All for one – 2

History Notes WITH MODESTO SAONOY

I have left out other moments in Negros history where the island and its people were united in a common endeavor. The first is that the island was under one diocese when it was created in 1932, until the Diocese of Dumaguete was created in 1955. The shining star of the Diocese of Bacolod was from Oriental Negros, Bishop Antonio Y. Fortich, and the only native of this island to head its diocese.

The second was that, in 1935, we had one army, the 71st Division with two regiments in Oriental Negros and three in Occidental Negros. Army reservists from the two provinces were inducted in the 71st Infantry Regiment that was sent to augment the forces in Luzon and finally fought in Bataan and suffered in the Death March.

When the communist rebellion was at its peak, the Armed Forces of the Philippines created the Negros Island Command, or NICOM, for a unified approach against the insurgency. The government was then having difficulty with separate commands as rebels moved in and out of each province. After NICOM broke the backbone of the insurgency, the Army reduced the number of its troops in the island to two brigades, but they continue to operate in close coordination under one command.

Ironically, the present New People’s Army in Negros has also a unified island command. This suggests that taking Negros as a unified whole rather than its provinces treated as separate entities has its merits.

Even the claim that it would cost over P50 billion to create the Negros Island Region pales in comparison to the benefits. In fact, by separating the two provinces from their respective regions means Iloilo and Cebu will have also savings because they will no longer include Negros in their budgets. What they save will just be transferred to us. So there is practically little lost.

Now, let’s get back to the reasons why, in 1890, the island was divided into two provinces.

As early as 1857, just two years after Negros was elevated into the status of a politico-military province, the Royal Audiencia conducted an inspection of the island from August 15 to September 25, 1857. The head of the team, Jose Manuel Aguirre, recommended that the island be divided into two provinces due to difficulty in administration to so large an island.

He suggested that a military command be established in the north. The recommendation was sent to Madrid on September 25, 1858, but this proposal came at the time when there was a power struggle between the Ministry of State and Overseas Territories and the Ministry of War. Despite the opposition of the Ministry of Overseas Territories, the Ministry of War went ahead and got a Royal Decree on February 12, 1859, establishing a separate military command with its seat in Escalante.

The military command became a new politico-military district in Escalante but it was still under the jurisdiction of Bacolod. The original towns comprising this province were those from Escalante to Ayungon, but in 1863, Calatrava and Sagay were included while other southern portions were absorbed by Jimalalaud.

The new Intendant Governor of the Visayas, Remigio Molto, however, considered the set-up as useless and proposed on August 13, 1864 that the Escalante district be abolished and instead a new politico-military district be created with Dumaguete as the capital. It was to comprise the areas in the east coast, from Calatrava to Guilhungan in Sipalay. Siquijor Island, which was under Cebu, was detached and annexed to the new district. The western side was to be reconstituted with Pulupandan as the new capital as it was more accessible to Iloilo. However, Molto failed to convince Madrid.

On September 2, 1877, the Recollect parish priests in the east coast sent a letter to the Governor General supporting Molto. However, they went further. They petitioned that the new government should be not just a district but a province for the oriental side. Their reasons: difficulty of travel through the malaria-infested mountains, the personnel in the occidental side, despite their competence and zeal, could not visit them often and crimes in the area could be minimized if culprits were tried and punished immediately, instead of being sent to Bacolod. The suspects had to wait for months before the guardia civil could escort them to Bacolod. Moreover, during the transfer, many suspects escaped into the mountains and joined the renegades.

The priests also claimed that an estimated 40,000 people could not be taxed because these migrants said they were from Iloilo. Due to the distance to Bacolod, it was extremely difficult to immediately verify their residence. The migrants had settled in the area from San Carlos to Tanjay. The Recollects also supported the division, with Dumaguete as the capital, and Siquijor, which was being administered by the Recollects, be annexed to Negros.

Madrid did not act on the proposal until 25 years later. In June 1888, a new Governor General, Valeriano Weyler, arrived and forthwith endorsed the plan to Madrid after coming to Negros to validate the claimed reasons for division. He saw that progressed had been made and he acted on his own authority.

On January 4, 1889, Weyler issued a decree abolishing the Escalante district and created a military garrison in Tanjay. All towns from south of Tanjay were placed under this garrison but still linked to Bacolod.

On October 25 of that year, Madrid issued a Royal Decree which took one step further. It created two autonomous provinces and their budgets to be included starting January of the following year. Dumaguete was declared its capital. On December 21, Weyler set the boundaries of the two provinces, which was the imaginary line from the house of a certain Alvarez on the road that joined Bais and Kabankalan in the Tipasi Pass in the barrio of Bagtic.

The official date of the creation of the two provinces, Occidental and Oriental, was set on January 1, 1890. Eight years later, the two provinces decided to merge their governance as one Cantonal Republic.

We will resume the final part on November 25.*

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