#Agra Family Pila Laguna

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Pila Family Stories: Rivera Family

From Rivera descendant Flordeliza Punzalan

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More Links 2

Mystery of the Remains of Don Felizardo de Rivera

Cemeteries of Pila

Don Juan de Rivera

Don Felizardo de Rivera

Laguna Myths and Legends: Secret Tunnels

Bahay ni Tisa is not in Pila Laguna

A Pila Schoolgirl's Autograph Book

Corazon Rivera (1888-1979) and the Corazon Rivera Ancestral House

Pila Ancestral Photos 1: Rivera, Alava, Agra Families

Pila Church: Past and Present

Pila Family Tree 1

"Gitna": The Rivera and Relova Ancestral Houses in Pila, Laguna (in Tagalog)

Pila Family Stories: Rivera Family of Pila Laguna

Pila Ancestral Photos 2: Alava and Relova Families

Property Tax Rates in Pila, Laguna, Philippines in 1909

Pila Artifacts at the University of San Carlos Museum, Cebu City, Philippines

Puliran in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription is the Laguna de Bay by Jaime F. Tiongson

Pila, Laguna (c1610), one of the historic Eight Spanish Villas in the Philippines

Laguna Copperplate Inscription: A New Interpretation Using Early Tagalog Dictionaries by Jaime F. Tiongson

The Restoration of Pila by Elizabeth S. Timbol

Pila’s Ancient Jar Burials

Pila mentioned in Precolonial Tagalog Counting and Marking Time Research

Datu of Pila in Filipino Class Structure by William Henry Scott 

How to address a Datu of Pila 

The Practice of Manda

Ruins of Old Stairs

Pedro del Mundo Family History

Pila Laguna Trivia

Easter Sunday in Pila, Laguna, 1975

Pila Videos

Corazon Rivera Ancestral House: Furniture

Corazon Rivera Ancestral House: Furniture 2

Corazon Rivera Ancestral House: Garden

Life in the Corazon Rivera Ancestral House

The Spring Well of Pila

The Pila Marker

Pila Museum Restoration

A Pila Wedding

The Chinese in Pila

A Childhood Pic with my Grandfather, Judge Ramiro Relova

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

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Pila Ancestral Photos 2: Alava and Relova Families

From Lia Scott Price, great-granddaughter of Corazon Rivera, granddaughter of Loreto del Mundo Relova and daughter of Cora Relova. Pictured is the bedroom in the Corazon Rivera ancestral house. (Photo by Jessica Rivera).

Childhood pic of Pila Historical Foundation Advocate Cora Relova

From Melvyn Relova: former Philippine Supreme Court Justice Lorenzo Relova and Family

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Don Felizardo de Rivera, Founder of Pila

Don Felizardo de Rivera y Evangelista (1755-1810) was the eldest of the three Rivera brothers, Don Felizardo, Don Miguel and Don Rafael. They were the owners of the estate Hacienda de Sta. Clara. They were the sons of Don Juan de Rivera, who had inherited the estate from the Spanish noble family, the Thenorios, and passed it on to his sons.

In the 18th century, due to flooding from its original location near the Laguna de Bay, the original town of Pila and its Church needed to be located to higher ground. So the Riveras planned to move it, just like their ancestor the Datu of Pila, Datu Maguinto, did in the 13th century.

However, a long, heated and controversial dispute rose between two prominent families at the time: The Riveras and the Relovas ("Pros" and "Antis". Don Regino Relova y San Antonio wanted the relocation on his land. Don Felizardo Rivera insisted that the town and church be moved to his hacienda in Sta. Clara.

Don Felizardo won after a long battle (starting October 14, 1794 and ending on July 13, 1803) after made an agreement with the parish priest: If the church was relocated to his estate, he pledged "the spiritual and material support of the Riveras to the church of St. Anthony in perpetuum up to the last of their line." The parish priest agreed.

