Negros
Geography | |
---|---|
Location | Southeast Asia |
Coordinates | 10°N 123°E / 10°N 123°E |
Archipelago | Visayas |
Adjacent to | |
Area | 13,309.60 km2 (5,138.87 sq mi)[1] |
Area rank | 62nd |
Coastline | 644.90 km (400.722 mi)[2] |
Highest elevation | 2,465 m (8087 ft)[3] |
Highest point | Kanlaon |
Administration | |
Region | |
Provinces | |
Largest settlement | Bacolod (pop. 600,783) |
Demographics | |
Demonym | Negrenses/Negrosanons, NegOrenses (Negros Oriental residents) |
Population | 4,656,945 (2020)[4] |
Pop. density | 331.7/km2 (859.1/sq mi) |
Ethnic groups | Visayans (Hiligaynons and Cebuanos) |
Negros (English: /ˈneɪɡroʊs, ˈnɛɡ-/,[5] UK: /ˈneɪɡrɒs/)[6] is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of 13,309 km2 (5,139 sq mi).[7] The coastal zone of the southern part of Negros is identified as a site of highest marine biodiversity importance in the Coral Triangle.[8]
Negros is one of the many islands of the Visayas, in the central part of the country. The predominant inhabitants of the island region are mainly called Negrenses (locally Negrosanons). As of 2020 census, the total population of Negros is 4,656,945 people.[9]
From 2015 to 2017, the whole island was governed as an
History
Precolonial era
Negros was originally called Buglas, an old
Spanish colonization
Upon arriving on the island in April 1565, the
After appointing
In 1890, the island was officially partitioned into the present-day provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental. The Spanish Governor, D. Isidro Castro y Cinceros, surrendered to the Negros Revolutionaries, led by Aniceto Lacson and Juan Araneta, on 6 November 1898.[18]: 520 General Miller appointed Aniceto, Governor of the Island in March 1899.
Negros Revolution and formation of Republic of Negros
From 3 to 6 November 1898, the Negrense peoples rose in revolt against the local Spanish colonial government headed by politico-military governor Colonel Isidro de Castro. The Spaniards decided to surrender upon seeing armed troops marching in a pincer movement towards Bacolod. The revolutionaries, led by General Juan Araneta from Bago and General Aniceto Lacson from Talisay, bore fake arms consisting of rifles carved out of palm fronds and cannons of rolled bamboo mats painted black. By the afternoon of 6 November, Col. de Castro signed the Act of Capitulation, thus ending centuries of Spanish colonial rule in Negros Occidental.
In memory of this event, every November 5 is observed as a
On 27 November 1898, the
The leaders of the short-lived republic were:[19]
- Aniceto Lacson, November 5, 1898 – July 22, 1899 (to November 27, 1898, in Negros Occidental)
- Demetrio Larena, November 24, 1898 – November 27, 1898 (in Negros Oriental)
- President of the Constituent Assembly José Luzuriaga, July 22, 1899 – November 6, 1899
- Secretary of War Juan Araneta
- Civil Governor Melecio Severino, November 6, 1899 – April 30, 1901
- Secretary of Justice Antonio Ledesma Jayme, November 5, 1898 – July 22, 1899
Commonwealth period
From 1914 to 1927, parts of Western Negros hosted several newly established settlements which became cities connected by railroads constructed to flow towards several "sugar centrals" which were processing the extremely sweet raw sugar canes grown in Negros' volcanic soil and farmed by several "Haciendas". These haciendas littered the countryside as the central sugar mills eventually grew to become full pledged towns and cities: chief among which were Ilog, Hinigaran, La Carlota,
Post-Commonwealth era
Regions were first formed on September 24, 1972 when the provinces of the Philippines were organized into different 11 regions by Presidential Decree No. 1 as part of the Integrated Reorganization Plan of President Ferdinand Marcos. Negros Occidental was assigned to Western Visayas (Region VI) and Negros Oriental was assigned to Central Visayas (Region VII).
Negros famine
By the time Ferdinand Marcos' second term began, sugar had become a critical Philippine export, responsible for 27% of the county's total dollar earnings.
