Camarines Norte

Spanish conquistador Juan de Salcedo, dispatched by 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.

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.

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).

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.

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.[3] 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[4][3] ending only when Marcos was deposed by the February 1986 People Power revolution.[4][5][6]

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.[7] 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.[8]

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.[9]

Camarines Norte is subdivided into two legislative districts comprising a total of 12 municipalities.

Political map of Camarines Norte

 †  Provincial capital

The majority of the population are followers of Roman Catholic church with 93% of the population adherence, while the rest of the people's faith is divided by several Christian groups such as Iglesia Filipina Independiente or Aglipayan Church, Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), Baptists, Methodists, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventist, other Christians and also Muslims which demographic is mostly traced to Mindanao.

Prior to colonization, the region had a complex religious system which involved various deities. Among these deities include: Gugurang, the supreme god who dwells inside of Mount Mayon where he guards and protects the sacred fire in which Aswang, his brother was trying to steal. Whenever people disobey his orders, wishes and commit numerous sins, he would cause Mount Mayon to burst lava as a sign of warning for people to mend their crooked ways. Ancient Bikolanos had a rite performed for him called Atang.;[14][15] Asuang, the evil god who always tries to steal the sacred fire of Mount Mayon from his brother, Gugurang. Addressed sometimes as Aswang, he dwells mainly inside Mount Malinao. As an evil god, he would cause the people to suffer misfortunes and commit sins.[14][15] Enemy of Gugurang and a friend of Bulan the god of the moon; Haliya, the masked goddess of the moonlight and the arch-enemy of Bakunawa and protector of Bulan. Her cult is composed primarily of women. There is also a ritual dance named after her as it is performed to be a counter-measure against Bakunawa.;[16] Bulan, the god of the pale moon, he is depicted as a pubescent boy with uncommon comeliness that made savage beast and the vicious mermaids (Magindara) tame. He has deep affection towards Magindang, but plays with him by running away so that Magindang would never catch him. The reason for this is because he is shy to the man that he loves. If Magindang manages to catch Bulan, Haliya always comes to free him from Magindang's grip; Magindang, the god of the sea and all its creatures. He has deep affection to the lunar god Bulan and pursues him despite never catching him. Due to this, the Bicolanos reasoned that it is to why the waves rise to reach the Moon when seen from the distant horizon. Whenever he does catch up to Bulan, Haliya comes to rescue Bulan and free him immediately; Okot, god of forest and hunting; and Bakunawa, a gigantic sea serpent deity who is often considered as the cause of eclipses, the devourer of the Sun and the Moon, and an adversary of Haliya as Bakunawa's main aim is to swallow Bulan, who Haliya swore to protect for all of eternity.[17]

The Central Bikol dialect has historically been the main language spoken in the province. Tagalog is slowly taking over as the most common language and English is also widely understood and used in businesses and education. The Manide language is also spoken in minority by the Manide indigenous peoples, concentrated mainly on the towns of Jose Panganiban, Labo, and Paracale.

Camarines Norte is unique among the Tagalog provinces for its proximity to the Bikol region. The proximity of Tagalog speakers in Camarines Norte, especially in crossroads, has created a unique variety of Tagalog which is enriched by Bikol in different aspects including phonology, morphology, grammar and even discourse. Based on the findings of the dialectology done by Andrew Rey Sosa Pena, three dialect areas have been suggested.[18] The first ones would be Sta. Elena, Capalonga, Jose Panganiban, and Paracale, which are relatively uninfluenced by Bikol. The second dialect area is composed of Labo and Vinzons, which have developed a unique dialect in which the people of Camarines Norte talk about "Salitang Vinzons" and "Salitang Labo". The third dialect area is composed of Daet, San Vicente, Talisay, Mercedes, Basud, and San Lorenzo Ruiz, which have a high concentration of Bikol speakers and where Tagalog is highly influenced by Bikol vocabulary, phonology, and grammar. [18]

The province has an international seaport located at Barangay Osmeña, Jose Panganiban town servicing one of its major industries, Pan Century Surfactants. The seaport is approximately 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from the town proper and an hour ride to the capital town of Daet.

The province has 13 fishing ports in the coastal municipalities and one feeder airport in Bagasbas, Daet.