DOMAIN NAME:
pagsanjan.org
Reg'd: 05/05/00

HOME

CHAPTER 1
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5

CHAPTER 2
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3

CHAPTER 3
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5

CHAPTER 4
Page 1
Page 2

CHAPTER 5
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9

CHAPTER 6
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7

CHAPTER 7
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9

      After the downfall of the First Philippine Republic (1899-1901), the people pf Pagsanjan accepted Pax Americana. By cooperating with the American authorities and rehabilitating their war-ravaged country, they hoped to regain someday in the arena of peace their nation's independence which was lost in the arena of war. But first, they must rebuild their ruined country out of the ashes of a lost libertarian struggle (1896-1902) and prepare themselves, politically and socially, to be worthy of independence, as their great fellow Lagunense hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, wrote in his immortal writings. Accordingly, they welcomed the new political and educational changes introduced by the United States.
      On June 19, 1901, the new municipal government was established in Pagsanjan by the Second Philippine Commission headed by Judge William H. Taft. For lack of time and facilities, the first municipal president named Prudencio Francia was appointed and installed into office. On March 2, 1903, the first official census under the American rule was taken throughout the Philippines to prepare the people for the coming local and national elections. This census showed that the total population of Pagsanjan was 6,361.
      The first local election by means of secret ballot was held in Pagsanjan in November 1903. A young illustrado, Roman Abaya, won at the polls, thereby becoming the first elected president of the town. One of the eight elected councilors was Crispin Oben, a young promising lawyer.
      Coincident with the introduction of the democratic local government, the free public elementary school, with English as the medium of instruction, was opened in the town in 1903. The first teachers were American soldiers who laid their guns and taught the children the rudiments of the English language. A night school was also opened for the adults (including municipal officials and employees, policemen, and barrio officials). In the same year (1903) two young Pagsanjeños, Timoteo Abaya and Genoveva Llamas, were chosen to be among the first 100 Filipino "pensionados" to study in the colleges and universities of the United States.
      In 1903, the first provincial high school, called Laguna High School, was established in Pagsanjan. It was housed at the municipal building until 1911 when it was transferred to Santa Cruz. The first American teachers who were assigned to teach in the Laguna High School were dedicated educators, to whom truly belongs the glory of having brought the torch of American democracy and the English language to our shores. Speaking of them, Dr, Narciso Cordero, Jr., an eye-witness of the early years of the American regime, wrote:

      "The American teachers stationed in Pagsanjan were as much a source of curiosity to the town folks as we have been to them. They had volunteered their services with a mixed spirit of adventure and missionary zeal to help "civilize a backward people." It just happened that Pagsanjan at that time boasted of a high degree of culture and had a high percentage of illustrados, steeped in Victorian mores of conduct. These were critical of some of the American teachers, who dressed shabbily, walked about in the streets munching bananas like children; sat on chair with feet crossed on their knees; and had dirty fingernails.....However, all of them made themselves pleasant to the town people. One in particular, Shirley E. Robert, is especially remembered by old-timers. He was a Harvard graduate, with a distinct Harvard accent, and spoke English fluently."

      Two non-Pagsanjeños who studied at the Laguna High School in Pagsanjan rose to fame in later years. The first was Basilio J. Valdez from Manila, who later finished medicine at the University of Santo Thomas, served as medical officer in the French Army during World War I (1914-18), and became a member of President Quezon's War Cabinet during World War II (1938-45). the second was Leopoldo B. Uichanco from Calamba, who became a distinguished scientist and Dean of the U.P. College of Agriculture in Los Baños.
      Aside from propagating the English language, the American teachers (college graduates as well as ex-soldiers) introduced in Pagsanjan the American games (baseball, volleyball, swimming, etc.); Yankee music and songs; and the American customs (Halloween, Christmas caroling, exchange of Christmas cards, etc.).
      In less than a decade the Pagsanjeños, because of their high intelligence, came to assimilate the English language and the American culture. In 1907 the youthful lawyer and former councilor, Crispin Oben, who learned the English language from an ex-American soldier, was elected to the First Philippine Assembly, representing the Second District of Laguna. He was the first Pagsanjeño to sit in the legislative body of our nation. In subsequent years other Pagsanjeños were elected to the House of Representatives, Philippine Legislature, under the Jones Law of 1916, namely Eulogio Benitez and Aurelio Palileo, both lawyers.