Calumpit
Calumpit, officially the Municipality of Calumpit, is a municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the, it has a population of people.
Etymology
The town is named for the kalumpít tree, a hardwood species similar to apalit or narra, which grows abundantly in front of Saint John the Baptist Parish Church in the Población-Sucol area.History
Precolonial era
Calumpit was already an established barangay under the leadership of Gat Maitim prior to the Battle of Bangkusay and the fall of Tondo in June 1571. Nearby villages were Gatbuka, Meyto, Meysulao, Pandukot, Malolos, Macabebe, Hagonoy, and Apalit. When Calumpit was Hispanized and established as a Spanish geopolitical entity in 1572, they chose the site of the modern Barangay Población as the religious and administrative center of the aforementioned villages, which were annexed to it.Spanish period
Upon hearing that Tondo was conquered by Martín de Goíti and Juan Salcedo, and that Rajah Matanda allied with the Spaniards in May 1571, Bambalito formed a fleet of two thousand natives mostly from Hagonoy and Macabebe. They sailed across Manila Bay to Tondo on 3 June 1571, facing Goíti and Salcedo in the historic Battle of Bangkusay. Bambalito and the natives were defeated, and the conquerors proceeded northwards to pacify other villages along the coast of Manila Bay.In September 1571, Goíti and Salcedo, along with the invading forces, arrived at Lubao. On 14 November 1571, they reached Calumpit and Malolos and reported it to Miguel López de Legazpi, the first Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines. The two settlements were then constituted as the Encomienda de Calumpit and Encomienda de Malolos, respectively. The Encomienda de Calumpit was entrusted to Sargento Juan de Moron, one of the conquerors in the Legazpi Expedition.
Christianization
It is uncertain as to exactly when the Augustinians first set foot in Calumpit, but according to the documents, Calumpit was already a parish by 3 May 1572, when Fray Martín de Rada was elected Prior Provincial. Calumpit was simultaneously established with the conventos of Bay, Laguna, Tondo and Lubao, Pampanga, with De Rada as its prior and Fray Diego Vivar as his vicar.Accounts state the Augustinian missionaries planted a wooden cross along the bank of the Meyto River to symbolise the baptism of the land, and built a chapel from nipa as thatching and bamboo. Later, they moved to Meysulao and built another visita, then to Panducot, where they built another chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Visitation as Fray Gaspar de San Agustín mentioned in his Conquistas delas Isla Philipinas. Subsequently, the mission headquarters was moved again to much higher ground where a huge and prominent tree called kalumpít stood, as the locals had named the place. A notable feature is the site being bounded by rivers, which served as a natural, moat-like defence. Primarily, Meyto, Meysulao, Panducot and Calumpit was independent barangays under their chiefs, and likewise with Gatbuka, Bugyon and other old settlements.
On 5 April 1572, Legaspi merged the villages of Meyto, Meysulao, Panducot, Calumpit, Candaba, Apalit and Malolos, and these villages became ministerios and visitas as Calumpit, with present-day town itself as the center.
On 28 December 1575, Governor-General Francisco Sande annexed to the town the villages of Agonoy, Quinabalonan, and some others along Macabebe River.
