10 Interesting Facts About Calamba

1. The first settlers of Calamba before it became a hacienda town, resided in a small village at the shore of Laguna de Bay now called “Barangay Sucol.”

2. The name Calamba emanated from a legend about 2 Spanish soldiers asking a woman selling homespun clayware the name of the town. The woman who does not understand Spanish thought they were asking about her wares and replied “Kalan, banga.” Thinking that “Kalanbanga” was the name of the town they called it Kalanbanga, which later become “Calamba.”

3. The Banga, a structure at Calamba’s old plaza representing the symbol of the town was designed and created by Felipe Samaniego, a sculptor. Samaniego is a graduate of the University of the Philippines under the tutelage of National Artist for Visual Arts Guillermo Tolentino who sculpted the famous U.P. Oblation and the Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan City. The sculpture looks more like a clay pot (palayok) than a Kalan or Banga mentioned in the legend.

4. The whole town of Calamba together with San Pedro, Biñan, and Sta. Rosa were originally a part of the town of Tabuco, the present day Cabuyao.

5. Calamba used to be a property owned by Don Miguel de Jaurie. It was purchased by Jesuit friars from funds inherited from Don Pedro de Megrete of New Spain, Mexico. During the historic expulsion of the Jesuit in Europe, the King of Spain sold the property to the Dominicans for 40,000 pesos.

6. Barangay Canlubang of Calamba, during the early Spanish period was a property owned by a group of Chinese merchants called sangley or Sanglaya. Its name came from a Chinese phrase “Kan Lu ba (看路吧)”meaning, “Look at the road barrier.”

7. Mateo Elejorde was the first mayor of Calamba (1901-1904) under the American regime. Mateo Elejorde was one of those involved in the land lease controversy with the Dominican friars in the late 1800s and was deported by the Spanish authorities to Mindoro on September 6, 1890 with Silvestre Ubaldo, Antonino Lopez, Leandro Lopez, and Paciano Rizal.

8. The first hospital in Calamba was the Calamba Emergency Hospital. It was a two-bed hospital housed in a two level building made of timber on a 700 square meter lot donated by the Llamas family in 1952 at the back of the old Municipal Building, which is now the City College of Calamba. Fire turned it to ashes on March 31, 1979.

9. Calamba have five National Heroes, Dr. Jose Rizal, his brother Paciano and mother Teodora Alonzo, Second World War hero General Vicente Lim, and Lt. Geronimo Aklan, one of the most prominent Filipino fighter pilots of World War II.

10. Calamba produced Four Laguna Governors, Dominador E. Chipeco Sr. (1949-1959); Restituto Luna (1992 June-1995); Teresita S. Lazaro (January 2001-2010; and Ramil L. Hernandez (May 27, 2014 –Present)