From "San Pedro Tunasán" to "City of San Pedro" (The 12th Sampaguita Festival: Celebrating the Cityhood of San Pedro! part 2)

A long time ago, and for a very long time, the City of San Pedro was known as San Pedro Tunasán. Its pre-Filipino name was Tunasán. It was derived from the word tunas (Nymphaea nouchali Burm)*, a medicinal water lily that used to grow along the western banks of Laguna de Bay where the newly proclaimed city is now situated.

Tunasán was then a sylan fishing community before the Spanish advent. Aside from harvesting Laguna de Bay of lake products, the people were also devoted to primitive agriculture as well as hunting. Many parts of the land were heavily forested and swampy. Wild boar and deer used to roam the forests foraging food. West of the lake was already mountainous (a place the natives called cahuyán), and from there a snaking river (San Isidro) emptied towards the lake.

It was during this pristine era when Tunasán was still a part of a much older and larger town called Tabuco (now Cabuyao also in La Laguna). When the place came under Spanish rule, the name San Pedro was attached to Tunasán in honor of Saint Peter the Apostle, one of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ's apostles who is also known to be the "Gatekeeper of Heaven". An interesting comparison regarding the apostle's traditional appellation and the location of San Pedro Tunasán: if Saint Peter is known throughout Christiandom as the Gatekeeper of Heaven, San Pedro  Tunasán coincidentally serves as the "gatekeeper" of La Laguna since it is on the border of Metro Manila.

At the onset, San Pedro Tunasán was converted into a hacienda as a reward to Esteban Rodríguez de Figueroa, a conquistador who had a major role in the pacification of Mindanáo. He was then given the right to collect tribute from the natives who occupied his vast property which came to be known as Hacienda de San Pedro Tunasán. Through the years since then, the hacienda produced considerable quantities of rice, mangoes, coconuts, native oranges, lemons, buyô (betel leaves), sugar cane, and chicos (some of those old chico trees remain to this day).

In 1575, the hacienda was bequeathed to Colegio de San José in Intramuros. For the most part of its existence, the school was run by the Jesuits. They used the hacienda to fund their religious projects and other evangelic activities. In fact, it was the Jesuits who built the chapel which they dedicated to Saint Peter. That chapel later on became full-fledged church which is now known as the church of San Pedro Apóstol (renovated, enlarged, and completed on 2 January 1846).

Although technically still a hacienda, San Pedro Tunasán became a town on 18 January 1725 when it separated from Tabuco upon the request of the principalía class (Francisco Santiago was the first town mayor). Forty-three years later, the Dominicans became the new managers of the hacienda which by that time was already 2,000 hectares in size.

Thankfully, during the Tagalog rebellion of 1896, San Pedro Tunasán was spared the violence and disorder. Perhaps its only noteworthy involvement during that time of tumult was when the wife of the rebellion's leader, Gregoria de Jesús, took refuge in Barrio San Roque. When the U.S. invaded the Philippines, San Pedrenses evacuated the place. Nevertheless, many of the town's men fought the invaders through guerrilla warfare (under the direction of General Severino Taiño of Pagsanján).

San Pedro Tunasán experienced relative peace throughout the colonization of the U.S.. This was of course a time when the English language was forcibly introduced in the Philippines. As such, San Pedrenses began referring to themselves (quite erroneously) as "San Pedronians". On 12 October 1903, the town was placed under the jurisdiction of Biñán which lasted for three years. In 1914, the Philippine Assembly (probably too lazy to pronounce place names) shortened the name of the town to just San Pedro (to my opinion, a very stupid move and a historical crime as well) while a large northern chunk of its area was sold to nearby Muntinlupà; that piece of land is now Muntinlupa City's Barrio Tunasán.

On New Year's Day of 1942, at the height of World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) reached San Pedro and established a local puppet government. During those trying years, San Pedro suffered difficulty in food distribution because the IJA forcibly purchased the town's agricultural produce at their dictated price. But from those dark years emerged a local hero by the name of Abelardo Remoquillo, popularly known as Capitán Remo. He was still a student when he was conscripted by the army to fight the Japanese invaders. He was a much-feared guerrillero, an efficient fighter, prompting the IJA to declare him as San Pedro's "most wanted resident". He was killed in action on 8 March 1945 in Bay.

Behind Momay is the monument dedicated in honor of Capitán Remo's hallowed memory.

