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CHAPTER 1
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CHAPTER 2
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CHAPTER 3
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CHAPTER 4
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CHAPTER 5
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CHAPTER 6
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CHAPTER 7
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      In the year 1688 the capital of the Province of Laguna was moved from Bay (the first capital town) to Pagsanjan. The transfer of provincial capital was ordered by Governor General Gabriel de Curuzealegui (1684-1689), upon recommendation of Don Mateo Lopez Pera, Spanish alcalde mayor of Laguna.
      Thereafter, Pagsanjan basked in the magnificent glow of greatness. The town was the center of culture and learning in the whole province, so that it came to be called the "Athens of Laguna." At that time it began to acquire considerable prestige as a town of talented men, beautiful women, and elegant homes. In fact one of the Spanish alcalde mayores who administered the province, Don Juan Pelaez, married in 1810 a pretty belle of the town named Josefa Sebastian Gomez.
      The provincial capitol was a big colonial home located on a lot at Calle Real (now Rizal Street) which is presently owned by the heirs of the late Don Manuel Soriano. The provincial jail was also located at Calle Real which is now owned by the heirs of the late Crispulo Fabiero.
      For 170 years (1688-1858) Pagsanjan was the capital of Laguna Province. During this long period the town bloomed as the commercial and cultural center of the province.

Resistance to the British Invaders

      During the period when Pagsanjan was Laguna's capital the British invaders came and captured Manila on October 6, 1762. Before the fall of the city, however, the royal treasurer named Don Nicolas de Echauz Beaumont, carrying government funds amounting to P222,000 pesos, escaped and reached Pagsanjan, where he was welcomed by the people. A few days later Archbishop Manuel Antonio Rojo, acting Spanish governor general and a prisoner of the British, sent two emissaries to Pagsanjan ordering the people to surrender the funds and the town to the British conquerors.
      The brave Pagsanjeños, out of loyalty to Spain, defied Archbishop Governor Rojo. The Spanish alcalde mayor, who was hated by the people because of his cruelty and corrupt administration, cravenly turned pro-British and commanded the people to give up the funds and to accept Pax Britannia. The Pagsanjeños led by their valiant gobernadocillo, Francisco de San Juan, rose in arms and killed the cowardly alcalde mayor, his cousin and his son-in-law.
      On December 9, 1762, three days before the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe (12th of December), the British invaders under the command of Captain Thomas Backhouse attacked Pagsanjan. The intrepid San Juan and his men depended the town with great fury, but they were defeated by the superior arms of the enemy. They fled to San Isidro Hill. The British invaders, enraged by the stubborn resistance set fire to the church and the houses around the town plaza, after which they continued their march to Batangas. Immediately after the enemy's departure, San Juan and his men rushed to the burning church and rescued the image of their patroness and suceeded in putting out the flames at the church and the private homes.
      Afterwards San Juan and some Pagsanjeño volunteers went to Bacolor (Pampanga), where Don Simon de Anda, fighting oidor (magistrate) of the Royal Audiencia of Manila, established his war camp and carried on the resistance against the British invaders. Upon arrival at his war camp, San Juan presented the funds of P222,000 pesos to Anda and offered his military services. In due time he demonstrated his fighting prowess in combat so that Anda promoted him colonel of the troops.
      Colonel Francisco San Juan survived the war against the British. He returned to Pagsanjan, where he was joyously given a conqueror's welcome.

Provincial Capital Moved to Santa Cruz (1858)

      Since the opening of the Philippines to world trade, by virtue of the Royal Decree of September 6, 1834, there arose an awakening of economic progress. Domestic trade and foreign commerce burgeoned. The new material prosperity brought about the booming commerce with the United States, England, France, Spain, and other foreign countries changed the economic climate in Manila and the surrounding provinces.
      Spurred by the greater demand for coconut, copra, rice and other products of the lakeshore towns of Laguna in the Manila market, Capitan Luis Yangco, rich Chinese industrialist, established a steamship transportation service between Manila and Laguna's lakeshore towns -- Biñan, Calamba, and Santa Cruz, the Laguna terminal of the Yangco shipping line, became prosperous. Daily, the Yangco steamers crossed Laguna de Bay, linking Manila and Santa Cruz.
      Because of the soaring economic bonanza and strategic location of Laguna, the Spanish authorities moved the capital of Laguna from Pagsanjan to Santa Cruz in the year 1858. The Spanish alcalde mayor of the province then was Don Esteban Perez Tapalla.
      The Pagsanjeños, of course, were sad at losing the capital-ship of the province. However, they found consolation in the fact that their town was still more famous than Santa Cruz. The only claim of Santa Cruz to prominence was its commercial prosperity. On the other hand, Pagsanjan's Fame rested firmly on its beauty, the high intelligence and culture of its people, its magnificent homes and beautiful streets, the Pagsanjan Falls and other wondrous sights which delighted visitors from all parts of the world, and the peerless achievements of its talented sons and daughters.