However, the international price of sugar eventually crashed,[25][26] dramatically hurting the livelihoods of poor farmers. The NASUTRA monopoly forced many sugar planters into bankruptcy or deep in debt. In 1984, over 190,000 sugar workers lost their livelihood,[27][24] and about a million sacadas and their families in Negros suffered in what would later become known as the "Negros Famine."[28]
Author John Silva,[29] who was working with Oxfam at the time, visited Negros and later described the living conditions of thousands of starving and malnourished children:
I drove past the provincial hospital where I first saw hundreds of malnourished children on mats on the floors tended by their mothers, and later, we were in the country through cane fields and small towns remembering the skeletal children being weighed and assessed by our medical team.... There were over 100,000 children in various degree of malnutrition and we started a feeding program for 90,000 of them, hoping to save the worst cases.[29]
The famine in Negros sparked a worldwide firestorm. International relief agencies flew in to conduct feeding programs, local NGOs mobilized relief drives, and members of the Catholic Church likewise pitched in to help.
Locally, social tensions were so high that the Catholic Bishop of Bacolod, Antonio Fortich described the conditions on the island as a "social volcano" ready to explode.[30] This was the situation on September 20, 1985, which marked the date of the Escalante massacre, in which paramilitary forces under the command of Marcos-allied Negros Occidental Governor Armando Gustilo gunned down farmers protesting social conditions on the 13th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law. An estimated twenty or thirty farmers were killed,[31][32] and thirty more were wounded.[31]
Another consequence of the famine was the dramatic rise of the
Negros Island Region
The movement for a single-island region started in the 1980s when officials of both provinces proposed a one-island, one-region unit. Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental are the only provinces in the Philippines situated in the same island but belonging to two different administrative regions with regional offices located in neighboring Panay and Cebu. The movement to unite the two provinces in Negros island was sustained in the 1990s and 2010s.[34]
The campaign for the creation of a region in Negros had gains when President Benigno Aquino III directed the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to study the establishment of a new region.[35] with the government agency later endorsing the move.[36] NEDA affirmed by saying that its studies show that the proposed region is economically viable.[37]
On May 29, 2015, President Aquino signed Executive Order 183,[38] which created the Negros Island Region. It separated Negros Occidental and its capital Bacolod from Western Visayas (Region VI) and Negros Oriental from Central Visayas (Region VII) to form the island region, which made the total number of regions of the Philippines into 18.[12][13]
Dissolution
On August 9, 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order No. 38, revoking the Executive Order No. 183 signed by (former) President Benigno Aquino III on May 29 of 2015, due to the reason of the lack of funds to fully establish the NIR according to
Demographics
Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
---|---|---|
1990 | 3,182,180 | — |
1995 | 3,459,433 | +1.58% |
2000 | 3,695,811 | +1.43% |
2010 | 4,194,525 | +1.27% |
2015 | 4,414,131 | +0.98% |
2020 | 4,656,945 | +1.06% |
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[40] |
Geography
Negros is the second largest island in the
This division of the island, which roughly follows the mountain range in the center of the island, corresponds to the two related linguistic groups. The western half (Occidental) is home to the
The volcanic activity in Negros is harnessed into electricity through two geothermal power plants in the island. One is located in Palinpinon of Valencia in Negros Oriental and the other is in Mailum of Bago in Negros Occidental, but was eventually shut down.
Administrative divisions
The island of Negros is composed of 2 provinces, 1 highly urbanized city, 19 component cities, 38 municipalities and 1,219 barangays. Negros Occidental is designated as part of Western Visayas and Negros Oriental is designated as part of Central Visayas.
