This week’s milestones (Dec. 11 to 17)

Dec. 11

The province of Pampanga is founded in 1571, becoming the first province in Luzon inaugurated by the Spaniards.

Dec. 12

In 1888, 21 young women of Malolos in Bulacan province submit a petition to the Governor-General, requesting permission to establish a night school.

Martial law is lifted in Maguindanao province in 2009, eight days after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo imposed it for the arrest of suspects involved in the election-linked Maguindanao massacre. It is the first time under the 1987 Constitution that a country’s leader declares martial law.

Dec. 14

The pact of Biak-na-Bato is signed in 1897 by Emilio Aguinaldo and Fernando Primo de Rivera to provisionally stop armed conflict between Filipinos and Spaniards.

Compiled by Kathleen de Villa, Inquirer Research: Sources: Historical Calendar (1521-1969),DOT, gov.ph, Inquirer Archives