Morong, Bataan

Morong
Municipality
Municipality of Morong
Flag Seal
Nickname:  Bataan's Wild West
Map of Bataan with Morong highlighted
OpenStreetMap
Morong Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 14°40′48″N 120°16′06″E / 14.68°N 120.2683°E / 14.68; 120.2683
Country	Philippines
Region	Central Luzon
Province	Bataan
District	3rd district
Founded	1607
Barangays	5 (see Vice Mayor	Leila Linao-Muñoz
• Representative	Maria Angela S. Garcia
• Municipal Council	Members Jomar A. Castro Geronimo Gerardo T. Santos Bienvenido V. Vicedo Jr. Katherine L. Taba Ruben M. Pastelero Gerson Cathalin C. Garcia German R. Noriega Tirso R. Bautista
•  ZIP code	2108
PSGC	030808000
IDD : area code	+63 (0)47
Native languages	Mariveleño Tagalog

Morong, officially the Municipality of Morong (

In 1607, Morong was established when the Order of Augustinian Recollects built a church in a small populated village in Bataan. The original site of the church was said to have been in Barangay Nagbalayong, a village southeast of Morong. The orderly rectangular layout of the streets and roads of Nagbalayong Proper is attributable to the rural planning efforts of the AOR.

In the mid 1800s, the municipal center was moved to a more central location relative to other barangays. This new central barangay was named Poblacion and was given a similar rural planning design to Nagbalayong, wherein the streets are arranged in an orderly rectangular pattern. A significantly larger church was also built in Poblacion.

The oldest records about Morong was written by the Augustian Order of Recollects (AOR) and the town always had been referred to as Moron as far back as 1607. There is no evidence that the town was ever named or referred to as Bayandati. Nagbalayong was only colloquially referred to as Bayandati, owing to the transfer of the town proper from Nagbalayong to Poblacion.

Folkloric tradition alludes the etymology of the name Moron to the Spaniards' mishearing of the phrase "mga Moro umurong" when they asked the local people the name of their village. While there are many records of Muslim led slave-raiding expeditions in the 18th and 19th Century, there is no historical record substantiating this claim. The problem of slave raiding did however influence the architecture of the Morong Church, which was built as a church-fortress.

The most probable etymology comes from the Spanish word morón which refers to a hill which can be seen from the sea. Several towns in Spain and in Spanish colonies are also named Morón, namely Morón in Cuba; Morón de la Fronterra in Sevilla, Spain; and Morón in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to name a few. These place all have hilly topographies and are nearby the ocean.

On June 10, 1955, with the understanding of the Spanish language waning in most of the Philippines and with Moron having an unfortunate meaning in English, the town was renamed Morong by virtue of Republic Act No. 1249.^[6]

Establishment of the town by the Order of Augustinian Recollects

The Augustinian Order of Recollects (AOR) arrived in the Philippines in 1606 and a year later, in 1607, they began mission work in Zambales. By 1612, the AOR claimed and organized 12 communities in the surrounding area into towns each with small churches and convents. It is said that in 1607, Morong was officially founded as an ecclesiastical parish by the Augustinian Recollects^[7] as well as being founded by Fr. Rodrigo de San Miguel who placed it under the protection of the Our Lady of the Pillar.^[8]

The Our Lady of the Pillar Parish of Morong, established in 1607 and is now one of the oldest seats of Catholic faith in the

The church has been damaged extensively three times. In 1890, the church was damaged by a strong typhoon and after a few months, fire damaged the convent. During WWII, the church was sent on fire by the invading Japanese Imperial Army, collapsing the roof.

During the Philippine War of Independence from Spain, the anti-friar sentiment among Filipinos reached a boiling point. During this war, several friars were imprisoned and several were also killed by Filipino Revolutionaries. Fray Domingo Cabrejas, cura of Morong and Fray Jose San Juan, cura of Bagac were killed by Filipino Revolutionaries. After several months, the Spanish government sent in retaliation a regiment of the Guardia Civil to capture and kill the revolutionaries of Morong.

