Chapter 1: Introduction

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Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1. BRIEF HISTORY OF ANGELES CITY

Early Beginning

From an obscure/humble lowly barrio of the now City of San Fernando, Angeles City transcended

history and overcame war and calamities – the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo being one of the most

disastrous, to become one of the premier cities of the country today.

Angeles City started in the clearing of a forested area in the northern portion of San Fernando,

carried out by a group led by Don Angel Pantaleon de Miranda (then San Fernando’s Capitan, the

equivalent of a Municipal Mayor) and his wife, Dona Rosalia de Jesus in 1796. The clearing was

made into a new settlement, Culiat, after the woody vine abundant in the area at that time until it

became a barrio (now a barangay) of San Fernando up to December 8, 1829.

The political separation of Culiat was made possible by the payment of Don Angel of the full amount

required by law for it to stand alone as a political unit. Payment was made because the law then

required that there should be at least 500 taxpayers in the barrio before it could be made into a

separate municipality, Culiat, however, at that time, had only 160 taxpayers. Prior to the granting of

Culiat’s political division, petitions were already made in 1812, 1822 and 1828 but were all denied

because the separation would cut the tax collection of San Fernando. A fourth petition was made in

1829 by Don Angel with his son-in-law, Dr. Mariano Henson, and the latter’s father, Don Severino

Henson. It was during this time and with payment made that the political separation of Culiat, was

finally granted.

Culiat was renamed “El Pueblo de los Angeles” (The Town of Angels) in honor of its patron saints,

“Los Santos Angeles Custodios” (The Holy Guardian Angels) and its founder, Don Angel. Angeles had

661 residents, 151 houses and an area of 38.65 sq. km. when it received its first municipal charter.

Its original barrios were Sto. Rosario (poblacion), Cutcut, Pampang, Pulung Anunas, San Nicolas, San

Jose and Amsic.

The City as Seat of Philippine Government

In 1899, Angeles grew to prominence as it was made the seat of Philippine Government by General

Emilio Aguinaldo. It was here that the first anniversary celebration of Philippine Independence was

held after its proclamation a year earlier in Kawit, Cavite. The celebration was highlighted by a

parade led by the youngest ever Filipino generals, Gregorio del Pilar and Manuel Tinio, and viewed

by General Aguinaldo from the Pamintuan’s residence, which is still in existence and restored. It

became the Presidential Palace from May to July 1899. Angeles’ thrust to political eminence,

however, would be short-lived. In the same year and just two months after serving as the

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government’s center, General Emilio Aguinaldo had to move and transfer the government to Tarlac

following the occupation of American forces.

U.S. Military Encampment In January 1900, General Frederick D. Grant organized the first U.S. Civil Government in Angeles by

appointing an alcalde or municipal mayor. This started the American presence in Angeles highlighted

by the encampment of the U.S. military forces in the area from 1902 until 1991. Barrio Talimundoc

(now Lourdes Sur) became the site of the first U.S. Army camp. This lasted about a year until U.S.

President Theodore Roosevelt signed an executive order designating 7,700 acres (31 sq. kms.) of

land in Barrio Sapangbato as Fort Stotsenberg. The land area would later expand to 156,204 acres

(632.14 sq. km.) in 1908 to become Clark Air Base. In 1919, military planes (DH4s) first flew over

Angeles from the air field in Clark.

Second World War

As Angeles is host to the base, the town witnessed to what historians consider as one of the most

destructive air raids of World War II. In December 8, 1941, Japanese war planes bombed Clark Field

and Angeles destroying almost all American war planes, crippling America’s air power in the Far

East. With American military power almost wiped out, Japanese troops entered Angeles in the early

morning of New Year’s Day of 1942, occupied the town for three years up to January of 1945 and

took control of Fort Stotsenberg. In April 10, 1942, Filipino and American soldiers, in the aftermath

of the Fall of Bataan, passed through Angeles en route to the concentration camp in O’Donell,

Capas, Tarlac to what is now known as the infamous “Death March.”

Post-War Period

After World War II and following the declaration of Philippine Independence on July 4, 1946 the

Philippine-American Military Bases Agreement was signed in March 14, 1947, allowing the U.S. to

maintain territorial integrity and sovereignty over Clark Air Base and Subic Naval Base for the next

44 years. Clark, now occupying 63,103 hectares, served as the tactical operational U.S. Air Force

installation in the entire Southeast Asian region with a capacity to accommodate all the U.S. military

transport planes serving the entire Western Pacific. Clark’s renaissance had Angeles serving as home

to a now bigger colony of expatriates as many Americans chose to settle in the town particularly in

the Balibago district which is most adjacent to Clark.

Angeles grew to new heights as a town after the war. Then, on January 1, 1964, it was inaugurated

as a chartered city under Republic Act 3700 through the efforts of then Mayor Rafael del Rosario.

He was assisted in the preparation of the City Charter by Attorney Enrique Tayag, a prominent

resident of the town, while Congresswoman Juanita L. Nepomuceno of the First District of

Pampanga sponsored the bill in Congress, which was approved by then President Diosdado

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Macapagal, a native of the province of Pampanga. With Angeles becoming a city, Mayor Rafael del

Rosario became the last municipal mayor of Angeles at the same time its first city mayor.

