Pila, Laguna: The Noble Town

An online museum of the history and ancestral heritage of Pila, Laguna, Philippines, from 900 A.D. to the 19th Century. A town of historical and archeological importance in Philippine history and a National Historic Landmark,  Pila is called "The Noble Town", as its founder was the direct descendant of a datu (ancient royalty). Includes historic sites, photos, memories, and stories about Pila.  Dedicated to, and based on, the research of Dr. Luciano P. R. Santiago, Philippine Historian. Maintained by The Ancient Pila Project, which collects and digitally archives Pila's history.  The Curator is Dayang Lia Price, daughter of Cora Relova of the Pila Historical Society Foundation. Contact: [email protected]

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Posts/Links

Introduction:

A Welcome Message from Dayang Lia

Intro: Ancient Royalty,  A Spanish Colony,  and Gold

Pila History: 900 AD - 1375

Pila History: How Pila got its name

Pila History: Pila in The Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI)

Pila History: Datus, Dayangs, Lakans, and The Maginoo: The Ancient Nobility

Pila History: Status of Women in Prehispanic Pila

Pila History: The Maharlika, the Ancient Warrior Class

Weapons of the Early Tagalogs

Pila History: Baybayin: The Ancient Tagalog Language

Pila History: Pailah: Settlements, Trade, and the Land of Gold

Pila History: Ancient Pottery of Pila

Pila History: Pila at Pinagbayanan (First Location)

Pila History: Pila Crematorium

Pila History: Pagalangan, The Place of Reverence (Second Location of Pila)

Pila History: 1500s-1800s

Pila History: The Pila Encomienda and a Spanish Colony

Pila History: La Noble Villa de Pila, The Noble Town

Pila History: The Spanish Nobility of Pila

Pila History: The First Pila Church and Parish at Pagalangan

Animals in Pila History: Crocodiles

Pila History: Pila at Hacienda Santa Clara, the Third and Present Location

Pila History: The Pila Church Ruins at Pagalangan

Pila History: The Principalia of Pila

Pila History: Principalia Antique Photos

Pila History: Name Changes and the Claveria Decree of 1849

Pila History: The Pila Infirmary of the Franciscan Missionaries

Pila History: The Pila Church (2nd and Present Location) and The Shrine and Relic of Saint Anthony of Padua

Pila History: Pila Church Photos

Pila History: Pila’s Church Bells

Pila History: The Printing Press and the Tagalog Dictionary in Pila

Pila History: Pila’s Oldest Books

Pila History: 1900s

Pila History: Pila Historical Landmark Designation

Pila History: Why is Pila called Bayang Pinagpala?

Pila History: The American Era

Architecture

Pila History: Some of the Oldest Houses in Pila

Pila History: Old Houses and the Parts of Pila’s Houses

Pila History: Pila's Architectural Photos 1

Pila History: Pila's Architectural Photos 2

Pila History: Pila's Architectural Photos 3

Pila History: Pila's Architectural Photos 4

Pila History: The Street Names

Pila History: The Town Plaza

Pila History: The First Roads, Bridges, Sugar and Rice Mills

Pila History: The Pila Well

Pila History: The Pila Municipal Hall (“Municipio”)

Pila History: Sacred Heart Statue

Schools

Pila History: Credit Document for a Schoolteacher’s House Rental 1876

Pila History: The First School

Pila History: The Liceo de Pila

Pila History: The Pila Museum as an Early Catechism School

Transportation

Pila History: The Kalesa

Pila History: Early Cars

Clothing

Pila History: Clothing - What Women Wore

Pila History: Clothing - What Men Wore

Antiques

Pila History: Pila's Antique Saint: Santo Sepulcro

Pila History: Heirloom Saints of Pila

Pila History: The Pila Museum

Pila History: Pila Museum Photos

Pila History: Images of a Cedula

Language

Pila History: Pila’s Unique Language

Pila's Ancient Traditions:

Pila’s Ancient Traditions: Feast Day of St. Anthony of Padua (San Antonio de Padua)

Pila's Ancient Traditions: Dance and Music

Pila’s Ancient Traditions: Holy Week

Pila’s Ancient Traditions: The Angelus and Mano Po

Pila’s Ancient Traditions: The Santacruzan

Pila's Ancient Traditions: About The Flores de Mayo

Pila's Ancient Traditions: The Flores de Mayo's Alay

Pila’s Ancient Traditions: Flores de Mayo Photos Part 6

Pila’s Ancient Traditions: Flores de Mayo Photos Part 5

Pila's Ancient Traditions: Flores de Mayo Photos Part 4

Pila's Ancient Traditions: Flores de Mayo (Flores de Maria) Photos Part 3

Pila's Ancient Traditions: Pila's Flores de Mayo Antique Photos Part 2

Pila's Ancient Traditions: Pila's Flores de Mayo Antique Photos Part 1

Pila’s Ancient Traditions: Funerary Practices 1

Pila’s Ancient Traditions: Funerary Practices 2

Pila’s Ancient Traditions: Herbolarios (Before there were Doctors)

