Pila Pipe Organ Project

Pila Rediscovery: Our search for identity that is reshaping Philippine history.

The project aims to return the Pila pipe organ and Center for Church Music in the Diocesan Shrine of St. Anthony of Padua. The Pila organ will be the core of new liturgy centered musical activities: training of children's voices, education of young organists and choirmasters, solo organ performances and choir and organ performances. All these activities will become part of our collection of Sacred Music for the future of our Church music heritage.

Several important documents and artifacts recently discovered here and abroad point to Pila as one of the oldest and important town of the Philippines. Another document was discovered by William Henry Scott in the Franciscan Archives in Spain and was given to Pila historian Dr. Luciano Santiago. It is a letter written by Juan de Jesus O.F.M in 1703. The letter of Juan de Jesus O.F.M. described the choir and pipe organ of Pila and the first known Filipino pipe organ builders. The musical tradition described by Father Juan de Jesus started in 1606 when the Franciscans established Philippines' first music school in Laguna. Unfortunately today, not a single pipe organ or tertiary school of music is present in Laguna. The letter inspired the people of Pila to embark on this historic project.

Join us in our new journey of rediscovery. Please email us for details.

New Bayang Pinagpala Section - Philippine Villas

POMP, PAGEANTRY AND GOLD:THE EIGHT SPANISH VILLAS IN THE PHILIPPINES (1565-1887)
PQCS 33 (2005): 57-75

Dr. Luciano P.R. Santiago

A villa is a Spanish territorial classification as well as an institution. It is little known in the Philippines, even among historians, because it was sparsely granted in these parts during the Colonial Period. Though small in number, the villas were huge in significance as the centers for regional consolidation as well as, when linked together, the general dissemination of Spanish rule, commerce and culture in the archipelago. In current works, the term is usually, but inaccurately, translated as “village.” However, its closest English equivalent is “borough” (as in Marlborough).i In this article, we shall retain the Spanish word villa.

In the more than three centuries of Spanish domination in the Islands, only eight settlements or towns were raised into the status of a villa - one each in five major ethno- linguistic regions (Cebú, Bicol, Ilocos, Panay and Pampanga) and in three Tagalog provinces (Laguna, Tayabas [now Quezón] and Batangas). Thus, the eight Philippine villas were Cebú (founded 1565), Libón, Albay (1573), Vigan (1574), Arévalo, Iloilo (1581), Pila, Laguna (c1610), Tayabas, Tayabas (1703), Bacolor, Pampanga (1765) and lastly, Lipá, Batangas (1887).

Please read full article.

June 20, 2007: Pinagbayanan 50th Foundation Day

Pinagbayanan will celebrate its 50th founding anniversary today. It was converted into a barrio on June 20, 1957. Pinagbayanan was formerly a sitio of Linga, Pila, Laguna. It is the site of Philippines’ oldest crematorium found in 1967 by a group of archeologists from the University of San Carlos, Cebu City. Various activities are scheduled today to mark the golden anniversary.

Republic Act No. 1689 is printed in full below.


H. NO. 5140


REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1689

AN ACT CONVERTING THE SITIO OF PINAGBAYANAN, MUNICIPALITY OF PILA, PROVINCE OF LAGUNA, INTO A BARRIO OF SAID MUNICIPALITY.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. The Sitio of Pinagbayanan, Municipality of Pila, Province of Laguna, is converted into a barrio of said municipality.

SECTION 2. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved, June 20, 1957


From: Official Gazzette, August 31, 1957 page 5136
GPD PI.6 1957 53(16)
Philippine National Library

Doctrina Christiana

Doctrina Christiana, en lengua española y tagala published in 1593 in Manila is now available in digital form on the Library of Congress website.  This book is part of the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection at the Library of Congress. Just follow this link to view and download high resolution pictures. The Doctrina Christiana was written by the first Franciscan priest of Pila, Laguna, Fray Juan de Plasencia and is considered the first book printed in the Philippines.  Interested individuals may also download text or HTML format of the book from the Gutenberg website.  The Gutenberg online book includes the introductory essay of Edwin Wolf 2nd. The Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection stands out among the distinguished resources of the Rare book and Special Collections Division of the United States Library of Congress.

The Philippine National Historical Institute published a facsimile copy of the book with a foreword by Carlos Quirino. Copies may be purchased at NHI, T.M. Kalaw St., Ermita, Manila.

Huerta's Villa de Pila

R. P. Félix de Huerta, OFM (de su libro, “Estado geográfico, topográfico, estadístico histórico-religioso de la santa y apostólica provincia de S. Gregorio Magno, de los religiosos menores descalzos de la regular y más estricta observancia de N.S.P.S. Francisco, en las islas filipinas, comprende el número de religiosos, conventos, pueblos, situación de estos, años de su fundación, tributos, almas, producciones, industrias, cosas y casos especiales de su administración espiritual, en el Archipiélago Filipino, desde su fundación, en el año 1877 hasta el de 1863, Binondo, 1865”)

Translation: Fr. Emmanuel C. Marfori, 2005

VILLA DE PILA

The foundation of this Villa dates back to the year 1578, in which time our apostolic men Fr. Juan de Plasencia and Fray Diego de Oropesa announced the name of the Lord, being this town the principal residence of the latter, without ceasing to evangelize through all the coasts and mountains of the great Laguna de Bay, until their apostolic zeal penetrated into the province of Tayabas. Long ago, it used to be joined to the Laguna de Bay, in a place called Pagalangan, and because of heavy flooding in the rising waters of the said Laguna, it was transferred in the year 1800 to the site it occupies today.    

Its situation is at 14º13´latitude, in an wide plain, to the right of an average river which originates from the mountain of San Cristobal, and, running from S to N, it flows into the lagoon which gives the name to the province. Bordered in the north with the said lagoon, it is half a league away. It is bordered on the NE with the town of Sta. Cruz, five fourths of a league; on the E with the town of Magdalena, a bit less than the same distance; on the SSE with the town of Nagcarlang, two leagues away; on the SSW with that of Calauang, a bit less than the same distance; and on the WSW with that of Bay, same as before.

