History of Pasig City, Philippines

History of Pasig City, Philippines

article copied verbatim from: http://www.roquebutuyan.com/mypigafetta/history.html

Like other human settlements built around water sources, Pasig was a peaceful kingdom built around the river called Bitukang Manok before the Spaniards came. Bitukang Manok was a part of today’s Pasig River. The pre-Spanish communities were Malays, Chinese and the Tingues a minority found in the forested mountains of Pasig.

According to historians Dr. Lucio PR Santiago and Elizabeth Lolarga, the kingdom was ruled by Dayang Kalangitan, wife of Gat Lontok. They had four children: Dayang Panginoon who married Gat Balagtas of Sapa (now Sta. Ana), Dayang Lahat, who married Gat Timog, Raha Salalila or Soliman I of Maynila and Gat Kahiya. Soliman I would become the father of Raha Matanda or Ache, Soliman II of Maynila and Lakan Dula of Tondo.

Bitukang Manok would play an important role in history but through the years, it dried up, became a shallow and dirty estero called Parian Creek, and is now gone, its dry beds home to various new structures, including a McDonald’s and the Pasig Police Headquarters.

The Adelantado Don Miguel Lopez de Legazpi granted the encomienda of Pasig to Don Juan de la Isla on November 14, 1571. The first town center was located in Baranggay Pinagbuhatan but because it was always becoming flooded, the town center was located to a higher ground.

A year later, the town of Pasig under the province of Tondo was declared a reduccion. As a reduccion, Pasig formally became a village or settlement established by Spanish missionaries for the religious and cultural education of the so-called “Indios.”

It was almost two years after Pasig became an encomienda that the parish received its first bell and was inaugurated on July 2, 1573. Pasig’s first patron Saint was the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary but five years later, on April 25, 1587, the Augustinian parish would be formally known as the Parish of the Immaculate Conception.

The 17th century saw Chinese rebellions against the Spaniards. Thousands of “Sangleys of Parian” died in the beginning of the century and again in another uprising 1639. In response, the Chinese of Sagar (perhaps contemporary Sagad), a visita of Pasig, burned the church and villages of Pasig and San Mateo.

Antipolo’s patroness, Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage (originally from Mexico), made several trips, the first of which was in 1632, along the Bitukang Manok from Manila to the hills of Antipolo, where she was installed by the Jesuits. The 17th century saw the first of the many territorial conflicts between the Augustinians and the Jesuits, such as the competition for the “spiritual administration” of Mariquina (contemporary Marikina), Cainta, and San Mateo.

The very first recorded name of the mayor of Pasig is Don Domingo de Masangcay in 1638. By this time, however, the local government under the Spaniards has been in existence for more than 60 years.

The first major beaterio (or religious congregation) for women outside of Manila was formed in 1740 by parish priest Fr. Felix de Trillo, OSA. The Beaterio de Santa Rita de Pasig is a religious and educational institution. Its buildings would later become the Colegio del Buen Consejo.

Pasig suffered a lot from the British forces from November 8, 1762 until 1764. The British army led by General Draper seized and plundered the church and convent, the beaterio and other public buildings after defeating the Spanish forces led by Simon de Anda. They also hauled down and melted the ancient church bells for conversion into cannons.

Rich Pasigueňos adopted the practice of establishing a capellania de misa or pious trust fund in favor of the parish church. The first such recorded fund was established in 1737 by the childless couple don Salvador dela Cruz and Dňa Juana dela Rosa.

Fr. Manuel Blanco, author of Flora de Filipinas, one of the first botanical works in the Philippines, was the pastor of Pasig from 1826-28. He built a garden beside the church, in an area which later became the site of the Pasig Catholic Church. Fr. Blanco was also assigned to such towns as Angat in Bulacan, as well as Batangas, Bauan and San Jose in Batangas, with his last assignment being the monastery in Guadalupe (4). Flora de Filipinas was published in 1837, 1877, 1883 and 1993. An original set of Flora de Filipinas published in 1877 is part of the Rizal Collection of the Ateneo de Manila University (5). Pasiguenos took an active role in the Katipunan. The decision to launch the revolution was reached in Pasig, in the Asamblea Magna in May 1896, when Kaptipuneros, led by no less than Andres Bonifacio, along with Emilio Jacinto, Pio Valenzuela and Emilio Aguinaldo, traveled aboard bancas along the Bitukang Manok to meet in the house of Valentin Cruz in San Nicolas. Three months after on August 29, 1896, the first battle of the Katipunan was launched in the event called Nagsabado sa Pasig. Some 2,000

Pasiguenos, armed with scythes, bolos, a few firearms and courage, met at the border of barrios Maybunga and Caniogan, marched towards the plaza and took over the headquarters of the Guardia Civil and the municipio. After that battle, Pasiguenos later joined Bonifacio in the now famous Battle of Pinaglabanan in San Juan.

American forces later occupied the church, rectory and cemetery starting on February 9, 1899. Fr. Victor Ramos, pastor of Pasig, wrote a report documenting the plunder of various objects during the American campaign, including church books dating as far back as the 16th century.

Americans created the new province of Rizal, with Pasig as its capital, on June 11, 1901. With William Howard Taft presiding, the American Commission put together Tambobong (now Malabon), Caloocan, San Juan, Mandaluyong, Makati, Pasig, Pateros, Taguig, Marikina, San Mateo, Cainta, Taytay, Antipolo, Morong, Binangonan, Tanay and Pililla. Dr. Sixto Antonio, for whom a national road in Pasig is named, became municipal president with the longest term during the American occupation.

The second world war coincided with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, 1941. When Mayor Cipriano announced the bombing of Pear Harbor during the morning procession, the faithful scampered in all directions and rampant looting occurred a day before the Japanese arrived. When the Americans came on February 18, 1945, Pasig burned as tanks took their position behind the Rizal Provincial Hospital in Pineda. The Colegio del Buen Consejo was bombed to the ground and the church tower was damaged.

The two houses of Congress converted the Municipality of Pasig into a city on July 26, 1994. President Fidel Ramos signed the legislation into law on the day of the feast of Pasig’s patron saint on December 8, 1994. This was in turn ratified through a plebiscite by the people of Pasig on January 21, 1995