CHAPTER 5

      Like a golden thread which is woven into a gorgeous tapestry, the saga of the mini-town of Pagsanjan is a part of the grander pageant of Philippine history. In both war and peace since it appeared in history's limelight, its gifted people have played a notable role in the written annals of the Filipino nation.

The Origin of Pagsanjan

      Pagsanjan first loomed in history as a barrio of Lumban, a town founded in 1578 by the famous Fray Juan de la Plasencia, Franciscan missionary-historian. The other barrios were Longos (now Kalayaan), Paete, Pakil, Cavinti, and Santa Cruz. The first settlers of Pagsanjan were eight Christian Chinese and Japanese traders named Diego Changco, Alfonso Changco, Mateo Caco, Jose Jegote, Juan Juco, Diego Suico, Marcos Suico, and Eugenio Vinco. Highly impressed by the strategic location of the barrio at the juncture of two rivers, they established their trading settlement and engaged in betel-nut industry.
      Because they had no wives, they married the daughters of the native families. Out of these interracial marriages sprang the first Sangley mestizos and mestizas of Pagsanjan. It should be noted that the Spanish colonizers called the Chinese Sangley, which term originated from the Chinese word shang-lu, meaning "traveling merchant." In due time, lured by the burgeoning prosperity of the settlement, many native families from the surrounding communities (Lumban, Cavinti, Santa Cruz, and Pila) migrated to the barrio. Also more Chinese, in search of greener pastures, came and married the native women.
      Throughout the ebb and flow of time Pagsanjan became a flourishing trading center of Eastern Laguna.

Foundation of Pagsanjan as a Town

      As the barrio folks of Pagsanjan prospered, they become irritated by their dependency on Lumban, and soon aspired for pueblohood (township). According to local tradition, a dramatic incident hastened their desire to separate from the mother town (Lumban). One day Pagsanjan's cabeza de barangay (barrio head) named Francisco Umale flared in anger during a meeting of local officials in the town hall of Lumban because his protest against the arbitrary imposition of new taxes on his barrio was superciliously ignored by the presiding official, the gobernadorcillo (town executive) of Lumban. In flaming wrath, he hurled his anger on the conference table, saying in great indignation: "If my people cannot get justice from you, we will separate and establish our own pueblo. Goodbye to all of you!" After his fiery speech, he walked out of the meeting.
      The Pagsanjeños, unanimously supporting their brave cabeza, petitioned the Spanish alcalde mayor of Laguna (who was then residing in Bay, the first capital of Laguna Province) and the Spanish governor general in Manila to elevate their barrio to a pueblo. Fortunately their petition was approved.
      On December 12, 1668 Governor General Juan Manuel de la Peña Bonifaz (1668-1669) issued a gubernatorial decree creating Pagsanjan as a town. The first gobernadorcillo elected by the people was Francisco Umale, the courageous cabeza who had defied the Lumban authorities.
      Although the new town became politically independent, it still remained religiously dependent on Lumban. It was not until 1687 that it became a regular parish, by virtue of a Pastoral Letter of Msgr. Felipe Pardo (1677-89), Archbishop of Manila, dated November 12, 1687. The first parish priest of Pagsanjan was Fray Agustin de la Magdalena, former missionary in Mexico. It was he who chose Our Lady of Guadalupe as town's patron saint, whose image came from Mexico with love.

Two Centuries of Disunity (1697-1893)

      Not long after the rise of Pagsanjan as a town, the people were sent asunder by socio-racial differences, into two rival groups, namely the mestizos (descendants of Chinese-native parents) and the naturales (pure-blooded natives). The mestizos, because of their business acumen and high culture, became wealthy and socially prominent, while the naturales remained poor.
      The widening gap between the mestizos and the naturales climaxed in 1697 when the Spanish authorities created two local governments in Pagsanjan, namely, the Gremio de Mestizos and the Gremio de Naturales. This was in consonance with Spain's colonial policy of divide et impera (divide and rule). Each gremio had its own officials, town hall and jail.
      To aggravate the cleavage between the mestizos and naturales, there were also established two rival cofradias (confraternities) in town, such as the Archicofradia del Santisimo Sacramento for the mestizos and Archicofradia de Nuestro Padre Jesus for the naturales.

