c

Early history[edit]
There are no surviving firsthand accounts of the history of Pasig before Spanish colonizers arrived in
1573 and established the settlement which they called the Ciudad-Municipal de Pasig.[6]
However, surviving genealogical records and folk histories speak of a thriving indigenous community
(Barangay) on the banks of the Bitukang Manok river (now nearly extinct, and known as Parian
Creek), which eventually became modern-day Pasig. The greatest rulers of this pre-colonial polity
are named Rajah Lontok and Dayang Kalangitan by the legends, which also say that they are
closely related to the pre-colonial rulers of Tondo and Maynila.[7]
The creek was given the name "Bitukang Manok" (Tagalog for "Chicken Gut"), due to the serpentine
shape of its waterway. Among its early dwellers were Ethnic Malays, the Chinese from Southern
China (with their origins dating back from the Ming Dynasty), and the Indigenous Tinguian nomads
who migrated from the deep jungles of the Sierra Madre Mountain Range. The Bitukang Manok was
once a principal tributary of the Marikina River. The Spanish colonizers called the creek "Rio de
Pasig"; however, the natives still referred to it as the Bitukang Manok.
The first stretch of the Bitukang Manok became known as the "Pariancillo" (Estero de San Agustin),
where its shoreline was once settled by Chinese and Malay merchants to trade their goods with the
natives, until it developed up to the 1970s as the city's main public market. Likewise, the creek
contributed enormously to the economic growth of Pasig during the Spanish Colonial Era, through
irrigation of its wide paddy fields, and by being the progressive center of barter trade.
The Bitukang Manok, also known as the "Parian Creek", had once linked the Marikina River with the
"Antipolo River". Before the Manggahan Floodway was built in 1986, The Parian Creek was actually
connected to the Sapang Bato-Buli Creek (which serves as the boundary between Pasig's
barangays Dela Paz-Manggahan-Rosario-Sta. Lucia and the Municipality of Cainta), the Kasibulan
Creek (situated at Vista Verde, Brgy. San Isidro, Cainta), the Palanas Creek (leaving Antipolo
through Brgy. Muntindilao), the Bulaw Creek (on Brgy. Mambungan, besides the Valley Golf and
Country Club), and the Hinulugang Taktak Falls of Brgy. Dela Paz (fed by the Taktak Creek passing
close to the Antipolo Town Square), thus being the detached and long-abandoned Antipolo River.
Colonial period[edit]
Since the early 1600s up to the period of Japanese Imperialism, over a thousand Catholic devotees
coming from "Maynilad" (Manila), "Hacienda Pineda" (Pasay), "San Juan del Monte", "Hacienda de
Mandaloyon" (Mandaluyong), "Hacienda Mariquina" (Marikina), "Barrio Pateros", "Pueblo de Tagig"
(Taguig), and "San Pedro de Macati" (Makati), followed the trail of the Parian Creek to the
Pilgrimage Cathedral on the mountainous pueblo of Antipolo, Morong (the present-day Rizal
Province).
The Antipoleños and several locals from the far-reached barrios of "Poblacion de San Mateo",
"Montalban" (Rodriguez), "Monte de Tanhai" (Tanay), "Santa Rosa-Oroquieta" (Teresa), and "Punta
Ibayo" (Baras), had also navigated this freshwater creek once to go down to the vast "Kapatagan"
(Rice plains) of lowland Pasig. Even the marian processions of the Our Lady of Peace and Good
Voyage passed this route back and forth eleven times.
The creek has been also used during the British Occupation of Manila in 1762 to 1764 by the
Royal British army, under the leadership of General William Draper and Vice Admiral Sir Samuel
Cornish, 1st Baronet, to transport their red troops (and also the Sepoys they've brought from East
India) upstream to take over the nearby forest-surrounded villages of Cainta and Taytay. They even
did an ambush at the "Plaza Central" in front of the Pasig Cathedral, and turned the Roman
Catholic Parish into their military headquarters, with the church's fortress-like "Campanilla" (belfry)
serving as a watchtower against Spanish defenders sailing from the walled city of Intramuros via
the Pasig River.
The Sepoys backstabbed their abusive British lieutenants and sided with the combined forces of the
Spanish Conquistadors (assigned by the Governor-General Simon de Anda y Salazar), local rice
farmers, fisherfolk, and even Chinese traders. After the British Invasion, the Sepoys remained and
intermarried with Filipina women, and that explains the Hindufeatures of some of today's citizens of
Pasig, especially Cainta and Taytay.
In 1742, an Augustinian friar named Fray Domingo Diaz, together with a group of wealthy "Mestizos
de Sangley" (Chinese Mestizos) from Sagad, ordered a construction of a marble, roof-tiled cover
bridge across the creek in the style of an oriental pagoda. It was named "Puente del Pariancillo", and
a few years later, it changed to "Puente de Fray Felix Trillo", dedicated to the dynamic parochial
curate of the Immaculate Conception Parish. Edmund Roberts visited Pasig in 1832.[8]
On the night of May 2, 1896, more than 300 revolutionary Katipuneros, led by the Supremo
Gat. Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto and Pio Valenzuela, secretly gained access in this very creek
aboard a fleet of seventeen "Bangkas" (canoes) to the old residence of a notable Valentin Cruz at
Brgy. San Nicolas, and formed the "Asamblea Magna" (mass meeting).
Three months later on Saturday evening, 29 August, about less than 2,000 working-class
Pasigueños (along with a hundred Chinese "Trabajadores" (laborers) from the failed Sangley revolts
of 1639 and throughout the 17th century), armed with coconuts, machetes and bayoneted muskets
(some were donated by the rich Ilustrado families, while many of those guns were looted from
Spanish authorities), joined the Katipunan and made a surprise attack at the "Municipio
del Gobernadorcillo" (the current site of the Pasig City Hall) and its adjacent garrison of the
"Guardias Civil" (Civil Guard), situated near the border of barangays Maybunga and Caniogan.
That was the first and victorious rebellion ever accomplished by the Katipunan, and that particular
event was popularly known as the "Nagsabado sa Pasig" (the Saturday Uprising on Pasig). After
they had managed to successfully out-thrown the seat of Spanish government on Pasig, the
Katipuneros fled immediately and advanced towards a "Sitio" located at the neighboring "Ciudad de
San Juan" called "Pinaglabanan", and there they launched their second attempt to end the
numerous cases of corruption made by the greedy Castilian "Encomenderos" (town officials) and
"Hacienderos" (landlords), which shall be commemorated as the Battle of San Juan del Monte.
On June 11, 1901, during the Philippine-American War, the province of Rizal was created through
Act No. 137 of the Philippine Commission. Pasig was incorporated into the province of Rizal, and
was designated as the capital of the new province. In 1975, Pasig was carved out of Rizal province
and became part of Metro Manila when the Metro Manila Commission (precursor of Metro Manila
Authority and later Metropolitan Manila Development Authority) was created by Pres. Ferdinand
Marcos through Presidential Decree 824.

