NOVALICHES : Legal Status from Spanish Period to Present

NOVALICHES.

A historical town which played important roles in the Philippine's fight for independence. A town which experienced being tossed from one province to another. A town which still has its own identity even after being stripped of its status as an independent town, and being split into two and placed under the jurisdiction of two different cities.

Pueblo de Novaliches was founded in 1856, during the Spanish Occupation Period and has enjoyed its independence for 47 years, 3 years short of reaching its golden age. During the early years of the American Occupation Period, it unfortunately lost its independence due to the local government reorganization acts that the Philippine Commission had  passed. Many towns were merged so that larger towns can help smaller towns grow economically, and regain their independent status as soon as they are ready. Many other smaller towns did regain their former status years after being merged with larger towns, but that sadly hasn't happened with Novaliches since it was merged with Caloocan. Worse, it is now divided between Caloocan and Quezon City.

The current status of Novaliches is something that many Novalenos wishes to change, by having their old town become an independent town once again. Retracing important events regarding Novaliches' status since it was founded until the present will help people understand the significance of making Novaliches stand on its own again, and discover the proud past of true-blooded Novalenos.

1854

Petition for the Creation of "PUEBLO DE NOVALICHES" Made

Bulacan's Alcalde Mayor (equivalent to present day's provincial governor) petitioned the Spanish Government to incorporate part or whole of the Haciendas of Tala, Piedad, and Malinta into a new pueblo (town). It will be named NOVALICHES from the title "Marquis of Novaliches" of then recently recalled Governor General of the Philippines, Manuel Pavia y Lacy.

 

"Marquis" is a noble title that falls between Count and Duke while "Novaliches" is a village in the province of Valencia, Spain. It can be found approximately 60 kms. from the city of Valencia.

1855

Petition for the Creation of "PUEBLO DE NOVALICHES" Heard

The petition for the creation of the Pueblo de Novaliches was approved for hearing by the fiscal, heard and found feasible by the court of Real Audiencia de Manila, and subsequently approved by the Governor-General.

1856

PUEBLO DE NOVALICHES Formally Created

JANUARY 26. Pueblo de Novaliches was formally created from merging parts or whole of the Haciendas of Tala, Piedad, and Malinta, detaching them from the older towns which has jurisdiction over them, with Polo, Bulacan ceding the largest part. According to a Franciscan account, the following towns ceded lands to the newly established pueblo as follows:

Polo - 1 visita

Meycauayan - 2 barrios

Caloocan - small part of the Barrio Soledad

SEPTEMBER 24. Manila Archbishop Jose Julian de Aranguren O.A.R. designated the Augustinian Fathers as the spiritual administrators of the newly created town, with Friar Andres de Martin being sent as the first parish priest. Though the Franciscans opined that it is them who should have jurisdiction over the new town because about 3/4 of its parishioners came from the towns of Polo and Meycauayan which has been under their care for 278 years, they accepted the decision of the Archbishop. The spiritual administration of the town were given to the Augustinian Fathers because they are also the administrators of the Haciendas Malinta, Tala, and Piedad since the early 1700's.

1858

NOVALICHES Transferred from Bulacan to Manila

The decree creating the Provincia de Manila was issued on November 26, 1858. This new province was created from the older Provincia de Tondo plus the town of Novaliches from Bulacan.

1901

NOVALICHES Included in the Province of Rizal

The Philippine Commission Act No. 137 issued on June 11, 1901 created the new Province of Rizal by combining the Provinces of Manila and Morong. Novaliches which is under the Province of Manila naturally became part of this new province.

1903

NOVALICHES Lost Its Municipal Status

The Philippine Commission Act No. 942 issued on October 12, 1903 reduced the 32 municipalities of Rizal to 15, combining smaller towns with their larger neighboring towns. This can be considered the start of the misfortunes of Novaliches, when the historic town is placed under Caloocan's jurisdiction.

1947

NOVALICHES Town Revival - 1st Attempt*

The people of Novaliches filed a petition for its revival as a town to then president Manuel Roxas. The petition didn't prosper because of the untimely death of the president the next year. This is the 1st attempt of reviving the old town of Novaliches after World War II.

*As of now, no details or evidence of an attempt to revive the old Novaliches town before World War II has been discovered.

1948

NOVALICHES Split in Two!

RA No. 333 was passed changing the boundaries of Quezon City, a new city created in 1939. The southeastern half of the old town of Novaliches was transferred under the jurisdiction of Quezon City, while the remaining northwestern half was left with Caloocan.

This event was a big blow to the desire of the many Novalenos to have their own independent town again, because instead of being granted their petition, the once independent town was split instead! The barrios of San Bartolome, Poblacion (Novaliches), Bagbag, Pasong Putik, Binugsok, Gulod, Santa Monica, San Agustin, and Kapre was ceded to Quezon City. The barrios of Kaybiga, Bagumbong, Llano, Soledad, KayKristina, Kalihayang, Malanting, and others sitios remained with Caloocan.

