Novaliches: A former town that refused to die

I hope the readers of this column will forgive me for giving an unusually long glimpse this week at the checkered history of the former town of Novaliches, where I was born 83 years ago. This was taken from the plot for a book which I planned to write, but was not able to do.

A century and 19 years ago, the municipality of Novaliches was erased from the map of Rizal province and reduced to a barrio due to inadequate population brought about by the 1896-1898 revolution against Spain and the succeeding war against the Americans from 1898 to 1901.

According to the book "Ang Kasaysayan ng Novaliches" (The History of Novaliches) written by historians Dr. Emmanuel F. Calairo and his mother, former University of the Philippines-Los Baños Prof. Rosalina Franco-Calairo, Novaliches was created as a town of Bulacan province in September 1855. (Author's note: Dr. Emmanuel F. Calairo is now a commissioner of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines or NHCP).

Three years later (in 1858), it was transferred to the old province of Manila, where it stayed until the outbreak of two revolutionary wars, first against Spain and then against the United States of America. Being one of the immediate gateways to Central and Northern Luzon, Novaliches suffered many casualties from both wars.

The book of Calairo said the forces of Gen. Arthur MacArthur burned parts of Novaliches when they conquered it while chasing Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo in Central Luzon during the 1899 Filipino-American war.

When the Americans took over the Philippines after the capture of Aguinaldo in Palanan, Isabela on March 23, 1901, Rizal province was established in June of the same year by the Philippine Commission Act No. 137. Novaliches was included among the 32 towns of that infant province named after the country's foremost national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal.

In 1903, the Americans conducted the first census in the country and found that the municipality of Novaliches only had a population of 1,556 -- 818 male and 738 female. In accordance with the American regime's reorganization of local governments in the country as an economic measure, Novaliches was reduced to a barrio and annexed to the then town of Caloocan, Rizal on Oct. 12, 1903.

With that development, Novaliches became the biggest barrio in the Philippines at that time with an area of more than 10,000 hectares.

After the Philippines gained independence from the US in 1946, the people of Novaliches, who were beginning to increase again in number, started a series of movements for the restoration of their town. They petitioned then President Manuel A. Roxas in 1947 for this purpose.

Roxas did not succeed in doing it due to his early death in April 1948. What happened instead was that the former town was divided between Quezon City and Caloocan when the former was declared as the new capital city of the country in place of Manila under Republic Act 333 in July 1948.

In the 1960s, the people of Novaliches again persevered in their town restoration movement, but also without success. This took place during the terms of former Rizal first district Congressmen Rufino D. Antonio and Edgardo U. Ilarde, who became a senator later.

In 1970, then Rizal Rep. Neptali A. Gonzales filed House Bill 2052 seeking to revive Novaliches as a town of Rizal province. It was at that time when I got involved in the movement as a staff member of the former Philippine News Service or PNS.

That bill was passed by the House of Representatives but was frozen in the Senate due to strong opposition by Quezon City and Caloocan officials.

Midway during the 1972-1981 martial law period, the Novaleños asked then President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. in September 1976 to issue a presidential decree renaming Novaliches as Imelda City after then First Lady Imelda R. Marcos. But fate again interfered and prevented it from happening.

With the revival of Congress under the 1987 Constitution, several bills creating Novaliches as a separate local government unit were filed in succession in the House. One of these proposed laws was passed eventually by Congress in 1998 and signed as Republic Act 8535 by then President Fidel V. Ramos.

The original bill was authored in 1987 by former Quezon City second district Rep. Antonio A. Aquino. It was approved by the House and transmitted immediately to the Senate. However, the Upper Chamber did not have the time to calendar it for discussion as its transmittal came on the eve of the adjournment of the Eighth (1987-1992) Congress.

The measure was refiled in 1992 with slight amendments by Aquino's successor, Cong. Dante V. Liban. It was this bill that became R. A. 8535 or the 1998 Novaliches Cityhood law but lost in a plebiscite in 1999 because voters of the entire Quezon City were allowed to vote instead of the separating Novaliches barangays only.

In spite of the 46,800 “yes” votes for the cityhood, the proponents still turned out losers. It was worth mentioning that the Commission on Elections proclaimed the results although there were at least 100 ballot boxes “missing” at the time, saying their contents, granting that they were “yes” votes, were still inadequate to change the outcome of the plebiscite.

For the record, those affirmative votes were the biggest ever given by voters in any of the plebiscites for over 140 cities of the country at present. The cityhood bills of most of these cities were ratified by yes” votes ranging from 11,000 to 18,000. This was because they did not experience the problem of Novaliches. Being existing towns, they just changed status to cityhood, a move supported by all their local officials – from mayor, vice mayor, congressmen and councilors.

The case of Novaliches is very much different: It seeks separation from Quezon City although with a very much reduced territory comprising just 15 barangays from Quezon City’s vast and very populous former second congressional district. The district was eventually divided by Congress into three congressional districts in 2013 due to its big population representing half of QC’s estimated three million people.

The 15 barangays envisioned to comprise Novaliches City are on the northernmost and westernmost fringes of Quezon City, bordering with Valenzuela City and North Caloocan City. Their average distance from the QC Hall is 16 kilometers.

Meanwhile, in the span of 50 years since 1970, the former town experienced a tremendous growth both in terms of economic status and population surpassing the million mark. Its former rice fields and forests were transformed into housing areas, factories and various business establishments such as shopping malls, banks, big drug stores, transport hubs and many others.

What is more, although the Novaliches cityhood aspiration was defeated in the 1999 plebiscite, the Vatican in 2002 found it was time to create Novaliches as a separate diocese in the National Capital Region or Metropolitan Manila. Then Pope John Paul II issued a Vatican decree that established the Roman Catholic Diocese of Novaliches.

According to the Novaliches Cathedral website, "the Diocese of Novaliches is a Church for the new millennium. The Mother Church of Novaliches is the Cathedral-Shrine and Parish of the Good Shepherd (Novaliches Cathedral) in Fairview, Quezon City.

"It was one of the two dioceses established in the country at the beginning of the 21st century, along with the Diocese of Paranaque in 2002. The Dioceses of Cubao, Pasig and Kalookan followed in 2003.

"The Diocese of Novaliches was decreed by the Vatican to encompass the whole area circumscribed in the present Civil Statute of the city known as Caloocan City-North and of a part of Quezon City that lies to the north of the road called Tandang Sora. Such a canonical jurisdiction was not defined arbitrarily. This was actually a by-product of the changes in the area the locality of Novaliches belongs to.

"With a combined geographical population of 2.6 million, the Diocesan thrust to serve the marginalized and help them attain decent lives through pastoral services that range from feeding programs to scholarships, youth formation, and family planning has grown to include legal assistance and care for the elderly, vulnerable adults, persons with disabilities, and even persons in need of spiritual liberation.

"The Diocese has, in fact, become the seat of the Parish Renewal Experience (PREX) in the Philippines and is most responsive to programs cascaded by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)."

Since its creation, the Diocese of Novaliches already has three bishops in succession. The first was Bishop Teodoro C. Bacani Jr. (2002-2003), followed by Bishop Antonio R. Tobias (2003-2019) and Bishop Roberto O. Gaa (2019 to present).