Spanish colonial era Spanish
conquistador Juan de Salcedo, dispatched by
Miguel López de Legazpi to explore the island in 1571, influenced the existence of Camarines Norte. After subduing
Taytay and
Cainta, he marched further across
Laguna and
Tayabas. He visited the rich gold-laden town of
Mambulao and
Paracale, obsessed by them about which he heard from natives there of existing gold mines. In 1573,
Bicol province was founded. From Bicol, the province of
Camarines was created in 1636, which was divided in 1829, creating Camarines Norte and
Camarines Sur. When Camarines Norte was separated from Ambos Camarines in 1829, it was assigned the towns of Daet, as capital, Talisay, Indan (now
Vinzons),
Labo,
Paracale, Mambulao (now
Jose Panganiban),
Capalonga,
Ragay,
Lupi and
Sipocot. Seventeen years later, it lost Sipocot, Lupi and Ragay to Camarines Sur in exchange for the town of
Siruma. Camarines Norte and
Camarines Sur provinces were briefly merged from 1854 to 1857 into
Ambos Camarines (
ambos is Spanish for "both"). In 1858, these provinces were separated and were merged into Ambos Camarines once again in 1893. When
Francisco de Sande took over from Legazpi as
governor general, Spanish influence started to be felt in the region. He established a permanent Spanish garrison in
Naga to control the region and defend it from Chinese and Muslim pirates. Capt. Pedro de Chavez was assigned to head this force. Native settlements, which include Mambulao and Paracale, were already thriving when the Spaniards arrived. Indan and Daet were the other settlements besides Capalonga. But Paracale remained the most sought after because of its gold mines. The towns were chiefly inhabited by
Tagalogs; the rests were of
Visayan strain. However, most of the immigrants were from
Mauban, Quezon. The Spanish missionaries established
missions to Christianize the natives. In 1818, under undivided Camarines, of which, Camarines Norte was known as
Partido de la Contra Costa contained the following number of Spanish-Filipino families in their designated residences: 54 at
Paracale, 6 at
Indan, 2 at
Talisay (Including 2 Lacandulas), and 26 at
Daet. Camarines Norte also has an additional 1,722 Spanish-Filipino Mestizo tributes or families.
Daet revolt From April 14–17, 1898, local members of the
Katipunan led by Ildefonso Moreno and other patriots staged an uprising against the Spanish authorities here who have fortified themselves in the house of one Florencio Arana, a Spanish merchant and a long time resident of Daet. Sporadic encounters started on April 14 until April 16 when the rebels occupied Daet and surrounded the Spaniards in the house of Arana. But the Katipuneros failed to repulse the reinforcements which arrived in Barra (now
Mercedes) from
Nueva Caceres on April 17. Said reinforcements broke the siege of Daet. This resulted in the death and/or execution of many patriots, including Ildefonso Moreno, Tomas Zaldua and his two sons, Jose Abaño, Domingo Lozada and Aniceto Gregorio, among others. While the Daet revolt collapsed, it signaled the start of a series of rebellion throughout the Bicol region.
American era During the American era, Ambos Camarines province was divided into Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur once again in 1917. By virtue of
Act 2809 of March 3, 1919,
Governor General F. B. Harrison separated Camarines Norte from Camarines Sur with the installation of Don Miguel R. Lukban as its first governor. "In functional sense, April 15, 1920, was the date of the organization of Camarines Norte, as directed by
Executive Order No. 22 dated March 20, 1920, in conformity with the provisions of
Act No. 2809," according to Serafin D. Quiason, former chairman of the
National Historical Institute (NHI).
Japanese occupation The first guerrilla encounter in the Philippines during the
second world war in the Pacific occurred on December 18, 1941 – 11 days after the
Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941 and 10 days after the attack on
Clark Airbase in
Pampanga on Dec. 8, 1941 - at Laniton,
Basud, Camarines Norte when the Vinzons guerrilla group with some elements of
USAFFE units engaged the vanguard of the
Japanese Imperial Army advancing towards Daet, the capital town. A shrine was put up in Laniton to mark this historic feat of arms while surviving veterans and the sons and daughters of veterans who fell commemorate this event every Dec. 18 in Basud and Daet under the auspices of the Veterans Federation of the Philippines – Camarines Norte Chapter (VFP-CN), Basud Municipal Government and the Provincial Government. The general headquarters of
Philippine Commonwealth Army started their operations on January 3, 1942. The
Philippine Constabulary in Camarines Norte was then established on October 28, 1944. When the U.S. liberation forces returned to the province in 1945, they helped the local Filipino troops and Bicolano guerrillas in the liberation from the Japanese Imperial forces.
Philippine independence Under the Marcos dictatorship On the evening of September 23, 1972, President
Ferdinand Marcos announced on television that he had placed the Philippines, including Camarines Norte, under
martial law. The Philippines remained under a formal state of Martial Law until January 17, 1981, but Marcos retained essentially all of his powers as dictator after the formal end of Martial Law. The country thus remained under one-man rule for a total of fourteen years On June 14, 1982
Marcos administration forces opened fire on protesters from different barrios, who were marching to demand an increase in
copra prices, and to denounce "fake elections" and
Cocofed. Four people died on the spot, and at least 50 were injured. Two of those who were seriously wounded died two months later. This has come to be known as the "1981 Daet massacre," and four of those killed have since been honored by having their names engraved on the Wall of Remembrance at the
Bantayog ng mga Bayani memorial.
Contemporary Extreme weather incidents in the 1990s During the 1990s, Camarines Norte was among the provinces most strongly hit by two of the twelve most severe typhoons in Philppine History -
Typhoon Angela, locally known as Rosing, in November 1995; and
Typhoon Babs, locally known "Loleng" in October 1998. ==Geography==