The Ilocanos started migrating to Zambales in 1837. Two groups arrived that year: one settled in barrio Alasiis, another in barrio Pamasirauan. In 1838, Ilocanos moved to barrio Bobolon, and others to Sindol. In 1843, fourteen barangays from Ilocos Norte and Sur settled in Aguiti near Uguit town, which they named San Marcelino. Alasiis, Bobolon and Sindol became barrios of Cabangaan, with their mother church in Iba. Pamasirauan and San Marcelino became barrios of Uguit under the religious jurisdiction of Subic.

By 1842, Alasiis comprised five barangays of industrious inhabitants who grew plenty of palay, and some indigo and cotton for their cloth dyeing and weaving industry. Four years later, the barrio has grown to seven barangays. On 22 February 1846, the barrio people petitioned to hire a teacher for their schoolboys so that they would not have to walk to Cabangaan for their education.

The approval of the petition came at the end of a memorandum from the Zambales Alcayde Mayor Jose Rodrigues to Governor General Narciso Claveria recommending the creation of a new town comprising the three Ilocano barrios of Cabangaan. Claveria approved the inclusion of Pamasirauan on 11 July 1846, and that of San Marcelino on 01 October 1846. Henceforth, San Narciso comprised the five Ilocano barrios of Alasiis, Bobolon, Sindol Pamasirauan and San Marcelino. With the creation of San Narciso, Sindol folks were asked to move closer to Bobolon, and the Alasiis residents to transfer their church, convent and town hall to a place called Bangcal. In 1848, Alasiis had grown to ten barangays. It was not only time for San Narciso town to seek separation from the civil and religious jurisdiction of Iba but also for barrio Alasiis to secede from the union and stand on its own.

On 12 May 1849, Lieutenant Governor Antonio Blanco issued a Superior Decree granting independence to the barrios. This left Alasiis as San Narciso town all by itself. The parish of San Sebastian was also created on that same date. Archbishop Jose Aranguren appointed Fr. Alberto Serrano de Santa Ana of the Order of the Augustinian Recoletos as interim parish priest, and this was approved by Claveria in his power as Vice Royal Patron. Thus, 12 May 1849 was truly the foundation day of Alasiis as San Narciso as civil town and a parish. Don Fruto Apolinario, who was the first town head as Teniente Absoluto in 1846, was elected as the first Gobernadorcillo of San Narciso in 1849.

During the period 1849 to 1898, there were changes in the terms of governance of the gobernadorcillos. Initially, they were elected for one-year terms, and later in the 1860s bi- annually. In 1893, they were mandated to serve four-year terms with the title to Capitan Municipal.

The last gobernadorcillo (1891-1893) was D. Cipriano Farrales. Only three were elected Capitan Municipal: D. Juan Flordeliza (1894-1895), D. Rufino Fernandez (1896-1897) and D. Vicente Posadas (1898-1905). 1898 was a turbulent year when former Gobernadorcillos, past and incumbent cabezas de barangay and other principales were arrested, imprisoned and tortured for their alleged membership in the Katipunan, and twelve were executed – the Doce Martires. The first decade of the American regime saw radical changes in the political environment in Zambales.

By virtue of Act No. 945 San Narciso absorbed San Felipe, and other towns were similarly merged in January 1904. This consolidation was marked by discouragement, indifference and apathy in the affected towns. On 08 January 1908, Executive Order No. 1 restored San Felipe to its former standing as town, getting back its own territory. Both San Narciso and San Felipe regained their previous statures as independent towns. With the changes of governance under the Americans, the town’s economic, social, cultural and political environment underwent transformation.

