Negros Occidental (Western Negros; ; ), officially the Province of Negros Occidental (; ), is a province located in the western part of Negros Island in the Philippines. The provincial capital is Bacolod, a highly urbanized city and largest city by population. While geographically situated within the province and classified as part of it by the Philippine Statistics Authority, is administratively independent from the provincial government. Bacolod also serves as one of the two designated regional centers of the Negros Island Region, the other being Dumaguete in Negros Oriental.
Negros Occidental occupies the northwestern portion of the island, sharing a land border with Negros Oriental to the southeast. The province is renowned for its significant contribution to the national sugar industry, earning it the moniker "Sugarbowl of the Philippines" due to its production of more than half of the country's total sugar output.
Negros Occidental faces the island province of Guimaras and the province of Iloilo on Panay Island to the northwest, across the Panay Gulf and the Guimaras Strait. The primary language spoken throughout the province is Hiligaynon (also referred to as Ilonggo), while the predominant religious affiliation is Roman Catholicism, reflecting the historical influence of Spanish colonization.
The provincial capital and largest city by population is Bacolod, which serves as the administrative center of the province. However, it is classified as a highly urbanized city, rendering it administratively independent from the provincial government.
According to the , Negros Occidental has a population of 2,623,172 inhabitants, making it the most populous province in the Negros Island Region, the second most populous in the Visayas (following Cebu), and the 8th most populous province in the Philippines. It also holds the distinction of having the highest number of chartered cities of any Philippine province, with a total of thirteen.Provincial Economic Development and Investment Center (PEDIC) Negros Occidental
History
Spanish colonial era
The island of Negros was originally referred to by its native inhabitants as Buglas, a term in old Hiligaynon believed to mean "cut off", possibly referencing its geographic separation from the main islands. When Spanish explorers arrived in April 1565, they named the island "Negros" due to the dark-skinned Ati natives they encountered.
Among the earliest known native settlements were those in what are now the towns of Binalbagan and Ilog, which were officially established as towns in 1572 and 1584, respectively. Other notable pre-colonial and early colonial settlements included Hinigaran, Bago, Marayo (present-day Pontevedra), Mamalan (now Himamaylan), and Candaguit (now a sitio of San Enrique).
In 1743, Ilog was designated as the first capital of the province. By 1818, Negros Occidental was the residence of several Spanish-Filipino families, with 37 Spanish-Filipino families living in Bacolod, 25 Spanish-Filipino families in Silay and another 25 in the capital at Ilog.Diccionario Geográfico, Estadístico, Histórico, de las Islas Filipinas By Fr. Manuel Buzeta and Fr. Felipe Bravo, Volume 1, Published Madrid :(Impr. de J.C. de la Peña) 1850-1851. The seat of government was later moved to Himamaylan before being permanently transferred to Bacolod in 1849. In 1890, the island of Negros was administratively divided into two provinces—Negros Occidental in the west and Negros Oriental in the east.
Following the end of Spanish colonial rule, the two provinces were briefly unified as an independent revolutionary government known as the Cantonal Republic of Negros on November 27, 1898, with Bacolod serving as its capital.
American colonial era
The Cantonal Republic of Negros became a protectorate of the United States following the end of Spanish rule, until its dissolution in 1901. Thereafter, the provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental were formally annexed into the newly organized civil government of the Philippines under American administration. From 1901 through the 1930s, both provinces were governed under the Insular Government of the United States, and later under the Commonwealth of the Philippines beginning in 1935.
During this period, the economy of Negros Occidental experienced sustained growth, largely due to the integration of Philippine sugar into the United States market. From the 1950s to the late 1980s, the province remained heavily reliant on the sugar industry, which dominated its socio-economic landscape.
Between 1914 and 1927, western Negros saw the establishment of numerous settlements, many of which eventually developed into towns and cities. These communities were connected by a network of railways constructed to transport sugarcane to major processing centers known as "sugar centrals." These centrals were surrounded by vast agricultural estates or *haciendas* that cultivated sugarcane on the island's fertile volcanic soil. Prominent towns and cities associated with this growth included Ilog, Hinigaran, La Carlota, Silay, Pulupandan, Bacolod, San Carlos, and Bais.
This period also marked a wave of mass migration from Panay Island. To supply labor for the sugar industry; Spanish, Chinese, and French plus other *mestizo* managers imported agricultural workers from Panay, leading to the demographic displacement of the native Cebuano-speaking population in parts of Negros.Robustiano Echauz, Sketches of the Island of Negros (Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Center for International Studies, Southeast Asia Program, 1978), pp. 73–74.Estadísticas de los Terrenos Agrícolas, La Carlota and Hinigaran, Negros Occidental, 1897, Varias Provincias, Philippine National Archives.
