Editing Negros Occidental (section)

==History==
{{see also|Negros Revolution|Negros famine|Republic of Negros}}

===Spanish colonial era===
[[File:Negros Revolution surrender document.jpg|left|thumb|150px|Last page of the ''Acta de Capitulación'' ({{langx|en|[[Surrender (military)|Surrender Document]]}}).]]
[[Negros (Philippines)|Negros]] was originally known to the natives as "Buglas", meaning "cut off" in old Hiligaynon. When the Spaniards arrived in April 1565, they named it "Negros" because of the dark-skinned natives they found. Two of the earliest native settlements were [[Binalbagan, Negros Occidental|Binalbagan]] and [[Ilog, Negros Occidental|Ilog]] which later became towns in 1572 and 1584, respectively. Other settlements were [[Hinigaran, Negros Occidental|Hinigaran]], [[Bago, Negros Occidental|Bago]], Marayo (now [[Pontevedra, Negros Occidental|Pontevedra]]), Mamalan (now [[Himamaylan]]) and Candaguit (now a sitio of [[San Enrique, Negros Occidental|San Enrique]]).

Ilog was made the first capital of the province in 1743. This was later transferred to Himamaylan. [[Bacolod]] finally became the capital in 1849. The island was divided into Negros Occidental and [[Negros Oriental]] in 1890. The two provinces were briefly unified as the independent [[Cantonal Republic of Negros]], with [[Bacolod]] as the capital on November 27, 1898.

===America invasion era===
[[File:Jose de Luzuriaga, Filipino Teacher (1910).jpg|left|thumb|240x240px|[[José de Luzuriaga]], 2nd [[Governor of Negros Occidental]] after Melecio Severino]]
The  [[Cantonal Republic of Negros]] became a [[protectorate]] of the United States until 1901, when the republic was dissolved, with the two provinces annexed back to the Philippines. During the succeeding decades between 1901 and the 1930s, Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental were both under [[Insular Government]] of the [[United States|United States of America]] as with the rest of the nation and later under the Government of the [[Commonwealth of the Philippines]]. Economic growth continued especially with Philippine sugar having a part of the US market. The socio-economic lives of the island of Negros, from the 1950s up to the late 1980s, depended as before, mainly on the [[sugar industry]].

From 1914 to 1927, parts of Western Negros hosted several newly established settlements which became cities connected by railroads constructed to flow towards several "sugar centrals" which were processing the extremely sweet raw sugar canes grown in Negros' volcanic soil and farmed by several "Haciendas". These haciendas littered the countryside as the central sugar mills eventually grew to become full pledged towns and cities: chief among which were Ilog, Hinigaran, La Carlota, [[Silay]], Pulupandan, [[Bacolod]], [[San Carlos City, Negros Occidental|San Carlos]] and Bais<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.academia.edu/30685096|title=A Queen Dies Slowly: The Rise and Decline of Iloilo City&quot; in 'Philippine Social History: Global Trade and Local Transformations' edited by Alfred W. McCoy and Ed. C. de Jesus (c. 1982), pp. 297-360|first=Alfred W.|last=McCoy|via=academia.edu}}</ref> 

Western Negros also saw massive immigration from [[Panay]] as the Spanish, Chinese, and French mestizos who administered the Haciendas<ref>Robustiano Echauz, Sketches of the Island of Negros (Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Center for International Studies, Southeast Asia Program, 1978), pp 73-74</ref> imported laborers from Panay island to foster the farming of Negros' sugar plantations and thereby displacing the Cebuano speaking natives.<ref>Estadisticas de los Terrenos Agricolas, La Carlota and Hinigaran, Negros Occidental, 1897, Varias Provincias, PNA.</ref>

===Japanese occupation era===
During [[World War II]], both Negros provinces were invaded by [[Empire of Japan|Imperial Japanese forces]], resorting many residents to flee to the inland mountains.<ref name=Mills>Mills, S.A., 2009, Stranded in the Philippines, Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, {{ISBN|9781591144977}}</ref> Negros Island was liberated by combined Philippine & American troops with the local Negrense guerillas attacking the Japanese on August 6, 1945. The 7th, 73rd, 74th and 75th Infantry Divisions of the Philippine Commonwealth Army were established from January 3, 1942, to June 30, 1946, and the 7th Constabulary Regiment of the Philippine Constabulary was active from October 28, 1944, to June 30, 1946, at the Military General Headquarters in Negros Occidental.{{clarify|date=April 2016}} They started the engagements of the Anti-Japanese Imperial Military Operations in Negros from 1942 to 1945 against the Japanese Imperial forces.{{explain|date=April 2016}}

[[File:Hawiian Philippine Company Loco 1984 (3212583114).jpg|thumb|Hawaiian-Philippine Company Locomotive No. 1 in year 1984 at the Hawaiian-Philippine Company, one of the oldest sugar centrals in the province which is still operational in the present. It is the only mill in the country still hauling sugarcane using a [[steam locomotive]].]]

