BATAAN

People and Culture

Discover the magic of the Philippines' Third Region with this amazing historical and cultural province, only an hour by ferryboat across the bay from Manila. Until recently not a traditional tourist destination, Bataan is now proving to be a tourist haven boasting a multitude of exciting places to visit, and interesting things to do. The province has much to offer - a rich culture and history, the beauty of unspoilt beaches, and a warm hospitality that is truly Filipino.

Geography

Bataan is the peninsula in the western part of Luzon that shields the Manila Bay on its south and east from the South China Sea on its west. Zambales and Pampanga form its boundaries on the north.

Political Subdivision

Balanga City, 124 km. from Manila, is the provincial capital. The twelve towns lying in its coast integrade 238 barangays and 11 cultural minorities or sitios.

Climate

The climate consists of two distinct seasons: dry from November to April and wet during the rest of the year.

Population

The population of Bataan for the year 2000 was 552,000 based on the growth rate of 2.12% in Central Luzon.

Language / Dialect

Tagalog is the main language and is widely used, followed by Pampango and Ilocano. English is used mostly as the medium of transaction in business.

Major Industries

Bataan remains basically an agricultural province in spite of the rapid industrialization during the last decade. Mariveles is the site of an export-processing zone that accounts for heavy industry in the province. Cattle and carabao fattening, hog raising, and poultry industry, especially broilers and ducks and egg production, are some of the promising livelihood programs in the province.

History

The province of Bataan was established in 1754 by Governor-General Pedro Manuel Arandia out of territories belonging to Pampanga and the corregimiento of Mariveles which, at the time, included Maragondon, Cavite across the Manila Bay. In 1647, Dutch naval forces landed in country in an attempt to seize the islands from Spain. The forces massacred the people of Abucay in Bataan. In the late 1700s, Limahong, a Chinese pirate used Bataan as the launching point for his conquest of Luzon, which was unsuccessful.

World War II March 1943: General view showing houses burning as the result of Japanese bombing raid in Bataan, the Philippine Islands. Bataan featured prominently during World War II. Prior to the 1941 Japanese invasion, the US Army stored nearly 1,000,000 US gallons (3,800 m3) of gasoline here. Shortly after the Japanese Army invaded the country in December 1941, the combined forces of Filipino and US forces were being gradually overrun and General Douglas MacArthur decided to make Bataan the site of a last stand. (See Battle of the Philippines (1941-42).) On January 7, 1942, Japanese forces started the siege of the peninsula. On April 3 the Japanese began an all-out assault on the American and Filipino troops left on the peninsula. Bataan fell on April 9 and the Bataan Death March began. About 70,000 captured American and Filipino soldiers were forced to march more than a hundred kilometers from Bataan to Tarlac.