fidel V. Ramos, a Pangasinense who was head of the Philippine Integrated National Police, became an instrumental figure in the
EDSA people power revolution which removed Ferdinand Marcos and compelled him to flee the country. After the downfall of Marcos all local government unit executives were ordered by
President Corazon Aquino to vacate their posts. Some local executives were ordered to return to their seats, as in the case of Mayor Ludovico Espinosa of
Dasol, who claimed to have joined UNIDO during the height of the
EDSA Revolution. Fidel Ramos was appointed as AFP Chief of Staff and later as Defense Secretary replacing
Juan Ponce Enrile.
Oscar Orbos, a congressman from Bani, was appointed by Aquino to head the
Department of Transportation and Communications and later to Executive Secretary. On May 11, 1992, Fidel V. Ramos
ran for
President. He became the first Pangasinense President of the Philippines. Under his leadership, the Philippines recovered from the oil and power crisis of 1991. His influence sparked the economic growth of Pangasinan when it hosted the 1995
Palarong Pambansa (Philippine National Games).
Jose de Venecia, who represented the same district as Eugenio Perez (his former father-in-law), was the second Pangasinense to become Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1992. He was reelected again in 1995. De Venecia was selected by the Ramos' administration party Lakas NUCD to be its presidential candidate in 1998. De Venecia
ran but lost to
Vice President Joseph Estrada. Oscar Orbos
ran for vice president but lost to
Senator Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, whose mother, former
First Lady Evangelina Macaraeg-Macapagal, hails from
Binalonan. Arroyo ascended to the presidency after the second
EDSA Revolution when President
Joseph Estrada was overthrown.
Contemporary In May 2004, actor-turned-politician
Fernando Poe, Jr. of San Carlos ran for president against incumbent
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The Pangasinan vote was split by the two presidential candidates, both with Pangasinan roots. Arroyo was elected President, but her victory was marred by charges of electoral fraud and vote-buying. ==Geography==