CITY OF SAN PEDRO, LAGUNA, Historical Data of

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Report no. 44

Division of Laguna
District of Biñan
SAN PEDRO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

HISTORY AND CULTURAL LIFE OF THE TOWN OF
SAN PEDRO

For lack of historical sources from which to base this short account as to the origin of the town of San Pedro, efforts have been exerted to inquire from resource persons.

Since time immemorial this is known as San Pedro. The barrios herewith mentioned, San Vicente, San Antonio, Sto. Niño, Landayan and Cuyab are included within its territorial jurisdiction. This town might have been settled at the time of the discovery of the Philippines by Magellan in 1521. There were settlers when Spanish missionary priests came. Amicable arrangements were reached upon between the settlers and the missionaries. They live for quite a long time harmoniously. The king of Spain through his Royal Majesty gave this parcel of land to a certain rich Spaniard, named Don Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa between the years 1575 and 1596. This municipality was given as hacienda by the King to Don Esteban with others in return for his offer to undertake an expedition for the conquest of Mindanao. This took place in 1596.

An old record in handwriting fortunately preserved, states that this town of San Pedro was separated from Cabuyao in 1724. From then, it began to have its own executive in the name of Don Francisco Santiago who had his one year term of office in 1725.

There were signs of notable progress of the town. The population increased, the church and chapels were built for the religious needs of the people. People from other places came to reside in the town including the Chinese. The Inovio family is worth mentioning because they are of mixed Chinese and Malayan ancestry. The economic development of the town prospered little by little. The social and economic conditions of the people had been greatly hampered by the ownership of the lands by the hacienda. While the neighboring haciendas were purchased by the government and resold to the inhabitants during the early part of American, this one had been excepted and had been involved in a deal between the government and the Roman Catholic church, this remaining under the control of the church and under the immediate management of the Colegio de San Jose.

At the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution of 1896, the natives were forced into action in the general

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movement for freedom. Soldiers were recruited from the town and these formed part of the army divisions that fought in the provinces of Rizal, Cavite and Laguna. The same was true at the time of the Filipino–American War and a noted Junior officer of the town, then known as Lieutenant Jose Olivarez died in one of the encounters in Sta. Ana, a district of Manila. Sta Ana was a part of the province of Rizal.

During the short–lived Philippine Republic, the president of the town was one called Gregorio Alvarez.

After the Filipino–American war, some loathsome sufferings were undergone by the people. The “zona” system maintained that the people be concentrated in the barrios and the town. They were not allowed to transfer from one place to another. Some suffered hunger. Intensive searches from suspected rebels and hidden arms were made. Compulsory confessions of unproven leaders of the uprising were imposed by inflicting brutal punishment. Then these unwelcome torture was followed by the cholera epidemic. All these had adverse effects among the residents. Hostility reigned but eventually peace was restored. The government began to function normally under the local chief executives.

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IMPORTANT EVENTS IN SAN PEDRO

1. The formal separation of this town from Cabuyao in 1724.
2. The establishment of pasturing regions by the hacienda in 1759.
3. The change of title of the local chief executive from tiniente to capitan in 1778.
4. The change again of this title into alcalde in 1782.
5. The eruption of a volcano in a nearby province and its falling of volcanic ashes in the town in 1814.
6. Father Epifanio Pinpin became parish priest of the town in 1899.
7. A public execution took place in the town plaza in 1846.
8. Robbers in band entered the town and took firearms in 1850.
9. A big storm took place in 1857 and the local show “Tat–long Hari” was staged for first time in 1858.
10. A strong earthquake took place on the eve of Corpus Christi in 1856.
11. Muntinglupa (Tunasan perhaps) was separated from San Pedro in 1864.
12. A strong storm took place during which many people died in Laguna de Bay in 1874.
13. Construction of the Hacienda Building in 1877.
14. Another storm took place on November 22, 1879.
15. Repeated earthquakes in which the church and hacienda building was destroyed took place in 1880.
16. Reconstruction of the Hacienda Building in 1881.
17. The Holy Cruz of the town was taken to Manila to the Archbishop in 1887 and on its return a great fiesta was held at the sole expense of the parish priest.
18. Natives joined the rebellion against Spain in 1896.
19. Title of governadorcillo for local chief executive was changed into presidente in 1899. In August, 1899, the town was bombarded by Americans from the lake resulting in the destruction of the church steeple.
20. Big storm took place in 1905.
21. Taal Volcano erupted and ashes fell in this town in 1911.
22. The water of the lake rose up to the house of Don Jose Guevara in Calle Luna in 1919.

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NATIVES OF SAN PEDRO WHO DIED
DURING THE FIL–AMERICAN WAR
1899 – 1902

DESTRUCTION OF LIVES
1941–1945

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PART TWO – FOLKWAYS

The general transmission of events or general practices in domestic and social life in Santo Niño almost follow a pattern through successive generations without written memorials. Lying abreast within the proximity of the town proper, one could readily keep in view, the people’s simple way of life. Although the present crop of generations has totally departed from the traditional rituals of the past, yet it is worth mentioning to enumerate some transcendental facts, with a view to compare them with the present. Some important social phase in life, would therefore, be lengthily evaluated for distinction, study and fair comment.

Marriage customs (past) – The early villagers practiced monogamy. In certain cases the rich or well–to–do men, were allowed by customary laws to have as many wives as they could support, but the first wife was always considered the legitimate spouse.