It enjoys a mild, healthy and very well ventilated climate. The most common sickness are the fevers (tercianas), which usually come from May to September. It provides itself with waters from springs which come from N. of the town, and from wells, all of the very big. It has two main roads towards the towns of Santa Cruz and Bay, with two bridle paths for the towns of Nagcarlang and Magdalena. Mails are received weekly from the headquarters of the province.

The Church, under the advocacy of the marvelous S. Anthony of Padua, was originally made of wood. In the year 1599, permission was given by the Superior Gobierno to make it out of stone, which should have been verified in the following years, because in 1617, the said Church and rectory of stone were already finished. In 1800, the Church and rectory were demolished because of the aforementioned transfer, and the existing edifice was constructed under the direction of the Rev. Frs. Fray Antonio de Argobejo and Fray Domingo de Valencia, the town contributing for it. The said Church is of good material and very spacious (capaz), and in it is venerated, aside from the titular Saint, the other to whom the faithful have a very particular devotion, the glorious S. Roche, of whose image many miracles are found in our files (registros), some of them juridically proven.

The rectory (casa parroquial) is also made of stone, constructed under the direction of the Rev. Fr. Fray Benito del Quintanar, around 1840 until 1849. This villa has six straight streets from N. to S., and five cross streets, all of them wide, with excellent roads covered with a good mixture. There is a court (tribunal), a school of primary education, offered by the banks (cajas) of the Community, with some eight hundred houses, all of them of wood and nipa. It is administered by the Rev. Fr. Fray Antonio Santiago, confessor, 54 years of age, with a Fr. coadjutor.

STATUS OF THE PARISH
Tributos      …      4715
Souls           …     5551

The boundary extends league and a half from N. to S., and the same from E. to W. Through it, four medium–sized rivers, all coming from San Cristobal mountain, and whose waters are used in irrigation. The terrain cultivated produces much rice, sugar cane, for whose benefits there are six sugar mills (ingenios), many coconuts from which they extract oil, some indigo, cocoa, coffee, bonga (Tag., bunga?), and many fruit trees and some legumes. The natives dedicate themselves to agriculture, to the benefit of the abovementioned articles, and to fishing, which is produced by the Laguna, the products of which are exported for the market of Santa Cruz and for the Capitol.

The hospital (enfermería) of the male religious was in this villa from the year 1618 until 1673, when it was transferred to the town of Santa Cruz.

Franciscan Printing Press History

(Translated by Jaime F. Tiongson from Historia de la imprenta en los antiguos dominios españoles de América y Oceanía by Jose Toribio Medina.)

The Franciscan printing press was first established in Villa de Pila. Tomas Pinpin and Domingo Loag, printers. It is not known that it had nor exist traces of the printing press prior to 1655. It appears in Tayabas in 1702. It was transferred to Manila in 1705. It is taken to Dilao (Paco, Manila). The brother Franciscan de los Santos and Capitan Lucas Francisco Rodriguez, printers. Fray Julian de San Diego and Fray Pedro de la Concepcion. Fray Francisco de Paula Castilla and Juan Eugenio. Fray Jacinto de Jesus Lavajos.

In Villa de Pila, founded in 1578 along the shores of the Laguna de Bay, by the year 1606 the Franciscans established Philippines' second printing press. On 20th of May that year, Tomas Pinpin and Domingo Loag, Tagalos, began the printing of the Vocabulario de Lengua Tagala of Fray Pedro de San Buenaventura, which was completed only seven years later. It is probable that Pinpin began the printing and Loag continued the work once tutored, at least during the year 1610 in which Pinpin was in Bataan working on the publication of the Arte Tagalo of Fray Francisco de San Jose.

Neither the name of Loag nor the printing press of the town of Pila is registered in books that we know later. What became of that press whose first production yielded so much hope,in view of the elements in which it has been arranged to make it?. She might have been placed in a corner in some of the Franciscan convents, or the Franciscans gave it to other religious orders at that time and counted already as one of the printing shops in the Islands?

None of the typographic works of the printing press of the Franciscans appeared before 1655, the year B. Lampao (we do not know his first name) gives light in Manila the Constituciones de la provincial de San Gregorio and soon lost its tracks again, until by the beginning of the 18th century it was established in Tayabas by Fray Antonio de Santo Domingo. According to Father Huerta "In 1699 the elected maestro provincial left, whose position was carried with much fervor…, sending five monks to the missions of these Islands, and two to Cochinchina; it established the press in Tayabas and it gave to the press the Diccionario Tagalog, composed by Fray Domingo de los Santos…"

It is not easy to resolve if the one in Tayabas is the same press that the Franciscan Order had a century ago or that the press had just been mounted, although the last one seems more probable. It is certain though, that the printing of the book started in Colegio de Santo Tomas in Manila, and was completed in muy noble villa de Tayabas in 1702, it is not known who was the one who ran the press, although it is to be conceited that he was under the care of brother Franciscan de los Santos.

The Tayabas press was transferred to the Faculty of San Francisco in Manila, which was placed under their custody from 1705 to 1708, and from there to the convent of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria of the town of Dilao, thus called, although in fact it is just a suburb of Manila. It is located there only during the years of 1713 and 1714, under the care of brother Franciscan de los Santos, who was associated later with Capitan Don Lucas Francisco Rodriguez. In 1718, it appeared again in the Manila convent, run by Julian de San Diego, and ten years later in the same convent of Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Manila under the immediate direction of brother Pedro de la Concepcion who manage to credit himself as the maestro en el arte tipografico with the printing of the Ceremonial romano reformado of Father Torrubia.

The printing press was situated here for eight years before it was transferred to the convent of Nuestra Señora de Loreto de Sampaloc, located again, like the one of Dilao, in one of the suburbs of Manila.

In this Sampaloc convent, according to Father Huerta, there was a community of monks and it was the Casa de Noviciado from 1614 to 1619. In 1692, the printing press of the Province of San Gregorio was established in the same convent, that by long time was of great use to these islands, until through the years of 1808 it was passed on to the venerable Orden Tercera de Penitencia, who lately alienated it to be deteriorated enough and not able to compete with the modern ones established in Manila during this period.

We see that the Franciscan chronicler made a mistake in writing that the printing press in Sampaloc was established in 1692 since in that date not even the print shop founded first in Tayabas worked. We note though, still in 1809, it continued with the same primitive designation, although under the property of the Ordern Tercera.