World War II

Morong during WWII

For the defense of Bataan, the main and first battle position established by the USAFFE was the Mabatang (Abucay)–Mauban (Morong) Line. General Wainwright was in command of the Mauban side of the defense. The 1st Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, under Gen. Fidel Segundo defended the Morong Town Proper.

On 15 January 1942, the reinforced 1st Infantry Division (Philippines) of Gen. Fidel Segundo, defending the Morong came under heavy bombardment, but successfully held the line.

On 16 January 1942, the

In 15 October 1943, Capt. Ralph McGuire was killed-in-action in Poon Bato, Botolan, Zambales and with his passing the Morong Town Guerilla Sector lost their contact with the East Central Luzon General Area. The activities of the Morong Town Guerilla Sector resumed in 1944 when the emissaries of John Boone went to the town to re-establish guerilla activities of the group.

Issues of the forgotten heroes of Morong, Bataan

All over the country and the world, the heroism of WWII veterans who fought in Bataan are commemorated. Towns and cities, such as Marikina, have erected monuments to honor their citizens who have fought or fallen in defense of Bataan.

In the whole of Bataan, only the town of Morong has no memorial markers have been erected by the government despite the historical significance and sacrifice of the town and its residents during the war. Ever since after the war, the national, provincial and local government has made no efforts to commemorate the brave souls that fought and died in Morong.

A town left sacrificed and undefended during the war, now filled with graves of heroes forsaken and unrecognized.

Geography

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the municipality has a land area of 219.20 square kilometres (84.63 sq mi) ^[11] constituting 15.97% of the 1,372.98-square-kilometre- (530.11 sq mi) total area of Bataan.

Morong is bounded by

The Pawikan Conservation Center is a community-based effort to protect turtles in Morong with a focus on protecting the Olive Ridley species.^[12]

Climate

Morong has a tropical monsoon climate (Af) with little to no rainfall from December to April and heavy to extremely heavy rainfall from May to November.

Barangays

Morong is politically subdivided into 5

Demographics

According to the Spanish Census of the country in 1896, Morong was reported to have 2,797 inhabitants.

In the 2020 census, Morong had a population of 35,394.^[3] The population density was 160 inhabitants per square kilometre (410/sq mi).

Economy

Poverty Incidence of Morong

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority^{[19][20]
[21][22][23][24][25]}

Existing industries in Morong include mango/cashew production as well as vinegar making from nipa palm nuts and the production of basketry using jungle vines.^[26]

There is some variety of developments intended for Morong. Industries targeted for development are the manufacturing of component parts or assembly operations. In addition, there are plans to establish convention centers, exhibit halls, golf course and clubs, entertainment and leisure and sports centers, hotels, beach resorts and meditation centers.^[26]

Mining

Morong has also had some activity in mining. In 1972 it had mining activity from Long Beach Mining Corporation producing magnetite concentrate from beach sands^[27] and in 2017 there was headway into opening 709.6 hectares of land to Gandara minerals and development corporation in order to mine basalt and other associated minerals.^[28]

Economic zone developments

The Bataan Technology Park (informally called the "Technopark") is the main zone of the Morong Special Economic Zone (MSEZ), established in March 1997^[29] after a previous ecozone which was established under the 1992 Bases Conversion and Development Act.^[30] The park's investors can claim the following benefits:

• A 5% levy on Gross Income Earned (in lieu of all national and local taxes and duties)
• Tax and duty-free importation of raw materials and capital equipment
• Management of the zone as a separate customs territory, ensuring the free flow of movement of goods and capital equipment within, imported and exported out of the zone
• The Atmanda Ecopark also has potential as a retirement haven and a corporate training center

Government

Local government

Popular culture

• The Subic Explosive Ordnance Disposal, located at the Morong portion of
  Subic Bay Freeport Zone, made an appearance on various teleseryes such as ABS-CBN's May Bukas Pa and Noah
  .

• 
  Municipal hall
• 
  Public market
• 
  Morong landscape
• 
  Seascape
• 
  Park and covered court

References