Province or HUC | Capital | Population (2015)[40] | Area[41] | Density | Cities | Muni. | Barangay | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
km2 | sq mi | /km2 | /sq mi | ||||||||||
Negros Occidental | Bacolod | 56.6% | 2,497,261 | 7,802.54 | 3,012.58 | 320 | 830 | 12 | 19 | 601 | |||
Negros Oriental | Dumaguete | 30.7% | 1,354,995 | 5,385.53 | 2,079.36 | 250 | 650 | 6 | 19 | 557 | |||
Bacolod | † | — | 12.7% | 561,875 | 162.67 | 62.81 | 3,500 | 9,100 | — | — | 61 | ||
Total | 4,414,131 | 13,350.74 | 5,154.75 | 330 | 850 | 19 | 38 | 1,219 | |||||
† Bacolod is a highly urbanized city; figures are excluded from Negros Occidental. |
City | Population (2015)[40] | Area[43] | Density | City class | Income class | Province | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
km2 | sq mi | /km2 | /sq mi | |||||
Bacolod | 561,875 | 162.67 | 62.81 | 3,500 | 9,100 | Highly urbanized | 1st | Negros Occidental |
Bago | 170,981 | 401.20 | 154.90 | 430 | 1,100 | Component | 2nd | Negros Occidental |
Bais | 76,291 | 319.64 | 123.41 | 240 | 620 | Component | 3rd | Negros Oriental |
Bayawan | 117,900 | 699.08 | 269.92 | 170 | 440 | Component | 2nd | Negros Oriental |
Cadiz | 154,723 | 524.57 | 202.54 | 290 | 750 | Component | 2nd | Negros Occidental |
Canlaon | 54,509 | 170.93 | 66.00 | 320 | 830 | Component | 4th | Negros Oriental |
Dumaguete | 131,377 | 33.62 | 12.98 | 3,900 | 10,000 | Component | 2nd | Negros Oriental |
Escalante | 94,070 | 192.76 | 74.43 | 490 | 1,300 | Component | 4th | Negros Occidental |
Guihulngan | 95,969 | 388.56 | 150.02 | 250 | 650 | Component | 5th | Negros Oriental |
Himamaylan | 106,880 | 367.04 | 141.71 | 290 | 750 | Component | 3rd | Negros Occidental |
Kabankalan | 181,977 | 697.35 | 269.25 | 260 | 670 | Component | 1st | Negros Occidental |
La Carlota | 64,469 | 137.29 | 53.01 | 470 | 1,200 | Component | 4th | Negros Occidental |
Sagay | 146,264 | 330.34 | 127.54 | 440 | 1,100 | Component | 3rd | Negros Occidental |
San Carlos | 132,536 | 451.50 | 174.33 | 290 | 750 | Component | 2nd | Negros Occidental |
Silay | 126,930 | 214.80 | 82.93 | 590 | 1,500 | Component | 3rd | Negros Occidental |
Sipalay | 70,070 | 379.78 | 146.63 | 180 | 470 | Component | 4th | Negros Occidental |
Talisay | 102,214 | 201.18 | 77.68 | 510 | 1,300 | Component | 4th | Negros Occidental |
Tanjay | 80,532 | 276.05 | 106.58 | 290 | 750 | Component | 4th | Negros Oriental |
Victorias | 87,933 | 133.92 | 51.71 | 660 | 1,700 | Component | 1st | Negros Occidental |
Economy
Negros is noted for being the nation's prime producer and exporter of
Sugar refining has many by-products such as acetylene, fertilizers and rum. Fishing is the major industry based in Cadiz. There are also a number of fishponds and
Tourism
Negros has a lot of tourist attractions. In the city of
When it comes to beaches and coastal resorts within the region, the most popular ones are Lakawon Island in
, which serves as an important draw for tourists going to inland Negros Oriental.Transportation
Both provinces of Negros are interconnected by major inter-provincial roads. In Bacolod, there are two main roads, namely Lacson Street to the north and Araneta Street to the south. Cities, especially the provincial capitals of Bacolod and Dumaguete, are being served by jeepneys and taxis. Tricycles are mainly used for short-distance travel, and is common in city barangays, smaller cities and towns. Bus stations are present in major cities and towns within the region.
Airports
Currently, there are two airports serving Negros island. The
International
- Bacolod-Silay International Airport
Domestic
- Dumaguete-Sibulan Airport
- Kabankalan Airport(under construction)
- Sipalay Airport
Energy
The island is known for using geothermal energy to provide electricity for its inhabitants. In San Carlos, Negros Occidental where energy company San Carlos Solar Energy (SaCaSol) is located, solar energy is being used to power the city and surrounding municipalities. Inland towns and cities of Negros uses hydroelectric power acquired from springs, rivers and waterfalls. Due to the island region's sugarcane-based agriculture, Negros may become the nation's major biofuel producer, with sugarcane being used for ethanol production.[55]
Endangered species
Negros, like the Central Philippines (Visayas) overall, is generally recognized as a top priority area for wildlife conservation, both in terms of numbers of endemic species and severity of threat. More than half of the critically endangered species listed in the Philippines occur in Negros. It is the most threatened area of the Philippines, since it has the least remaining forest cover with just an estimated 3% remaining.[56] It has the highest numbers of severely threatened endemic species and subspecies. Mt. Silay and Mt. Mandalagan are the two mountain peaks in the Northern Negros Natural Park. These mountains have the last remaining old-growth forests.
Negros shares a lot of its fauna with
Notable people
- Agustín Montilla y Orendáin, Spanish-Mestizo entrepreneur[59]
See also
References
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- ^ ESTADISMO DE LAS ISLAS FILIPINAS TOMO PRIMERO By Joaquín Martínez de Zúñiga (Original Spanish)
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