San Pablo City Chronicles I

* the San Pablo City Cathedral

Vacation after all the tiresome activities of finishing responsibilities at the university inevitably confined me to home. I don’t even have any source of money yet, thus I have compelled myself to enjoy the cyclic process of eating, reading and writing. But of course, there are many other things that I was able to accomplish in the past month and so I have made use of my time relatively well after all. But this is not my topic. I just needed the context to explain my choice of relating things about my own city. Since I have no other place to go to, I am left with nothing but my city to gape at. I hope that through this small series, I shall be able to outline a few things about San Pablo City, on its past and on its recent activities.

Treaded by the great conquistador Juan de Salcedo, the place used to be called Sampalok until the Augustinians established the first parish of San Pablo in 1596. Well into the century when the Spaniards started exploring the Philippines Islands. That was how resilient and efficient they were. The town was later founded on 1647 with Bartolome Maghayon as its first gobernadorcillo. Administration was transferred to the Franciscans in 1734 then to the ‘Segrales’ in 1898. The revered general of the revolution Miguel Malvar led the town’s inhabitants during the revolution in 1896 but the city was later occupied by the Americans in 1899. Its first appointed town or municipal president was Inocentes Martinez while its first elected municipal president was Marcos Paulino, elected on the year 1902. When the then President Manuel Quezon visited the town, the desire to elevate the place to a city was relayed to him. The city was finally established as a city on May 7, 1940. The city’s first mayor was Potenciano Malvar. It is the province’s first city.