After the war, Manila and much of its surroundings bore images of death and devastation. Although San Pedro did not suffer much loss of lives and bombings, its public cemetery (now the site of the San Pedro Gateway Park)  was bombed. Rebuilding the country promptly began right after the IJA was driven away. On 4 July 1946, the US colonial government conferred to the Philippines its (sham) liberty, but a lingering land dispute that had been hounding San Pedro for many years continued. It was then President Ramón Magsaysay who ended the land dispute by signing into law the Agricultural Tenancy Act in 1954, and this historic gesture was done right at the town plaza! Because of this, a new barrio was created and was called Magsaysay in honor of the popular president from Zambales province.

During the final decades of the last century, urbanization and rapid migration drastically changed the landscape of San Pedro. Various commercial establishments (Shopwise, Jollibee, etc.) and factories (Alaska Milk Corporation, PDM Philippines Industries, etc.) are all over town, employing thousands of people not only from San Pedro but also from nearby municipalities and cities. The once pastoral town is almost no different from Metro Manila sceneries. But amidst all the hustle and bustle of vehicular traffic and commercial lights, San Pedro has somehow retained its rural flavor. Here and there, sampaguita shrubs (Jasminum sambac) still thrive almost naturally, thus earning for San Pedro its famous nickname: "Sampaguita Capital of the Philippines". To the west of the town, particularly around San Isidro River and the world-class KC Filipinas Golf Resort Club, patches of greenery are interspersed among the swanky layout of genteel hilltop villages while fishing communities on the lakeshore to the east contribute to a few traces of rural tranquility that is left.

Jefe among sampaguita shrubs and flowers at the city plaza right in front of our parish church. Only a few sampaguita plantations remain in the City of San Pedro, most of which are relegated into mere backyard farms. However, people still assemble here (particularly in the barrios of San Vicente and Nueva) to procure and vend everything related to the national flower. As astutely observed by family friend Arnaldo Arnáiz: "Because of the town’s history as the heart of the sampaguita trade, the merchants and suppliers' transactions in San Pedro appear almost symbolic, as if done only to show respect to tradition".

Finally, on March 27 just last year, President Benigno Aquino III signed Republic Act No. 10420 which converted the old municipality of San Pedro into a new component city of the province of La Laguna. A plebiscite was held on December 28 with "yes to cityhood" votes winning by a landslide. On the following day, at exactly 12:29 AM of December 29 (on the occasion of former Mayor Calixto "Calex" Catáquiz's 65th birthday), the Commission on Elections officially proclaimed the first-class municipality of San Pedro as the newest component city of La Laguna province — the City of San Pedro!

Me and my family have been San Pedrenses for nearly a decade. We moved to San Pedro, La Laguna last 2004 at the height of the infamous 2004 Philippine General Elections (where FPJ won in the voting but lost in the counting). My wife was then pregnant with our second child (Momay). I was then working in SPI Technologies in Parañaque City, where I spent most of my childhood. Thus, I had to travel for almost two hours from San Pedro to Parañaque (no thanks to bad traffic). A female cousin of mine who is married to a native San Pedrense (from the Igonia clan) helped us find a place to stay since the apartment units there were considerably cheap. Although it’s just beside Metro Manila (via Muntinlupà City), the rates of apartment units in San Pedro were quite low. And they still are up to now.

As a history buff, I was very excited to see San Pedro town for the very first time. I was expecting something rural, like that of my dad’s hometown of Unisan, Tayabas. I was disappointed to see a rather urbanized place fuming with smoke from countless tricycles, roads teeming with junk food wrappers and assorted litter, and a huge Sogo Hotel at the entrance to the town from Metro Manila. Back then, I haven’t been traveling much. So my expectations were doused cold. Also, I noticed a scarcity of classic Filipino houses which we call bahay na bató. Only a few remain. But there are still a couple of postwar houses that somehow resemble the bahay na bató that I adore so much.

We first lived in a small, one-room apartment unit in Sitio Pitóng Gatang in Barrio San Vicente. In late 2007 (I was already working for APAC Customer Services for three years), we moved to a larger apartment building in the same barrio.

We’ve befriended a lot of San Pedrense folk. Especially my very amiable wife who knows almost everybody in our barrio: tricycle drivers, street and market vendors, canto boys and street toughies, elderly folk, etc. She really has that masa attitude in her which I’m so proud of.

Someday (and we don't know exactly when), we’ll be leaving the City of San Pedro. We’ll be moving to Calambâ where we have purchased our own house. But ten years is ten years. So many things have happened to us here in San Pedro. This is the place where we have totally become independent and slowly built our “little empire”, i.e., our family. Before, we had to seek financial support from immediate family members. All my children began their childhood here. My daughter Krystal was a pioneer student of the now defunct Santa Hideliza Montessori where she was a consistent first honor student (it’s all in the blood, hehe!). Krystal, Momay, and Jefe are currently enrolled in Liceo de San Pedro. We’ve built friendships here, too, from commoners to public servants. It is here where I discovered and became a devotee of the miraculous Santo Sepulcro. And one midnight, on my way to work, I even got to beat up a huge street toughie who tried to harass me (I'm not kidding)!