Pileños in History:

Pileños in History: Dr. Luciano P. R. Santiago, Pila Historian

Pileños in History: First Pila Physician, Dr. Teodoro Alava Rivera

Pileños in History: Doña Mercedes Lina Rivera, Founder, Philippine Women's University

Pileños in History: Pila's First Woman Doctor, Carmencita Relova Rivera-Valenzuela

Pileños in History: Lorenzo Relova, Associate Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court

Pileños in History: Regino Díaz Relova, Philippine Revolution Lieutenant-Colonel

Pilenos in History: Pila’s First Dentist

Pileños in History: Pila’s Municipal Town Hall Architect and First Architect of Pila

Pilenos in History: Judge Ramiro Relova

Pilenos in History: The Medical Professionals of Pila (Medical and Dental Professionals)

Pilenos in History: The First Female Dentists of Pila

Pileños in History: Pila’s First Lawyer, Jose Diaz Relova

Pileños in History: Longest Serving Mayor: Querubin Relova

Pileños in History: Pila's First Nun and Priest, Sister Consuelo Relova OSB and Rev. Fr. Father Felix del Rio Codera

Pileños in History: Pila's Longest-Serving Parish Priest, Father Radovan

Pileños in History: Cardinal Vidal

Pileños in History: List of Town Mayors

Pileños in History: Prominent Relovas

Pileños in History: The Four Prominent Families of Pila

Pila Memories:

Pila Memories: Pila’s Food and Desserts

Pila Memories: Toys and Games Pila kids used to play with

Pila Memories: Aling Maring

Pila Legends:

Pila Legends: Mythological Stories our Elders told us

Pila Legends: The Rivera Family and their Legend

MORE Articles and Links

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The Entry Arch of Pila

From Cora Relova of the Pila Historical Society Foundation.

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Pila Pastimes

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All Saints' Day Ancestral Graves: Rivera, Relova, Alava Families

Pics from Cora Relova and Rosario Relova Calo during a visit to the ancestral graves in Pila, Laguna, Philippines.

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A Childhood Pic with my grandfather, Judge Ramiro "Raming" Relova

The curator Lia Price as a child with her grandfather, former Pila Judge Ramiro "Raming" Relova (RIP), husband of Lia's grandmother Loreto "Loring" Del Mundo Relova, (daughter of Corazon Rivera).

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The Chinese in Pila

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A Pila Wedding

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Pila Museum Restoration

Photo from Cora Relova

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The Pila Marker

Images and info from Cora Relova of the Pila Historical Society Foundation.

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Corazon Rivera Ancestral House: Furniture 2

Antique furniture in the Corazon Rivera Ancestral House, Pila, Laguna. Images from Cora Relova of the Pila Historical Society Foundation.

Side Table

Narra antique bed. Lola Loring (Loreto Del Mundo, Corazon Rivera’s daughter) bought this. Probably 1920’s. 

Narra bed of Lola Kikay, mother of Lola Azon (Corazon Rivera). Late 1800’s. Corazon Relova, her granddaughter, was born on this bed.

Narra Glass Cabinet

Platera (for plates, cutlery)

Narra cabinet. 1950’s. Lola Loring (Loreto Del Mundo, Corazon Rivera’s daughter) bought it in Ermita, Manila

Lola Loring’s (Loreto Del Mundo, Corazon Rivera’s daughter) Narra cabinet from her mother.

Camagong cabinet. It belonged to Lola Punday who is the grandmother of Lola Azon (Corazon Rivera). Probably close to 200  years old. 

Batibot Chairs

(Corazon Rivera) Lola Azon’s Narra cabinet. Probably 130 years old. 

1940s Narra Desk

1960’s kitchen cabinet

Display Cabinet

Narra Chair

Dining Table

Narra night table

Narra dresser or “tocador” with a stool

Narra pillow rack. Probably 1930’s. Now used for displaying pictures.

