Negros Oriental Province, Philippines Genealogy

Asia Philippines  Negros Oriental Province

Guide to  ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

History
Written by Administrator Government Website Political History and Cultural History

The expedition of Ferdinand Magellan that arrived in the Philippines on March 16, 1521, and the succeeding expeditions in the following decades, has not been able to reach the island of Negros. It was only in 1571 or fifty years later when Legazpi came that the Spaniards discovered the island of Negros. Historical accounts compiled by Prof. Caridad Aldecoa-Rodriguez, a renowned local historian, have in her book, "“Negros Oriental and the Philippine Revolution”, that while anchored in the island of Bohol, Legaspi dispatched a frigate to reconnoiter the coasts of the islands that were visible from that point.

Legaspi and his men found the natives inhospitable, but there were plenty of food in the island. It was during the time of Legaspi that distribution of big tracts of land (encomiendas) to 15 encomenderos residing in Cebu and Iloilo was done. Three of the encomiendas were the Rios de Tanae (Tanjay), “Davi” (Dauin) and “Monalongon” (Manalongon) in the southern part of Negros Oriental. Tributes collected were, however, sent to Cebu or Iloilo governments where funds of Negros were administered. It was in 1734 when a separate military district government was established in the island.

As settlements in Negros Oriental continually grew and swelled out to other points along the coast, the sugar cane plantation expanded just as fast. Meantime, the government officials who resided in Bacolod could hardly cope up with government functions and rarely visited the Oriental part due to the inadequacy of roads and difficulty in communication facilities. Consequently, the socio-economic life of the Oriental Negrenses suffered a great setback. There was a pressing need for more officials to supervise closely government functions such as strengthening defenses against devastating Moro raids, apprehending and trying criminals, and opening of more curacies. A petition to separate Negros Oriental from Negros Occidental was presented to the Governor General, recommending the town of Dumaguete as capital. Thirteen years later, Governor General Valeriano Weyler, in compliance with a royal decree dated October 25, 1889, established Negros Oriental as a separate province on January 1, 1890 with an estimated population (the Negritos living in the hinterland had no accurate counts) of 94,782 consisting of 17 towns of Guihulngan, Jimalalud, Tayasan, Ayungon, Manjuyod, Bais, Tanjay, Amlan, Ayuquitan, Sibulan, Dauin, Nueva Valencia, Bacong, Dumaguete, Zamboanguita, Siaton and Tolong. The appointed Politico-Militar was Joaquin Tavera.

The new province left no time concerning itself with local administration and development. Public works and other needs of the towns were attended to with public funds. A court of peace was put up in every town and, at the provincial capital town, a Court of First Instance. But in the later part of 1898, Negros Oriental rebel forces, under the leadership of Don Diego de la Viña, succeeded in driving the Spanish forces and government officials from all towns. On November 25, 1898, the Provincial Revolutionary Government of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo was established in Dumaguete, the capital town, with Don Demetrio Larena as Presidente.

Cemeteries

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Researching Filipino Ancestors

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Vital Statistics

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