Restoration of the Historic Town Gate

      One of the historical relics and tourist attractions of Pagsanjan is the historic town gate which stands at the western entrance of the town. It was built in 1878-1880 by the Pagsanjeño polistas (under the supervision of Fray Cipriano Bac, Franciscan cura) of natural adobe stones welded together by lime and carabao milk. On top of the triple-arched gate was Spain's royal coat-of-arms in gold and yellow colors guarded by two red Castillan lions.
      The old town gate has survived the changing epochs of Pagsanjan's history. During the Spanish and American periods, it was known as the Puerta Real (Royal Gate) and the street passing through it, Calle Real (Royal Road). It is now called Rizal Street in honor of our country's national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal.
      After the liberation of Pagsanjan from the Japanese, the municipal authorities who had no sense of history and had never seen the historic monuments in foreign countries unfortunately bastardized the historic gate by having it painted in gaudy pink color, including the royal coat-of-arms and the two lions, so that it came to appear like a modern gate of a noisy carnival city or like an old woman, whose wrinkled face is vulgarly covered with a heavy make-up. To add injury to insult, the word "PAGSANJAN" on the upper part of the gate's western facade and the date of its construction 1878-1880 below it, were erased and replaced by the English word of greeting "WELCOME", and on the eastern side of the facade was inscribed in ungrammatical English the words "THANK U, COME AGAIN."
      To right the wrong done to the old historic town gate, Dr. Gregorio F. Zaide, the historian-mayor of the town, launched a cultural crusade to restore it to its original condition in order to revive and preserve the aura and nostalgic memories of its golden past. Undaunted by the paucity of municipal funds, he sought the financial aid of the affluent and civic-spirited Pagsanjeños in Greater manila. These out-of-town Pagsanjeños generously furnished the needed funds amounting to P5,000 (five thousand pesos). After obtaining the necessary permission of the National Historic Institute in Manila, the restoration work on the town gate started under the supervision of Engineer Tito Rivera.
      Upon completion of the work on May 25, 1975, a large copper plaque was installed on the wall of the first arch. This plaque contains the names of the generous donors, as follows:

   1. Ambassador & Mrs. Gregorio Abad
   2. Mr. & Mrs. Cesar C. Abaya
   3. Mr. & Mrs. Jose R. Cosme
   4. Mr. & Mrs. Armando de la Cruz
   5. Hon. & Mrs. Armand V. Fabella
   6. Justice & Mrs. Estanislao A. Fernandez
   7. Dr. & Mrs. Casimiro C. Garcia, Jr.
   8. Dr. & Mrs. Augusto E. Hocson
   9. Gov. & Mrs. Caesar Z. Lanuza
 10. Gen & Mrs. Elias G. Lavadia
 11. Dr. & Mrs. Rosendo R. Llamas
 12. Dr. & Mrs. Eufemio Macalalag, Jr.
 13. Dr. & Mrs. Jose Mananzan
 14. Mr. & Mrs. Aquilino Soriano
 15. Dr. & Mrs. Gregorio F. Zaide
 16. Hon. & Mrs. Cesar C. Zalamea

      To these civic-spirited Pagsanjeños, who kindly financed the restoration of the historic town gate, the municipal government and people of Pagsanjan owe a lasting debt of gratitude.