Narra Table

Antique Decorative Pedestals

Narra Table

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The Spring Well of Pila

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Life in the Corazon Rivera Ancestral House

From Cora Relova of the Pila Historical Society Foundation and granddaughter of Corazon Rivera:

Lola’s house (Corazon Rivera Ancestral House) is considered ancestral because it is more than 50 years old and still belongs to the fourth generation of the family. It is a heritage house because the architecture belongs to a certain period and it is inside the declared (Philippine National) heritage zone. It is “taga-gitna” (people with houses in the center of the town surrounding the main plaza are elite).

It was built around 1929-1930. Lola Loring said she was 12 years old when they - Lola Azon (Corazon Rivera), Lolo Ato (Renato Del Mundo, son of Corazon Rivera) and Lola Loring (Loreto Del Mundo, daughter of Corazon Rivera) started living there. The old municipal hall (municipio) used to be located in the property. Lola Azon’s property was where the main municipal hall is located now. Lola Loring said that Lola Azon did not want to build the house directly in front of the church because she felt that the sins being confessed will "boomerang" back to the house or something like that. Can you imagine if she did not exchange her property….we will be in the center of the town plaza.

Anyway, there was no architect hired and Lola Azon was assisted by her nephew Felimon Rebong ("Lolo Imon") who was an engineer, or still an engineering student at that time. The house was built during the American period so it is called a chalet. It had plumbing and electricity. For better air flow the  windows were big and surrounded the house. The lower portion of the windows had “ventanillas” (little windows) covered with wooden sliding doors which can be opened too. The upper portion of the walls had open wood carvings. 

On the landing of the main stairs is the “balcon” (balcony) where one can sit to view the plaza. Aside from the main door there is also a door that leads to the first room. There were three rooms before with small doors leading to each room (the word “privacy” did not exist). The first one that opens to the balcon was occupied by Tita Jovit (Jovita, Cora's sister) and myself. The second one that opens to the sala/living area was occupied by Lola Azon and Tio Ato and family when they visited and the third one which opens to the comedor/dining area was occupied by Lolo Judge (Ramiro Relova, Loreto's husband) and Lola Loring. The 3rd room has a door that connects to the toilet/bath. (I recently had a division made to make the toilet separate from the bath during the renovation of the house).

There is no partition between the sala and comedor. When we were young a cabinet was used as partition. The front of the cabinet faced the dining room. The back of the cabinet faced the living room and the old piano was placed there. Actually the furniture pieces were moved around. The location of the living room set now is the best placement. 

There was a sliding door that was the partition between the dining room and the kitchen. The kitchen was smaller until Lola had it renovated. We had no gas or electric stove. We had a “Kalan” (clay stove) that was made of ash. Charcoal, firewood and “bunot” (coconut husk) were used as fire. I remember that there were three parts so three dishes can be cooked at the same time. Can you imagine how hard it was then? Often there was a lot of smoke but there was a continuous flow of air then so it was not so bad. It is said that the food taste better with this method of cooking.There was also a storage room  in the kitchen for (rice) “bigas”, salt etc. and I think a motor to pump water up the house. The pipes of the house was connected to free flow water fountain in the plaza. There was a stair in front of the toilet/bath used to go down to the first floor “silong” (basement).

The “silong” was where the "katulong" (household help) stayed, where the “sampayan” (clothes line when it rains) was, and the “bodega” - storage for the newly harvested and unmilled rice” palay”. Large blocks of ice were also stored there, covered by palay husks (and they never melted!) Lola Loring also had pens for hens that laid eggs and chickens for our food. I hardly went down because the flooring was not yet cemented and it was a bit dark. 

Lola Azon planted a number of fruit trees. We had macopa (java apple), suha (grapefruit), lanzones (similar to lychee), balimbing (star fruit), duhat (java plum), santol (cotton fruit) and yambo (plum apple). Only the macopa (as old as the house) and the balimbing survives. The duhat in front of the house (by the gate) is only around 20 years old.  

There was a “labahan” wash area for clothes at the back of the house. There was a continuous flow of water because of the pipe that was connected to the free flow fountain. There was a huge “kawa” or cauldron where the water fell and we (Tita Jovit and Tito Vic - Vic Del Mundo, Cora's first cousin and son of Renato Del Mundo) used to pretend “swim” or just fooled around and bothered the lavandera (washer woman) . Sadly, I do not know what happened to the “kawa”.

General cleaning of the house was done twice a year, certainly before the Flores de Mayo and I think after the New Year.  Wives of tenants would come (around 4 ladies) and would work for free but they are fed very well and given travel fare and rice to bring home. It is called “panunulungan”. The ladies used “is-is” (ficus leaves) to scour the “pasamano” (window sill) and the floor before waxing. They used “walis na tingting” (broomstick) for the ceiling, walls, iron works followed by “basahan” (rag) soaked in water with soap in “palangana” (basin). I think it took them 2 days to clean everything. Then a male "katulong" (hired help) would wax the floor manually (very labor-intensive), then used “bunot” (coconut husk) to make it shine “lampaso”. I loved the smell of floor wax and the super clean house. One of the ladies was Aling Dulay who loved to bring Michael (Cora's son) fresh eggs.

