Lemery, Batangas: Historical Data Part I

PART I

PART I | PART II | PART III | PART IV

Full transcription of the so-called “Historical Data” for the Municipality of Lemery, Batangas, the original scanned documents at the National Library of the Philippines Digital Collections not having OCR or optical character recognition properties. This transcription has been edited for grammar, spelling and punctuation where possible. The original pagination is provided for citation purposes.

[Cover letter.]

DIVISION OF BATANGAS
DISTRICT OF LEMERY

COLLECTION AND COMPILATION OF HISTORICAL DATA
REGARDING BARRIOS AND TOWNS OF LEMERY AND
AGONCILLO, DISTRICT OF LEMERY

Executive Order No. 486 by the President of the Philippines, for reasons stated herein, directs the collection and compilation of data on the history and culture of each barrio, town, city and province in the Philippines. It directs further the preparation of the manuscripts thereof, using the outline appended to said Executive Order, and the submittal of the prepared manuscripts not later than June 20, 1953, as per Memorandum No. 34, s. 1952.

In pursuance to this Executive Order and its Appendix, and in compliance with the requirements in Memorandum No. 34 s. 1952, regarding the matter, barrio and town committees were formed as early as July of last year, to gather and compile the necessary historical data for all the barrios and towns comprising the Lemery District, and to prepare the corresponding manuscripts for each barrio and town thereof.

No little amount of time and efforts was exerted by the local committee appointed in gathering and compiling the necessary data and in preparing the manuscripts. Some difficulties were also met in so doing, owing to the fact that generally, the old men and women of the barrio or town from whom to draw from their fund of knowledge and experiences of the history and culture of the communities were either no longer living or residing far outside these communities. As best as they could, however, the committees assigned secured the data herein reported for as many people as could be found presently living in the communities who could contribute even a bit of information on the historical and cultural data of their committees. Some of the data herein reported, therefore, could not be considered as reliable as might have been desired.

Finally, it is hoped that these historical and cultural data gathered and compiled for the different barrios and towns in this district would serve as further implementations in the development of our curriculum and its enrichment.

[Cover page.]

COMPILATION
OF
HISTORICAL DATA
FOR THE
POBLACION
OF
LEMERY

PROVINCE OF BATANGAS

[Listing of barrios per town.]

P R O V I N C E    O F    B A T A N G A S

Lemery Agoncillo Balayan Calaca

[Submission letter.]

DIVISION OF BATANGAS
DISTRICT OF LEMERY
Lemery Elementary School

The Division Superintendent of Schools
Batangas, Batangas
Thru the District Supervisor, Lemery

Sir:

We, the undersigned, chairman and members of the local committee for the Municipality of Lemery, Province of Batangas, have the honor to submit the enclosed report of historical data for the poblacion of Lemery and its barrios as required by General Memorandum No. 34, 2. 1952.

QUIRINO N. MAALA Member	LEOPOLDO M. OLVINA Member
(Mrs.) AURELIA C. SOLIS Member	(Mrs.) LUZ A. BAYLOSIS Member
(Miss) NATIVIDAD A. AMPONIN Member	(Miss) MARIA D. AGUIRRE Member

[p. 1]

DIVISION OF BATANGAS
DISTRICT OF LEMERY
Lemery Elementary School

HISTORY AND CULTURAL LIFE OF THE TOWN OF LEMERY
PART ONE: HISTORY
Present Official Names of the Town

The present official name of this town is Lemery, a municipality situated on the southwestern coast of Balayan Bay in the province of Batangas.

Former Name or Names and their Meaning(s) or Derivation

It was during the early part of the eighteenth century that the people from Taal, northern part of Mindoro and southern part of Cavite occupied the vast level plain on the coast of Balayan Bay for wider opportunities in life. Fate so dictated that these groups of people came together and settled at the very heart of what is now Lemery and established a little settlement that was to become the germ that gave birth to this progressive and one of the commercial towns of Batangas province.

These adventurous people were attracted by the seacoast life because of the abounding fish that could be caught easily in great quantity within a short period of time. Salting and drying fish became their important business, because of the great demand of the people from the interior parts of Cavite, Laguna and Batangas provinces.

As time came and went fast, people came in greater numbers to join the old settlers, and the village became populous. The place was at first called “PUNTA,” meaning direction, because of the great number of people coming to the village’s direction.

The religious people who were converted to Christianity immediately built a church for them where on Sundays, they gathered together and worshipped God. The auxiliary priest from Taal used to come over to Punta on Sundays to say Mass for the people. In 1806, a permanent priest was assigned to this settlement. He was Rev. Father Sancho Geronimo, a Spanish priest from Madrid, Spain.

In 1818, the political status of the little village, Punta, attained its glorious and memorable change. It was through a suggestion of a new priest, a successor of Fr. Sancho Geronimo, that the village be made a permanent barrio to be named San Geronimo, in honor of the late Fr. Sancho Geronimo, the first priest in the village, who guided the people in their religious lives. The suggestion was warmly accepted and Punta was changed to San Geronimo.

Date of Establishment

For a decade, between 1818 and 1828, the people of San Geronimo enjoyed the kind of treatment of the church of-

[p. 2]

ficials. The barrio folks were living contentedly with the exception of a certain group of individuals who were hostile to the church administration of the barrio affairs. The hostile group was influenced by a Cavite revolutionary group movement against the Spanish rule. Its secret movements were learned by the priest who immediately reported the matter to the Spanish military authorities.

The people of San Geronimo were surprised at a sudden change of administration. The Spanish military forces were used in compelling the people to attend church services during Sundays and holidays. People found not attending mass during the days specifically heralded by the priest, were considered enemies of Spain and were executed. Others were punished severely or flogged to death.

That unfortunate condition existed for some years until all the inhabitants of San Geronimo realized their great mistakes of blind loyalty to the king of Spain. Many of them joined secretly the revolutionary movement that was gaining popularity among the San Geronimo inhabitants. Both men and women were accepted in the secret organization provided that they be allowed to be tested in an initiation that would prove their courage, patriotism and loyalty to their own native land.

The condition of San Geronimon in 1839 became worst when the priest and his sacristan were kidnapped and then murdered by the revolutionists, under the leadership of Faustino Bungkal, head of the anti-Spanish rule. The incident resulted in a change of military command and martial law was adopted in the whole area of San Geronimo and its sitios.

The adoption of martial law did not lessen the hostile attitude of the people, but their desire for freedom increased rapidly, instead. The new command noticed the condition with interest. To prevent further execution and imprisonment on the part of the innocent inhabitants, the military authorities withdrew the martial law and the administration changed their method in dealing with the people. All military and church personnel were instructed to study the dialect of the people in order to promote better understanding and cooperation between the inhabitants and the government. This change of treatment was instituted by Roberto Lemery, a Spanish Captain and commander of the San Geronimo outpost.

The newly injected treatment gained trust and confidence among the inhabitants. The treatment continued until Captain Lemery learned to speak fluently the dialect and became the only white man friend of the people of San Geronimo. Captain Lemery was respected by the inhabitants because of his kindness, understanding and helpfulness. His military headquarters became the rendezvous of his many friends and admirers. Underground activities were stopped. Peace, contentment and happiness reigned during the seventeen-year military administration of Captain Lemery.

In 1856, Captain Lemery died of malignant fever. The people of San Geronimo mourned for the death of their beloved friend and respected benefactor.

PART I | PART II | PART III | PART IV

Transcribed from “History and Cultural Data for the Poblacion of Lemery” 1953, online at the National Library of the Philippines Digital Collections.