MUNICIPALITY OF LOPEZ, Quezon, Historical Data of Part 2

From what was practically nil and non-existent, and later, from what was obscure and disorganized, education in Lopez grew, first at a snail's pace and later by leaps and bounds, to what it is now. The early Filipinos, for various causes, such as sheer aversion to education, lack of materials and dearth of qualified teachers, and later when the Spaniards came and conquered them, the efforts of the conquerors to keep the Filipinos in the dark so that they would not think of, nor have one of the means to, revolt, had practically nothing before them that would usher them to some sort of enlightenment. But, in the course of time, contact with civilized people and gradual acquisition of reading materials and the growing need to acquire education so that they could deal with foreigners intelligently, the early Filipinos made attempts to acquire the rudiments of the three R's.

What was generally true with the early Filipinos throughout the islands generally obtained among the early Lopezaños. Before 1860, Lopez was a mere barrio or visita of the town of Gumaca, and was, until then, known as "Talolong," a stream of the same name that meandered, and still meanders, its way to the south, east, and north thereof. Very few Lopezaños then could recognize even the alphabet. Later, however, some who worked as slaves or helpers of the early Spaniards were able to acquire sufficient knowledge of the "cartilla" and the "caton," which then might be called pre-primer, respectively. When Lopezaños went to the town of Gumaca to pay their "buwis" or tributes, to go to church which, during the Spanish regime, was obligatory, or to buy simple household necessities, they had occasion to have contact with the people from other places such as Pitogo, Unisan, and Alabat, and thus afforded them opportunities to learn the ways of the people from these places.

With the creation and constitution in 1860 of "Talolong" as a town or municipality in itself, under the leadership of Don Mateo Lopez, the Lopezaños acquired some sort of personality and a higher sense of responsibility, coupled with a profound desire generally to augment their meager education acquired largely by contact with people from other places.

Consequently, in spite of the lack of a genuine desire on the part of the masses to acquire even the rudiments of the three r's, the people saw the need, whether they liked it or not, to acquire even a smattering of Spanish and to be able to read and write, even in a small way, the Tagalog dialect [more correctly, "language"]. Few copies of the 'cartilla' and 'caton' were borrowed by half-interested parents for their sons' and daughters' use. After the children had learned the 'cartilla' and 'caton,' most parents would not attempt further education for their children, saying that education for their children was plain 'katarayan' (coquetry). There were, however, an isolated few with vision and foresight who viewed education levels for themselves, in order to help their fellow countrymen along this line. In fact, they constituted the first batch of 'maestros' and 'maestras' who taught in their homes and, later, in parochial and semi-parochial schools established in the poblacion as early as 1860 under Spanish friars. Maesterong Pendong and Maestrang Sabel, under the supervision of Maestrong Iniego Barranta, were among the early tutors of half-interested pupils, some of whom were already young men and women. It was said that after a few weeks of tutorship, these early pupils not only learned a lot but they also changed their attitudes towards education — from half-hearted enthusiasm to genuine interest, so much so that some of them excelled their teachers in certain lines.

In 1903, the first regular schools were established under the aforementioned teachers. Religion was one of the prescribed subjects, and discipline was one of the strictest enforced hereabouts. The Spanish discipline, featured by unhesitating corporal punishment, had its marked influence in the early schools. Each teacher, so it was ascertained, was armed with a whip, or was ready, ever ready, to pinch any part of the body in cases of misbehavior. Pupils standing with arms sideways or stretched upward, according to the whim of the teacher, were a common sight in classrooms then. Strangely enough, in spite of all sorts of punishments, physical and biting epithets, practically no complaints were lodged by parents of erring pupils. There seemed to be acquiescence among the teachers on the one hand and the parents on the other with respect to the infliction of punishment upon the erring pupils. In fact, the rod was not spared then, as for some time it had not, and it was, indeed, an effective means of straightening crooked young delinquents.

In 1904, a more liberal and progressive system of education was established here under the Americans. Mr. Winkleman, an American educator who was among the first to serve under the new educational set-up then, supervised the organization and maintenance of a more extended school system. In spite of the dearth of school buildings, books, pieces of equipment, and teachers, the upsurge of interest in education was noticeable, and the years that followed showed striking manifestations of this growing interest of both the parents and the pupils in educational matters.

In 1907, another milestone marked the advance of local education — the establishment of the first barrio schools in Cagacag and Lalaguna. This same year marked the construction of buildings purely for school purposes, and the proper organization of classes and the purchase of more equipment. From this year on, the increase in enrollment number of teachers, enlargement of buildings, acquisition of sites and fencing and beautification thereof, were notable gradual forward steps in local education.

