MUNICIPALITY OF TERESA, RIZAL, Historical Data of Part 3

The prohibitive cost of importing the famous Carrara Marble from Italy forced the late President Manuel L. Quezon to encourage his compadre, the late Col. Augusto Gonzales, to project for a local source of marble to supply the needs of the government projects as well as private parties. Col. Gonzales lost no time in forming the A. C. Gonzales Marble Factory, with offices located at the 2^nd floor of the Crystal Arcade Bldg., Escolta, Manila. He employed three Italian experts on marble, namely Messrs. Luigi Zalvaterro, Piero Amberti, and Bacci. The company started with ₱300,000.00 as its initial capital.

A factory was put up at Montalban, Rizal in the early part of 1935. After a year of operation, the Italian engineers found out that the quality of marble produced in Montalban was of inferior quality compared with the samples coming from Teresa. So, Col. Gonzales decided to open a bigger factory in Teresa.

The year 1939 ushered a new era to the small but peaceful town of Teresa. Truckloads of construction materials kept pouring in from Manila and Montalban. Col. Gonzales selected May-Iba as the site of the new factory due to the proximity of the provincial road as well as the hills where the marble blocks could be secured. The Italian engineers also selected the southern portion of the municipal cemetery as a probable site for the new factory because of its nearness to the hills where a better quality of marble could be found, but the distance from the provincial road to the proposed factory site forced Col. Gonzales to postpone the plan until after the finances of the company would warrant the construction of a third factory.

After all the machineries were installed, the company started its operation. Col. Gonzales employed no less than 100 laborers and technicians working in three shifts of eight hours per shift. More than 60% of the laborers were recruited from among the inhabitants of Teresa.

The marble slabs produced from the Teresa Marble Company are cheaper than the imported ones coming from Italy. Marble chips, a by-product, is in great demand as a raw material in making synthetic marble. The company supplied Malacañan, the Philippine National Bank, Banco Hipotecario, and two presidential homes of the late President Quezon, located in Pasay and Quezon City, with marble to beautify its spacious and impressive buildings, sculptures; and the numerous shops in Manila also patronized the products of the newly-established factory.

There was a financial boom in Teresa in the years that followed. The company was up-to-date in paying the weekly salaries of the workers and the meager earnings of the farmers were augmented by the daily wages received by working with the company.

The impending global war forced Col. Gonzales to sell the company to the government. As an army man, he was fully aware of the fact that the army would always commandeer all existing factories during wartime, so he sold the A. C. Gonzales Marble Factory to the Cebu Portland Cement Co. and deposited the amount with the National City Bank of New York.

Liberation came, and the government was not in a financial position to rehabilitate the destroyed marble factory, so he leased the company to a private concern, the Elizalde and Co. The new operator lost more than one million pesos in the new venture. Mr. Pierro Amberti was employed by the company to run the factory, the the high cost of production, coupled with the keen competition from imported Italian marble aggravated the already big loss of the company.

The advent of important and exchange control was a blessing to the new company. The government restricted the importation of foreign products to help our local industries, and of course Italian marbles and empty bottles were among the restricted items. The demand for local marble to rehabilitate the war-devastated buildings rose. The San Miguel Brewery was forced to manufacture its own needs for beer and soft drink bottles. It was discovered that marble powder could be utilized as a raw material in the manufacture of empty bottles and also as a fertilizer.

The government is now willing to lend a helping hand to rehabilitate the fast sinking Teresa Marble Quarry. A new corporation was founded and was named Philippine Marble Corporation. This new company was able to borrow ₱500,000.00 from the RFC to start operations and, at present, it is planning to sell the interests of the company to Col. Andres Soriano of the San Miguel Brewery.

Nature had been very kind in covering the hills surrounding the small but peaceful town of Teresa, Rizal, with ipil trees. These trees are cut every three or four years and carried down the hills to the town proper, where it is cut to the desired length.

