Novaliches is a place that forms the northern areas of

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

, and encompasses the whole area of North Caloocan.

Etymology

The name Novaliches came from the name of the small village of Novaliches in the town of

Jérica Jérica ( ca-valencia, Xèrica) is a town in the Castellón province of Valencian Community, Spain. It is in the comarca (region) of Alto Palancia. Its population was 1,703 at the end of 2009. The town's name is based in Arabic شارقة (''š ...

, Spain. It was awarded to General

Manuel Pavía y Lacy Manuel Pavía y Lacy, 1st Marquess of Novaliches (6 July 1814 – 22 October 1896), was a Spanish marshal. Biography He was born at Granada on 6 July 1814, the son of Colonel Pavía, and after a few years at the Jesuit school in Valencia he e ...

, who served as a

Governor-General of the Philippines The Governor-General of the Philippines (Spanish: ''Gobernador y Capitán General de Filipinas''; Filipino: ''Gobernador-Heneral ng Pilipinas/Kapitan Heneral ng Pilipinas''; Japanese: ) was the title of the government executive during the colo ...

. The child Queen Isabella II bestowed on him the title "Marquez of Novaliches" for defending her against her uncle Don Carlos María Isidro Benito de Borbón, who claimed the throne of Spain which resulted in the

First Carlist War The First Carlist War was a civil war in Spain from 1833 to 1840, the first of three Carlist Wars. It was fought between two factions over the succession to the throne and the nature of the Spanish monarchy: the conservative and devolutionist ...

History

On February 2, 1854, General

was sent to

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

to serve as the

. His task was to establish a

penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...

where prisoners were given lands to develop in exchange for their freedom. The colony was given the name Hacienda Tala, and it eventually grew into a larger community. In the same year, the Alcalde Mayor (equivalient to present-day

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

) of

Bulacan Bulacan, officially the Province of Bulacan ( tl, Lalawigan ng Bulacan), is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Malolos. Bulacan was established on August 15, 1578, and part of the Me ...

petitioned to the Spanish government to incorporate the haciendas of Malinta, Piedad, and Tala into a new town. The town was to be named "Novaliches" from the title "Marquis of Novaliches" of

, which was recently recalled to Spain. On September 22, 1855, Novaliches was created as a municipality of

. Three years later, it was transferred to the Province of Tondo (later renamed Manila in 1859) until 1901, when the town was transferred again to the newly created Rizal Province during the American regime. The US Government enacted a reorganization of local government units as part of economic reforms, and Novaliches was absorbed by the neighboring town of

Caloocan Caloocan, officially the City of Caloocan ( fil, Lungsod ng Caloocan; ), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in Metropolitan Manila, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 1,661,584 people making it the fourth-most ...

on October 12, 1903, by virtue of Act No. 942 of the

Philippine Commission The Philippine Commission was the name of two bodies, both appointed by the president of the United States, to assist with governing the Philippines. The first Philippine Commission, also known as the Schurman Commission, was appointed by Preside ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Caloocan became part of the City of Greater Manila from 1942 to 1945. In July 1948, Republic Act No. 333 was signed, making

as the Capital City of the Philippines, replacing

. This necessitated the expansion of Quezon City northward, beyond the La Mesa Watershed Reservation, and encompassing half of the former town. The other half, now known as North Caloocan, remains with Caloocan, which became a city in 1962. The division of Novaliches caused Caloocan to be divided into two parts. On February 23, 1998,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Fidel V. Ramos signed Republic Act No. 8535, which would make Novaliches into its own city. 15 barangays were to be taken out from

to form the proposed new city. However, it lost in the plebiscite held in the whole of Quezon City on October 23, 1999. At present, the part of Novaliches belonging to Quezon City is divided into two Congressional Districts, which represents it in the

Lower House A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the

Congress of the Philippines The Congress of the Philippines ( fil, Kongreso ng Pilipinas, italic=unset) is the legislature of the national government of the Philippines. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, although colloquially the ...

Barangays

Education

The Main Campus of Quezon City University is located on San Bartolome, along Quirino Highway.

In popular culture

* On the debut album of Filipino rock band Rocksteddy entitled '' Tsubtsatagilidakeyn'', there is a song called "Super Nova" which pays homage to the district. The song was re-recorded in their 2017 ''Ang Album Na May Pinakamahabang Pamagat'' and was re-titled as "Supernovaliches (Re-Recorded)".

References

* {{Quezon City Quezon City Caloocan Populated places established in 1855