Before marriage, the lover rendered certain personal services to the girl’s family and gave the indispensable dowry. The length of the lover’s servitude and the amount of dowry were usually fixed in the marriage contract, drawn up during the infancy of both the groom and bride. Any violation of the contract was penalized with heavy fines. The dowry was called bigaykaya. It consisted of certain amount of gold, lands or anything of value, which the groom paid to the bride’s parents. Besides this dowry, there are other special forms of dowry which increased the price of the bride, such as panghimuyat, a form of money equivalent to 1/5 of the regular dowry given to the bride’s mother, as payment for the sleepless nights endured during the bearing of the girl. Bigaysuyo was money paid to wet nurse who fed the bride with her own milk, Himarao – given to bride’s parents to reimburse the cost of feeding the girl during infancy.

Marriage ties among Filipinos were dissoluble. The grounds for divorce were the following:

1. Adultery on the part of the wife.
2. Desertion on the part of the husband.
3. Loss of affection.
4. Cruelty.
5. Insanity
6. Childlessness.

All these marriage traditions, are today a forgotten past, and presently considered naive and mythical. However, the ground for separation has been somewhat curbed, due to the strong religious pressure – considering marriage as a sacred tie. Wedlock today, is so simple and in most cases parents have no say or choice in the picking up of the bride

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groom. We could attribute this chance–about of customary action with the advent of American influence of directness, brought by movies, novels and varied reading materials attendant therewith, and found practical application in our daily living.

Burial and death rites – Because of their belief in a future live, the early Filipinos took great care in burying their dead. They embalmed their dead, using certain herbs and perfumes, and placed it in hard–wood coffins or bancas with weapons, food, drinks, said to be needed by the dead in the other part of the world.

Sorcery and Magic Charms – Like other peoples in the world, the early villagers had their own superstition. They believed in witches, who practiced black magic against their victims. Among those were the:

1. Asuang – who assumed the form of dog, cat or other animals and ate human flesh.
2. Sigvinan – who could transform himself into crocodile or snake and kill people.
3. Mangkukulam – who caused people to die or be sick by pricking a toy with the magic pin.
4. Mangagaway – who injured people with his devilish power.
5. Maniysulat – who make people love or hate each other.
6. Tigbalang – who took various forms such as dog, horse to deceive his victims.
7. Barangan – whose evil eyes could make people die or be sick.

Today, there are still a number of people who subscribe to the devil power of sorcery and other allied charms of magic, but in most cases, they serve to frighten children. In some rare instances, victims of mangkukulam or mangagaway are helpless and modern medical science has partly subscribed in its power of destruction or vengeance.

Other magic charms are:

1. Anting–anting – a universal amulet against iron weapons.
2. Uiga – which protects its possesor from being wet while swimming.
3. Gayuma – Love charm to win a girl.
4. Sape – The power of strength.

Divination – They foretold their good or bad future by interpreting the flights and songs of birds and by examining the tails of slaughtered pigs and chicken. They [page torn] shown the squealing of the rat, the howling of dogs, twists of lizard, the crashing of an old tree in the silent Philippines.

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night were bad omens, presaging death or misfortune. Sneezing while starting on a journey was considered an ill omen. The flight of the bird called Salaksak from right to left direction across the path of marching soldiers meant victory in war.

Superstitious Belief –

1. They believed that when a young girl sang before a stove or fire, she would marry an old widower.
2. When a hen cackled at midnight, an unmarried woman was giving birth to a bastard child.
3. When a cat wiped its face with its paw, a visitor was coming to the house.
4. When a girl had white spots in her fingernails, she was not constant in love.
5. When a married woman ate twin bananas, she would give birth to twin children.
6. When you see a hunchback, you are bound to meet a white horse.

Music – The greatest instrument was the kudyapi, a guitar like instrument, which has since become the symbol of Filipino poetry and romance. Today, it has become so rare and no longer used, but has serve as ornament of artistry and antique. Other native musical instruments are the bansic – the harp of Negritos, found in some homes who had traded it with native dogs or any other kind of food or clothings. Torotot, a rice stalk pipe of the Tagalogs used primarily in calling someone in distant places. Kulating, a bamboo trumpet used in serenading their lady love.

Songs – We had an extensive collection of songs for every occasion. We had love songs, serenade songs, religious, war, rowing and many other songs. The greatest song was the kundiman, a tender, lingering song of love, woman and country. Kundiman has outlived all other arts, as it is as popular as ever, despite the onrushing hits of the day, such as rhumba, zamba or mambo and etc., tunes.

Dances – We had picturesque dances for all occasions. Two of the most popular dances were the balitao and kumintang, both love dances. Fandango, tinikling and other dances were less popular, although today, tinikling has been identified to represent the heritage of the past art.

Art – The early Filipinos had the beginnings of architecture, painting and sculpture. Their architectural art was manifested in their houses of nipa. Painting was shown in the early tattoo art. The skillful tattoo artists of the barangays were the painters of the ancient Philippines.

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We had a crude form of sculpture. Tribal sculptors carved fantastic statues of their gods and other images.

Calendars – Filipinos had been using their own calendars long before the arrivals of the Spaniards. Commonly found in Filipino homes, was the Visayan calendar, containing 7 days a week, 12 months a year and 356 days a year. The native calendar of the Ifugao’s has 13 months, each month having 28 days, except the 13th month, which has 29 days.

Riddles – The riddle is a play of wit, which endeavors to present an object by stating its characteristic features and peculiarities as to adequately call it before the mind without however, actually naming it. Many of the riddles introduce the names of saints and to that degree, evidence of foreign influence. Religious riddles relating to bells, churches, are common enough due to outside influence.

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