We said then, that the transfer of the press in the convent of Loreto de Sampaloc happened in 1736; the year in which the reprinting of the Arte de la lengua pampanga of Fray Diego Bergaño, although without the indication of who the printer was, probably Fray Juan de Sotillo, whose name is seen for the first time, and was honored in books printed there in 1738, the Cronica de la Provincia de San Gregorio of Fray Juan de San Antonio, the third volume was finished in 1744, making the typographic work the most voluminous in the Philippines during that time. He was then succeeded by brother Lucas de San Francisco, whose works had to be the books printed in that convent from 1749 and probably until 1768. Perhaps by modesty, the printer did not sign the books printed during that period.

In 1770, he was replaced by Tomas Adriano, who very shortly before or until then in charge of the printing press of the Colegio de Santo Tomas. Until 1788, no printed works of the Imprenta de Sampaloc carry the name of the printer. From that year, the name of brother Baltasar Mariano appeared, who in 1794 was replaced by another one, fray Pedro Arguelles de la Concepcion, who carried the load and signed his works only after being ordained as a priest, from 1798 to 1803, without interval except in 1797 in which, perhaps he was burdened by studies needed for priesthood, replaced by Juan Eugenio and Fray Francisco de Paula Castilla. In 1805, the print shop seems to have a manager named Vicente Atlas, and finally, in 1809, the responsibility (cargo de taller) was passed to Fray Jacinto de Jesus Lavajos, who arrived in Manila four years before.

Pila's Rio Nuevo

One of the oral traditions in Pila is the story of the travel of Pila residents to nearby towns by banca and that the residents board the banca at the back of the Old Pila Market (now a gym). One may conclude that the water of the lake might have reached the town in olden times, but gradually receded to its present position. Recent discovery of the intelligence report of 1st Lt. Leon L. Roach written in February 12, 1902 could shed light to one of the oral traditions of Pila.

The report of 1st Lt. Leon L. Roach was published in Report No. 17, PILA, MAGDALENA, MAJAYJAY AND LOS BAÑOS, LAGUNA PROVINCE, Headquarters Division of the Philippines, Adjutant Generals Office, Military Information Division, Manila, P.I., 1902. The file below was annotated by Jaime F.Tiongson.

Please download this file and read the report. The report is a good complement to Huerta's description of Villa de Pila.

1703 Letter of Juan de Jesus OFM

Dr. Luciano P.R. Santiago provided us a copy of the 1703 Carta of Juan de Jesus OFM describing Pila Choir in 1686.

The Carta de Juán de Jesús, OFM (1703) was cited by Cayetano Sánchez, OFM in La Provincia Franciscana de San Gregorio Magno de Castilla: memoria histórica minima de sus cuatrocientos años de vida. A typewritten copy of the carta was sent to Dr Santiago by the late William Henry Scott. Document found in Archivo Franciscano Ibero Oriental, Madrid. Download copy of the carta.

The Shrine of San Antonio de Padua in Pila, Laguna

By Dr. Luciano P.R. Santiago

The Church of San Antonio de Padua of Pila, Laguna was the first church to be dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua in the Philippines (1578) and most probably, in Asia as well. The parish of Pila became the first Antonine parish in the country when it was established in 1581, the 350th anniversary of the glorious death of the saint. The town itself was officially called “San Antonio de Padua de Pila,” or simply, “San Antonio de Pila.” The parish seal depicts the saint holding a lily, the symbol of purity, in his right hand and carrying the Child Jesus on his left arm. Known as “the miracle worker” even during his lifetime, St. Anthony is the most venerated Franciscan saint next to the founder of the order himself, St. Francis of Assisi. Thus, the choice of St. Anthony as the patron saint of Pila reflected the pivotal role given by the Franciscans to the parish and town.

Even before the coming of the Spaniards, Pila was already noted for its spiritual ambience. The center of the town was known as Pagalangan, which means “The Place of Reverence.” The original site of the town, Pinagbayanan was hallowed by the venerable graves of the dead laid out with exquisite Chinese porcelain and local jars of handsome design as pabáon (provisions) for the afterlife. St. Anthony (1195-1231) lived in Europe during the Golden Age of Pila at Pinagbayanan when, as indicated by archeological studies, it was one of the most important centers of trade, as well as of religion and culture during the early part of the second millenium. Little did the “saint of lost causes and finder of lost things” know that Padua would form a spiritual link with Pila at the other side of the globe via Spain and Mexico more than three centuries later.

The Order of St. Francis (OSF), also known as the Order of Friars Minor (OFM), arrived in Manila in 1577. Next to the Augustinians, they were the second religious order to reach the Philippines. Being a mendicant order, they were the only religious congregation which renounced ownership of haciendas. At once, they built their main church in honor of Our Lady of the Angels in the walled city. The cult of St. Anthony of Padua was introduced in this church, which became popular as the Tuesday Devotion in Old Manila. A statue of the saint was erected in front of the church in the 19th century.

To the southern region, the congregation lost no time in sending the intrepid pair, Fray Juán Portocarrero de Plasencia and Fray Diego de Oropesa de San José who soon earned the title “The Apostles of Laguna and Tayabas.” Moved by the faith of the Pileños, Oropesa decided to establish among them his “principal residence” also dedicated to St. Anthony while Plasencia chose Lumbang as his home base in honor of St. Sebastian. From these two missionary centers, they radiated out to evangelize the other towns of Laguna and Tayabas (now Quezón).

From a reducción - where the new converts were gathered for instruction in the Faith - Pila was elevated to a parish on the feast  of its titular, St. Anthony of Padua on June 13, 1581. Oropesa became its first pastor (1581-83). Next to Pila, the second Antonine parish to be organized by the Franciscans was that of Masbate (c1583), followed by Iriga, now a city in Camarines Sur (1683) and Siruma, also in Camarines Sur (1687).

Impressed by the nobility of the townspeople, the conquistadors conferred on the town the special title, “La Noble Villa de Pila.” It took eighteen years to build the first stone church from 1599 to 1617. The sacred edifice was described as “the most beautiful church in the province of Laguna” by the Alcalde Mayor (Governor) Don José Peláez, father of Padre Pedro Pablo Peláez, the leader of the secularization movement in the 19th century.

