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The Bicol Region or Bicolandia is one of the 17 regions of the Philippines.
It occupies the Bicol Peninsula at the southeastern end of Luzon islandand some other
islands.It consists of six provinces, namely, Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur,
Catanduanes, Masbate, and Sorsogon. It has one independent component city, Naga City,
and six component cities, Iriga, Legazpi, Ligao, Masbate, Sorsogon, and Tabaco. The
regional centers are Legazpi City, the region's political and administrative center,
Naga City, the region's cultural and religious center. Legazpi City, Naga City, and
Sorsogon City are the leading cities in the region in terms of urbanization and also
the hub of the region's economic activity.
Long before any westerners reached the region, the ancient Bicols (the people) already has
the culture of their own. They called their land IBALON, possibly after their chieftain-DATU
GAT ABAAL, who ruled the inhabited territories from his seat of power at Sawangan on the
mouth of Makabalo River which is now the present day Legazpi City.
The sword and the cross of Spain reached Ibalon in 1570 when part of Legazpi Urdaneta expeditionary
force headed by two Augustinian friars, Fr. Alonzo Jimenez and Fr. Juan Orca landed at the
southwestern coast of the western peninsula. The named the southern part of the peninsula
�TIERRA DE IBALON� and the northern part , �TIERRA DE CAMARINES�. Tierra de ibalon is also
referred to as the first Christian settlement in the island of Luzon.
After the Christianization and colonization of Ibalon , the peninsula was divided in to two encomienda.
The eastern portion. The encomienda de Busaingan went to Pedro Arnedo, while the pther half was given
to Rodrigo Arias Giron. Busaingan which means �breaker� was the name given to the coastal settlement of
the southern tip of Luzon, The present town of Santa Magdalena in Sorsogon Province.
Ibalon had a port call for galleon plying the Manila-Acapulco route. Historians believed that this
could be what is now known as the port of Legazpi City. It was at this port that Bishop Salazar,
the first bishop assigned to the Philippines was stranded for the few weeks during he was able to
learn the abuses of encomienderos.
It was believed that the report of Bishop Salazar could have been one of the causes for the abolition
of the encomienda system in Ibalon, thus, paving the way for the birth of two original Bicol provinces-
AMBOS CAMARINES which included Albay and Sorsogon.
The boundaries of the Region were clearly delineated in a decree issued by Spanish Governor General
Narciso de Claveria on October 19,1836, fixing the territorial limits between Ambos Camarines
underwent a series of divisions and fusions until 1919 when the Philippine Legislature enacted
Act. No. 2809, creating the separate province of Camarines Sur.
Partido de Ibalon, which comprise the eastern part of the peninsula had changed in name very
much earlier when a decree was issued in 1663 renaming this political subdivision Albay. Some
of the town of Ambos Camarines and Ibalon were interchanged. The islands of Catanduanes and
Masbate were declared seperat military districts.
Sorsogon which used to be part of Albay beacame a province in 1894. Byy virtue of an executive
order issued by Governor-General in 1908, Masbate was made a sub-province of Albay by the American
Civil Government. It became an independent province on October 26, 1945 by virtue of the
Commonwealth Act No. 687.
But presently, as the Bicolanos go back to redicover their beginnings, their stirred up the
trend to favor the more native name: KABIKOLAN or simply BIKOL.
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