"Perper" is the local term for a bundle of firewood four inches long and four and half inches in diameter. This perper is one of the sources of income of the inhabitants of Teresa, Rizal.

Almost half of the inhabitants of Teresa are engaged in making "perper." It is one of the few cottage industries in the town. Women and children help the menfolk in cutting and chopping the firewood to its desired length and size. After it is chopped into pieces, it is left to dry under the heat of the sun for one or two days. While waiting for the firewood to dry, the men cut newly-felled bamboo trees to a length about two feet and split it into pieces. These small splits of bamboo are called "lapat." The women and children also help in forming these "lapat" into circular bands four and a half inches in diameter. These circular bands of bamboo are utilized to hold the chopped ipil firewood together firmly. At least five to seven pieces of this firewood are inserted into the circular band and the finished product is ready for the market. These bundles of "perper" are stocked up near the road and under the heat of the sun to avoid its destruction by "bokbok," a local term for insects that eat firewood that is not stored under the heat of the sun.

At least eight to ten jeepney loads are sold daily to supply the firewood [needs] of the neighboring towns like Taytay, Cainta, Pasig, and Marikina.

Payong Mountain is west of Teresa. Though Teresa is a small town, it has many beautiful spots. One of these spots is Payong Mountain. At the farthest distance, it is an umbrella-like shape, and while it is in the near distance, it is a long table. This beautiful spot is called "Payong Mountain," named after its shape.

Payong Mountain is a very healthful place. Many people visit this place, especially during the months of January, February, March, April, and May. Try to visit this place for while you are at its summit, you can see the whole town of Teresa, other neighboring towns, and especially the beautiful Laguna de Bay.

The town of Teresa was formerly a small barrio of the Province of Morong, composed of at least 15 widely-scattered houses. It was named barrio Santa Rosa in honor of the patron saint, "Santa Rosa de Lima."

The chapel where the image of the patron saint was placed was a bamboo and cogon affair. Hers was the only image inside the chapel where the barrio people or folks congregated and recited their rosaries.

Our patron saint had shown several miracles which made the inhabitants of this place revere her. One of her miracles happened during the Spanish era, when a woman named Rosa ordered a beautiful handkerchief from a weaver in Santa Cruz, Laguna, and requested her to deliver the finished article to her residence at barrio Santa Rosa. She also described her house made of bamboo and cogon to the maker of the handkerchief. When the weaver came to deliver the handkerchief, she was told that only Aling Rosa known to be residing there was living in a big house made of strong materials. So, the handkerchief was placed inside the church, because the people believed that it was Santa Rosa de Lima who ordered the article.

Another miracle happened during the Spanish-American War. The Spaniards ordered the Guardia Civil to massacre all captive American soldiers and all American sympathizers. The Spaniards were able to capture two American soldiers and were about to execute them when a bright light coming from the small chapel distracted the attention of the Spaniards. They went to investigate and found out that there was nobody inside the chapel except the image of the patron saint, Santa Rosa de Lima. They went back to continue the execution, but they were surprised to see the bamboo trees all around them. They tried to find another way out but, much to their amazement, their path was always blocked by bamboo trees. So, they had to forget all about the execution of the American captives.

The third miracle happened during the liberation of Teresa from the hands of the Japanese and the Makapilis. The town was bombed by the American planes and the church was razed to the ground. Many buildings near the church were also burned. An old man passing in front of the burning church heard a child crying and asking for help. He promptly notified the other townspeople, who lost no time in clearing the wreckage with the thought that, perhaps, a whole family of evacuees was buried alive under the debris. They were amazed to see not a single child under the wreckage except the image of our patron saint unscathed and unscarred in spite of the fact that the church was literally burned to ashes.

Prepared by:

(MRS.) SIMEONA O. GAVIOLA

&

(MRS.) CONSUELO G. MAÑGONA
Both Teachers - Teresa Elem. School