Central Luzon

Central Luzon (Tagalog: Gitnang Luzon; Kapampangan: Kalibudtarang Luzon; Sambal: Botlay a Luzon; Pangasinan: Pegley a Luzon; Ilocano: Tengnga a Luzon), designated as Region III, is an administrative region in the Philippines. The region comprises seven provinces: Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga (with its capital, City of San Fernando serving as the regional center), Tarlac, and Zambales; and two highly urbanized cities, Angeles and Olongapo. San Jose del Monte is the most populous city in the region. The region contains the largest plain in the country and produces most of the country's rice supply, earning itself the nickname "Rice Granary of the Philippines". It is also the region to have the most number of provinces.

The current name of the region refers to its position on the island of Luzon. The term was coined by American colonialists after the defeat of the First Philippine Republic. There have been proposals to rename the current Central Luzon region into the Luzones region. The proposed name is in reference to the old name of Luzon island, Luções, which was later used to refer to the central area of the island, stretching from Pangasinan in the north, all the way to Pampanga in the south.^{[citation needed]} The term Luções literally translates into Luzones.

While there are a number of competing models of migration to the Philippines, it is generally believed that The earliest modern human migrations into the Philippine islands were during the Paleolithic, around 40,000 years ago, representing the people from whom the Aeta peoples have been believed by researchers to be descended. This was followed by two other migration waves between 25,000 and 12,000 years ago. The latest migration wave is associated with the Austronesian peoples, circa 7,000 years ago. Kapampangans, Sambal people and the Sinauna (lit. "those from the beginning"), originated in southern Luzon, where they made contact with the migrating Tagalog settlers, of which contact between the Kapampangans and Tagalogs was most intensive. After this, the original settlers moved northward: Kapampangans moved to modern Tondo, Navotas, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Aurora, Pampanga, south Tarlac, and east Bataan, and Sambals to the modern province of Zambales, in turn, displacing the Aetas. The flatlands of the southern portion of Upper Pampanga (now Nueva Ecija), was a hospitable place for these new Tagalog settlers between 300 and 200 B.C. Tagalogs from southern Luzon, most specifically Cavite, migrated to parts of Bataan. Aetas were displaced to the mountain areas by the end of the 16th century. Kapampangans settled Aurora alongside Aetas and Bugkalots. Pangasinan people are the native settlers in northwest area of Central Luzon; Igorot people, particularly Kalanguya, Isinay, and Bugkalot, are native residents in northern area of Central Luzon, precisely present-day Nueva Ecija, with the Bugkalots also live in northwest Aurora.

When the Spaniards arrived and settled the Philippines, Provincia de La Pampanga was established in the largest area of Central Luzon in 1571; portion of Central Luzon was made up of Pangasinán created in 1580. The next provinces that were created out of Pampanga were Bulacan and Zambales which were both established in 1578. Baler & Casiguran became part of Kalilayan, which included modern Nueva Ecija, until Kalilayan changed its name to Tayabas in 1749, taken from the town of the same name. Nueva Ecija was created as a military district or comandancia governed by Governor-General Fausto Cruzat y Góngora in 1701, but still part of Pampanga at that time. It included huge swathes of Central Luzon, the Contracosta towns, as well as the Kalilayan area and Polillo Islands. Contracosta was the Spanish colonial name for the towns on the east coast and included towns from Mauban, Binangonan de Lampon, to El Principe. Since Contracosta & Kalilayan were part of La Laguna province at that time before including them in Nueva Ecija, they became jointly ruled by La Pampanga & La Laguna provinces. Historian Cornelio Bascara documents that the province of Bataan was established on January 11, 1757, by Governor-General Pedro Manuel Arandia out of territories belonging to Pampanga and the corregimiento of Mariveles which, at that time, included Maragondon across Manila Bay. Tagalogs migrated to east Bataan, where Kapampangans assimilated to the Tagalogs. Kapampangans were displaced to the towns near Pampanga by that time, along with the Aetas.

When the polities of Tondo and Maynila fell due to the Spanish, the Tagalog-majority areas grew through Tagalog migrations in portions of Central Luzon and north Mimaropa as a Tagalog migration policy was implemented by Spain. This happened again when British occupation of Manila happened in 1762, when many Tagalog refugees from Manila and north areas of Cavite escaped to Bulacan and to neighboring Nueva Ecija, where the original Kapampangan settlers welcomed them; Bulacan and Nueva Ecija were natively Kapampangan when Spaniards arrived; majority of Kapampangans sold their lands to the newly arrived Tagalog settlers and others intermarried with and assimilated to the Tagalog, which made Bulacan and Nueva Ecija dominantly Tagalog, many of the Tagalog settlers arrived in Nueva Ecija directly from Bulacan; also, the sparsely populated valley of the Zambales region was later settled by migrants, largely from the Tagalog and Ilocos regions, leading to the assimilation of Sambals to the Tagalog and Ilocano settlers and to the modern decline in the Sambal identity and language. The same situation happened in modern Aurora, where it was repopulated by settlers from Tagalog and Ilocos regions, with other settlers from Cordillera and Isabela, and married with some Aeta and Bugkalots, this led to the assimilation of Kapampangans to the Tagalog settlers. Kapampangans were the native residents of the northwest areas of Nueva Ecija; Pangasinan settlers moved there during early years of Spanish territorial period until the Kapampangans assimilated to the Pangasinan settlers. In the 19th century, repopulation and rice and tobacco industries caused large numbers of Ilocano settlers to move and stay in north areas of Central Luzon (Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, and Aurora) and south central Zambales; they now made up the largest ethnic group in those areas. The Tagalog and Ilocano migrations and settlements made Tagalog the lingua franca of Central Luzon and Ilocano the lingua franca in north areas of the region and south central Zambales. Many Ilocano settlers became assimilated in the areas with the Kapampangan and Tagalog majority populations, adopting Kapampangan and Tagalog as their native language while speaking Ilocano as 2nd language. Ilocano migrations and settlements continued in modern Aurora and Nueva Ecija in U.S. territorial rule in 20th century; in Aurora, Ilocano settlers lived in Dingalan and Dipaculao.

On December 27, 1735, a dangerous storm struck Baler and a tsunami called tromba marina devastated the old town settlement then located in present Barrio Sabang. Among the survivors were the Angaras, Bihasas, Bitongs, Lumasacs, Carrascos, and Pobletes who swam to the nearby Ermita Hill.^{[failed verification]} Bihasas are from Dumagat or Aeta origins and Lumasacs are descendants of Bugkalots. A new community appeared into what is now the Poblacion of Baler, leaving "Kinagunasan," the place of devastation. A mural depicting this wave can be found in the Museo de Baler in town.^{[citation needed]}

When Rafael María de Aguilar y Ponce de León took over as governor-general of the Philippines, he decreed the separation of the military- district of Nueva Ecija from the province of Pampanga and became a regular province on April 25, 1801, including the town of Baler, acquired from Tayabas.

In 1818, Nueva Ecija annexed the towns of Palanan from Isabela, as well as Baler, Casiguran, Infanta (formerly called Binangonan de Lampon) and Polillo Islands from Tayabas, and Cagayan, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, and part of Rizal. In 1853, the new military district of Tayabas was separated from Nueva Ecija and included present-day Southern Quezon as well as present-day Aurora. In 1858, Binangonan de Lampon and the Polillo Islands were separated from Nueva Ecija to form part of Infanta. Between 1855 and 1885, El Principe was established as its own Military Comandancia under the rule of Nueva Ecija with its capital in Baler. In 1873, Tarlac was established and was created from south Pangasinan and north Pampanga; this is the last province to be created in Central Luzon.