The following highlights and sidelights of the growth of education in Lopez deserve mention:

1. In 1903, pupils were not classified into grades as we have now, but instead a big class was divided into classes 1, 2, 3, 4 according to initial surveys of ability. Class 1 was composed of the brighest group.

2. Examinations were given to pupils of Class 1 for promotion purposes to the next higher grade or grades which were created during the latter part of the year.

3. Messers. Bienvenido Interia, P. Marcaida, and Mrs. Arrieta were the first teachers.

4. From 1904 to 1908, two American teachers were in the local educational spotlight, namely, Messrs. Magrew and Winkleman.

(a) Subjects taught were Arithmetic, Language, Conversational English, Musice, Writing.
(b) There were no formal lesson plans.
(c) Question and answer method was used.
(d) Teachers' in-service training was done after class hours.
(e) Teachers were Messrs. M. Masaganda, D. Barretto, V. Florido, Misses M. Salumbides, T. Villapando (now Mrs. Valeña), and the late S. Marquez.
(f) Compensation ranged from ₱16.00, then ₱25.00, and then ₱30.00.
(g) Seats — long bench for primary and desks for intermediate pupils.

5. Steady increase of both pupils and teachers since 1908 to 1941. No records available.

6. 1941 - 1945 — Education suffered unbelievable setbacks.

7. Liberation commenced with the resurgence of educational and cultural interest. In 1951 - 1952, Lopez had 5314 pupils enrolled and 138 teacher — the largest in the whole division — and 29 barrio schools.

The Municipality of Lopez is bounded to the north by Lamon Bay and Calauag Gulf. A point of its land form extends as a peninsula northwestward to Quezon Strait. From the coast of Calauag Gulf, the Lopez boundary extends to the Municipality of Calauag to the northeast and east. Thence, the demarcation line extends southward to a point southeast; and then the line goes soutwestward, with Guinayangan on the east and southeast boundaries. From a point south, the line extends northwestward, and from a point west, the demarcation line goes northward to the coast of Lamon Bay, with Catanauan in the southwest, Macalalon to the west, and Gumaca on the northeast boundaries.

It has an approximate area of 31,163 hectares or 311,630,000 square meters. It has a population of 23,766 as of the Census of 1948. It is inhabited mostly by Tagalogs and several thousand Bicolanos, with a few Ilocanos and Visayans. In the 1951, national elections, there were 7,617 registered voters. This figure was much less than the number registered in the 1949 elections, which was 9,383.

The value of the taxable property of the Municipality of Lopez is ₱5,477,360.00. Its income during the fiscal year 1950-1951 was ₱56,125.95.

If the town of Baler, in the sub-province of Aurora, Province of Quezon, is pround and fortunate enough in having one among its people, the late President Manuel L. Quezon, rise to power and fame from his humble and secluded community, reared and caressed by his beloved mother, brought up and educated in an atmosphere that lacked modern educational facilities, Lopez, in the same province, too, had produced men of unusual ability along various fields of human endeavor.

The coming of the Americans to our native land, the establishment of our new form of democratic government, the planting of democratic principles in the country, the rapid Filipinization of the more responsible government offices, paved the way for some of our townsmen to work hard for the welfare, progress, and happiness of our cuntry and province in general and for our community in particular.

Turning the pages of our local unwritten history, we have the following men who represented us in the national and provincial governments:

1^st - Honorable Rafael R. Vilar, our congressman from 1922-1925. He was an able leader, a well-proportioned, handsome, young fellow, a good conversationalist, with ever-ready, witty remarks. He was also conscientious, hardworking, sympathetic, and a good mixer, especially with the lower class of people. For those qualities, he was loved very much by the people, not only in our community, but also in other places where he was known. He was later killed by the Japanese during the Japanese occupation.

2^nd - Honorable Antonio Z. Argosino, our congressman from 1931-1934. He was also a good conversationalist, outspoken in his opinions, a rigid disciplinarian, hardworking, and generous. He was killed by the Japanese during the Japanese occupation.

3^rd - Honorable Gaudencio V. Vera, our present congressman. General Gaudencio V. Vera, as he is known, was a guerrilla leader; a fearless soldier of fortune; a brilliant star of Tan-ag and Savior of Lopez. He is an organizer; was commanding general of the Tayabas guerrillas, Vera's Party (TGVP) of the Bondoc Peninsula; kindhearted and philanthropic; and an advocate of universal training, education, and agriculture.

As congressman, he presented many bills during the Second Congress of the Republic. One was an Act creating the Municipality of Buenavista in the Province of Quezon, which was approved by the President of the Philippines on June 12, 1950.

