Nueva Ecija Day in the Philippines Date in the current year: September 2, 2024

Nueva Ecija is a landlocked province on the island of Luzon, bordered by Aurora, Bulacan, Nueva Vizcaya, Pampanga, Pangasinan, and Tarlac. It is nationally known as the “Heart of Inland Luzon”, “Milk Capital of the Philippines”, and “Rice Granary of the Philippines”.

During the pre-colonial era, the territory of what is now Nueva Ecija was part of the so-called Pampanga Empire, established and consolidated in the 14th century. When the Spaniards under the command of Martin de Goiti arrived in the area in 1572, the empire was already in decline and put up little resistance to the invaders.

The first mission in what is now Nueva Ecija was established by Augustinian friars in Gapan in 1595. However, it was abandoned in 1636. In the late 17th century, the Spanish established a military outpost in the Upper Pampanga River valley.

In 1759, King Charles III of Spain transferred all responsibilities in Pampanga from the Augustinians to Franciscan friars. The Franciscans promptly began the construction of churches, convents, schools, roads, bridges, and even an irrigation system to promote agriculture. A few years later, the area’s population began to grow due to Tagalog refugees escaping the British occupation of Manila.

The province of Nueva Ecija was formally established on April 25, 1801. It was named after the hometown of Governor General Rafael Maria de Aguilar, the Andalusian municipality of Écija. In the following years, several towns were split from neighboring provinces and annexed to Nueva Ecija.

During the Philippine Revolution, Nueva Ecija was the first province in Central Luzon to revolt against the Spanish. On September 2, 1896, around 3,000 Nuevo Ecijanos led by Mariano Llanera and Pantaleon Valmonte attacked the provincial capital of San Isidro. This attack is known as the Cry of Nueva Ecija.

The revolutionaries inflicted heavy losses on the Spanish, but they were forced to retreat after several days of fighting and shifted to guerrilla warfare. Nuevo Ecijanos fought against the Spanish until the victory of the revolution and then joined Emilio Aguinaldo in the Philippine-American War.

After the defeat of the Philippines in the war, the American administration began to develop land transportation in Luzon, which contributed to Nuevo Ecija’s economic growth, since the landlocked province was now connected to other parts of the island by railways. Back then, the province’s economy was mostly based on agriculture, primarily rice growing.

During World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army occupied Nueva Ecija in 1942. During the occupation, local guerrillas frequently carried out raids against the Japanese. The province was liberated by the combined American and Filipino forces in 1945.

Today, Nueva Ecija is the leading producer of rice and onions in the Philippines. It also produces other crops such as banana, calamondin orange, corn, garlic, mango, and vegetables. The province also has poultry farms, fish ponds, and dairy farms.