ANCIENT CULTURE Among all the natives of these islands, the Pangasinenses appear to the most active and

industrious, very enegetic in prroducing profit and knowing how to make a scanty capital increase in all possible manner in spite weariness, wrote of the mayor of Pangasinan in 1819.

Hundreds of years before the mayor wrote these now famous lines, the region known as Pangasinan is believed to have been inhabited by groups of seafaring people. According to the respected historian Rosario Mendoza Cortes, the first settlers along the coast of Pangasinan were probably Malays who migrated to these islands from Java and Sumatra, sometime around the first century. These men and women brought with them an already well-developed culture as evidenced by their iron tools and weapons as well as their irrigations systems and their art of pottery and weaving. Indeed, while some historians argue that these Southern Mongoloid people arrived in small groups from their ancestral home off the northeastern coast of India, many anthropologists believed that they came as a wave of migrants from the South.

In 1964, archaeologists working near Balingasay, a small village to the west of Bolinao, unearthed artifacts, some of which date back more than 1,000 years. The finds included brown-glazed ceramic jars of the Sung dynasty, blue and white bowls and saucers of the Ming dynasty (15th-16th Century) as well as working blades, iron spear points and ancient stone tools dating back to before the Christian era. Later excavations along the banks of the Balingasay River, also unearthed an ancient burial site containing pottery and coins dating back to the thirteenth Century Chinese dynasties.

Even more exciting was the discovery of elephant bones on Cabauyan Island, off the coast of Alaminos. These particular elephants were indigenous to Taiwan and Northern China, suggesting that during the ice epoch, when the sea level was lowered, the Philippines was linked to Taiwan and other parts of Southeast Asia by a series of land bridges.

FINE ARCHITECTURE

From its charming old villages to its imposing churches and fine government offices, Pangasinan has architectural merit in abundance. As far back as the 17th Century, visitors to this province were much impressed by the buildings made of bamboo and latter wood, which were typically raised above the ground. The houses and dwellings of all these natives are generally set upon stakes high above the ground, wrote one 17th Century observer. The rooms are smalland the roofs low-covered and roofed with nipa palm leaves.

Today in the barrios of San Carlos and further west around Agno and Bugallon, same style of houses were made of apitong timber and nipa with batalan or bamboo platforms at the rearm and shutters cracked and faded from the sun, the winds, and the rains.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cortes, Rosario Mendoza. (1974). Pangasinan, 1572-1800. New Day Publishers. Volume 1 Davies, Ben. (October 1997). Pangasinan: A Journey Into the Philippines. LUNA Publications Ltd.

Pangasinan Provincial Development and Physical Framework Plan

Pangasinan is one of the four provinces in Region 1 and is the gateway to the Ilocos and Cordillera Administrative Regions. It is 170 kilometres north of Manila and about 50 kilometers southwest of Baguio City. Being one of the largest provinces of the country, Pangasinan covers a total land area of 536, 818 hectares, which is almost one-half (41.8%) of the total region 1 area and 1.8% of the total Philippine area. It is composed of 44 municipalities, 4 cities, 1,364 barangays and six (6) Congressional Distritcs. Lingayen is the provincial capital.

Pangasinan has the largest population among the four provinces in Region 1 and the third most populous province in the country with 2.78 million population as of 2010 census. The average annual population growth rate of Pangasinan for CYs 2000 to 2007 was 1.15% which is lower by 1.26 percentage point fron the CYs 1995-2000 average annual population growth rate of 2.41%. If the provincial population continues to grow at constant rate (1.15%), its population is expected to double in 60 years or by the year 2067, a little bit faster than the Regions doubling time of 63 years but slower compare to the countrys doubling time of only 34 years.

The province has a land area that is generally level to undulating to rolling with hilly and mountainous portions concentrated in the western and eastern part. Seventy six (76%) percent (406, 395 hectares) of the provinces land area are classified as Alienable and Disposable (A&D) lands while 24% (130,423 hectares) are considered forest lands. The A & D lands are found mostly in the central and eastern part of the province while the forestlands are mostly concentrated in southwest and northeast portions.

Ninety two percent (92%) or 373,720 hectares of the A&D lands are agricultural land which consist of cropland (64%), pastureland (33%) and aquaculture (3%). The remaining non-agricultural A&D lands are mostly for built-up areas.

Forestlands, on the otherhand are sub-divided into production and protection forests. The production forest, which constitutes around 52% of the total forest area, are used for grazing, agro-forestry and resettlement while the protection forest (48%) covers the National Integrated Protected Area System (NIPAS) and NON-NIPAS. NIPAS areas include the Manleluag Spring Protected Landscape and the Hundred Islands National Park while the non NIPAS are the watershed areas, mossy forest, virgin forest and mangrove areas.