For better or for worse, San Pedro Tunasán —the City of San Pedro— has become part of us.

Enjoy the pictures we took of the city during the recently concluded Sampaguita Festival 2014 last February 22 (the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter the Apostle)!

Yeyette and Juanito in front of our parish church. And I will never ever tire of reminding everyone that we were married here. =)

Momay holding a plastic bag full of ylang-ylang flowers while it's sampaguita for Jefe. Both flowers are usually woven together by sampaguita necklace weavers.

A native San Pedrense lady demonstrates to Jefe how a  sampaguita necklace (with ylang-ylang) is woven.

Behind Jefe is a styrofoam container filled with abacá strands which are used to twine sampaguita buds together with ylang-ylang.

Celebrating cityhood!

An explosion of sounds and colors during the street dancing parade!

As the street festivities were ongoing, a concelebrated thanksgiving mass was being celebrated by Bishop Buenaventura M. Famadico, D.D. The Sampaguita Festival coincides with the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter the Apostle (February 22), the patron saint of San Pedro Tunasán/the City of San Pedro since its founding during Spanish times.

The Hermano Mayor Aaron Catáquiz and his wife, Hermana Mayor María Mercedes Catáquiz, along with their kids. They are being flanked by Fr. Pablo Búgay (extreme left) and Most Rev. Buenaventura Famadico, D.D. (extreme right). Aaron is the son of ex-mayor Calixto Catáquiz and current Mayor Lourdes Catáquiz.

La Familia Viajera together with His Excellency, Most Rev. Buenaventura Famadico, D.D., the soft-spoken bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pablo to which our parish belongs. It's not every day that you get to have this kind of photo op!

With our very humble parish priest, Fr. Paul Búgay. His sermons are guaranteed to hold you spellbound!

It's "¡Vamos a viajar!" time after the Mass! It's what we do best!

But before our San Pedro walkatour, we had to recharge here. "Maciang's Pancitan could very well be what is still left rural of San Pedro," reminisced our friend, longtime resident Myra Brucelo, a cultural worker at the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. The iconic Maciang's Pancitan, located at the Población (Calle García corner Calle Mabini) is old San Pedro Tunasán's pride.

Maciang's Pancitan is unique for serving pancít bihon served with boiled egg and chicken liver mixed with banana catsup. Sounds weird but tastes satisfying! This eatery was named after its founder, the late Marciana "Lelang Maciang" Dolletón.

Look who passed by for a quick chat! Our friends Rose Valenzuela and her daughter Jahjah, Krystal's partner in crime! =)

After our early merienda, we went back to the plaza to watch the rest of the festivities.

Dahil sa sobrang init ng panahón, mag halo-halo muna tayo. =)

At lunchtime, we went to the ₱300-million city hall. At the time of its inauguration in 2011 when San Pedro Tunasán was still a municipality, this edifice was said to be the most beautiful of all municipal halls in the whole archipelago.

There was an ongoing photo exhibit inside entitled "The Road to Cityhood” which showed the historical events that led to the creation of the City of San Pedro.

On our way up the handsome building, we saw my dear golf buddies: DILG Secretary Mar Roxas, Congressman Dan Fernández, and Governor E.R. Ejército. But they were too shy for my ever dependable camera.

Lunchtime with various city officials. At lower right in blue shirt (wearing glasses) is our city's public affairs and information officer, Ms. Linda Sietereales. Many years ago, she served as a private tutor to a young Mayor Calixto Catáquiz, our former mayor who is also the father of San Pedro's cityhood.

With the motherly Mayor of the City of San Pedro, Lourdes Catáquiz!

With my dad's cousins, Tito Monching Alas (on foot) and Tito Edeng Adulta (seated), currently the Vice-Mayor of Unisan, Tayabas. Mayor Calex's late father was from Unisan, too.

Krystal and Yeyette with the festival's Hermano Mayor and Hermana Mayor.

After lunch at the city hall, we continued our tour. Our next stop: the famous and most holy barrio of Landayan!

Barrio Landayan was made holy because of this: El Santuario del Santo Sepulcro.

On top of the altar behind us, glowing with golden light, is the glass-covered encasement (camarín) which holds the miraculous image of Lolo Uweng, a local nickname given by the natives here to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Out of deep reverence for the image, I refused to take its picture.

The Pacita Astrodome, our city's biggest indoor multi-purpose facility. Despite the name, it is not domed. 