From the beginning to the present, the cult of St. Anthony has flourished in Pila in an unbroken chain of promise (pangako) and practice of the faithful. It consists of the Tuesday Devotion and an association which has become part of the worldwide Pious Union of St. Anthony. The parish also became famous for its mellifluous choirs and elegant processions in homage to the saint from the 17th to the 19th centuries. To signify their gratitude for the favors and miracles granted to them, the devotees wear a simple dark brown dress with white cincture during mass. Healed of serious illnesses, small boys are also dressed in the holy habit. An annual novena for his intercession is held prior to his feast day, June 13, which is celebrated as the town fiesta and highlighted with a grand procession. Groups of Pileños in other towns or cities who could not come home for the
occasion also pray the novena together wherever they are.

In the noble villa, the Franciscans established the second printing press in the Philippines in 1611. The first Tagalog dictionary was printed here in 1613 by Tomás Pinpín and Domingo Loag. The local pastor Fray Pedro de San Buenaventura compiled the dictionary to facilitate the evangelization of the Tagalog region. In 1618, the Franciscan infirmary was transferred from Lumbang to Pila where the sick and retired missionaries were taken care of and breathed their last, comforted by the spirit of St. Anthony. Manila Archbishop Fernando Montero de Espinosa, newly arrived from Madrid, also died here in 1644 on his way to take possession of his see. After 55 years in Pila, the infirmary moved to Sta. Cruz, Laguna in 1673.

The oldest surviving church bell of Pila was cast on the centenary of the parish in 1681 with the Franciscan emblem and the inscription “San Antonio de Pila.” The faithful hid it from the rampaging British invaders in 1762 by submerging it in Laguna de Bay facing the church. It is now the third oldest church bell in the Philippines. With the erection of a new stone belfry in 1890, the parish recast another undated old bell in honor of St. Anthony in 1893. It is the only church tower in the Philippines which bears two bells inscribed with St. Anthony’s name. (The second oldest church bell dedicated to the saint pertains to Paeté dated 1847, followed by Sta. María, Bulacán, 1877 and then Majayjay, 1929.)

Because of several social crises in the 18th century, San Roque was invoked as the second patron saint of Pila. Due to persistent severe flooding in Pagalangan in the late 18th century, the town center was transferred to its present site in Sta. Clara, which was the hacienda of the three Brothers Rivera, Don Felizardo, Don Miguel and Don Rafael. Part of the estate is the adjacent Barangay San Antonio, among others. Marred by controversy, the relocation took almost two decades to complete under the leadership of Don Felizardo de Rivera y Evangelista (1755-1810), the eldest of the brothers, who also drew up the grid plans for the new site. Thus, he is considered the founder of Nueva Pila. He pledged the spiritual and material support of the Riveras to the church of St. Anthony in perpetuum up to the last of their line. Stone by stone, the old church in Pagalangan was the last edifice to be transplanted to Sta. Clara under the inspiration of St. Anthony. For the main duration of the move, the townspeople were exempted from payment of tributes, forced labor and personal services.  

For almost a quarter of a century, from 1812 to 1835, Filipino secular priests served for the first time as the acting pastors of Pila due to a shortage of Franciscan priests. They put the finishing touches to the stone church of Nueva Pila. The pastor who served the parish for the longest time during the Spanish era was Fray Benito del Quintanar, OFM (1839-52). He supervised the construction of the present convent for nine years until it was completed in 1849. In behalf of the Pileños, he had the following prayer-poem in Latin inscribed in a rectangular stone tablet over the main gate of the convent:
“Fave, Protege, Custod., / Bened. Que S.e Antoni: / Domui Istam Novam /
Quam Tibi Dedicavi.” (“St. Anthony, look with favor on, protect, guard and bless this new house which is dedicated to you.”) The saint has answered
Pila’s fervent prayer. The stone church and convent have survived to the present.

Fray Benito also started the Archicofradía del Nuestro Señor Padre San Francisco which was next in rank to the Venerable Orden Tercera (VOT) of the Franciscan Order. The archconfraternity was empowered to affiliate lay groups of the same character from the other parishes. The religious festival of Flores de Mayo, for which Pila is now well known, was introduced in 1888 and brought to the fore the deep Marian devotion in the parish.

The placid life of the town and parish was rent asunder from 1896, when the Revolution against Spain broke out, until 1902 when the American colonizers, took over and reorganized the municipal government. Before this, the American soldiers had occupied the belfry and convent for more than a year destroying and looting the furniture and other properties of the church.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, Filipino pastors have been serving the faithful of Pila. The parish was transferred from the Archdiocese of Manila to the Diocese of Lipá when the latter was erected in 1910 and finally, to the newly established Diocese of San Pablo in 1966. The first Pileño nun, Sor Consuelo, OSB (the former Miss Milagros Relova y Rivera) professed her vows as a Benedictine nun in 1932. The first Pileño priest, Fr. Félix Codera was ordained in 1938. Although he was born in Marinduque, His Eminence, Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, Archbishop of Cebu, hails from Pila. They are all ardent devotees of St. Anthony.

During World War II, Pila became the center of guerilla activities in Laguna and Fr. Codera, together with Frs. Atienza and Báez, volunteered as chaplains of the underground. Ironically, there was a rice boom in the town during the war and thus, it became the rice granary of Laguna which the faithful unselfishly shared with those in want from the surrounding towns and as far as Manila and its suburbs. Naturally, this abundance at a time of war was attributed by the Pileños to St. Anthony, “the miracle worker.” As expected, Pila was the first town in the province to be liberated by the guerillas in January 1945 sparing it from any major destruction.

Pope Pius XII declared St. Anthony a Doctor of the Universal Church with the title Doctor Evangelicus on January 16, 1946.  The following year, a group of grateful parishioners founded a college in his honor, St. Anthony Academy, now the Liceo de Pila.