The schism of the Church as a result of the Philippine Revolution greatly affected the religious fabric of San Narciso. The great divide was reflected in the construction of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente house of worship across the town plaza during the years when almost all the Roman Catholic parishes had no wardens. The Americans brought with them the Protestant faith, and the Methodist chapel soon rose in the plaza neighborhood. San Narciso’s social and cultural life was transformed by the introduction of a new system of education with English as medium of instruction. Three Gabaldon school houses were built in 1911-1913: the West, North and East elementary schools. The first set of graduates of the elementary schools became the teachers for several succeeding generations of pupils. Those who could afford to enroll in high school went to Iba until the Valdez family established the Zambales Academy (ZA) in 1932.

For years, ZA offered collegiate courses, and many of its college graduates became teachers in the elementary schools. Other high school graduates went to Manila to pursue higher learning in various professions. In the earlier years of the American regime, there were pensionados who were sent to study in the United States. After the Second World War, the Zambales Commercial High School was established by the Abiva family and other prominent community members. This was bought by the Columbans in the 1960s to become the Magsaysay Memorial Institute (College later or MMC) offering various courses of study for the ambitious youth of the town and the province.

The relocation of the more-than-a-century old Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA) brought male and female cadets from all over the country to San Narciso, and opened a different career choice for high school graduates of the town and the province. It also fostered peripheral businesses here: boarding places, eateries and sundry services for cadets on week-end furloughs.

The political life of the town radically transformed. Whereas, under the Spaniards, suffrage was limited only to the principalia or men of property and who can speak and read in Spanish, it became a universal right under the American regime, although for some years, the women were not allowed to vote.

The governance came under several political climates: the early years under the Philippines commissions (1899-1935), the Commonwealth regime (1935-1941), the intervening Japanese regime (1941-1945), the Second Republic (1946-1972), the Martial Law regime (1972-1986), and the post-EDSA People Power republic limned by the 1987 Constitution (1986 to the present).

The casa tribunal (town hall) of bamboo and wood became a municipio of concrete materials in the 1930s when Irineo de los Reyes was the town mayor. This was replaced with a modern building during the tenure of Mayor Dr. Francisco Galvez, Jr. The economic life of San Narciso transformed from the agricultural (farming and fishing) with the entrepreneurial and commercial activities that accrued through the years. The market place changed from under-the-trees to a roofed structure. Entrepreneurs put up stores to cater to various demands of the population: sari-sari commodities, hardware materials, school supplies, bakeries and eateries, among others. The Rural Bank was established, and later, the multi-purpose cooperative and a China Bank branch, to meet the financial needs of town folks.

The practice of the professions of college graduates, and the employment opportunities in the US Naval Facility in Olongapo and the US Communications Center in San Antonio contributed to the growth of the middle-class sector of the community. The new wealth of San Narciso come from sources based overseas: those who joined the US military service; those who practiced their professions, initially medicine and nursing graduates in the US; and later, those that the government collectively call ‘Overseas Filipino Workers’ in the four corners of the world.

The Narcisenians in diaspora somewhat changed the physical make-up of the town: the rise of large and concrete residential houses whose architectural designs reflect what the owners lived in or saw in their surroundings abroad. The town is faced with the challenges posed by the fast-changing cycles in the country’s politics and economy, by the environment and climate change, and by cultural values fostered by global social media.

The local political governance is defined by three-year terms with the town executive limited to a maximum of three terms within which he or she can define short- to long-term visions and missions.

Local legislature—the vice-mayor and the Sangguniang Bayan—are likewise limited to the same tenures as the town mayor. Hence, municipal ordinances, while envisioned to be of all- time enforcement, may suffer short-time implementation. It may take vigilance of the citizens to keep local laws strictly enforced.

Growth of town revenues is an objective to be relentlessly pursued. It redounds to raising the class of the municipality from a low fourth to a dream first. The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), PHILSECO and the Hanjin shipbuilding facility in Subic employ a number of Narcisenians but they have not brought the economic bonanza to San Narciso that Subic and Castillejos now enjoy. An investor-friendly environment needs to be fostered in San Narciso. It may be possible to invite investors to move here from their traffic-bedraggled locations in urban centers.