Surviving Not Just War But Also Calamities

Over the years through its history, Angeles transcended not only war but natural calamities of

various kinds. On October 7, 1871, a strong typhoon destroyed hundreds of houses and thousands

of colorful lanterns and paper castles that were made for the feast of “La Naval” and “Fiesta ng

Apo.” In 1918, the town went through an influenza epidemic that took a heavy toll on lives of its

residents. It was said that the epidemic claimed lives by the minute that the dead were just dumped

on carts and buried en masse. The town also went through locust infestation in 1939 with the whole

of Pampanga, and series of conflagration that have gutted the public market with that on January

19, 1982, considered the biggest and most costly as it caused the loss of more than P20 million

worth of property and the latest of which was on 2001.

In 1972, the whole province of Pampanga was submerged in a deluge almost biblical in magnitude

after 40 days of torrential rains. Angeles City lying on a relatively high altitude was spared from this

but still suffered destruction to properties when rampaging flood water scoured the banks of the

Abacan River and the Sapang Balen Creek, bringing down with it both private and public

infrastructures, like houses and school buildings, bridges, etc. In 1991, the resilience of the

Angeleños was put to a test again during the eruption of Mount Pinatubo. The beautiful mushroom-

like ash cloud it spewed on June 12, 1991 didn’t portend the dire things yet to come. On June 15,

the worst ever eruption in the living memory of the Angeleños took place. This marked a chapter in

the city’s history that will forever be etched in the memory of every Angeleño living at that time.

The Eruption of Mt. Pinatubo and the Removal of Clark Air Base

Mt. Pinatubo’s massive explosion and subsequent heavy ashfalls and mudflows destroyed

properties, claimed lives and displaced thousands of families. It also took a heavy toll on Clark Air

Base as it diminished its utility, which consequently led to the U.S. Air Force abandoning the base

and prematurely ending U.S. military presence in the city even before the abrogation of the

Philippine-American Military Bases Agreement.

As it was natural for any area to lose vibrancy after a calamity, Angeles suffered a downturn in its

economy for a while. Yet, this would not be for long because soon as the city had done its rebuilding

and the revival of Clark, this time as an economic zone, by the national government, the city’s luster

sprung back to life. But, while it has already passed through turbulence, the city continues to face

the challenges of development and time. How it chooses to address these will shape what will

become of the city and its people and how it would fare in today’s globalization.

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1.2. Past to Present Chief Executives of Angeles City

Spanish Regime

Year Name

1832 Ciriano de Miranda

1833 Leandro Pamintuan

1834 Nicolas de Guzman

1835 Felipe Mendoza

1836 Nicolas Navarro

1837 Mariano Tolentino

1838 Victoriano Morales

1839 Pantaleon Paras

1840 Eugolio Tadeo

1841 Leandro Pamintuan

1842 Tiburcio Paras

1843 Nicolas de Guzman

1844 Vicente Feliciano

1845 Pedro Arceo

1846 Cristobal Lacson

1847 Jose Ma. Henson

1848 Esteban Datu

1849 Nicolas Navarro

1850 Muricio de Jesus

1851 Eulogio Tadeo

1852 Casimiro Sanchez

1853 Pio Nepomuceno

1854 Pablo del Rosario

1855 Victor Lacson

1856 Jose Amorante Narciso

1857 Valentin Tuason

1858 Pedro Tanhueco

1859 Carlos Cayanan

1860 Cesareo Dizon

1861 Perfecto Paras

1862 Tomas Dizon

1863 Pedro Sanchez

1864 Victor Lacson

1865 Agustin Dizon

1866 Jose Amorante Narciso

1867 Macario Dizon

1868 Mariano Suarez

1869 Filomeno Pamintuan

1870-1871 Mariano Henson

1872-1873 Mariano Henson

1874-1875 Francisco Paras

1876-1877 Mariano Pamintuan

1878-1879 Eduardo Tison

1880-1881 Juan Nepomuceno

1882 Simplicio Mendiola

1883 Juan de Guzman

1884-1885 Vicente Paras

1886-1887 Maximo Tablante

1888-1889 Jose Henson

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American Civil Government

Second World War

Post War Period

*First City Mayor

1890-1891 Aniceto Gueco

1892-1893 Laurencio Suarez

1894 Catalino delos Santos

1895 Mariano Paras

1896-1897 Clemento Gueco

1897-1898 Juan Nepomuceno

Year Name

1899 Laureano Lacson

1900 Galicano Valdez

1900 Pablo Torres

1901 Florentino Pamintuan

1902-1903 Esteban Gomez

1904 Marcelo Mesina

1905 Lauro Dizon

1906-1907 Leandro Panlilio

1908-1909 Jose P. Henson

1910-1912 Galicano Valdez

1913-1916 Demetrio Gomez

1916-1919 Emiliano Valdez

1920-1922 Clemente Dayrit

1932-1936 Francisco Lazatin

1937-1940 Clemente Dayrit

Year Name

1941 Agapito Del Rosario

1942-1945 Clemente Dayrit

Year Name

February 06, 1944 Miguel Malig

September 19, 1944 Ponciano Dayrit

May 04, 1945 Ricardo Canlas

1946-1947 Rafael S. Lazatin

Jan. 06 - Feb. 03, 1947 Vicente Henson

1947-1948 Vicente Sicangco

1948-1951 Jose Pangilinan

Nov. 05, 1951 Mariano Henson

1952-1959 Manuel Abad Santos

1960-1967 *Rafael del Rosario

1968-1971 Eugenio Suarez

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Martial Law

After EDSA People Power Revolution

Year Name

1972-1979 Rafael S. Lazatin

1980-1987 Francisco G. Nepomuceno

Year Name

1988-1992 Antonio Abad Santos

1992-1998 Edgardo D. Pamintuan

1998-2007 Carmelo F. Lazatin

2007-2010 Francis L. Nepomuceno

2010-Present Edgardo D. Pamintuan