Don Felizardo donated his lands to the church and to the municipal government but he also retained ownership of the lots surrounding what was to be the town plaza. He became the architect of the town's design, following Spanish colonial layout. He even built a kiln for manufacturing bricks and tiles for rebuilding the church, which was "transferred stone by stone" from its old location. The the ancestral houses were built around the plaza and the town municipio (municipal hall) was built opposite the church. With the assistance of the prominent families of Oca, Ruiz, and de Castro, he rebuilt the town of Pila ("Nuevo Pila") as it is to this day.

Don Felizardo served as gobernadorcillo in 1805, 1807, and 1809. He died on October 13, 1810 at the age of 55. He asked that "he be robed in the Franciscan habit upon his death and that a funeral mass be celebrated with him facing the altar of the newly-built church prior to his burial in the church crypt." His will (currently in the possession of the Rivera Family) was notarized by the town mayor at the time. At the time of his death, both pros and antis came to pay their respects and drop the long feud (the families later intermarried.) Don Felizardo's son Jose de Rivera later took over the gobernadorcillo post in 1811.

Don Felizardo de Rivera is the recognized founder of (Nuevo Pila) present-day Pila, Laguna, and the ancestor of the four main prominent families in Pila: Rivera, Relova, Agra and Alava.

WHEN A TOWN HAS TO MOVE: HOW PILA (LAGUNA) TRANSFERRED TO ITS PRESENT SITE (1794-1811) Luciano P.R. Santiago Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, Vol. 11, No. 2/3 (June/September 1983), pp. 93-106 (14 pages) https://www.jstor.org/stable/29791789

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During the 16th and 17th centuries, one of the earliest known leaders of Pila under Spanish Colonial Period was Don Antonio Maglilo (1696-1712), who governed Pila like his father Don Francisco Maglilo (1599), (Santiago, Ancient Pila, pg 11), the descendant of datu Maguinto.

In 1728, Don Maglilo’s descendant, Don Juan de Rivera, the founder of one of Pila’s most prominent families, the Rivera clan, became mayor of Pila. The Rivera’s were a “major branch of the Maglilo(s)” and changed their surname to “Rivera”, the “Taga-ilog”, or “People of the River”. (Santiago, Ancient Pila, pg 17).

Don Juan de Rivera married Doña Josepha Thenorio, who descended from Spanish nobility from Extremadura, Spain. The Thenorio family matriarch was Doña Maria Cortés de Monroy, the sister of Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortés (1485-1547). (Santiago, Ancient Pila, pg 16). (Writer’s Note: Cortes had relations and a child with the Aztec princess Doña Isabel Moctezuma (born Tecuichpoch Ixcaxochitzin; 1509/1510 – 1550/1551), a daughter of the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II, and Cortes’s sister Doña Maria’s descendants married the descendants of a Philippine Pre-Hispanic king.)

Don Juan's descendant, Don Felizardo de Rivera (1755-1810), was at first a town executive from 1792 to 1793. He was governor of Pila in 1792. During the town move, he had drawn up grid plans (Cuadricula) in 1790 for the new site (where Pila was to be moved) based on the classical Spanish system of 'church-plaza-town hall complex' as originally prescribed by the 'Laws of the Indies (1573)' (laws issued by the Spanish Crown for town planning). He had become a self-taught architect. When the transfer was officially sanctioned (approved), he implemented his plans by serving as gobernadorcillo (governor) in 1805, 1807, and 1809 (he died in 1810). Because of his orderly design (of the town), Don Felizardo is considered the founder of 'Nuevo Pila (New Pila).' Don Felizardo retained all the residential lots around the rectangular plaza between the church and the town hall for the ancestral houses. The principal street is christened 'Rivera', which connects (the town) 'like a long umbilical cord' (back to) Pagalangan. (Santiago, Ancient Pila, pg 25). All the lots around the town plaza were given by Don Felizardo to his heirs, and the ancestral houses now stand on those lots.

