Chapter 1: Introduction

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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1890-1891 Aniceto Gueco

1892-1893 Laurencio Suarez
1894 Catalino delos Santos
1895 Mariano Paras
1896-1897 Clemento Gueco
1897-1898 Juan Nepomuceno

American Civil Government

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

Second World War

Year Name
1941 Agapito Del Rosario
1942-1945 Clemente Dayrit

Post War Period

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

*First City Mayor

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Martial Law

Year Name
1972-1979 Rafael S. Lazatin
1980-1987 Francisco G. Nepomuceno

After EDSA People Power Revolution

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

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