History of Cabiao, Nueva Ecija

 Cabiao derived its name from its vandalized malay origin kabyawan (gilingan[same malay meaning] in previous malay form: karyawan- meaning writer at present) meaning grinding tools that used for crushing. The abundance of sugar during the pre-spanish era is evident in a wide area of kabyaw including the area going to the foot of Mount Arayat. The kabyawan became familiar to the neighboring places due to the concentration of kabyawan in the place where it was located and was identified as Kabyawan and later shortened to “Kabyaw” and eventually altered the spelling due to the influence of the foreign alphabet letters. The used of kabyawan then is prevalent among the natives constituting mainly the ancient tribes of tagalogs that hails from Bulacan and capampangan of which they came in waves of migration from mainland malay origin as evident from their language similarity.

The Kabyawan tools might have been brought by the exploring Malays and later improved by the natives settling in the island of Luzon however there are findings that most of the antiquated wooden kabyawan tools at present can be found in Ilocos where the early Sumatran and melanesian explorers had embarked earlier than the Malays. Similarly, during that period, the natives of the mountain province whose origin is from mainland China might have been the one responsible in introducing the said crushing tools which we know now as the KABYAWAN. The settlement that has been known as Sinipit, Plasinan, Pantalan, Pinaglamoan, Kandumpa, Kambabalo, Longalong, Mayayade, Tinalan, Makabaklay, Saklang and Palanas were words and terms taken from malay and the tribal dialect in existence during that period.

Cabiao as termed today was a just balangay of the once prosperous of empire of the campampangan settlement called Candaba, as it was discovered by the exploring Spanish conquistadores in 1590. The visita of Cabiao was perhaps established somewhere between 1765 and 1767 by the Jesuit Missionary before they were sent back to Spain under the order of King Charles III of Spain to recall all the Society of Jesus religious order to return to Spain thereby banishing them from all the spanish dominions. Cabiao gain its full township of Pampanga in 1797 under the term of Governor General Rafael Maria de Aguilar y Ponce de Leon* with the recommendation of the returning order of the Augustinian in the Province of Pampanga and elevates the Visita of St. John Nepomucene that was established by the Jesuits into a regular Parish Church. It was established as one of the municipality of Nueva Ecija in February 9,1848 upon the order issued by Narciso Claveria Y Zaldua and upon the thorough evaluation and reccommendation made by the previous Governor General namely

The growth of Cabiao during that time maybe attributed to its vast marsh and inland water that serves as inland fishery of the area. The Poblacion comprising the three pillars of Spanish governance of the Spaniard namely the Casa Municipal, Casa dela Iglesia and Casa Judicial were erected in 1838 under the term of Don Josef Kabigting as the Gobernadorcillo ( the present location of the church, the central school and the intervening residential area between the central school and the church).

The desire of the populace of Cabiao to be free from Spanish domination and tyranny resulted in the uprising in September 2, 1896. Numbering around 700 men(461 listed in the Tablet of Heroes in the Municipal Compound), the townsfolk of Cabiao and the Cabiao Brass Band under the leadership of their Capitan Municipal Mariano Nuñez Llanera together with the people of the neighboring towns of Arayat, Deliquente (San Antonio) & Jaen led the siege against the colonizing Spaniards stationed at the Factoria of San Isidro. These event marked as the First Cry of Nueva Ecija.

During the Philippine-American war, Cabiao was one of the fiercely battled terrain of the American forces in pursuit of General Aguinaldo’s Forces however most of the populated areas of Cabiao have been saved from the encounter. General Pio del Pilar hold out in the marshes of San Vicente and Sta. Rita to delay the intruding Forces of General Elwell Stephen Otis.