MUNICIPALITY OF CALAMBA (LAGUNA), Historical Data of Part I

When we delve into the past, we find it replete with important historical events. We are led to an understanding of the home and community life, the social evolution, the folklore, traditions, and customs of the people which are of paramount importance in the education of an individual. The acceptance of the fact that education begins at home formed the basis for the inclusion in the Social Studies objectives of the study of the home and community in the first, second, and third grades.

The stories about the origin and growth of the town of Calamba and the part it played during the Philippine Revolution were obtained through interviews with Mr. Segundo Alcaraz, the old man who has a wonderful memory for names and dates. The articles about the Japanese Occupation, the massacre and retreat, were gathered through the observations and experiences of some of the members of the committee. The articles about the presidents and mayors were taken from the pictures found in the session hall of the Calamba Municipal Building and from interviews with Mr. Segundo Alcaraz and Mr. Leandro Uichanco.

Acknowledgements are due the members of the committee: Mrs. Trinidad R. Carpio, Mr. Pedro Carpio, Mr. Pacifico Banaticla, Mr. Pedro Alvarez, Miss Rosalina Arambulo, Ruperta R. Mendoza, and Miss Josefina Didasa for

Many stories have been handed from generation to generation about the origin of the town of Calamba, but there are no records to prove their authenticity.

A legend told by an old man says that many years ago, there was no town of Calamba. The next town to Cabuyao, and old town, was Bay. When the Spanish friars came, they asked the ruler of Cabuyao for a piece of land as big as the skin of an animal for pasturing their animals, which would provide them with milk. The town officials agreed, but the wily priests cut the animal skin into very thin strips and got as much land as could be enclosed with the strips placed end to end. They were able to obtain a very vast tract of land which they called hacienda. Then, they built a large building which the people called hacienda and built a church near it. At first, the northern boundary was the San Cristobal River, but the friars kept moving their fences until Mamatid became the northern boundary. Those friars used the small hill in the west as their pasture land for their animals and named it Lecheria from the Spanish word leche, which means milk.

The Japanese prewar residents of the town, the Takashita brothers and the Toshihide family, became powerful and were vested with the legislative, executive, and judicial powers. They played and important part during the whole Japanese occupation, acting as instruments of the army in collecting and confiscating rice and firearms, capturing the suspected guerrillas and torturing the prisoners. The pro-Japanese elements became spies and frequented the homes of the Japanese. Several times, the Japanese soldiers watched for the horses that were hitched to the carromatas, selected those that pleased them, and paid for the horses. The tracks and carromatas slowly disappeared, and the push-carts became popular.

After the first bombing of Manila by the American planes on September 21, 1944, the Japanese Army moved mysteriously. Sometimes, Japanese soldiers arrived at night and occupied the houses along the road. Once, the soldiers confided to us that they were going to Leyte. Each one cooked his food which consisted of a little rice, a few camotes, and a piece of ginger all mixed together in his mess-kit. Those soldiers often left the town in the middle of the night.

After the landing of the American soldiers in Leyte on October 20, 1944, the American planes frequently bombed the military objectives in the town of Calamba. On January 1, 1945, the munitions dump at the railroad station was hit directly. The shells spread in many directions and hit many