Pagsanjan Becomes Laguna's Second Capital (1688)

      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.

Educational Decree of 1863
and Pagsanjan's First Public School

      Prior to 1863, there was no public school system in the whole Philippines. Consequently, there was no public elementary school in Pagsanjan as well as in all other towns in the archipelago. The children of school age in Pagsanjan studied in the classes established and operated by private tutors.
      To improve the educational system in our country, the Spanish Crown promulgated the famous Educational Decree of 1863 which was signed by Queen Regent Maria Cristina of Spain on December 20, 1863. This significant educational decree was actually written by Don Jose de la Concha, Minister of Colonies (Ultramar). It provided for (1) the establishment of a public elementary school in every town to be financially supported by the government and (2) the opening of a normal school for men in Manila.
      Pursuant to the Educational Decree of 1863, the first public elementary school was established in 1864. It was opened at the tribunal municipal of the Gremio de Naturales (now the Municipal Hall of Pagsanjan). Tuition and textbooks wee free, so that the children of the poor masses gladly attended the school. Thus it came to be called Escuela Pia which means "Charity School". Many of the children of the rich mestizo families preferred to study under private tutors.

The Great Fire of 1893

      The greatest calamity that befell Pagsanjan during the last decade of Spain's rule was the so-called :Great Fire of 1893." To Pagsanjeños, this was a horrendous calamity, just as the Great Fire of Rome in A.D. 64 was to the Romans. Until the present day (1970's) the old folks in town, who were eyewitness to the conflagration, still remember this terrible episode.
      On the windy evening of January 28, 1893, as most of the town people were sleeping, a fire suddenly blazed in a nipa hut near the plaza. Because many residential houses around the plaza then were made of nipa and bamboo, the fir quickly gutted them, and fanned by the winds, it whirled with roaring velocity westward along two parallel streets -- Calle Real (now Rizal Street) and Calle San Isidro (now Mabini Street) -- reducing their houses to ashes.
      All the houses from the plaza to the compound of Don Vicente Llamas on Calle Real were completely razed to the ground. The high adobe walls on Don Vicente's home finally stopped the destructive conflagration. On the San Isidro Street, the damage was equally appalling. All the houses (except the stone house of Don Pedro Rosales) on the hilly side of San Isidro Street were burned to ashes.
      To prevent the repetition of the "Great Fire of 1893", the municipal authorities prohibited the construction of nipa houses on Calle Real and around the plaza. They also established the ronda which was the nightly patrol of citizen volunteers so that in case of fire they could promptly put it out or give immediate warning to the sleeping town folks. It is interesting to note that the Pagsanjeños blamed their hated parish priest, Fr. Marcelino Tapetado, for the devastating fire for two reasons: (1) he did not show any sorrow at the tragic losses of the fire victims, and (2) the fire originated at the house of his favorite sacristan.
      A few days after the "Great Fire", some bold illustrados of Pagsanjan sent a written petition to Governor General Ramon Blanco (1893-96) denouncing Padre Tapetado and requesting his transfer to another parish. They were Jose Unson, Elias Lavadia, Mariano Llamas, and Roman Abaya. The governor general, being ignorant of the local situation, endorsed the petition to Padre Tapetado. The latter, in retaliation, denounced the authors of the petition as filibusteros, enemies of God and Spain. Since the word of the fraile (friar) during the Spanish regime was accepted as "gospel truth" by the government authorities, the four brave illustrados were soon wanted by the Guardia Civil, Lavadia and Llamas were caught and were sent into exile. their comrades, Unson and Abaya, were fortunate to elude arrest by fleeing to Balubad Mountain.