4^th - It was last 1934 when one of the sons of Lopez, Hon. Vicente Salumbides, was sent as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He is a lawyer by occupation, but an artist by choice. He is kind and sympathetic, deeply religious. He is intelligent, industrious, and faithful.

5^th - The late Dr. Jose V. Bagtas, the husband of Mrs. Felicidad Matriano Bagtas. He had been a district engineer in the provinces of Laguna (1920-1922), Tayabas (Quezon, 1925-1929). He was once undersecretary. He was made a delegate to the World

Engineering Congress in Japan; Undersecretary of Public Works and Communication in 1929-1931, and became manager of the Phil. Marble Mine in Romblon.

1. Hon. Rafael R. Vilar - 1935-1938 - Gov. C. Sandoval
2. Hon. Antonio Argosino - 1938-1941 - Gov. N. Enriquez
3. Mr. Juan T. Tabien - 1947-1951 - Gov. G. Santayana

The fact that Lopez's participation in the national and provincial governments was no doubt a success proves that Lopez is not behind other municipalities in the province. From her soil that had been devastated by the last war may well rise well-spirited leaders of our community and country; leaders who are willing to serve their fellowmen in times of peace and war; leaders devoid of selfish ambition or desire for personal aggrandizement and leaders who will prove an iron hand against corruption and abuses in the government; and leaders who will help maintain justice and equality among the people of Lopez in particular and the Philippines in general.

1. The Imperial Japanese Army, which made simultaneous landings in Siain, Atimonan, Quezon on December 23, 1941, proceeded to and occupied the Municipality of Lopez without encountering any enemy resistance on December 24, 1941. From then to March 1945, the town of Lopez was under Japanese occupation.

The coming of the Japanese forces and the subsequent occupation of the Philippines by the Japanese Imperial Army gave renewed vigor and impetus to the activities of the Sakdalistas. In the town of Lopez, Mr. Lamberto San Juan of Calauag was made the regional commander of the group for the towns of Lopez and Calauag. The organization, which later changed its name to Makapili, worked in close collaboration with the conquerors on political and, later on, military matters. The effective help given by the Makapilis to the Japanese bore fruit with the elevation of Mr. San Juan to the rank of Overall Commander of the Bondoc Peninsula Makapili Garrison, with headquarters and training center in Lopez, Tayabas, now Quezon. At the close of the year 1944, training and mustering into military service of the Makapilis and the whole Bondoc Peninsula was accomplished. It was planned to transfer this small army of native soldiers to Atimonan, then called the "Small Tokyo" in this part of the Islands. By that time, the Japanese were already feeling the brunt of the Allied counter-offensive and were preparing to find a safe place for themselves and for their satellites.

4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE LOCAL JAPANESE GOVERNMENT, OFFICIALS, AND PERSONNEL - About March of 1942, a colonel of the Imperial Japanese Army, with two aides and a platoon of soldiers, arrived in Lopez from Atimonan. They were entertained by prominent citizens led by ex-Representative Rafael R. Vilar at the latter's house on Anda Street. Subsequently after this visit, the Japanese-sponsored local government was organized, with Jose R. Vilar as Mayor; Exequiel de Guzman as Secretary; Alberto Olan, Treasurer; and Hermenegildo Danseco as Chief of Police. After several months, Exequiel de Guzman was relieved and Victor Oblefias took over as Secretary. Sporadic chaos and disorder were partially relieved, but there was apparent tendency on the part of agents of the administration, genuine or otherwise, to abuse some of the people in connection with the looted goods and the confiscation of firearms, licensed or not. The old municipal building fronting the plaza was demolished, and a new three-story building of wood was erected. The concrete municipal building at the east end of Real Street was converted into a hospital later, with a staff of several doctors and nurses.

5. NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS AND THEIR ACTIVITIES - By the middle of 1942, neighborhood associations, an accessory of the Japanese program of government, was organized in Lopez with Jesus Mondragon as supervisor and Domingo Villaseñor as his assistant. The town was divided into five districts each under a president and other officials of the associations who were under the direct supervision of the supervisor who, in turn, was under the town mayor. Five or more barrios which were adjacent to each other were formed into a neighborhood association. The presidents of these associations kept census of the inhabitants and reported the presence of transients or strangers to the authorities. Economic aid to the Imperial Japanese forces in the form of foodstuff were supplied by the civilian population through these associations.

6. THE JAPANESE SPONSORED PHILIPPINE CONSTABULARY - A few months after the establishment of the Japanese garrison in Lopez in 1942, several companies of Philippine Constabulary soldiers came to Lopez under P.C. Inspector Reyes, assisted by Lieuts. Pascual, Acorda, and Linson. Some of the soldiers of this organization treated guerrilla suspects brutally. This force helped the local Japanese garrison against the threats of guerrilla attacks in the poblacion and in the barrios of Lopez.

