Proudly Singing the Nueva Ecija March

1994. I clearly remember Ma’am Alba, my first grade teacher, teaching the entire class the Nueva Ecija March as a way of showing our pride as Novo Ecijanos. At first, I thought it was a mere school requirement as part of our music subject, but as I grew up, I learned that there are indeed gazillions of reasons why being a Novo Ecijano is worth boasting about.

Firsts. In elementary, we learned that Nueva Ecija was one of the first eight provinces in the country to fight the Spaniards into a revolution. We’re on the Philippine flag, symbolized by one of the eight rays of the sun!

San Isidro, a 2^nd class municipality, served as the first capital of the country as declared by General Emilio Aguinaldo after the Americans captured Malolos, Bulacan.

This province, having been one of the first centers of trade even before the Spaniards came to conquer, was also one of the two declared countries in the archipelago (long story; just visit the link: http://tl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nueva_Ecija). Can anyone verify this though?

The last time I heard, Muñoz Science City is also the first and only science city in the country, and second in Asia.

You may be passing on one of Nueva Ecija’s sons’ legacy without knowing it. EDSA, named after Epifanio de los Santos, was our very first governor!

Come to think of it. My mass communication professor, Prof. Ramon Valmonte, is also the seventh generation of the very first gobernadorcillo of Gapan in 1747. He’s also from the first batch of communication graduates from Ateneo de Manila University, and the first in Central Luzon to have a Certificate of Proficiency from the Commission on Higher Education-Region III which could be used in lieu of a master’s degree. Cool huh?

Mosts. Nueva Ecija is the Rice Bowl of the Philippines due to its rice production, which is more abundant than in any other provinces. It’s the largest province in Central Luzon, and also the province with the most numbers of cities in the region.

Palayan City, the province’s capital (I prefer Cabanatuan City, though), is also the smallest city in the Philippines in terms of population density.

The plot of the Hollywood film The Great Raid in which Cesar Montano was a cast was also based on the history of Talavera, Nueva Ecija. Reading your history book should make you realize that our province took a lead role on our country’s march to freedom.

Nueva Ecija is a center not only of agricultural trade but also of culture and history. There are too many bragging rights to list here so try searching for other facts and share them in the comment section.

Anyway, here is the lyrics to the Nueva Ecija March for those who can still sing it but don’t know the words. I’d like to post a video of myself singing it, but my memory can only hum me the tune of the first stanza. There's also a video at the end.

Sa ubod nitong Luzon ay may lupang hinirang

Sa likas niyang kagandahan ay walang kapantay

Dito ang bukirin na pinag-aanihan

...Ng gintong butil ng buhay na pagkain ng tanan.

Isang lalawigan sa puso at damdamin

Pinagtali ng maalab at dakilang mithiin

Dito ang balana'y sa pusong magiting

Na patnubay at sagisag ng banal na layunin.

Aming Nueva Ecija, ang loob mo'y tibayan

Sa landas ng pitak ng pagbabagong buhay

Taglayin sa puso ang dakilang aral

Ng mga bayaning naghandog ng buhay.

Aming Nueva Ecija, sa iyong pagsisikap

May gantimpala ka sa pagdating ng oras

Aming Nueva Ecija, hayo na't ikalat

Ang mga silahis ng iyong pangarap.