1970

 NOVALICHES Town Revival - 2nd Attempt

Rizal 1st District Representative Neptali Gonzales filed House Bill No. 2052 reviving the town of Novaliches consisted of all its former barrios now under the jurisdiction of Caloocan and Quezon City. It passed the Lower House but remained pending at the Senate due to strong oppositions from both Caloocan and Quezon City local officials. The bill was finally abandoned when the Senate was abolished due to the imposition of Martial Law.

1975

NOVALICHES Left Rizal Province

On November 7, 1975, President Marcos issued PD No. 824 formally establishing Metro Manila to include some towns and all the cities of Rizal Province, Valenzuela of Bulacan Province, and the City of Manila. Novaliches, being part of both Caloocan and Quezon City, formally became part of this new entity too.

1976

NOVALICHES Town Revival - 3rd Attempt
An Almost IMELDA CITY!

The historical referendum-plebiscite for amending the 1973 Constitution was made on October 16-17, 1976. It was made even more historical for the Novalenos because they were given a chance to once more push for the revival of their old town, with a catch. The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) heeded the petition of the Novaliches barangay officials, and other civic, religious, business, and educational leaders calling for the renaming of their old town after the then First Lady, Imelda Marcos. The ballots for Novaleno voters came with an extra remarks sheets that ran this way: "Do you favor the conversion of Novaliches into a separate city, independent of Quezon City and Caloocan City, to be named Imelda City?". The required answered was either "Yes" or "No" depending on the desire of the voter (Samonte, 2019).

The COMELEC announced that the answers in the remarks sheets would be tabulated and the results would be announced after 15 days. However, Imelda was interviewed one week before the scheduled announcement and she unfortunately declined the proposed Imelda City, saying she would prefer the retention of the historical name of Novaliches. Because of this, the tabulation for remarks sheets was no longer carried out.

1988

NOVALICHES Town Revival - 4th Attempt

Quezon City 2nd District Representative Antonio A. Aquino filed House Bill No. 3067 pushing for Novaliches Cityhood which will include both the Caloocan and Quezon City parts. Unfortunately, this didn't even pass the House of Representatives, so it wasn't able to reach the Senate.

1999

NOVALICHES Town Revival - 5th Attempt

The 5th and latest attempt at reviving the old town of Novaliches is through the RA 8535 signed into law by President Fidel Ramos in 1998. The law states that 15 present barangays of Quezon City contained in the Novaliches District Center (Novaliches Proper, Nagkaisang Nayon, San Bartolome, San Agustin, Kaligayahan, Sta. Monica, Bagbag, Capri, Greater Lagro, Gulod, Pasong Putik Proper, North Fairview, Sauyo, Sta. Lucia, and Talipapa) will be separated from Quezon City to be incorporated as Novaliches City. The Caloocan part of Novaliches is not yet included in this law.

The plebiscite for Novaliches Cityhood was conducted on October 23, 1999. Unfortunately, the "NO" vote won dashing the hope of many Novalenos once again. But how did it happen when majority of Novalenos supported the cityhood? The then Mayor Mel Mathay opposed the cityhood and campaigned hard for "NO". He even petitioned to include all the residents of the whole Quezon City, not just those directly affected residents in the barangays under Novaliches District. Said petition was granted and all residents of Quezon City voted in the said plebiscite. The result showed 143,645 No votes against 46,946 Yes votes.

More than 2 decades had already passed since the last attempt to revive Novaliches Town was made, and Novaliches, both Caloocan and Quezon City part has already shown tremendous progress and capability to stand on their own. Many Novalenos, after all those years, are still longing for the time when they finally have they fervent wish - an independent CITY OF NOVALICHES - before they rest their fiery heart fighting for their "Bayang Tinubuan".

REFERENCES:


Calairo, Rosalina M. & Emmanuel F. Calairo. “Ang Kasaysayan ng Novaliches”. Quezon City, 1997.

Samonte, Severino C. “Postscript to Novaliches City hood: Comelec urged to locate missing 101 plebiscite returns” in Philippine News Agency. Nov. 7, 1999.

“QC : A Saga of Continuing Process Progress” in Quezonian Newsletter, Special Issue. Retrieved from http://www.qcpubliclibrary.org/qcmanuscript.php

Republic Act No. 8535. “An Act Creating the City of Novaliches”.

Severino Samonte. Interviews, FB Posts, and Collections.

Jack Dennis Serrano. Interviews, Unpublished personal researches.

Romel Rafor Jaime. Unpublished personal Researches. Collections, printed and electronic.