Pila was moved again due to flooding from the lake, to Don Felizardo’s Hacienda in Santa Clara, Laguna. (Santiago, The Roots of Pila, Laguna, pgs 9, 10). On May 20, 1804, Pila Church was also moved to land at the hacienda. (Santiago, The Roots of Pila, Laguna, pgs 10, 11, 13) Today, the 200-plus year-old church is now called the San Antonio de Padua church, which was declared the National Shrine of San Antonio de Padua, contains a relic of the saint and is one of the oldest churches in the Philippines. The ruins of the original church are still standing at Pagalangan and have a historical marker as the site of the original church of Pila.

Don Felizardo is considered the founder of the present-day town of "Nueva Pila" ("New Pila") and the town’s designer and architect in the Spanish colonial grid style of city planning. (Santiago, The Roots of Pila, Laguna, pg 12). The Pila Municipal Hall was later built in June 1931, across from the Church, on land previously owned by Doña Corazon Rivera de Del Mundo, daughter of Don Luis Rivera. (Santiago, The Roots of Pila, Laguna, pg 20).

In his 1810 Last Will and Testament, Don Felizardo identifies himself as “Taong Tunai at Maguinoo” (a true maginoo). The document is with the Rivera family of Pila, Laguna.

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"Bahay ni Tisa" is not in Pila, Laguna

This web site has incorrect information about Pila, Laguna. This is for informational purposes as we strive to keep Pila’s historical heritage as accurate as possible.

"Bahay na Tisa is located in Pila, Laguna" Incorrect. Bahay ni Tisa is located in Pasig.

It was declared an "important cultural property in Pasig, not Pila.

"Bahay na Tisa is a municipal heritage house in Pila, Laguna, Philippines." Incorrect. Only a few ancestral houses and the town plaza are a heritage site.

"It was built in the early 19th century by the first mayor of Pila, Don Marcos de Leon." Incorrect. No such mayor existed in Pila.

"The house has been the residence of the Enriquez- de Leon clan since the late 1800s. The house is currently under the care of the Enriquez family and is open to the public as a museum." Incorrect. Pila has no such museum.

"A highlight of the museum is the collection of antiques and artifacts that are attributed to the de Leon and Enriquez lineage. The only museum in Pila is the Pila Museum. Pila does not have a a de leon and Enriquez Lineage. The four families of Pila are Rivera, Relova, Agra, and Alava.

Bahay na Tisa has become an important landmark in Pila and in Laguna. According to the Pila Historical Society Foundation, there is no such landmark designation.

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More Articles and Links

What Early Tagalogs Worshipped

The Gold-Rich Datu of Pila and Philippine Gold Pila's Historical and Archeological Importance Ancient Tagalog Shamans: The Babaylan

The Relic of St. Anthony of Padua

Pila's Antique Statue of the Virgin Mary Pila's Antique Four-Poster Beds

Pila's Antique Statues: San Antonio de Padua

The Street Vendor

Pila Laguna History: A Summary

Pila Photos Medicines of the Lolas (Grandmothers)

Capiz Shell Windows

Pila in the 1980s The Pila Marker The Banga and Tapayan (Water Jug) Lizards in Pila: Tuko and Butiki

Polvoron

The Kawali

The Banig

Pila Memories: Kitchen Items The Bunot Sa Sahig: Coconut Husk Floor Buffer

Plantsang de Uling (Clothes Iron) Animals of Pila: Owls

Pila Convent

Campo, the Last Ancestral Land in Pila The Pila Arch Pila's Ancient Rituals Pila History: Some of the Oldest Houses in Pila 2

Pila's Antique Saints: Santisimo Niño Jesus Dormido

What is Pila, Laguna known for?