Maura Law of 1893 and Reunification of Pagsanjan

      May 19, 1893 was one of the significant dates in Philippine history. On this date Queen Regent Maria Cristina promulgated the Municipal Reform Decree which created a more autonomous municipal government in every town in our country. This royal decree was popularly known as the Maura Law of 1893 after its author, Don Antonio Maura y Montañer, Minister of Colonies. Pursuant to the Maura Law, two local governments of Pagsanjan, namely Gremio de Mestizos and Gremio de Naturales were abolished and were replaced by a single local government called Tribunal Municipal (Municipal Government). The chief executive of the new municipal government was the capitan municipal (municipal captain), assisted by the teniente mayor (chief constable), teniente de policia (lieutenant of police), teniente de ganados (lieutenant of cattle) and teniente de sementeras (lieutenant of the fields). All these municipal officials were elected by twelve electors (chosen among the town ex-officials and tax payers). The method of election was by secret ballot. With the promulgation of the Maura Law of 1893, the Pagsanjeños were reunited as one people -- no more mestizos and no more naturales.
      The first municipal captain to be elected under the Maura Law was Santiago Hocson (father of Mr. Ernesto Hocson), a graduate of the Escuela Normal Superior de Maestros in Manila and former school teacher in Lumban and later Pagsanjan. Incidentally, he was also the last gobernadorcillo of the Gremio de Mestizos.

Pagsanjan's Role in the Philippine Revolution

      Pagsanjan played a big role during our libertarian struggle against Spain in 1896 and later against the United States, in 1899-1902. On the night of December 12, 1894, Feast Day of our Lady of Guadalupe, a youthful merchant named Severino Taiño and his close friends met secretly in a bodega (warehouse) owned by Mariano Crisostomo and founded a chapter of the Katipunan, a revolutionary society which Andres Bonifacio established in Tondo, Manila, on July 7, 1892. This Katipunan chapter was called Maluningning (Ever Shining). Its members were Santiago Crisostomo (president), Mariano Crisostomo (older brother of Santiago), Severino Taiño, Claro Zaide, Sergio Garcia, Francisco Abad, Pedro Caballes, Gregorio Rivera, and Severo Sumulong. Later Claro Zaide was chosen treasurer and Severino Taiño, general.
      Shortly after founding the Katipunan chapter, Taiño and his friends secretly propagated the revolutionary ideals of Bonifacio's Katipunan in the town and in Lumban, Paete, Pakil, Siniloan, Cavinti, Santa Cruz, Magdalena, and other towns of Laguna.
      On November 14, 1896, General Taiño raised the red flag of revolution in Pagsanjan. Hundreds of patriots in the town and from surrounding towns rallied around his banner. The following day, with an army of 3,000, he attacked the Spanish garrison which was strongly entrenched at the Catholic church. The assaulting patriots, armed with a few muskets, bamboo, spears, bolos, and anting-antings (amulets), fought courageously, but they were driven back by the Spanish cazadores who were well-armed with rifles (Mauzers) and artillery. General Taiño and his surviving forces retreated to Pagsanjan.
      Undaunted by their defeat in Santa Cruz, Colonel Francisco Abad, bravest officer and compadre of General Taiño, attacked on November 16 a Spanish column marching from Batangas to Santa Cruz, at Sambat (crossroad located between Pagsanjan and Santa Cruz). The fight was bloody and fierce. Colonel Abad, riding his fast horse, fearlessly charged the enemy lines. He was killed by a volley of gunshots. His men, without a leader, were routed by the Spaniards. Because of his heroic death in combat, local chroniclers have acclaimed him as the "Hero of Sambat."
      Owing to the superiority of the Spanish armaments and the arrival of more enemy troops in Santa Cruz, General Taiño and his patriot forces evacuated Pagsanjan, retreating to the mountains. They continued the fight for freedom by means of guerilla tactics.
      The conclusion of the famous "Pact of Biak-na-Bato" (December 14-15, 1897) stopped all hostilities in blood-drenched Philippines. As history reveals, the peace brought about by this pact did not last long because Spain's broken promises.
      Shortly after the destruction of the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay on May 1, 1898 by Commodore Dewey's squadron, General Emilio Aguinaldo returned from his exile in Hong Kong. He proclaimed recrudescence of the revolution against Spain and urged all patriots to arms and fight for freedom's sake. In response to Aguinaldo's proclamation, General Taiño rallied his forces and resumed the libertarian struggle. With the help of the troops of General Paciano Rizal (brother of Dr. Jose Rizal), he attacked the Spanish army in Santa Cruz. When he could not crush them by assault, he besieged the town beginning June 24, 1898. For more than two months, the bottled Spanish army tried to break the siege, but in vain. Finally, on August 31, Don Antonio del Rio, last Spanish civil governor of Laguna, seeing that everything was lost, surrendered to Generals Taiño and Rizal. At long last, General Taiño redeemed his defeat in Santa Cruz on November 15, 1896 and avenged the death of Colonel Abad in Sambat on November 16. Unfortunately, he did not live long to witness the dawn of Filipino freedom because he was treacherously killed on October 25, 1898 by a Spanish renegade, Lieutenant Casteltor, who had joined General Miguel Malvar's staff, during a barrio fiesta in San Pedro, Laguna.
      It should be noted that on June 12, 1898, the Declaration of Philippine Independence, a historic document written by Atty. Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, Biñan patriot and relative of Dr. Jose Rizal, was proclaimed at Kawit, Cavite. Three months later, on September 15, the famous Malolos Congress convened at Malolos, Bulacan, under the presidency of Dr. Pedro A. Paterno. The province of Laguna was represented by two Pagsanjeño intellectuals, namely, Judge Higinio Benitez and Maestro Graciano Cordero. Both of them participated in the drafting of the Malolos Constitution and were among its signers. This Constitution established the First Philippine Republic.
      During the War of Philippine Independence (1899-1902), a Pagsanjan brigade led by Col. Pedro Caballes fought in defense of Filipino freedom. This fighting brigade was part of General Cailles' army which resisted the invasion of Laguna Province by American troops commanded by Henry C. Lawton. On April 10, 1899, Santa Cruz (Laguna's capital) fell into American hands. The following day Lawton's cavalrymen occupied Pagsanjan.

