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Central Luzon, Region III, Philippines

The Philippine Republic's Region III, Central Luzon, comprises seven provinces: Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales, in central Luzon island.

Flag images here drawn after Symbols of the State, published by the Philippines Bureau of Local Government.

Bulacan
Nueva Ecija
Pampanga
- Angeles
- San Fernando
Tarlac
Zambales
- Olongapo

The province of Nueva Ecija is the biggest in Central Luzon, well over 5000 sq.km. Its population is 1,614,000 by the 2000 census in twenty-nine towns and three cities, Palayan (the capital) with 31,000 inhabitants, San José with 107,000, and Cabanatuan (always spelled with a C except on its flag) with 218,000. Nueva Ecija is overwhelmingly agricultural, as appears on all four flags. It is known as the breadbasket of the Philippines. The soil is apparently so rich that it will grow anything planted in it. Central Luzon State University in Munoz and several other research institutions assist in agricultural development; the province apparently does not aspire to industry except as adjuncts to agriculture (food processing, for example). When Nueva Ecija was created in 1705, Governor Cruzar named it after his native place, Ecija (Écija), in Seville province (Andalusia, Spain).
John Ayer, 24 March 2001

Cabanatuan

by Dirk Schönberger, 12 January 2001

Source: Symbols of the state

Palayan

by Dirk Schönberger, 12 January 2001

Source: Symbols of the state

San José

by Dirk Schönberger, 12 January 2001

Source: Symbols of the state

Pampanga

image by Ivan Anthony Henares, 15 February 2006

Old flag

by Jaume Ollé, 12 January 2001

The Philippine Republic's Province of Pampanga has 1,727,000 inhabitants by the 2000 census; it comprises the City of Angeles (pop. 243,000) and twenty-one towns, San Fernando being both the provincial and the regional capital. Its area is 2,171 sq.km. Pampanga was founded in 1571, covering the whole of Central Luzon; all the other provinces have been set off from it over the centuries. It is almost landlocked, but has an extensive riverine network centered on the Pampanga River. Mount Arayat National Park, in the town of Arayat near Angeles, is managed by the provincial government.

The early inhabitants apparently came in several waves from Java. They still speak a distinct language. Before the Spanish arrived the Kampampangans practiced irrigation, grew rice and sugar cane and fruit trees and fiber and ornamental plants and spices, wove useful and attractive fabrics, smelted metals and made tools and jewelry, wrote their language with a syllabary, and had a written code of laws. Farming and fishing are the main economic activities; Pampanga still grows rice and sugar cane, also maize, fruits, vegetables, melons, and root crops. The Pampanga River and commercial fishponds yield carp, crabs, and shrimp. Pampanga Agricultural College is located in Magalang. Woodcarving, furniture-making, lantern-making, ceramics, and other crafts are also widely practiced. The oldest vocational school in the Far East is in Bacolor. Clark Air Base and two other American military bases were located in Pampanga, and their structures still stand, now constituting a special economic zone. During World War II the Japanese had a kamikaze base in Pampanga, and there are memorials to the kamikaze pilots.
John Ayer, 27 March 2001

Angeles

by Dirk Schönberger, 12 January 2001

Source: Symbols of the state

San Fernando

by Ivan Anthony Henares, 8 February 2005

Source: Symbols of the state

Tarlac

by Jaume Ollé, 12 January 2001

Continuing through Region III on the basis of least populous province to most populous brings us to Tarlac, population 1,045,000 by the 2000 census on 3,053 sq.km. divided into seventeen towns, of which Tarlac is the capital. There are no cities. The province is landlocked and mostly agricultural. The easternmost soil zone is the biggest, well-drained soil that grows rice, sugar cane, maize, tobacco, and some minor crops and livestock. To the west this soil gives way to clay, challenging for agriculture but useful for ceramics and bricks. Westernmost is the Zambales range, forested, yielding some woods (which get turned into furniture and wooden clogs) and home to some more of the Aeta. Tarlac contains the place of internment for the survivors of the Bataan Death March, and a large monument salutes their sacrifice.
John Ayer, 1 March 2001

Zambales

by Jaume Ollé, 12 January 2001

North up the west coast of Luzon from Bataan is the province of Zambales, which, with 623,000 by the 2000 census, is the second least populous, but at 3,714 sq.km. it is about three times as big as Bataan. 194,000 of these live in the city of Olongapo; the rest are divided among thirteen towns. Iba is the capital. Like Bataan, Zambales is overwhelmingly agricultural. Its principal products are maize, rice, sugar cane, vegetables, poultry, and swine. The inhabitants also practice various handicrafts for sale. There are also three large mining operations, concentrating on chromite, though Zambales also has reserves of gold, iron, nickel, and other resources. Zambales is very diverse ethnically, having surviving populations of Aetas, apparently the earliest inhabitants, who still practice their hunter-gatherer life without fixed abode in the mountains, and Sambalis, for whom the province was named. It is also the location of Subic Bay, where the Spanish in 1895 built a navy base that passed to the United States a few years later. It was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991, and a Philippine Free Port was then built on the bay. Zambales is also working to develop its tourist potential; there is a marine life sanctuary offshore at San Salvador Island, and a variety of ecosystems inland, including the area recovering from Mount Pinatubo's eruption, plus many miles of varied shoreline.
John Ayer, 1 March 2001

Olongapo

by Dirk Schönberger, 12 January 2001

Source: Symbols of the state