Iglesia del Santo Rosario in Pacita Complex, Barrio San Vicente. Although it is not as antique as the other famous churches in the province (it was erected only in 1983), it holds the distinction of being the first church in the entire Docese of San Pablo to be consecrated, and it happened in 1986.

After our church tour, we went to the San Pedro Gateway Park which many San Pedrenses call simply as the "boundary" because it stands right at the entrance to the city/province coming from Metro Manila (Muntinlupà City). This park is filled with sampaguita shrubs, emphasizing San Pedro's status as the country's sampaguita capital.

San Pedro Gateway Park proudly displays the marble certificate from the Guinness World Records because during the Sampaguita Festival 2009, San Pedrenses was able to create the Longest Fresh Flower Lei/Garland made up of sampaguita buds, ylang-ylang, camia, and champaca. The lei measured 2,100 meters (2.1 kilometers)!

Did you know? This pretty and fragrant park used to be a public cemetery! Former Mayor Calex had it transferred years ago to a scenic hilly part in nearby Barrio San Antonio.

Back at Población with our fragrant loot from the gateway park! Behind Yeyette is the annex of Liceo de San Pedro where Krystal, Momay, and Jefe are studying. That building used to be a convent.

Casa Hacienda Commercial Center along Calle Mabini. At various points of San Pedro Tunasán's history as a hacienda, this building served as the home of both Jesuits and Dominicans. Sadly, it no longer has its original architecture. A tragic loss of heritage. Thankfully, though, it still retains the name Casa Hacienda.

Will wonders never cease... it's Will "Nimoa Samoa" Tolosa in a rare and unwanted appearance, hehehe!

The City of San Pedro has a handful of ancestral homes left, but most of them are still in livable condition and are fit for adaptive reuse, such as this one.

At the city's most popular restaurant, Universal Bakery (this is just a branch; the main one is along the old national road a few meters from here). It's only here where you can find ensaïmada with bacon bits! Ensaïmada (spelled locally as ensaymada) is a pastry product that we adopted from Majorca, Spain. Each ensaïmada here costs only ₱22.00! Tasty and affordable! Hurry! Offer good while supplies last!

Visiting Mama Ching, my dad's eldest sister! She and her family have been living here in San Pedro Tunasán about a year that me and my family moved in. The pretty girl with her is her granddaughter and my niece, Amber Carcallas.

We went back home to our apartment but just to rest because we were to go back to the city hall later in the night. Our parish church can be viewed from our apartment balcony. The road below is Calle San Vicente, one of our city's main and busiest roads. You could just imagine how noisy our neighborhood is. No wonder I'm so creative.

We went back to city hall later in the evening to witness San Pedro Tunasán's inaugural ceremony as La Laguna province's newest city.

Left to right: City of San Pedro Mayor Lourdes "Baby" Catáquiz, La Laguna Governor E.R. Ejército, Pagsanján Mayor Girlie Maita Ejército, and DILG Región IV-A Director Josefina Castillo-Go.

As always, a very interesting and informative speech from the governor. He also attributed his being governor to San Pedro's very own Lolo Uweng.

San Pedrenses are an orderly people.

Several TV screens showing the events outside the building. We had our special cityhood dinner inside.

Yeyette and a sleepy Juanito with Tita Carmi Buenavista, the pretty and amiable cousin of Mayor Baby. And yes, even city hall is not safe from photo bombers.

Former mayor and now "First Gentleman" Calex during his "privilege speech" in front of the city hall. It was rather difficult to go in front of the stage because of the crowd. Good thing there's a TV monitor in front of our table.

Victor "Cocoy" Laurel in a surprise song and dance number with Mayor Baby (not in photo), Mayor Maita, Governor E.R., and Director Go.

Me and Momay with veteran journalist John A. Gilbuena. The Abu Sayyaf fears this guy. Seriously.

With Mayor Baby once more. This time, John joins us.

Krystal and Jefe seems to be in a dead-serious discussion with my uncle.

The Alas kids with the legendary mayor himself, Calixto R. Catáquiz, the engineer of San Pedro Tunasán's road to cityhood!

Classy music for a classy event.

We're going home! See you on our next walkatour!

¿Sobrang dami ba ng retrato? Culang pa iyán. Click here for more photos, hehehe! And for part one of this blogpost, click here. ¡Hasta la vista!

♥L♥A♥F♥A♥M♥I♥L♥I♥A♥V♥I♥A♥J♥E♥R♥A♥

*Tunas is also a Spanish word. It is a plural form of tuna, a cactus-like shrub (Opuntia tuna). It may probably take some more time before a conclusion on the origin of the name is to be made.