Early Years of American Occupation

      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.

Campaign for Philippine Independence

      Notwithstanding their material prosperity under the American flag, the Pagsanjeños yearned for the restoration of their freedom and republic which their nation once enjoyed during the revolutionary era of 1898-1901. They were vigorously led by Speaker Sergio Osmeña who launched the peaceful campaign for Philippine Independence during the closing session of the First Philippine Assembly on the night of June 19, 1908, the 47th birthday anniversary of Dr. Jose Rizal. On the historic night, Speaker Osmeña addressed the members of the Philippine Assembly, as follows:

      "Allow me, gentlemen of the House, following the dictates of my conscience as a delegate, as a representative of the country, under responsibility as Speaker of the House, to declare solemnly as I do now before God and before the world, that we believe that our people aspire for their independence, that our people, consider themselves capable of leading an orderly life, efficient for themselves and for others, in the concert of free and civilized nations, and that we believe that if the people of the United States were to decide at this moment the Philippine cause in favor of the Filipinos, the latter could, in assuming the consequent responsibility, comply with their duties to themselves and to others, without detriment to liberty, to justice, and to right."

      This independence declaration of Speaker Osmeña was unanimously ratified by the members of the Philippine Assembly, including Assemblyman Crispin Oben from Pagsanjan.
      In February 1919, shortly after the end of World War I (1914-18), the First Independence Mission, headed by Senate President Manuel L. Quezon, left Manila for the United States to request the U.S. Congress to grant independence to the Filipino people, as was promised in the preamble of the Jones Law of 1916. One Pagsanjeño named Conrado Benitez accompanied this historic independence mission as one of the technical advisers.
      The First Independence Mission, as well as other missions dispatched in subsequent years, failed to get the cherished independence. At long last, the OSROX Independence Mission, headed by Senator Osmeña and House Speaker Manuel A. Roxas, succeeded in securing from the U.S. Congress the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act (January 17, 1933). This law provided for a ten-year transition prior to the granting of the Philippine independence, the framing of a Constitution of the Philippines by the Filipino constitutional delegates, and the establishment of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
      Unfortunately, Senate President Quezon, jealous of the success of Senator Osmeña and House Speaker Roxas, persuaded the Philippine Legislature to reject the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act. Boasting that he could get a better independence law, he led the last independence mission to America. What he obtained from the U.S. Congress was the Tydings-McDuffee Act (March 24, 1934) which was, in truth, a slightly revised copy of the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act.

