Calamba– A Stove or a Pot (?)

Like San Pedro and Biñan, Calamba was a hacienda town. Before it joined Tabuco, it already had an independent parish. Early parishioners built their church here as early as 1611.

Similar to other folklore in Laguna that tells stories about how they got its names, “Calamba” also was fashioned out of the “Indios” naivety of the Spanish language and the Spaniard’s ignorance of the native tongue. The local lore say that two Spanish soldiers came to Calamba, then a small village hewn out of a forest where the shore of the Lawa Pulilan (or Pulilan Kasumuran, the original name of Laguna de Bay before the Spaniards came) and. Mount Makiling met.

The soldiers must have come from the lake since there was no other way to the village. Without roads, natives accessed the village only through the lake and its two rivers, now known as San Juan and San Cristobal. The only strangers the natives knew then were the Chinese and Vietnamese traders that occasionally trade with them. The Spanish soldiers approached two native women. The women were seated in a shade near the lakeshore waiting for Chinese junks to trade their wares. Their merchandise was stock-piled nearby.

The soldiers in uniform may have looked funny to the women. They must have giggled as the soldiers approached them. The soldiers were wearing tights and bloomers, their torso covered with shining armors, and their tops with helmets that make them look like a turkey with an oversized head. In an incomprehensible language one of the soldiers asked, “¿Qual es el nombre del esta pueblo?” (What is the name of this town?) It was an encounter with the third kind. Thinking that the strangers were there to barter, one of the women replied, “Kalan, banga!” (Stove, pot!) Only the first word and the first syllable of the second stuck. –kalan-ba.

According to Palma’s account in his book “Pride of the Malay Race,” The inhabitants of Calamba did not own a single foot of land. All of Calamba form part of an estate, which belonged to the Dominican Order. Records showed that in early 18th century, a Son Pedro de Megrete who lived in New Spain (in Mexico) left a last will and testament. The will provided that in case the college, which he intend to establish in Carranza (Spain, in the Province of Biscay in the Basque Country) shall not be founded, the funds that he left for the purpose amounting to 125,000 Pesos should be turned-over to the Procurador General of the Society of Jesus in the province of the Philippines. The will further provided that the Procurador should give the funds to the Provincial to establish missions for conversions in the Philippine Islands.

The Jesuits used part of this sum for the purchase of the Calamba property owned by Don Manuel de Jaurie, and called it Hacienda San Juan Bautista.

In 1833, after the historic expulsion of the Jesuits in the Philippines, the King of Spain sold the hacienda to the Dominican friars for 40,000 Pesos. The Dominican Corporation derived the funds to support the University of Santo Tomas and the Saint Joseph College from the income of this hacienda.

From 1887 to 1892, the hacienda becomes a subject of controversies. Misunderstanding ensued between the administration and tenants regarding alleged unreasonable land levies. This involved Rizal’s father, Francisco Mercado, a tenant of the Dominican friars. Dr. Jose Rizal, a native of Calamba then in Madrid, advocated the cause of the Filipino farmers in his homeland and fought for their rights in the courts of Spain. Rizal amplified the issues through his propaganda activities and in his two novels, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. In the novels, Rizal portrayed the Social ills that perturbed the Philippines under Spanish rule. These led to the persecution of Rizal’s family and friends. The Spanish government later deported Rizal to Dapitan until he was ultimately executed in Bagumbayan.

Rizal’s execution sparked the violent revolution of 1896 led by Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo.