During Spanish rule, the territorial jurisdiction of the province of Nueva Ecija extended to as far south at
Cabiao and the towns of San Quintin, Rosales,
Balungao and (H)umingan in the north, which later on formed part of the province of Pangasinan. Lupao was a component barrio of Umingan. It remained so until 1871 when some residents led by a Señor Calderon petitioned the Governor General for the segregation of Lupao as a barrio of Umingan and the eventual creation of Lupao as “Tenencia Absoluta” to be headed by a Teniente Absoluto. On September 28, 1871, the Govierno Superior Civil de Filipinas decreed the creation of Lupao as Tenencia Absoluta. It signified the formal segregation as barrio and the eventual creation as a
pueblo of the province of Nueva Ecija. Salvacion was the first barrio of Lupao. Its initial territory also included Barrio Cabaritan, now known as
San Jose City. Barangay San Roque was known as Odiao and San Isidro as Macaniaoed. Among the first leaders of the municipality during the final years of Spanish Rule were Benito Romualdo as “Capitan Municipal” and Celestino Jabalde as ‘Juez de Paz”. In 1913, Lupao became a municipality through the concerted efforts of Gen.
Manuel Tinio and Assemblyman
Isauro Gabaldon of the
Philippine Assembly. Its founding fathers were Victoriano Joanino, Calixto Laureta, Felix Carpio, Juan Briones, Anacleto Ganareal, Luis Mamaligsa, Gregorio Babagay, Sicto Baclig, Remigio Blas Caoile and Candido Mata. During the Second World War, Japanese Imperial forces occupied the town in 1942. In 1945, the combined U.S. and Philippine Commonwealth military ground troops liberated Lupao and defeated the Japanese Imperial forces during the Battle of Lupao. The main headquarters of the Philippine Commonwealth Army and United States Army was established in Lupao.
Lupao Massacre During a military operation against the
New People's Army on February 10, 1987, seventeen civilians, including an elderly couple and six children, were murdered by the Alpha Company, 14th Infantry (Avengers) Battalion, of the
Philippine Army. The murders were carried out by the 14th Infantry after they failed to capture the NPA who had killed platoon leader Second Lieutenant Edgar Dizon, in an ambush the night before. In an act of frustration and anger, the 14th Infantry gathered up unarmed civilians hiding in the rice paddies and murdered them with gunfire and bayonets, leaving 17 dead and 8 wounded, claiming that the dead were rebels. All 24 soldiers of the 14th Infantry Battalion were eventually tried before court-martial but were all acquitted, despite first-hand testimonies of the survivors. This became known as the "Lupao Massacre." On September 25, 2005, three NPA members were killed by soldiers of the 71st Infantry Battalion during a hot pursuit operation against the rebels in Barangay Cordero, Lupao. ==Geography==