Framing of the 1935 Philippine Constitution

      Pursuant to the Tydings-McDuffee Act, the Philippine Constitutional Convention was convened at the session hall of the House of Representatives, Manila, on July 30, 1934, to begin the task of framing the Constitution. It was composed of 202 delegates who were elected by the people on July 10th. The two delegates who represented the 2nd District of Laguna were Dean Conrado Benitez, a son of Judge Higinio Benitez; and Pedro Guevara, former senator and resident commissioner.
      Under the presidency of Senator Claro M. Recto, famous jurist and statesman, the 1934-35 Convention seriously tackled the difficult work of writing our nation's constitutional charter. Delegate Benitez played an important role in this historic work. He was a member of the Sub-Committee of Seven, whose members were dubbed the "Seven Wise Men" because they wrote the final draft of the Constitution on February 8, and signed by the members of the Convention on February 19, 1935.
      After the signing of the Constitution, it was forwarded to Washington, D.C. for approval by the President of the United States, as stipulated by the Tydings-McDuffee Act. On March 23, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved it. The final step was the ratification by the Filipino people in a nationwide plebiscite held on May 14, 1935.

The Sakdalista Uprisings and the Pagsanjeños

      On May 2-3 1935, shortly before our nation ratified the Constitution, the pro-communist Sakdalistas, by order of their supreme leader (Benigno Ramos, founder of the Sakdal Party), rose in bloody uprisings in 14 towns of the Southern Tagalog provinces and in Central Luzon. The chief purpose of this armed tumult was to plunge the country into chaos and prevent the ratification of the Constitution.
      Happily, the violent risings of the Sakdalistas were suppressed by the Philippine Constabulary. According to Acting Governor General Joseph Ralston Hayden, the fiercest fights took place in the three towns of Santa Rosa and Cabuyao (Laguna) and in San Ildefonso (Bulacan), where the rebel Sakdalistas were able to seize the municipal buildings. In these three towns the Sakdalistas (men and women), numbering between 5,000 and 7,000, were routed by the government forces.
      Several days, before the eruption of the Sakdalista uprisings, the Sakdalistas in Pagsanjan, who numbered about 400, were ordered by the lieutenants of Benigno Ramos who was safely ensconced in far-away Japan to join the armed upheaval. They were mostly poor tenants in the barrios and gullible uneducated men in the poblacion. Prominent among them were Pacifico Abad (who introduced the Sakdal movement in the town in January, 1935), Antonio Abella, Estanislao Abarquez, Anacleto Ebio, Ricardo Ruperto, Asias Walo, and Manuel Zalamea. Fortunately they were more peace-loving than their sanguinary counterparts in other Sakdal-infested towns so that they did not participate in bloody uprisings.

Pagsanjan During the Commonwealth Period

      On May 14, 1935, the Pagsanjeños voted overwhelmingly for the ratification of the Constitution. When the Commonwealth of the Philippines was inaugurated at Manila on November 15, they rejoiced with music, cheers, and prayers. The popular comment in the town was: "Now we are on the road to independence." Even the unlettered masses were glad at the birth of the Commonwealth, which they called Ka-manuel after President Manuel L. Quezon. Shortly after his induction into office, President Quezon reorganized the government of the Philippine Commonwealth. In this government there were at least three Pagsanjeños who were appointed to public service, namely: Dr. Jose Fabella, Secretary of Health and Public Welfare; Dean Conrado Benitez, Assistant Secretary to the President; and Julio Francia, City Assessor of Manila.
      Pagsanjan continued to flourish during the Commonwealth period. The Pagsanjeños enjoyed material prosperity. Their homes, town plaza and church, streets, and town gate were as beautiful as in colonial times. Their sons and daughters were studying in the colleges and universities of Manila and also in foreign universities. Many gifted Pagsanjeños continued to excel in the professions -- arts and letters, economics, chemistry, dentistry, engineering, business, music, and education.
      But the jolly good years in the life of man or nation cannot last forever. And so it was for the beautiful and affluent town of Pagsanjan. Suddenly on the chilly morning of December 8, 1941, calamity struck -- the explosion of war with Japan (the Pacific phase of World War II).