Pila: A Book and a Plaza

The Ancient Gold of Pila

Cora Relova: Life, Art and Architecture in Historic Pila

Walkabout in Pila, Laguna's Town Plaza Investigative Documentaries: Pila, Laguna: Progressiveness through preserved heritage How to maintain an Ancestral Home Cleaning a Pila Ancestral House Ceiling A Childhood in Pila, Laguna

Hungry for Laguna More Antiques of Pila: The Aparador

Common Childhood Memories of Pila Plants of Pila

Pila History: The American Era Part 2 The Crypts of Pila

Pila Memories: Basketball and Cotton Candy

The Ancestral Houses of Pila, Laguna

Heritage Town of Pila, Laguna

Antique Photos of Pila Town Mayors and Leaders Pila Historical Society Foundation History Poem for Pila Easter Sunday in Pila, 1970s Pila Architecture: Corazon Rivera House Holidays in Pila The Rivera Sisters of Pila, Laguna Facts about Pila, Laguna Huerta's Villa de Pila

Pila's Franciscan Printing Press History

How Burzagom Street got its Name Pila Memories: Holy Communion The Fuentes-Carillo House 1600s Document describing the Pila Choir Pila Memories: Holy Communion The Fuentes-Carillo House

Pila's Rio Nuevo The Angelus Pila, a Historical Landmark that withstood War, Time Judge Ramiro Relova Wedding Photo The Pila Pipe Organ Makahiya Memories Pileños in History: Cora Relova Pila Digital Historian: Lia S. Price More Old Images of the Pila Church Pila Ancestors Animals of Pila: The Cane Frog Pila's Heritage Keepers The Pila Population in 1818

The Pila Population in 1903 The Restoration of Pila

Pila's Spanish Colonial Town Planning System Inside a Pila Heritage House Vic Del Mundo, Pila's Floral Designer Ancestral Women of Pila: "Lola Doray" The Carrozza (Carriage) Foods of a Childhood Breakfast in Pila Pila's Old Basketball Court The Pila Symbol Pila's Designated Historical Structures Treasures of Pila

MORE ARTICLES AND LINKS 2

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The Principalia of Pila

Doña Corazon Rivera and Doña Mercedes Lina Rivera. Photo from the archives of the Rivera Family of Pila, Laguna.

1915 Photo "Picnic at Lucban, Tayabas (May 14, 1915) Women partnered in dancing position. They enjoyed tango, valse, baile etc - Francisco Agra

Photos from the archives of the Rivera Family of Pila, Laguna.

Photo from the Pila Family Archives

The "Principalia" ('Noble Class or la noblesse’) of Pila were the Maginoo, the descendants of the Lakans and Datus of Pila. The Maginoo were the ruling, educated, royal-lineage and privileged class. The Principalia served as town leaders: Mayors and Governors.

The Principalia were given the Spanish noble titles of “Don” and “Doña”. (The Spanish noble titles were later dissolved by the American Occupation in 1898 as the country turned into a democracy).

By Spanish Royal Decree in the 1800s and as acknowledgement of their royal and noble status, the Maginoo became the “Principalia”, the noble, landed ruling class, persons of the “blood royal” and aristocratic birth. Spanish colonial documents referred to the Principalia as “de privilegio y gratis” which was considered a true sign of nobility, exempt from paying tribute to the Spanish crown, a privilege granted only to the principalia. In Spanish-era Philippines, these entitlements were considered proof of being part of the aristocracy.

"In the Libro de Entierro (Burial Book) of Pila, it records that the Principalia were buried inside the church, in the cemetery patio, or near the (old) church in Pagalangan." (Santiago, Ancient Pila, pg 18).

Graves within the present-day Pila Church. Photos from the Rivera Family Archives.

Principalia, wikipedia

Santiago, Luciano P.R. “Ancient Pila: From Pailah in Pinagbayanan to Pagalangan.” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, vol. 38, no. 1, 2010, pp. 1–36. JSTOR, jstor.org/stable/29792692.

William Henry Scott, Filipino Class Structure in the Sixteenth Century, Philippine Studies vol. 28, no. 2 (1980) 142–175, Ateneo de Manila University (The book describes nobility rankings in the Philippines.)