===Philippine independence===
==== The Negros Famine ====
{{main|Negros famine}}

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.<ref name="Manapat1991">{{Cite book |title=Some are smarter than others : the history of Marcos' crony capitalism |last=Ricardo. |first=Manapat |date=1991 |publisher=Aletheia Publications |isbn=9719128704 |location=New York |oclc=28428684}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://martiallawmuseum.ph/magaral/the-philippines-during-the-martial-law/|title=Martial Law Museum|access-date=2018-05-27|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="WilliamBranigin19860328">{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/03/28/marcos-circle-said-to-skim-1-billion-from-sugar-sales/b0ae096b-12a5-44b1-94ac-27ec0a9452c5/ |title=Marcos Circle Said to Skim $1 Billion From Sugar Sales |last=Branigin |first=William |date=1986-03-28 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=2018-05-27 |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> 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,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1985/0807/oros.html|title=Business in Philippines' sugar capital sours, leaving communists to prosper|date=1985-08-07|work=Christian Science Monitor|access-date=2018-05-27|issn=0882-7729}}</ref><ref name="Manapat1991" /> and about a million ''sacadas'' and their families in Negros suffered in what would later become known as the "Negros Famine."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/723654/i-saw-martial-law-up-close-and-personal|title=I saw martial law up close and personal|last=Quimpo|first=Susan F.|access-date=2018-05-27|language=en}}</ref> The percentage of malnourished infants eventually went up to as high as 78%.<ref>{{cite web|title= New boom in Negros Occidental|url= http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Weekender&title=new-boom-in-negros-occidental&id=107972|author= Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman| website=[[BusinessWorld]] |date= May 15, 2015}}</ref> Negros Occidental's problem on malnourished infants gained global prominence among the press in 1985, as they ran covers on both, local and international newspapers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.revrev.com/thennow01|title=Revolution Revisited - Then & Now|website=www.revrev.com|access-date=March 20, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title = Masagana 99, Nutribun, and Imelda's 'edifice complex' of hospitals| url= http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/274389/lifestyle/healthandwellness/masagana-99-nutribun-and-imelda-s-edifice-complex-of-hospitals|author = [[GMA News]] |date= September 20, 2012}}</ref> 

==== Maricalum mining disaster ====
The Province has a history of problems with [[Environmental effects of mining|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, 1982<ref>[http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/11/09/mining-related-deaths-destruction-haunt-celebration-of-mine-safety-week/ Bulatlat.com] &nbsp;; Mineral Policy Institute, [http://www.mpi.org.au/2014/08/chronology-of-major-tailings-dam-failures/  Chronology of Major Tailings Dam Failures]</ref>

==== The Escalante Massacre====
{{main|Escalante Massacre}}
During the 1970s and 1980s, [[Red-tagging in the Philippines|atrocities]] against [[Sakadas|peasants]] were committed, with one such harrowing example being the [[Escalante Massacre]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ucanews.com/story-archive/?post_name=/1985/09/11/ucan-special-report-whats-behind-the-negros-famine-crisis&post_id=33345|title=ucan special report whats behind the negros famine crisis - ucanews.com|website=ucanews.com|access-date=March 20, 2018}}</ref>

==== 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====
{{see also|Negros Island Region|Negros Island killings|Sagay massacre}}
Towards the end of 1987, after the successful overthrow of the [[History of the Philippines (1965–86)|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 the 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 due to the 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.<ref name="LCP" />

===Contemporary===
On May 29, 2015, the [[Negros Island Region]] was formed when Negros Occidental and its capital was separated from [[Western Visayas]] and transferred to the new region along with [[Negros Oriental]], when President [[Benigno Aquino III]] signed ''Executive Order No. 183, s. 2015''.<ref name="GovPH-EO183">{{cite web|title=Executive Order No. 183; Creating a Negros Island Region and for Other Purposes|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2015/05/29/executive-order-no-183-s-2015/|website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines|access-date=July 8, 2016|location=Malacañan Palace, Manila, Philippines|date=May 29, 2015}}</ref> But it was abolished on August 9, 2017, when President [[Rodrigo Duterte]] revoked ''Executive Order No. 183, s. 2015'' through the signage of ''Executive Order No. 38'', citing the reason of the lack of funds to fully establish the NIR according to [[Benjamin Diokno]], the [[Secretary of Budget and Management (Philippines)|Secretary of Budget and Management]], reverting Negros Occidental and its capital back into Western Visayas.<ref>{{cite news|title=Duterte dissolves Negros Island Region|url=http://www.rappler.com/nation/178175-duterte-dissolves-negros-island-region|access-date=August 10, 2017|work=[[Rappler]]|date=August 9, 2017}}</ref> However, with the Philippines' [[Rodrigo Duterte#Presidency (2016–2022)|current presidential administration]] promoting [[Federalism in the Philippines|federalism]], the idea of the twin provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental reunified into one federal state/region is already in the talks of local provincial politicians, with additional support from the native [[Negrense]]s.  There is also a suggestion, jointly approved by the provincial governors, that Negros Occidental along with Negros Oriental, be renamed with their pre-colonial names as "''Buglas Nakatundan''" and "''Buglas Sidlakan''" respectively, with Negros, as a federal state, be named as "''Negrosanon Federated Region''", due to the [[negative racial connotation|Negro]] associated with the name "''Negros''".<ref>{{cite news|title=2 governors push Negros Island state|url=http://www.sunstar.com.ph/bacolod/local-news/2018/03/26/2-governors-push-negros-island-state-595581|newspaper=[[Sun.Star]]|author=Teresa D. Ellera|date=March 26, 2018|access-date=April 2, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Governors want Negros federal state|url=https://www.philstar.com/the-freeman/region/2018/03/27/1800753/governors-want-negros-federal-state|newspaper=[[The Philippine Star]]|author=Juancho R. Gallarde|date=March 27, 2018|access-date=April 2, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Negros governors unite for Negros Island federal region|url=https://www.ndb-online.com/march2618/negros-governors-unite-negros-island-federal-state|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180328203532/http://www.ndb-online.com/march2618/negros-governors-unite-negros-island-federal-state|url-status=usurped|archive-date=March 28, 2018|publisher=The Negros Daily Bulletin|date=March 26, 2018|access-date=May 31, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Push for Negros Island as one federal region continues|url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1035781|publisher=The Philippine News Agency|author=Nanette Guadalquiver|date=May 19, 2018|access-date=May 31, 2018}}</ref>