Negros Occidental also became a significant destination for Spanish immigrants during the American colonial period, particularly those originating from the Basque Country and Catalonia regions of Spain. Many of these settlers engaged in commercial enterprises and agricultural development, contributing to the province's economic growth through involvement in the sugar industry and related businesses.
Japanese occupation During the Second World War, both Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental were invaded and occupied by Imperial Japanese forces. In response to the invasion, many residents of the island sought refuge in the inland mountain regions to escape Japanese control.Mills, S.A., 2009, Stranded in the Philippines, Annapolis: Naval Institute Press,
Liberation of Negros Island occurred on August 6, 1945, when combined Filipino and American forces, supported by local Negrense guerrilla units, launched coordinated offensives against the Japanese occupiers. The guerrilla resistance had been active throughout the occupation, conducting sabotage and intelligence operations in support of the Allied effort.
The military infrastructure during the war included several divisions and regiments formed under the Philippine Commonwealth Army and the Philippine Constabulary. These included the 7th, 73rd, 74th, and 75th Infantry Divisions (active from January 3, 1942, to June 30, 1946), and the 7th Constabulary Regiment (active from October 28, 1944, to June 30, 1946), headquartered in Negros Occidental. These units were integral to the anti-Japanese resistance, organizing and executing operations against Imperial Japanese forces across the island between 1942 and 1945.
Philippine independence Martial law era
The beginning months of the 1970s had marked a period of turmoil and change in the Philippines, as well as in Negros Occidental. During his bid to be the first Philippine president to be re-elected for a second term, Ferdinand Marcos launched an unprecedented number of foreign debt-funded public works projects. This caused the Philippine economy to take a sudden downwards turn known as the 1969 Philippine balance of payments crisis, which led to a period of economic difficulty and a significant rise of social unrest. With only a year left in his last constitutionally allowed term as president, Ferdinand Marcos placed the Philippines under Martial Law in September 1972 and thus retained the position for fourteen more years. This period in Philippine history is remembered for the Marcos administration's record of human rights abuses, particularly targeting political opponents, student activists, journalists, religious workers, farmers, and others who fought against the Marcos dictatorship. Notable events during this period include the 1982 Maricalum mining disaster, the 1984 Negros famine, and the 1985 Escalante massacre.
Maricalum mining disaster (1982) The Province has a history of problems with mine pollution, one of the worst episodes being the tailings dam failure and spill of 28 million tonnes of copper mine tailings from a mine of the Maricalum company on November 8, 1982Bulatlat.com ; Mineral Policy Institute, Chronology of Major Tailings Dam Failures
The Negros Famine (1984)
By the time Ferdinand Marcos' second term began, sugar had become a critical Philippine export, responsible for 27% of the county's total dollar earnings. With international sugar prices rising rapidly through the early 1970s, Marcos decided to put domestic and international sugar trading under government control, first through the Philippine Exchange Co. (Philex), and later through the Philippine Sugar Commission (Philsucom) and its trading arm, the National Sugar Trading Corporation (NASUTRA), which were both controlled by Marcos crony Roberto Benedicto.
However, the international price of sugar eventually crashed. Quality of life and sugar production were intertwined, so lower production meant lower quality of life for thousands that relied on the industry for sustenance and financial stability. The NASUTRA monopoly forced many sugar planters into bankruptcy or deep in debt. In 1984, over 190,000 sugar workers lost their livelihood, and about a million sacadas and their families in Negros suffered in what would later become known as the "Negros Famine." The percentage of malnourished infants eventually went up to as high as 78%. Negros Occidental's problem with malnourished infants gained global prominence among the press in 1985, as they ran covers in both, local and international newspapers.
The Escalante Massacre (1985)
One of the infamous incidents of the Marcos dictatorship era was the September 20, 1985 Escalante massacre, in which government paramilitary forces gunned down peasant protesters engaged in a rally in commemoration of the 13th anniversary of the declaration of martial law.
Creation and abolition of Negros del Norte Negros del Norte was created from Negros Occidental on January 3, 1986, but its creation was declared unconstitutional on July 11, 1986, and was immediately abolished on August 18, 1986.
Post-EDSA Revolution
Towards the end of 1987, after the successful overthrow of the Marcos regime, the overall economic situation started to show a positive upturn. The campaign for agricultural diversification had been gaining momentum, paving the way for more landowners to invest in prawn and fish farming, seafood catching, raising of livestock and high-value organic produce such as fruits and vegetables, as well as other cash crops. Investments' upswing became apparent by 1988. The participation of the industrial sector accelerated consumer-led economic growth and development manifested with the increase in sales of consumer goods and by-products. Today, Negros Occidental remains one of the most progressive and largely developed Philippine provinces, in large part due to profits from the sugar industry, but also due to economic diversification in other fields. Due to the vast population of Negros Occidental, it became the province with the most number of cities outside of the National Capital Region.
Contemporary