I also remember that there was a carpet for the sala set. For cleaning the help would hang it on two chairs on the sidewalk in front of the house and beat it with a walis na tingting (broomstick). The lavandera (washerwoman) would also use the sidewalk to sun-dry clothes before rinsing. 

Lola Azon would sweep the leaves on the ground with “walis tingting” everyday at around 4pm and I loved helping her. The leaves were piled up and burned because it drove the mosquitoes away. Every household did it. But in modern times, due to global warming and fumes, the municipal government forbade the burning of anything.

The wood used for the building of the house was mainly narra. Lola Loring (Loreto Del Mundo, daughter of Corazon Rivera) said that the panels with carvings that divides the rooms from the sala and comedor were made in Paete, Laguna. The windows in the rooms are made of wood with capiz shells. The flooring is also made of narra planks and the ceiling is made of wide solid narra. I remember that the materials used for the lower portion were not sturdy so it was cemented to better support the house. 

After lunchtime and cleaning the kitchen was done, the help would iron clothes in the kitchen area with a plantsadora (iron). I remember that before the electric iron a heavy metal contraption with wood handle filled with burning charcoal was used (now considered an antique). The help would also listen to telenovelas on the radio. We were required to have an afternoon nap “siesta”, and we laid on banigs (woven mast) spread out in the living room.

Capiz Shell Window

Plantsadora (Iron), image from Cora Relova

Image of a Kawa, uncredited photo

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Corazon Rivera Ancestral House: Garden

From Cora Relova of the Pila Historical Society Foundation:

Our garden had a lot of flowers mostly planted  along the fence and around the main stairs. A thick bougainvillea plant covered the upper portion of the stairs (sadly it was removed because of termites).

There were lots of butterflies and 3 kinds of dragonflies “tutubi” in Tagalog - big and medium. The small ones (damselflies) were called “tutubing karayom” (needle). Lots of frogs croaking and crickets (kuliglig) chirping can be heard throughout the night. Since there were many trees bats who love to eat the fruits, they would go into the house. The helps would chase them out with walis na tingting (broomsticks). Lots of lizards crawled all over the ceiling and they would eat all the insects that came their way. There was also papua plants below the windows. It was used for sunning pillows and mats (banigs) to remove molds and odors.

Lola Azon (Corazon Rivera) planted a number of fruit trees. We had macopa (java apple), suha (grapefruit), lanzones (similar to lychee), balimbing (star fruit), duhat (java plum), santol (cotton fruit) and yambo (plum apple). Only the macopa (as old as the house) and the balimbing survives. The duhat in front of the house (by the gate) is only around 20 years old.  

Sadly grasshoppers are gone due to pollution.

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Corazon Rivera Ancestral House: Furniture

From Cora Relova of the Pila Historical Society Foundation: According to Lola Loring (Loreto Del Mundo Relova, daughter of Corazon Rivera) this European style sala set  composed of a sofa, 2 armchairs and 3 chairs  was purchased during the Japanese occupation (around 1943) by Lola Azon (Corazon Rivera's nickname) from a Spanish couple who lived in Ermita, Manila. The set was a wedding gift to them. They had recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and decided to go back to Spain. So the set is around 130 years old. It was reupholstered  3 times and the last one was around 2015. I chose the material and bought it with Tita Jovit (Cora's sister) at a store for curtains and upholstery in Manila. The upholstery was done by the sister of Lek (Annie’s husband - Cora's niece). It is in delicate condition so I did not allow it to be used during film and commercial shoots. Interior and furniture designer Budji Layug said that the set has perfect proportion. The dining chairs made of narra used to be in our house in San Lorenzo Village, Makati.

Tables are made of narra wood and probably 1920s-1930s. The small rectagular table is called Narra Lamesita.

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Pila Videos

La Noble Villa De Pila (part 2 of 2) - Travel Time with Susan Calo-Medina

LOREN LEGARDA: Dayaw Season 8 Episode 4 - "A Future rooted in the Past" (Biñan and Pila in Laguna)

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Easter Sunday in Pila, Laguna, 1975

Easter eggs used to be hidden in the town plaza for the ancestral family children. Pila's online museum curator is pictured as a child in the blue and white dress 4th from the left, top row.

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Pila Trivia 1