Bongabon, officially the Municipality of Bongabon, is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 66,839 people. It has an area of 28352.90 ha, and is the leading producer of onion in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia. Each barangay in Bongabon has its own fiesta. The town fiesta, celebrated annually on the 1st to 2nd week of April, is known as the Sibuyasan Onion Festival. Bongabon is 14 km from Palayan, 144 km from Manila, and 88 km from Baler.

History

Spanish colonial era

The Augustinian missionaries who preached Catholicism in Pampanga extended their outposts into what is now the province of Nueva Ecija by following the Rio Grande dela Pampanga. Thus, Santol (present day Barangay Santor) was part of Pantabangan and established in 1659. In 1760, Bongabon was named as a town and parish under the patronage of St. Francis of Assisi. Bongabon was the first capital of Nueva Ecija. Immigrating settlers of the community were mostly Tagalog and Ilocanos from the provinces of Ilocos Region and Pangasinan with some Kapampangans from the provinces of Pampanga and Tarlac.

Philippine revolution

When the Philippine Revolution began on 1896 to 1898 against Spain. The Philippine Revolutionary and Republican troops with the aid of Katipunero rebels invaded the municipal town of Bongabon and fought the Spanish Colonial forces and started the Siege of Bongabon. The Filipino revolutionary troops and Katipunero rebel fighters captured the municipal town after the siege forcing the Spanish troops to retreat.

American invasion era

With the outbreak of the Philippine–American War on 1899 to 1902, the town saw the arrival of American troops which fought the Filipino revolutionary troops and Katipuneros in the Battle of Bongabon on 1899. In the ensuing battle, the town was captured by the American troops.

Philippine independence

On April 28, 1949, Aurora Quezon, her daughter Maria Aurora "Baby" Quezon, then a law student at the University of Santo Tomas, her son-in-law Felipe "Philip" Buencamino (husband of "Nini" and brother-in-law of "Baby") and Quezon City Mayor Ponciano Bernardo were assassinated by Hukbalahap movement led by Luis Taruc in this town while traveling in Aurora's Buick sedan along the Baler–Bongabon Road connecting Baler with Nueva Ecija, which Aurora Quezon herself inaugurated in 1940, to open the Quezon Memorial Hospital in Baler, Aurora, hometown of Aurora and her husband Manuel Quezon, then a town of Nueva Ecija.

Geography

Barangays

Bongabon is politically subdivided into barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Climate

Demographics

Religion

The majority of the people of the municipality are Roman Catholic. The members of the Iglesia ni Cristo are growing in number and are second to the Catholics in membership. Other sects in the municipality are the Methodists, Iglesia ng Dios, Seventh-day Adventists, etc.

Economy

Tourism

Healthcare

Bongabon District Hospital, a government hospital located at Barangay Curva, Bongabon, Nueva Ecija

Education

Most are public schools from primary to secondary. Bongabon National High School is located at Barangay Sinipit, Bongabon, Nueva Ecija, Philippines. Many of the students are going to Cabanatuan to continue their college.