Pagsanjan's Interlude of Agony

      The wartime period from December 8, 1941 to April 16, 1945 was an interlude of agony in the history of Pagsanjan. The people of the town were stunned when they heard that Japan had attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Fearful Pagsanjeño families residing in Manila and other provinces evacuated to their native town. The National government designated Pagsanjan as one of the evacuation centers. As a result, the town was flooded with refugees from Manila, Pampanga, Pangasinan, and other provinces. In less than a month's time, the town's population had doubled in number.
      In response to President Quezon's appeal for fighting men, numerous young Pagsanjeños (including the sons of prominent families) joined the USAFFE (United States Armed Forces in the Far East) under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, America's famed militarist. Many of them never returned home, for they either perished on the battlefields of Bataan and Corregidor or in the prison camp of Capaz, Tarlac.
      After the cheerless Christmas Day (December 25, 1941), the Fil-American forces which were losing the fight at the Atimonan-Mauban sector began their retreat to Bataan via Pagsanjan. The Pagsanjeños, growing apprehensive over their fate, began to evacuate to Paete, Pakil, and other towns in Baybay region. In the afternoon of December 28, the USAFFE engineers blew up the river bridges. The next day the last remnants of the surviving troops left the town in big army trucks, bound for Bataan. As they departed, more Pagsanjeño families fled to other towns and to the distant barrios.
      At noon of December 30, 1941, Rizal Day, the vanguard of the victorious Japanese invaders entered Pagsanjan. They were welcomed by a few Pagsanjeños headed by the town president (Emilio Aquino). Fortunately, the Japanese soldiers behaved well. They told the few Pagsanjeños that they came as friends and should not be afraid of them. Because no atrocity was committed by the enemy, all the Pagsanjeño families who fled to other places soon returned to their empty homes.
      Despite the Fall of Bataan and Corregidor, the people of Pagsanjan remained loyal to America and democracy. At the risk of their lives, they supported with men, arms, food, and funds the guerilla warfare against Japan. They themselves suffered immensely because the Japanese troops commandeered their homes, foodstuffs, pigs, cows, carabaos, and chickens.
      For helping the guerillas, many male Pagsanjeños were brutally killed by the Japanese. Among them were Dr. Dominador Gomez, Vicente Santos, Augusto Abary, David Austria, and Julio Labit. Also the Pagsanjeño guerillas who fell into Japanese hands were executed. Greatest among them was Cipriano Zaguirre, former town president and local commander of the Fil-American guerillas. He was executed by the Japanese on the night of August 25, 1942. He is now acclaimed in the town annals as the "Guerilla Hero of Pagsanjan."
      While the Pagsanjeños were agonizing under Japanese occupation, General Artemio Ricarte, famous revolutionary hero who preferred to live in exile at Yokohama than to take oath of allegiance to America, visited Pagsanjan on January 14-15, 1942. He addressed a vast multitude of Pagsanjeños from the balcony of the municipal building, urging them to cooperate with Japan. The Pagsanjeños, who respected him for his valiant record during the Philippine Revolution, listened attentively and applauded him warmly, but they never heeded his advice because they knew that he was a puppet of the Japanese military authorities.
      Even with Japan's recognition of "Philippine Independence" and the establishment on October 14, 1943 of the "Republic of the Philippines," with Dr. Jose P. Laurel as President, the Pagsanjeños refused to collaborate with the Japanese military authorities. Being an intelligent people, they knew that the Japanese-given independence was phony and the Japanese-sponsored Republic of the Philippines, a puppet government.
      As time went on, the tide of war turned against Japan. On their hidden radio sets, the Pagsanjeños secretly listened to short-wave radio broadcasts from San Francisco (California) and Australia. Accordingly, they learned that the Japanese air-land-sea forces were losing the battles in the Southwest Pacific area and that General MacArthur was hopping from island to island towards the Philippines. During the early months of 1944 the Pagsanjeños (as well as other Filipinos) suffered more atrocities inflicted by Japanese kempei-tai (secret police) and soldiers. With patience, courage, and hope, they endured their sufferings and prayed to God within the privacy of their homes to hasten the dawn of their liberation.
      In the midst of their agony, the Pagsanjeños suddenly heard the gladsome news of General MacArthur's successful landing in Leyte on October 20, 1944. This news was secretly leaked to them by some bold townmates headed by Mr. Salvador Unson, secret adviser of the town guerillas. Cheered by the Leyte landing, they waited day after day and prayed more for the success of the American liberators. From clandestine radio broadcasts, they learned of the liberation of Mindoro (December 15, 1944), MacArthur's landing of Lingayen (January 8, 1945), and the entry of the American and guerilla liberating forces in Manila on the evening of February 8, 1945.