Early Spanish presence
When Calumpit was already subjugated by the Spanish, the Encomiendas of Calumpit and Malolos were unified under the administration of their respective, encomenderos ''Don Marcos de Herrera and Sargento Mayor Juan de Moron on 5 April 1572. A month later, Calumpit was created a hub for the Augustinian ministerio in Northern Luzon with the convento of Lubao in Pampanga, which included Betis and Bacolor, and the convento'' of Taál in Batangas, established on 3 May 1572, upon the election of Fray Martín de Rada as the new Prior Provincial of the Augustinians upon Fray Diego de Herrera being recalled to Mexico. The early parish of Calumpit included the old villages of Hagonoy, Apalit, Candaba, Malolos and Macabebe as its missions. The town first dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, but in December 1576, it was re-dedicated to the patronage of Saint John the Baptist.Province of Calumpit
On 28 December 1575, Governor-General Francisco de Sande established Calumpit as an alcaldía independent of Bulacan, with Marcos de Arce as the first Alcalde Mayor, and encompassing the nearby visitas and settlements such as Malolos, Hagonoy, Macabebe, Apalit and Candaba. Later in 1576, jurisdiction of Macabebe was transferred to the town of Lubao and Candaba separated as a town, then on 11 June 1580, Malolos became a town transferred to alcaldía of Bulacan. In 1581, Hagonoy had its own convento but was still under the Governor of Calumpit, while in 1591 Apalit was officially separated as a town and to the reconfigured Pampanga province. In both Miguel de Loarca's 1581 document Relación de las Islas Filipinas and the June 1591 document of Governor-General Luis Pérez Dasmariñas, Calumpit appears as an alcaldía independent of Bulacan, Lubao, and Betis. It was therefore established both as an encomienda and alcaldía separate from Province of Bulacan, making it the first town in the area and a separate province.Abolition
The alcaldia of Calumpit was eventually abolished, with and the towns of Calumpit and Hagonoy were annexed to Bulacan, while Apalit was annexed to Pampanga.Philippine Revolution and Philippine-American War
During the Philippine Revolution in 1896, Calumpiteños participated in battles launched by the Katipunan against the Spanish Empire. Many notable Calumeteños helped establish and support the Malolos Republic, with the town serving as a defense line due to its proximity to the new capital. When the Philippine–American War erupted, Calumpit become the headquarters of General Antonio Luna in 1898. In the bloody encounters at Barrio Bagbag on 25 April 1899, many people joined the army of General Luna. During the conflict, the bridge, convent and church of the town were burned and completely destroyed.Civil administration under the United States-led Insular Government was established in Calumpit in April 1901, with Juan Galang serving as the first elected American-era mayor of the town.
American occupation and World War II
Calumpit played an important role at the outbreak of the Second World War in the Pacific theatre. The bridge of Calumpit on the way to Bataan was demolished by the Engineering Battalion of the United States Army, to impede movement of the Imperial Japanese forces. In January 1942, the Japanese entered Calumpit as they began their occupation of the Philippines for three years, during which many died.In the middle of 1943, the first part of the USAFFE guerrilla was established under the leadership of Luis Macam, with most of the members from Calumpit.
In June 1944, the 4th Battalion of the Del Pilar Regiment was established under the leadership of Major Francisco del Rosario. They continued fighting until the returned of the USAFFE under the leadership of General Douglas MacArthur.
In January 1945, combined Filipino and American troops arrived in the town, liberating it from Japanese control.
Third republic
On 18 November 1959, former mayor Fausto Carlos was convicted for the murder of suspected Hukbalahap rebel Artemio Mutuc at the municipal building 11 years prior and was sentenced to life in prison.Incidents
In 2011 when Typhoon Nesat or "Pedring" and Typhoon Nalgae or "Quiel" battered Central Luzon consecutively within two months, thousands of families in Calumpit and nearby towns experienced neckdeep floods due to the rains, bursting dikes and the release of water from dams that had reached critical levels.Geography
Calumpit is from Manila and from Malolos City.Calumpit is sprawled over an area of 5,625 has. of flat terrain classified accordingly to use for agricultural, residential, industrial, commercial, and other purposes. It occupies around 2.06% of the total land area of Bulacan. The municipality has 144.33 kilometers of concrete roads that easily link its 29 barangays.
Two distinct seasons characterize the town's climate: rainy season which starts late May and ends around November; and dry season which begins November and lasts until April.
Calumpit has two types of soil – the silt loam which is found in almost 90% of the entire municipality and the clay loam in the south-east far end of the town. Both types are basically suited for agricultural purposes as per Department of Agriculture classifications.
Calumpit River
The stretch of waterway where two great rivers traversing through Calumpit, the Angat River and the Pampanga River is referred to as the Calumpit River.This river has shaped the lives of Bulakeños since time immemorial. With the longest river system in Bulacan, Calumpit River traverses the towns of Calumpit, Pulilan and Plaridel on the east, Paombong and Hagonoy in the West and winds up through Apalit, Macabebe and Masantol, Pampanga.
It was the major route for trade and commerce in this part of the Luzon prior to the arrival of Spain. The Pampanga and Quingua Rivers served as arteries through which goods coming in and going out of Calumpit passed. At present, the river is a valued resource as a rich fishing ground and providing farmers with irrigation.