|
A Brief History of Our Town
Santa Maria de Pila
Pangasinan, Philippines 2440 |
|
The brief history of the municipality of Santa Maria, Pangasinan, was taken and gathered from written records of different old people who have resided in the municipality many
years ago and also from the records still existing in the hands of some authority in the community. In addition to these, through the help of some former officials of the municipality
who are still living and available to give some accounts of the past events. The compilation of these records of the municipality is very much essential for the present and future generations to come.
|
Municipal Kiosk Located in the heart of town, it was reconstructed and redesigned to become an
eye-catching spot under the administration of Mayor Jose Choy Ginez. This 2-story historical landmark could serve as a view deck for curious homecomers and visitors |
|
Town Hall The frontyard is now elevated with concrete pavement and stragetically accentuated with
perennial ornamental plants. |
|
Auditorium Even at a distance, you can always see significant improvements now. The elevated perimeter
fence in line with the widening and elevation of the National Road is one of the projects accomplished by the present administration. |
|
Santa Maria as a town, is not too big and that it was not known by her neighbors to be a prosperous place for many inhabitants to dwell, but only known wide and open to be under the ownership of one haciendero,
in spite of its wide tract of agricultural rice lands and tobacco lands consisting of an area of 3,500 hectares more or less. This was very surprising to her neighbors in oneway, especially to the prominent people
of Tayug who has known that the place had been occupied by many Ilocanos long time ago since the arrival of the said Haciendero.By the time it was founded, it was only inhabited by a few Ilocanos
coming from the Ilocos region. The town was not connected by roads to other towns until when Santa Maria-Tayug road has been constructed. It has Riceland and tobacco lands which were covered by
forest, but after a long year, inhabitants were able to clear some of the agricultural lands. After the construction of the Santa Maria-Tayug; Santa Maria-Rosales road and Santa Maria-San Quintin road, could
be seen prosperity in the city.The municipality of Santa Maria is not a commercial town, but is noted for agricultural lands and tobacco lands which inspired many farmers from the Ilocos region to inhabit the place. The most
important product of the town is rice, the most essential food of Filipinos. It is located south of Tayug, west of San Quintin, northwest of Balungao, north of Rosales and east of Agno River between Asingan
and Villasis. It is now being traversed by an eight kilometer national road to Tayug, thirteen kilometers to Rosales and fifteen kilometers to San Quintin. There are two provincial roads linking it with San Quintin,
Asingan, Tayug and Rosales. Santa Maria was formerly a barrio of the municipality of Tayug. It was founded on January 10, 1855 and became a town under the rule of a Captain up to 1863 and that effected the
following year, the municipality was fused to the municipality of Tayug because of its inability to maintain the financial stability of the town. It was in 1877 when its inhabitants had applied from the municipality
of Tayug to rule their town again.
This application was granted and it became a town under the rule of a Captain in the person of Eugenio Vinluan. This kind of ruling continued up to 1900 under different Captains as follows:
- Jacinto Anulacion
- Rosendo Anulacion
- Calixto Ortiz
- Cipriano Pasamonte
- Domingo Apiado
- Laurencio Bautista
- Telesforo Carbillon
- Pedro Padilla
About November 1900, Americans arrived in the locality and thus started their rule. In 1901, election for the President of the town was held, electing one, Don Patricio Lamagna, the first elected president of the
town during the Military Government of the United States in our land; and because of his good administration, was given a two year term.
Again in 1903, the municipality of Santa Maria was fused to the town of Tayug until 1906 for same reason cited earlier, but in 1907, Special Election was held for the purpose of returning all small municipalities
fused with bigger towns in 1903. Don Alejandro Gonzales was elected and ruled up to 1910 when he was succeeded by Don Mariano de Guzman whose term ended in 1912. From this date to present, came
succession of presidents, alcaldes and mayors and the period of their terms:
- Don Eugenio Munar ...............1912-1915
- Don Francisco Cendana..........1916-1918
- Don Esperidion Rodriguez ......1919-1921
- Don Claudio Bugayong............1922-1924
- Don Eliodoro Cardenas ..........1925-1927
- Don Valentin Valdez ...............1938-1940
- Don Honorato M. Rodriguez....1941-1951
- Don Arturo C. Cachila ............1952-1968 (Sept.)
- Don Eusebio B. Macaraeg.......1968-1972
- Don Romeo A. Ragon.............1972-1986
- Hon. Jose C. Ginez..................1986-1998
- Hon. Pinky O. Ginez................1998 - 2004
- Hon. Jose C. Ginez..................2004 - Present
Many years during the Spanish regime, religion was the basis of educating the masses, so that from time to time, the missionaries of different Orders were sent out to carry religious services as required of them. In
the course of a routinely visit of a certain priest to the town of Asingan, then the most eastern town of the province of Pangasinan , he extended his mission farther east and came to a place located in a plain which
through little effort could be irrigated by the Agno River. He believed the place could be developed into a prosperous community, inhabited by contented people consisting only of few adventurous Ilocano families.
Finding the residents to be hospitable, he called on them because that was the day of the Virgin Mary. He officiated a mass and after the mass, in a simple and impressive solemnity, proclaimed the place as Santa
Maria to commemorate the day. In the course of time, the prominent people who found the place, improved the locality and transferred the site from Namagbagan now a barrio of the municipality, to its
present site near a clay promentory which formed an impregnable defense against a yearly erosion of the Agno, thus annexing De Pila to the original name making Santa Maria de Pila, a name known beyond the
confines of the province of Pangasinan and is more noted for this name even to the present. The municipality of Santa Maria is now made up of twenty three barangays excluding sitios and is mostly of
agricultural rice lands and tobacco lands. According to the latest Census, the town's population is more or less twenty one thousand souls. Little had been known about this town but with the present thrust of the
government, Santa Maria is now on its way towards progress and development. |
|