7. GUERRILLA ORGANIZATION - It was about the middle part of 1942 when a handful of men banded themselves together and organized the nucleus of the Southern Luzon Guerrilla Forces, Vera's Party, under the command of Capt. Epifanio Vera, who was apprehended by the Japanese

military authorities in Lucena at the latter part of the year, used as a tool of the enemy propaganda corps for a time, and later on was subsequently liquidated. His second-in-command, Lieut. Gaudencio V. Vera rose to the rank of captain. Capt. Gaudencio V. Vera proved himself to be more daring, intrepid, and had the capacity for better organization than his predecessor. He immediately put banditry to a stop. Cattle-rustling and other crimes, which were fast-spreading in a wide area in the Bondoc Peninsula, were minimized. He called up on able-bodied prominent citizens and ex-soldiers to rally to the cause. It was not long before the handful of men counted thousands upon thousands of followers. Thus, from around ten men on May 7, 1942, this potent guerrilla army rose to the peak of more than 12,000 men and women in January of 1945, under the overall command of Gen. Gaudencio V. Vera, now Congressman of the Second District of Quezon.

The Japanese became even more hostile than before after this ambush. Two days after this incident, the entire population of the barrios of Bebito, Danlagan, Bacungan, Canda Ilaya, Canda Ibaba, Mauilayan, and de la Paz were rounded up, herded to town and imprisoned in the garrison and in the cine building in Real Street which was also improvised as a prison. Besides these, persons who, in one way or another, were suspected by the Japanese and their satellites were taken into custody. All the people imprisoned were not given food nor water for one day. The overcrowding and privations in prison caused some of the prisoners to collapse. The tortures and the cries of women and children presented quite a spectacle. On the second day, however, food and drink in limited quantities were allowed to be served the prisoners by their relatives and friends. From the prisons, however, the Japanese began to pick out people whom they suspected of having guerrilla connections. These were summarily executed during nighttime in what is now the garden site of the school. It may be said that the so-called Japanese atrocities were at their height at this time. The barrios above-mentioned were declared war zones, and anybody found in those places within one week after the ambush at Bebito were taken prisoners and subsequently killed. Woe unto the people who came back to gather a few of their belongings who otherwise were not informed of the order to keep away from these barrios. After a week, however, the people in these barrios were allowed to return, but they were not the same number who left their homes a week before. Many of the men, especially the heads of the families, were nowhere to be found. Their disappearance has remained a mystery up to this very day.

9. THE JAPANESE BOMBING OF THE BARRIO OF LALAGUNA - The Japanese military inteligence operatives were set busy with the above series of events. They gathered every available information concerning the movements of the guerrilla forces. It was found out that the barrio of Lalaguna, about fifteen kilometers from the town, was the seat of the guerrilla headquarters. Forthwith, a big force of Japanese soldiers, with the aid of some airplane bombers, were brought to this area. The planes, after a series of bombings and strafing, inflicted damage on the said barrio. Six civilians were killed, several houses were destroyed, aside from destruction to crops such as rice and coconuts. The nearby barrios of Tocalin and Rizal also suffered considerable damage from these bombing operations of the enemy.

The latter part of the year 1944 saw the beginning of the collapse of the Japanese Army of occupation. The guerrilla force, emboldened by a series of successful attacks, had a wider range of operations, covering the whole of the Bondoc Peninsula, from the boundaries of Camarines Norte in the south to the town of Atimonan.

10. THE TURNING POINT OF THE WAR - RETREAT OF THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE FORCES AND THE EVAUCATION OF LOPEZ BY THE TOWNSPEOPLE - What may be considered the turning point of the war for Lopez was on December 30, 1944 when, during a program being held to commemorate Rizal Day, several low-flying American planes suddenly appeared from nowhere and strafed the railroad station of the town and its vicinity. From that time on, it was evident that the Japanese were fighting a defensive war. It was noted that the Japanese soldiers would arrive at night from the Bicol Region in truckloads, only to depart for the north very early the next morning. The Imperial Japanese Army was in full retreat. Capt. Yagi, the last Japanese commander of the local garrison, advised the people to evacuate the town. Only the Makapilis and the Japanese soldiers, quartered in private houses far apart from each other, inhabited

the town. Occasionally, some people came to town to get a few of their belongings. The found the Makapilis and Japanese quite friendly, then.

Historical Data of the Municipality of Lopez, Province of Quezon, online at the National Library of the Philippines Digital Collections.