Editing Negros Occidental (section)

===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" />