With the destruction of the Franciscan church in Intramuros at the close of the Second World War, the site of the cult of St. Anthony was moved in 1947 to the Venerable Orden Tercera (VOT) Friary in Sampaloc,Manila, which is now the Shrine of the saint in the archdiocese. (The monumental statue of St. Anthony in Intramuros was, however, transferred to the grounds of the Sanctuario de San Antonio in Forbes Park in Makati. The Sampaloc friary had been dedicated together with the adjacent Church of Our Lady of Loreto in 1616, thirty five years after the inauguration of the parish of San Antonio de Padua de Pila.) The Manila shrine has submitted a petition to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference to declare it the National Shrine of St. Anthony of Padua.

For the Jubilee Year 2000, the historic Church of San Antonio de Padua of Pila was selected as a Pilgrim Church of the Diocese of San Pablo. The parish is the center of the Vicariate of San Antonio de Padua which includes the parishes of the Immaculate Conception (Sta. Cruz), St. Joseph (Linga, Pila) and The Risen Lord (Victoria).

Revolving around the Church of St. Anthony of Padua, the town center of Pila, comprising 35 old houses and buildings, was proclaimed a National Historical Landmark by the National Historical Institute on May 17, 2000.

The church was elevated as the Diocesan Shrine of St. Anthony of Padua and solemnly inaugurated by the Most Reverend Francisco San Diego, DD, Bishop of San Pablo in the presence of His Eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal on July 9, 2002.  

As Bayang Pinagpala (Blessed Town), Pileños ascribe their unique blessings through the centuries to the intercession of their triumvirate of patron saints, San Antonio de Padua, San Roque and the Virgen de las Flores.

Cane Frog: Palakang Nazareth

Did you know that the cane frog now common here in the Philippines was first introduced here in Pila?

In March 1934 a number of cane toads were imported from the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association on Oahu to control insect pests in sugar-cane plantations in Manila on the Island of Luzon (Rabor 1952). Some escaped into the nearby countryside, where several years later the species had become established in large numbers. At around the same time cane toads were deliberately released in Calauang and Pila in Laguna Province, and in the Central Luzon provinces: before 1941 they had become as common in Central Luzon as in Laguna. Source: Naturalized Reptiles and Amphibians of the World

Pila and Jala-jala According to Huerta

From page 573-574 of Huerta:

La villa de Pila era la propietaria de todo el terreno
conocido con el nombre de Jalajala. Con motivo de
haber fundado nuestros religiosos un hospital en el
sitio que ocupa hoy el pueblo de los Banos de la
provincia de la Laguna, suplicaron a los naturales de
Pila, que para subvenir a las necesidades del referido
hospital permitiesen la cria de ganado vacuno el
terreno de Jalajala, a cuya suplica a cedieron
gustosos, otorgando escritura publica el ano de 1610,
la cual se conserva en nuestro archivo de Manila, y en
la que se hallan las siguientes palabras:Que
conceden a los religiosos de San Francisco el derecho
de tener pastando en el sitio de Jalajala hasta el
numero de 300 vacas para subvenir a las necesidades
del hospital, que dichos padres franciscanos tienen en
el sitio de los Banos, entendiendose esta concesion
por solo el tiempo que el referido hospital se halla
administrado por religiosos franciscanos, y
conservando siempre la susodicha villa de Pila la
propiedad del terreno, etc.

Al tratar sobre el hospital de los Banos, notaremos la
adversa fortuna que corrio tan piadoso
establecimiento, y ahora solo diremos, que habiendose
que mado el hospital el ano de 1676, los habitantes de
Jalajala fueron separados espiritual y civilmente de
su matriz Pila, formando un nuevo pueblo con el nombre
que lleva, por decreto del Superior Gobierno fechado
el dia 7 de Setiembre de 1676, y cuyo primer ministro
fue nuestro R.P. Fr. Lucias Sarro.

Se halla situado en terreno montuoso hacia los 14
(degrees sign) 21' 50'' de latidud N., confinando por
este rumbo con el pueblo de Pililla, y en todo lo de
mas con la Laguna.

La primer iglesia construida de cana y nipa por Fray
Lucas Sarro, fue dedica a S. Pascual Bailon, y dico
religioso celebro en ella la primera misa el dia 1
(degrees sign) de Octubre de 1678. El ano de 1733 se
edifico de piedra, y el ano de 1755 se hallaba de
ministro nuestro R.P. Fray Juan de Azahuche y Castro.
Este es el ultimo documento que se conserva en nuestro
archivo sobre Jalajala, como pueblo independiente,
ignorandose la epoca en que fue reducido a visita de
Pililla. Despues hallamos que a peticion del hacendero
fuen separado de Pililla el ano de 1786, y continuo
como pueblo hasta el ano de 1816, en cuya epoca fue
otra vez agregado a Pililla, volviendo a separarse el
ano de 1825, y no constando la causa por que siendo
administracion de nuestros religiosos, se halla hoy a
cargo del clero secular.

(Sent by Eliza Hidalgo Agabin, Graduate Student, UST Cultural Heritage Studies)

Calumpang Dam Totally Destroyed

The Calumpang River Dam which is the main structure of the Santa Cruz-Mabacan River Irrigation System was totally destroyed last September 25, 2006 at the height of Typhoon Milenyo’s fury. The 50 year old dam collapsed because of the unabated river sand quarrying downstream. According to this report, the government will spend 160 million pesos of taxpayer’s money to construct a new dam upstream. It will take the government two years to build a new dam. In the meantime, the rice farmers of Pila will have to install temporary shallow wells to irrigate their rice fields.

President Ramon Magsaysay personally officiated on February 24, 1956 the ground-breaking ceremonies of the P3,180,000 Santa Cruz-Mabacan river-irrigation project at Pila, Laguna.

1818 Pila Population

Below is the population of Pila in 1818 or seven years after the completion of the town transfer to sitio Sta. Clara:

1. Individuos Contribuientes de Natural y M. = 1117
2. Reservados = 157
3. Soltieros y Solteras de Naturales y Mestizos = 404
4. Escuelas y Parbulos = 347
5. Españoles = 0
6. Mestizos Españoles = 3
7. Morenos = 0
8. Negros convertidos = 0
9. Sangleyes Cristianos = 0

Total = 2028

1. Bautizalos = 63
2. Casados = 28
3. Difuntos = 45
4. Numero le tributes o familias contribuyentes = 558

Source: Aragon, Ydelfonso de. Estados de la poblacion de Filipinas correspondiente a el año de 1818: lo da ad publico a Excmo. Ayunamiento del M.N.Y.L. ciudad de Manila. Manila: Imprenta de D.M. M. Por D. Anastacio Gonzaga. 1820.