Indeed, the province is endowed with rich natural resources which when properly used and developed will have a significant contribution not just to the region but to the countrys economy, as well.

It is drained by nine (9) major rivers and watershed areas which are valuable water supply for irrigation purposes. The coastal areas of Pangasinan, particularly the Lingayen Gulf which isone of the countrys richest ecosysytems, provide food, income and livelihood to the coastal communities and a natural attraction for tourism.

However, the province is prone to several natural hazards. Pangasinan is one of the most flood prone areas in the country due to its geographical location and the presence of vast rivers, most of which are silted, that contribute to the flooding of low lying areas. Some of the portions of the provinces agricultural areas are prone to rain-induced landslide and liquefaction and some of its protection forest in the Eastern part is highly susceptible to earthquake-induced landslide and erosion.

The coastal areas of Pangasinan, particularly the Lingayen Gulf, are a major and rich fishing ground in Northern Luzon. Encompassing a total length of more than 285 kms., which is 40.34% of the regions total length of coastline, and teeming with about 1,711 species of fishes, the coastal resources not just provide the primary and immediate sources of livelihood of coastal communities, but also gave a significant contribution to the economy.

The Lingayen Gulf has become one of the most exploited fishing grounds. With open access to the sea, one can easily engage in fishing, thus, it has been declared as an environmentally critical area due to its dangerous state of degradation brought about by overfishing, destruction of critical habitats, coastal/beach erosion and pollution and further aggravated by the proliferation of informal setllers along the coastal areas. About 29% of the total informal settlers in the province lived along coastal areas, which if goes unabated, will lead to the breakdown of coastal waters ability to support present and future economies of those dependent on it. The province is also transversed by faults which set limitations to land development.

Moreover, tourist arrivals in the province continue to increase from 56,505 in 2007 to 323,487 in 2010 posting a remarkable four (4) year average growth rate of 104.322% making the province now the leading tourist destination in Region 1.

The provinces advantage are the rich cultural, historical, religious as well as man-made and natural tourist attractions that complements the annual celebration of numerous popular festivals such as the Pistay Dayat, Bangus Festival and Hundred Islands Festival. However, tourism industry in Pangasinan is growing mostly in coastal areas whereas beach resorts are now numerous. But few issues are rising according to the Local Tourism Department such as not fully developed tourist attractions and limited tourism clusters, products and services, few accommodation facilities and services that conforms to international standards.

The unabated westward expansion towards the coastal areas were observed along the major transportation routes where setllements are concentrated. These are noted in Dagupan City, Binmaley. Lingayen, Labrador and Sual, where some of the space were already converted for commercial, residential or tourism use. Some major industries and tourism facilities are lined-up in the coastal zone which is delineated as the key fishery development and tourism zone.

With the existing situation, and the increasing trend in population, urbanization and settlement patterns brought about by economic growth in the urban centers, impacts of population pressure on production lands will surely create invariable changes to this land uses.

Coastal Resource Management (CRM) Plan

Lingayen, the capital town of the province of Pangasinan is a coastal municipality which lies along the Lingayen Gulf. Its coastline measures about 11.5 km and its rivers traverse across 18 barangays.

The fishing grounds of Lingayen were once rich with various important commercial fishes and invertebrates that served as the source of food, income and livelihood of the coastal communities. However, over the last 20 year, the coastal and riverine waters and resources of the municipality have come under increasingly severe threats due to over exploitation and indiscriminate human activities such as overfishing, destructive fishing activities, destruction of mangrove habitats, pollution, siltation from denuded watersheds and coastal erosion. Thiis critical condition was further aggravated by increasing population, poverty and unemployment, natural calamity, weak linkages and instittutional arrangement, lack of law enforcement and inadequate support services.

However, the natural component of environment considered its socio-ecological significance particularly the cultural importance of environment. This folllows the comprehensive approach to environmental management in Philippine laws and regulations.

The socio-ecological significance, therefore, refers to natural and cultural items regarded as a constitutent part of the cultural importance of environment. The socio-ecological significance is defined in terms of historical, achitectural,

anthropological or landscape features. Sites or areas provide information on the society and its interaction with the environment, a source of national pride, a feeling of cultural identity and avenues for education, recreation and tourism.

In addition, vandalism and the lack of public awareness on the importance of such areas hinder measures to preserve cultural resources. Under existing laws, protection of important sites is limited due to a number of reasons such as lack of personnel, funding and support materials. Clear guidelines and criteria have not yet been formulated to prevent adverse impacts on such resources. Thus, there is an immediate need to integrate and promote the preservation historical, anthropological and archaelogical resources in other planning processes before these cultural wealth are lost.