After World War II[edit]

After World War II, the Bitukang Manok was slowly exposing its ecological downfall. It resulted in
water pollution due to rational ignorance. The worst came to the Bitukang Manok in the late 1960s
when the disappearing waterway, instead of being revived was totally separated from the Marikina
River, and was converted into an open sewage ditch, with its original flow now moving in reverse
towards the direction of the Napindan Channel (a portion of the Pasig River bordering between the
barangays Kalawaan-Pinagbuhatan and Taguig City), to give way to public commercial facilities
such as McDonald's.
In July 1994, Pasig was converted into a highly urbanized city through Republic Act 7829. And in
December 1994, President Fidel V. Ramos signed it into law, which was ratified through a plebiscite
on January 21, 1995.
On February 4, 2006, the ULTRA Stampede, in which 71 people died, happened during the first
anniversary celebration of ABS-CBN's noontime show Wowowee, because of the prizes that were to
be given away. The anniversary of the show would be held on PhilSports Arena but the event has
been already canceled due to the tragedy.
Pasig was one of the areas struck by the high flood created by Typhoon Ondoy on September 26,
2009, which affected the Ortigas Avenue and the east city side of the Manggahan Floodway. It is the
most destructive flood in Philippine history. Pasig is accessed by the Pasig River, wherein the waters
of Marikina River channeled and the Manggahan Floodway routed to Laguna de Bay.

Tanghalang Pasigueño and an observation tower at the Pasig City Hall compound

In the first week of August 2012, intense monsoon rain caused the 2012 Philippines flooding, which
affected again Pasig and particularly the National Capital Region (NCR), CALABARZON and the
southwest part of Luzon. The nonstop eight-day monsoon rain, strengthened by Typhoon Gener,
caused the Marikina River to overflow and destroyed the same places that were ruined by Typhoon
Ondoy in 2009.
What made Pasig thrive in the olden days was the bustling commerce especially along the
riverbanks. Apart from the presence of the Pasig and Marikina rivers, a number of tributaries
also contributed to Pasig’s growth. One of those tributaries would be the river flowing across the
town center, the one locals call the “Bitukang Manok” or “chicken’s intestines” due to the river’s
wormlike shape. It was also known as the Pariancillo River, and in its heyday, the river served not
only as a center for trade but also an important transport route as it served to link the town to
Antipolo. Bitukang Manok would more importantly play a role in history when it was chosen as the
site of the Asemblea Magna, (the great assembly) a large gathering of 17 bancas boarding the
hundreds of members of the Katipunan movement called upon during the first week of May, 1896 by
the Supremo Andres Bonifacio and a Cavite leader named Emilio Aguinaldo. (yes, they
were chummy back in those days) What made this gathering significant was that it formalized the
intent of the movement to wage an armed struggle against the Spaniards for
Philippine independence.