The Destruction of a Beautiful Town

      As Pagsanjeños were awaiting expectantly the coming of their liberators, suddenly in the morning of March 15, 1945, several waves of American bombers and fighter planes swooped down on their town and subjected it to a terrific carpet bombing which completely destroyed the Catholic Church, the municipal building, and the residential houses around the town plaza. Fortunately, the human casualties were slight -- four residents, including a baby, were killed. The Japanese soldiers who were billeted in the private homes also suffered very few casualties -- one killed and four wounded.
      After the horrendous American carpet bombing, the frightened troops set fire to many residential houses along the Rizal, Mabini and General Taiño Streets. As the flames gutted the beautiful homes, the evacuated the burning town, retreating towards the Sierra Madre Range.
      Not all homes, fortunately, were destroyed by the horrible conflagration. Those which were burned were the elegant homes in town, especially in Rizal Street, which were of colonial vintage. Consequently, on the wings of war vanished the magnificent homes of the affluent Pagsanjeños, with their romantic azoteas, attractive red-tiled roofs, and including the valuable oil paintings, antique furniture, pianos, jewelries, and other heirlooms. Gone also were the age-old Catholic church, with its grandiose white dome, and the historic image of Our Lady of Guadalupe which came from Mexico.
      Also destroyed by American bombs and Japanese-set fires were the private libraries of the illustrados which contained priceless rare editions of books on history, politics, geography, mathematics, religion, and sciences; the old images of saints which had been preserved and worshipped at the family altars; and the complete historical records of the church and municipal archives so that it is now impossible to write the full history of Pagsanjan since its foundation in 1668, for they have no duplicates in the archives of Spain, Mexico, Vatican, and other foreign countries.

The Liberation of Pagsanjan

      On April 16, 1945, a month after the departure of the last Japanese soldiers, the vanguard of the American liberators, accompanied by the guerillas from Pagsanjan, Santa Cruz, and other towns, entered the town. This was the so-called "Liberation of Pagsanjan." What really was liberated was a ghost town in shambles, inhabited by a few families which were unable to evacuate to the barrios. Once upon a time Pagsanjan, like the legendary Camelot, was a community of happy and prosperous people, great in beauty and rich in culture. Now what the liberators saw was a desolate town of weeping ruins and cold ashes. There was no joyous welcome for the liberators, no wild greetings of gratitude, and no warm exuberance of liberation, for most of the people were in their evacuation camps in the barrios.
      When news reached the barrios of the arrival of the American liberators, the refugee families rushed back to town. Sadly, they viewed the dolorous destruction of their homes and beautiful town. Instead of tears of joy, they shed tears of sorrow for their great material losses. They were, however, consoled with the thought that they were alive and free again. The Japanese reign of terror was over, and the dove of peace once more hovered over their beloved town.

Resurgence Over the Ashes of War

      Ever resilient in spirit like their durable bamboo plants, the Pagsanjeños, spurred by indomitable courage and buoyant hope, began to rebuild their devastated town. Within a short time, a new Pagsanjan, like the fabled phoenix of Heliopolis, arose over the ashes of war.
      Thanks to the war damage funds generously given by the United States, new homes appeared over the ruins of the old; the Catholic church, municipal building, and schools were rebuilt; the river bridge were reconstructed; the town plaza and the streets were cleared of war's debris and were planted with flowering plants and shade tree..
      Fortunately, three of the cherished historical relics of the town remained intact, undamaged by the bombs and flames, namely, the historic town gate with three Roman arches, topped by two lions holding Spain's royal escutcheon; the old colonial town plaza which was named after Queen Regent Maria Cristina of Spain; and the majestic obelisk called the "Needle of Cleopatra."
      Postwar Pagsanjan is not as superbly beautiful as the prewar one. It is, however, reasonably presentable; at least, it is more elegant than many postwar towns in the Philippines.
      Of Paramount interest is the fact that the God-given talents of the Pagsanjeños survived the holocaust of war. Such inherent talents can never be destroyed by war's blasting bombs and raging fires. Many gifted Pagsanjeños, especially those living in Greater Manila and in foreign lands, have continued to distinguish themselves in all professions, thereby keeping evermore aglow the traditional glory of their beloved town.