PLACES: Barangay Looc

Dr. Jose Rizal’s return to the Philippines from Europe on June 26, 1892 caused a sensation among Filipinos and Spaniards. Rizal’s coming so intimidated Spanish authorities. that they watched Rizal’s every move. Places and friends which and whom Rizal visited were searched, and anyone in his company becomes suspected insurrectos .

After Rizal founded La Liga Filipina just a month after his arrival, on July 3, 1892 Rizal was arrested. Here begins the story of Barangay Looc as told by the community’s elders. The Rizal family household helps according to the elders, together with some farmhands of his father Francisco Mercado and brother Paciano, consisting of about 7 families went into hiding for fear of persecution . They escaped towards a marshy forested area near the lake until they reached a spring, a place called “Bukal KayTala.” In this clearing by the lakeshore with clean water and abundant food source, the runaways settled. They built their homes from materials found around the area - bamboo and cogon grass for thatching the roof.Through the years, the place became a progressive community and is now called Barangay Looc.

Local fishermen renamed the place Looc because it is situated in a deep inner section of the Laguna de Bay. Bukal Kay Tala where the whole of Barangay Looc began, until today, still exist− it was the nucleous that gave rise to a now bustling and progressive barangay.

Early Calambeños called Looc, “Vegetable Bowl of Calamba“ due to its rich vegetable harvest. Fishing and duck-raising is also a means of livelihood for the local residents.

Its first school was founded with the help of Rufino Parayanin in 1933 which began with 2 classrooms., In 1971, the Looc Barangay High School was established with the help of Ambrosio Geca and a certain Mr. Baroro.

Today Barangay Looc is a site for several subdivision and housing developments and is continuously growing to become a modern and innovative community.