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Oriental and occidental

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Forum' started by PatO, Mar 31, 2023.

  1. PatO

    PatO DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer Veteran Marines

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    Seems as the Philippines use Oriental and Occidental instead of east and west on Islands with two provinces. Anyone know the reason?
    (note: not losing any sleep over this)
     
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  2. Crystalhead

    Crystalhead ADMIN Admin ★ Forum Moderator ★ ★ Global Mod ★ ★ Moderator ★ ★★ Forum Sponsor ★★ ★ No Ads ★ Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer Veteran Army

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    Actually they are called Negros East and Negros West. The terms Oriental and Occidental are like two sides of a Latin coin. Oriental is derived from “Oriens” which simply means East. Given that, it’s not hard to surmise that Occidental means West, in Latin the word is “Occidens”. The country's name in other languages is more often than not based on either Filipinas or Philippines, both ultimately rooted in the Latin Philippinae. Language And with that our Latin lesson comes to a close.
     
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  3. jimeve

    jimeve DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer Veteran Army

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    The Spanish brought the name Negros meaning black and Occidental and Oriental meaning East and West. Assuming the folk of Negros Island have black skin.
     
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  4. Notmyrealname

    Notmyrealname DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    The Spanish observed natives with black skin and then chose the name for the island.

    For anyone interested, I copied this from Wikipedia (I like to write first hand but, contrary to my looks, I was not born at the time).

    Negros was originally called Buglas, an old Hiligaynon word thought to mean "cut off", as it is believed that the island was separated from a larger landmass by rising waters during the last ice age. [I think they mean as the ice age ended and sea levels rose back about 120 metres - so, if not for that we could now drive between many islands and save time and ferry fees, plus probably air-conditioning costs]. Among its earliest inhabitants were the aboriginal Ata, one of several aboriginal Negrito ethnic groups dispersed throughout Southeast Asia that possesses a unique culture. The westernmost portions of the island soon fell under the nominal rule of the Kedatuan of Madja-as from the neighboring islands of Panay and Guimaras, while the easternmost areas were influenced by the Rajahnate of Cebu from neighboring Cebu Island. [So it seems Negros was the ham in the sandwich of Panay and Cebu].

    Upon arriving on the island in April 1565, the Spanish colonizers called the land Negros, after the dark-skinned natives they observed. Two of the earliest native settlements, Binalbagan and Ilog, became towns in 1573 and 1584, respectively, while other settlements of the period included Hinigaran, Bago, Marayo (now Pontevedra), Mamalan (now Himamaylan), and Candaguit (now a sitio of San Enrique).

    After appointing encomenderos for the island, Miguel López de Legazpi placed Negros under the jurisdiction of the governor of Oton in Panay. In 1734, however, the island became a military district with Ilog as its first capital. The seat of government was later transferred to Himamaylan until Bacolod became the capital in 1849. In 1865, Negros and its outlying minor islands along with Siquijor was converted into a politico-military province.

    In 1890, the island was officially partitioned into the present-day provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental. The Spanish Governor, D. Isidro Castro y Cinceros, surrendered to the Negros Revolutionaries, led by Aniceto Lacson and Juan Araneta, on 6 November 1898.  General Miller appointed Aniceto, Governor of the Island in March 1899.

    From 3 to 6 November 1898, the Negrense peoples rose in revolt against the local Spanish colonial government headed by politico-military governor Colonel Isidro de Castro. The Spaniards decided to surrender upon seeing armed troops marching in a pincer movement towards Bacolod. The revolutionaries, led by General Juan Araneta from Bago and General Aniceto Lacson from Talisay, bore fake arms consisting of rifles carved out of palm fronds and cannons of rolled bamboo mats painted black. By the afternoon of 6 November, Col. de Castro signed the Act of Capitulation, thus ending centuries of Spanish colonial rule in Negros Occidental.

    In memory of this event, every November 5 is observed as a special non-working holiday in the province [I didn't know that - I assumed any fireworks were for Guy] through Republic Act No. 6709, signed by President Corazon Aquino on 10 February 1989.
     
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