The Pila - Jala-jala Story

There are two secondary sources confirming Jala-jala, Rizal was part of Pila, Laguna namely:

Foreman, John. The Philippine Islands. London: S. Low, Marston & co., ltd. 1899.

Dery, Luis Camara. A History of the Inarticulate: Local History, Prostitution and Other Views from the Bottom. Quezon City: New Day Publishers. 2001.

We are still searching for the Pila – Jala-jala primary documents specifically the Pila lawsuits or Jala-jala claims during the 17^th and 18^th century.

On page 359 to 361 of the The Philippine Islands, Foreman wrote the following story:

LOS BAÑOS (the baths) owes its origin to the hot springs flowing from the volcanic Maquiling Mountain, which have been known to the natives from time immemorial when the place was called Maynit, which signifies “hot.”

At the close of the 16^th century these mineral waters attracted the attention of martyr Saint Pedro Bautista, who sent a brother in his Order to establish a hospital for the natives. The brother went there, but shortly returned to Manila and died. So the matter remained in abeyance for years. Subsequently a certain Fray Diego de Santa Maria, an expert in medicine and healing art, was sent there to test the waters. He found they contained properties highly beneficial in curing rheumatism and certain other maladies, so thenceforth many natives and Spaniards went there to seek bodily relief. But there was no convenient abode for the visitors; no arrangements for taking the baths, and the Government did nothing. A Franciscan friar was appointed chaplain to the sick visitors, but his very incommodious residence was inadequate for the lodging of patients, and, for want of funds, the priest abandoned the project of establishing a hospital, and returned to Manila. In 1604, the Governor General, Pedro Bravo de Acuña, gave his attention to this place, and consented to the establishment of a hospital, church, and convent. The hospital was constructed of bamboo and other light material, and dedicated to Our Lady of Holy Waters.

Fray Diego de Santa Maria was appointed to the vicarage and the charge of the hospital. The whole was supported by gifts from the many sick persons who went there, but the greatest difficulty was to procure food. Several natives made donations of lands, with the produce of which the hospital was to be maintained. These gifts, however, proved insufficient. The priests then solicited permission from the villagers of Pila (on the lake shore near Santa Cruz) to pasture cattle on the tongue of land on the opposite coast called Jalajala, which belonged to them. With their consent a cattle-ranche was established there; subsequently, a building was erected, and the place was in time known as the Estancia de Jalajala. Then the permission was asked for and obtained from the Pila natives to plant cocoanut palms, fruit-trees, and vegetables. Later on the Austin and Franciscan friars quarreled about the right of dominion over the place and district called Maynit, but eventually the former gave way and ceded their rights in perpetuity to the Franciscans.

In 1640 Los Baños (formerly a dependency of Bay, under the Austin friars) was constituted a “town.” The Franciscans continued to beg one concession after another, until at length, in 1671, stone buildings were commenced – a church, convent, hospital, bathing-pond, vapour-house, etc., being contructed. Natives and Europeans flocked in numbers to these baths, and it is said that people even came from India to be cured. The property lent and belonging to the establishment, the accumulated funds, and the live-stock had all increased so much in value that the Government appointed an administrator. Thenceforth the place declined; its popularity vanished; the administrator managed matters so particularly for his own benefit that food again become scarce, and the priest was paid only 10 pesos per month as salary. In Jalajala a large house was built; the land was put under regular cultivation; tenants were admitted; but when the property was declared a royal demesne the Pila inhabitants protested, and nominally regained possession of the lent property. But the administrator re-opened and contested the question in the law-courts, and, pending these proceedings, Jalajala was rented from the Government. During the long process of legal entanglements the property had several times been transferred to one and another until the last holder regarded it as his private estate.

At the beginning of last century Jalajala came into the possession of M. Paul de la Gironniere, from whom it passed to another Frenchman, at whose death a third Frenchman, M. Jules Daillard, became owner. On his decease it became the property of an English Bank, from whom it was purchased by the Franciscan friars, in 1897, for the sum of P.50,000, and re-sold by them to a Belgian firm in 1900.

Luis Camara Dery wrote a similar story on page 52 to 53 of his book:

The Franciscan administrators of the hospital did not just rely on external help. They endeavored to supplement their meager resources by cultivating the land, devoting it to agricultural crops and raising of livestock. Thus, the native families residing in sitio Danpalit learned additional skills which enabled them to meet the various colonial requirements. Sometime in 1670, the Franciscan administrator negotiated with the town of Pila, Laguna for some of its vacant lands to server as pasture lands for the excess herds of cattle that the hospital had in sitio Danpalit. The Pila townfolks gave sitio Jalajala, on of their vacant lands. The hospital was allowed to use it as its pastureland but ownership remained with the townfolks of Pila. On 1 September 1673, the Franciscan father provincial petitioned the governor-general to allow his order to build a church and convent at sitio Jalajala for a member of their Order who would be assigned as the religious minister of the said sitio. By this time, sitio Jalajala had become a major transit point for those coming to and from the hospital in sitio Los Baños. It had also become a residence of many bagamundos (“persons without fixed residences”) and converted inhabitants. The petition, according to the Franciscan father provincial, was thus influenced by the need to serve their religious requirements a newly-converted Christians. Moreover, the inhabitants of Pila volunteered to build said church and convent if they would be exempted from the polos y servicios personales by the colonial government for a period of one and one-half years. The governor-general approved all these petitions.

The church and convent at sitio Jalajala was inaugurated on 1 October 1678 and San Pascual Baylon was chosen as the sitio’s patron saint. Fray Lucas Sarro, definidor of the Franciscan Order, celebrated the first mass at sitio Jalajala. The sitio was also made a Visita of the town of Pila. Thus, the early beginnings of Jalajala was also influenced by the hot springs of sitio Los Baños.

Jose Burgos: A Laguna Town for 194 Days

During the Philippine-American war, Juan Cailles, the General and Politico-Military Governor of Laguna issued a decree creating the town of Jose Burgos, Laguna.

