“AWIT ng Tarlac” is the anthem of my province, which will be commemorating its 150th year of establishment in 1873, on Friday, May 26 (anticipating the actual date May 28 which is incidentally National Flag Day). It was commissioned by former governor Margarita “Tingting” Cojuangco in 1996 from lyricists and composers Rodolfo C. de Leon and Celso Balmores and was arranged by National Artist Lucio San Pedro. Through selected lines from this song, we celebrate the story and character of Tarlac province.

“Kandungan mo’y may buhay at tamis.” (Your cradle has life and sweetness.): We all thought based on popular local history that Tarlac came from the word “malatarlak,” a kind of weed or “talahib.” Tarlac in itself sounds like “tanglad” (grass). Yesterday, Tarlac’s foremost historian and commissioner of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines Dr. Lino Lenon Dizon, gave a sesquicentennial lecture in which he finally and convincingly settles the etymology of our province’s name. When he looked at Pedro Serrano Laktaw’s “Diccionario Tagalog-Hispano, Segunda Parte” (1914), Tarlak is “caña” or sugarcane. Although when Conquistador Martin de Goiti passed by this place on his way to Pangasinan in 1571, he saw a huge marshland, as this area was described in early accounts, inhabited by our ancestors the Aetas. But sweetness became part of the life of the people as sugar cane planting was first developed by the Miguels, who fled the Palaris revolt in Pangasinan to establish the town of Tarlac in 1788. The Miguel clan, which eventually became Tañedo, became the nucleus of the various prominent Tarlac families which included the Briones clan to which I belong.

”Ang samyo ay tulad sa bulaklak, Busilak ka, mahal naming Tarlac.” (The fragrance is like that of a flower, bloom, Tarlac that we love.) Dizon revealed his discussion with heritage advocate Ivan Henares about some Tarlac towns being part of a proposed province in 1832 known as Nueva Cuenca. This was never carried out but the seeds of the establishment of a new province would happen in 1858 when some Pampanga towns were carved out to form the Comandancia-Militar de Tarlac. In 1974, Tarlac province celebrated its centenary, erroneously marking 1874 as the year of establishment. Later, this would be moved to 1873 after another account was found but no primary documents were mentioned. Dizon finally got close to the primary sources of the blossoming of Tarlac into a full province and revealed them in his lecture yesterday: An entry on page 22 of the “Anuario Filipino para 1877” by Don Ramon Gonzales Fernandez, tells us that by May 28, 1873, the province of Tarlac was created.

“Bayan-bayan ay huwaran ang linis.” (Each town is an exemplar of cleanliness.): On the original royal order by Governor General Juan Alaminos y Vivar, on May 28, 1873, the original Tarlac towns were spelled out: San Miguel de Camiling, Paniqui, Gerona, Victoria, O’Donnell (eventually reverted to barangay), Tarlac, La Paz, Capas, Bambang and La Concepcion. (The first three towns were carved out from the province of Pangasinan, while the latter 10 towns came from Pampanga.) Other towns that joined or emerged later were Pura, Anao, Moncada, Santa Ignacia, San Clemente, Mayantoc, Ramos, San Manuel, and finally, San Jose.

“Iba’t ibang ugali at gawi, Sa may Gitnang Luzon umuuwi.” (Difference characteristics and ways come home to Central Luzon.) Thus, with the melding of the towns comes the melding of the major Luzon groups of peoples: the Kapampangan, the Ilocanos and Pangsinenses, the Tagalogs and the Aetas, making the province a so-called melting pot. I heard that our capable current governor, Susan Yap. discourages the use of this imagery already. I supposed it is because “para tayong niluluto sa sarili nating mantika.” (We are being cooked in our own cooking oil.) She popularized the phrase, “Kanlungan ng Lahi: Cradle of Cultures,” because we also have a sizable number of Chinese Filipinos, Muslims and even Visayans. That is why there is no better home for the ethnographic artifacts of Nayong Pilipino than this province.

“Pugad ka ng may giting at dangal.” (You are home to the brave and honorable.) Suspected with Katipunan presence in 1896, martial law was declared in eight provinces, which included Tarlac, at the onset of the Revolution. That is why Tarlac became part of the eight rays of the sun in our flag. From General Francisco Makabulos, Francisco Tañedo, Procopio Hilario, the guerrillas of World War 2, Ed Zarraga, Ninoy and Cory Aquino and many others who, in different ways, fought for freedom and democracy in various epochs in our history.

”Luntiang kulay ng kabukiran, Naghahari ay katahimikan.” (Green is the color of the fields, peace is reigning.): Former governor Jose V. Yap was instrumental in both national and local peacebuilding in the country which ensured that the cultures cradled by Tarlac will continue peacefully their forward march towards kaginhawahan, “Ang hangaring minimithi, Ay ang pagwawagi . ... Sa lawak ng iyong pitak, Pag-unlad ay tiyak.” (The goal we aspire is victory . ... In your spacious nest, progress is sure.)