THIS WEEK’S MILESTONES: Sept. 15 to 21

Sept. 18, 1898

Revolutionary forces staged a revolt in Naga City, then known as a Camarines Sur settlement named Ciudad de Nueva Caceres, and liberated the residents from colonial rule.

The revolutionaries, led by civil guards Elias Angeles (a Tagalog) and Felix Plazo (a Bicolano), demanded that the Spaniards surrender their arms, issue official communications to the Spanish military in Daet town in Camarines Norte province to prohibit them to enter Nueva Caceres in a hostile manner, and for the governor to hand over his power to rule the province to the revolutionaries.

A Bicol historian said that the successful uprising signaled the end of Spanish rule in the whole Bicol region.

Sept. 19, 2001

The administrative regions in Mindanao were realigned through Executive Order No. 36 signed by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In the EO, Western Mindanao (Region 9) is renamed the Zamboanga Peninsula region; Lanao del Norte and Iligan City, which used to be part of Western Mindanao, are now part of Northern Mindanao (Region 10); Southern Mindanao (Region 11) is now named Davao region; Caraga region remained the same.

The order was also in response to the inclusion of Marawi City and Basilan province to the now defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao through a plebiscite.

According to the EO, the regions were reorganized to accelerate social and economic development and improve public services.

Compiled by Kathleende Villa, Inquirer Research