General Camp. No. 4, TIERRA LIBRE,

(Laguna), November 19, 1900

To the local presidentes of Lumban, Longos, Paete, Paquil, Siniloan, Famy, Mavitac and Santa Maria.

I take the pleasure in informing you that I have this day approved provisionally the proceeding in the matter of the organization of the new town of “Jose Burgos” from its matrix Nagcarlan and comprising the barrios of Cabubuhayan, Lagulo, Sibrolan, Maravilla, Bancabanca, Lagatan, Bucal, Mojon and Calumpan of the aforesaid town, and Dita, Mojon, Buhanginan and Bancoro of the town of Lilio; also approving the election of officials who shall form the “Junta Popular” of the said town as well as the organization of the Popular Committee of the same.

I furnish you this for your information and the proper action.

Transmit this communication from one town to another and the last one shall return it to this office with the acknowledgments of all.

JUAN CAILLES,

General and Politico-Military Governor.

(Source: Philippine Insurection Record, Exhibit 1120. Original in Spanish. Contemporary copy. P.I.R., 941.9)

Juan Cailles with 600 officers and men armed with 386 rifles and 4,000 rounds of ammunition surrendered to the Americans on June 24, 1901 ending the dreams of the people of Jose Burgos.

Of the three martyred priests, Father Jose Burgos is the most popular in Laguna. In Pila, Laguna, instead of the usual Philippine acronym Gomburza, the town chose to write it starting with the name of Jose Burgos, Burzagom, and even named a street this way.

1903 Pila Population

The first Philippine census during the American period was conducted on March 2, 1903 in accordance with Section 6 of the Philippine Bill of 1902. Below is the 1903 census report for Pila, Laguna:

Pila Total Population = 6,040

Poblacion (Santa Clara) = 1,623
Banca banca = 89
Bucal = 38
Concepcion = 100
Daniw = 84
Labuin = 378
Linga = 1,021
Masico = 264
Nanhaya = 662
Masapang = 72
Mojon = 131
Pansol = 246
San Antonio = 93
San Benito = 131
San Felix = 48
San Francisco = 188
San Miguel = 120
San Roque = 615
San Vicente = 43
Tubuan = 94

It is interesting to note that that the census included barrio San Vicente which is not part of current Victoria or Pila.

The seven barrios above namely: Banca-banca, Nanhaya, Masapang, San Benito, San Felix, San Francisco, San Roque and Daniw are now part of Victoria, Laguna.

Based on the 2000 Census, the total population of Pila was pegged at 37,278 while Victoria was listed with 29,765 individuals. The population of Old Pila grew 10 times since 1903.

Source: Population of the Philippines: by islands, provinces, municipalities, and barrios / taken in the year 1903. United States. Bureau of the Census. [Washington. D.C.]: Department of Commerce and Labor, Bureau of the Census: Gov’t Print. Office, 1904

Pailah is Pila, Laguna

By Jaime F. Tiongson

This author wrote an e-mail to Antoon Postma and suggested that Pailah in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription is Pila, Laguna. In his reply, Antoon Postma (2005) wrote that “ai” in Pailah or Payla is a dipthong and can not develop into Pila as suggested. The list below shows that the Tagalog dipthong /ai/ can develop into /i/ or /e/ in disagreement to what he has stated. The following are examples of such development:

1. Baynat (SB, 1613 page 116) to Binat (UP, 2001, page 121)
2. Saynat (SB, 1613 page 367) to Sinat (UP, 2001, page 787)
3. Taynga (SB, 1613, page 458) to Tenga
4. Baywang (SB, 1613, page 617) to Bewang (UP, 2001, page 116)
5. Mayroon to Meron (UP, 2001, page 553)
6. Kailan (SB, 1613, page 60) to Kelan
7. Bayki to Beke (UP, 2001, page 111)
8. Kaysa to Kesa (UP, 2001, page 442)

Before the arrival of the Spaniards, Tagalog had only three vowel phonemes: /a/, /i/, and /u/. The list was later expanded to five vowels with the introduction of Spanish words. In Tagalog phonology, the dipthong /aI/ can also be pronounced [e~E~eI] and /e/ can sometimes be pronounced as [i~I] thus the development of Pailah to Pila and the rest of the words above.

Laguna Copperplate Inscription bears the date 900 A.D. (Postma, 1992). The Laguna Copperplate Inscription was written during the Emergent Filipino Period [1 to 1500 A.D.(Jocano, 1998) or 500 to 1521 A.D. (Solheim, 2002)]. Jocano (1998) defines this period as the appearance of definable political, economic, and religious organization and certain dominant patterns of culture such as burial practices, ceramic art, and social statuses. The placenames in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription namely: Tundun, Puliran, Pailah and Binwangan are the leading centers of trade, commerce as well as governance of the whole region (Francisco, 1995)

According to Wilhelm G. Solheim II (2002), there are three such concentrations of population known archaeologically to have been in place before A.D. 1000 here in the Philippines. The three emergent Filipino Period areas are Butuan, an area on the shore of Laguna de Bay and an area on the shore of Lake Taal.

In 1967, a team from the University of San Carlos and Locsin group led by Dr. Rosa C.P. Tenazas conducted another archaeological study in Pinagbayanan, Pila, Laguna. The team uncovered Iron Age burials. Tenazas (n.d.) wrote in her report: “The presence of earthenware pots quite different from those encountered in the Sung levels in size and form, as well as in decoration, set them off as a distinct cultural horizon.” She further wrote: “Due to the fact that pots had no association with export ceramics, they tentatively have been attributed an Iron Age date. The burial locations not too far below if not on the same level as the lowest Sung burials, would put it just prior to trade contacts with China near the end of the first millennium A.D. or a little earlier.” The team of Tenazas also uncovered Philippines’ oldest horse bones and crematorium.

In the same year, the Esso-Elizalde archaeological team supervised by Dr. Robert Fox and Mr. Avelino Legaspi of the Anthropology Division of the National Museum conducted excavations in Pinagbayanan and Bagong Pook, Pila. The team recovered 12^th to 15^th century trade potteries (Valdes, 2003).

