History of Dupax (Part 7): Important Facts, Incidents or Events [1811-1946]

[NOTE: Still continuing on our "re-publication" of the History and Cultural Life of Dupax script, the text in italics are again the annotations made by your Isinay Bird.]

1811 – There appeared in the firmaments a comet which lasted from October to December. [NOTE: My Internet/Wikipedia search revealed that, indeed, one comet appeared that year. Called the Great comet and discovered by H. Flaugergues of France, it graced the evening sky on March 25, 1811 and stayed on March 28, March 31 and April 1, then resumed April 11 and “became a very bright object during October 1811.”]

1812 – At about 8:00 in the evening of August 17 the bridge over Abanatan creek collapsed. The bridge was reconstructed in 1819 when the work began on May 5 of the same year. Since then the bridge has been alright.

1880 – Founding of Ineangan, the largest barrio in the municipality, by Rodolfo Dueng.

1882 – There was an earthquake which lasted for about a month. Daily masses were said outside the church. It was said that at times water from jars spilled out because of the violent shakes caused by the earthquakes. [NOTE: I Google-searched records of earthquakes in 1882 but only got one that says earthquakes occurred in Oregon, USA that year. The earthquake-causing event closest to the Philippines and to 1882 was the eruption of Indonesia’s Mount Krakatoa. This volcano exploded on May 20, 1883 -- its “blasts were heard 4,500 kilometers away” -- and had minor eruptions that continued from May to August that year. I guess that the one-year discrepancy was probably caused by human lapse in the recall or that an error was made in the writing of the year.]

1892 – Erection of a building which was exclusively for the girls.

1898 – August 3-4. A fierce battle between the Philippine Revolutionary Forces (Katipunan) and the Spaniards took place. The Spaniards and their followers were entrenched in the church yard. The Katipuneros were under Col. Calixto Villacorta and were joined by many citizens from Dupax.

1898 – November 19. The American Forces (Cavalry) entered the town without any resistance.

1901 – Don Mariano Cutaran was made the first president of Dupax by the Americans. The first school where English was taught was also organized and established.

1915 – President Genaro Evaristo began the construction of the Gabaldon building of the Dupax Elementary School. It was completed during the administration of Don Torcuato Albano. The building was destroyed during the war and was rebuilt with war damage funds from America.

The Gabaldon building a few years before it was demolished and wiped out from the landscape of Dupax. (Photo by Jose C. Latar)

1927 – Dupax was linked with other towns of Nueva Vizcaya by better roads. This was largely due to the efforts of the then incumbent Governor Alfonso Castañeda who is from Dupax.

1942 – On June 25, 1942 the people of Dupax first saw the Japanese Imperial Forces.

1946 – June 6. The American Liberation Forces arrived in Dupax. There were no more Japanese soldiers reached as the Japs escaped to the mountains during the raids conducted the months before.