The series of archaeological studies and vast amount of trade potteries recovered in Pila, Laguna led scientists and archaeologists to conclude that Pila, Laguna is an important pre-hispanic center of culture and trade. The scientific conclusion became one of the bases for declaring the town of Pila, Laguna a National Historical Landmark[1].

Historian Dr. Luciano Santiago (1997) wrote that “some scholars believe that the copper plate inscription refers instead to barangays in Bulacan Province rather than in Laguna. However, the places referred to in Bulacan are nowhere as significant in Philippine prehistory as those in Laguna”. The Postma suggested Paila site which is located in San Lorenzo, Norzagaray, Bulacan is not even listed as one of the barangays of the said town. The town of Norzagaray was named after General Fernand de Norzagaray y Escudero, Govenor General of the Philippines from 1857-1860. Barrios Casay, Lawang, Tigbi and Bayabas of Angat were formed into the town of Norzagaray during his governorship. (Erecciones, 1764 -1890).

Postma (1992) defines Pulilan as the area along the south east Laguna de Bay area which includes Pila. He further wrote that Pila is within the area of Pulilan and LCI clearly indicates two separate localities with each own leader. This is the reason why he chose instead Pulilan, Bulacan and Paila, San Lorenzo, Norzagaray, Bulacan. This author already explained previously that Pulilan is not the south east area of Laguna de Bay but the Laguna de Bay itself and Puliran Kasumuran[2] is the Laguna de Bay water source. The Puliran Kasumuran region includes present town of Nagcarlan, Liliw, Mahayhay, Lucban, Tayabas and distinctly separate from Pila, Laguna

If Kasumuran is the source of water of Pulilan, Bulacan (Angat and surrounding communities including Norzagaray), the Paila of San Lorenzo, Norzagaray is within the Kasumuran region of Pulilan, Bulacan. Using the same argument raised by Postma above then Paila in Norzagaray is not the Pailah in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription.

____________________
[1]The National Historical Institute of the Philippines declared the town plaza and surrounding ancestral houses a National Historical Landmark on May 17, 2000.

[2]According to the article of Antoon Postma in Sulat sa Tanso January/February 1996 issue, page 5, sumur in Malay and Java means “well” and in Tagalog sumur means “bukal” (bukal=pinagmumulan ng tubig, UP Diksyonaryong Filipino, 2001)

Sources:

Almario, Virgilio S. ed. 2001. UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino. Pasig City.

Ereccion del Pueblos-Bulacan, 1764-1890. Paper creating the barrios Casay, Lawang, Tigbi and Bayabas into new town named Norzagaray, apart from Angat. Bundle no. 45, Legajo no. 129.

Francisco, Juan R. 1995. “Tenth Century Trade/Settlement Area In South East Asia: Epigraphic and Language Evidence in the Philippines,” National Museum Papers: Vol. 4, No.2:10-35.

Jocano, Landa F. 1998. Filipino Prehistory. Quezon City.

Kuang-Jen Chang, “A Comparative study of trade ceramics as grave goods in Pila, Laguna and Calatagan, Batangas, SW Luzon, the Philippines,” presented at Congres International, European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists, 11^th International Conference, Bougon, France, 2006.

Postma, Antoon. 1992. “The Laguna Copperplate Inscription,” Philippine Studies 40:183-203.

Postma, Antoon, <mangyanhc@catsi.net.ph> “Reply to letter for Mr. Antoon Postma from the Pila Historical Society Foundation Inc”, Personal Email (11 November 2005)

San Antonio, Francisco de. 2000. Vocabulario Tagalo. Tagalog-Spanish Dictionary. Quezon City.

San Buenaventura, Pedro de. 1613. Vocabulario de Lengua Tagala. Pila.

Santiago, Luciano P.R. 1997. “The Roots Of Pila, Laguna, A Secular And Spiritual History Of The Town (900 AD To The Present),” Philippine quarterly of culture and society 25:125-155.

Solheim, Wilhelm G. 2002. The Archeology of Central Philippines. A study c hiefly of the iron age and its relationships. Revised Ed. Quezon City.

Tenazas, Rosa C.P. n.d. A Report on the Archeology of the Locsin-University of San Carlos Excavations in Pila, Laguna (September 4, 1967 – March 19, 1968). privately printed.

Tiongson, Jaime F. The Laguna Copperplate Inscription and the Route to Paracale in “Heritage and Vigilance: The Pila Historical Society Foundation Inc. Programs for the Study and Preservation of National Historical Landmarks and Treasures,” presented at Seminar on Philippine Town and Cities: Reflections of the Past, Lessons for the Future, Pasig City, 2006.

Tiongson, Jaime F. 2004. The Paracale Gold Route. Unpublished Manuscript. Cited in Santiago, Luciano P.R. 2005. “Pomp, Pageantry and Gold: The Eight Spanish Villas in the Philippines (1565-1887),” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society: 33:57-75.

Valdes, Cynthia O. “Archaeology in the Philippines, the National Museum and an Emergent Filipino Nation,” Wilhelm G. Solheim II Foundation for Philippine Archaelogy, Inc. 25 Feb 2004. http://homepages.uni-tuebingen.de/alfred.pawlik/Solheim/philippine_archaeology.html

________. 2003. “Pila in Ancient Time,” in Treasures of Pila. pp 3-6.

Pila Artifacts at the University of San Carlos Museum

A team of archeologists led by Dr. Rosa C.P. Tenazas from the University of San Carlos in Cebu City conducted an archaeological study in Pinagbayanan, Pila, Laguna from September 4, 1967 to March 19, 1968 together with the group of Cecilia Locsin.

The team uncovered Philippines’ only prehispanic crematorium dated 12^th to 14^th century and three inhumation Iron Age burials dated near the end of the first millennium or earlier (900 AD). (see picture of Pinagbayanan Crematorium)

The recovered imported proto-historic tradeware ceramics and Iron Age potteries are housed at the USC University Museum in Cebu City.

Every Taga-Pila should visit the USC University Museum collection to learn more about Pila’s heritage and culture.

The 250 to 300 specimens currently in the Pila Museum are from the Elizalde-Esso archaeological diggings in Pinagbayanan from May to October 1967.