Maginoo, wikipedia

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The Four Prominent Families of Pila

"Don Felizardo Rivera, who donated his lands to the church and municipal government, is the recognized founder of Pila. He is the ancestor of prominent families in Pila surnamed Rivera, Relova, Agra and Álava. - Pila, Laguna, wikipedia

Photo source: Pila Family Archives

Corazon Rivera

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Pilenos in History: Prominent Relovas

Pileños in History: from the Relova Family

Lorenzo “Inching” Rivera Relova (Associate Justice of the Supreme Court)

Loreto Bartolome Relova, Miss Laguna and entry for the Miss Philippines search of the 1926 Manila Carnival

Querubin Agra Relova, longest running Pila town executive (17 years)

Jose Dominic Ochoa (TV and movie personality)

Anthony “Maverick” Relova (TV and radio personality)

Cora Relova, Pila heritage advocate

Rogelio Relova, first Pila graduate from University of the Philippines (UP) College of Medicine (1931)

Benjamin Rivera Relova, first graduate of UP Law in 1936 ( with Luis O. Rivera)

Carmencita Relova Rivera, first woman doctor from Pila who graduated from the UP College of Medicine in 1948.

Regino Bartolome Relova, Jr., who graduated from Mapua in 1940, was the first mechanical engineer from Pila

From "Other Prominent Relovas Section, Regino Diaz Relova, Wikipedia

Relova Family Members in a Reunion Publication, 1969. Courtesy of Cora Relova of the Pila Historical Society Foundation.

Carabao ride at a Relova Family Reunion, Former Judge Ramiro “Raming” Relova (waving in the background) arranged the ride with Mang Miguel. Photo from Cora Relova.

Photo source: Pila Family Archives

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Pila History: Some of the Oldest Houses in Pila

Ancestral/Heritage Houses.

Photos from the Pila Family Archives.

Photo from Vina Alava Pelaez

Photo from Liz Levy Facher. ("Roads weren't even paved yet.")

Photo from Raffy Alava Antonio

Photo from Raffy Alava Antonio

Photo from Mike Palileo

Late 1920s or early 1930s. House of Jose Agra/Rosario Villarica from Cora Relova of the Pila Historical Society Foundation.

The house of Ignacio Alava. Photo from Vina Alava Pelaez.

1898 Ancestral House. Photo from Raffy Alava Antonio

Ancestral House of Francisca Rivera, then and now. Photo from the Pila Family Archives

What were the houses in Pila made of originally?:

Houses in Pila were big ones made of wood and bamboo with a cogon roof (Tall grasses used for thatching). - Cora Relova, Pila Historical Society Foundation.

Santiago, Luciano P.R. “THE ROOTS OF PILA, LAGUNA: A SECULAR AND SPIRITUAL HISTORY OF THE TOWN (900 AD TO THE PRESENT).” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, vol. 25, no. 3/4, 1997, pp. 125–155. JSTOR, jstor.org/stable/29792218.

Pila History: Some of the Oldest Houses in Pila 2

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Pileños in History: The First Physician from Pila

The first physician, Dr. Teodoro "Alava y Rivera as named in Santiago's book The Roots of Pila, pg 19", or "Rivera y Alava", called "Doro", obtained his M.D. degree from the University of Santo Tomas in 1915. He was born on May 07, 1886. He died on June 27, 1983 at the age of 97 and was buried in Pila. He is the son of Ignacio Agra-Alava and Ma. Magdalena Agra-Rivera and brother of Eusebio Rivera Alava (1881 - 1956), born in Pila, died April 25, 1956 at age of 74. Wife of Eusebio: Salvadora "Doray" Oca-Bartolome.

Dr. Teodoro Alava received his high school diploma from the Ateneo de Manila. He decided to become a doctor when he found that Pila needed one. He enrolled at the University of Santo Tomas in 1910. He became a physician in his senior year, and interned at the Manila General Hospital. He refused professional positions in Manila because he wanted to become a doctor in Pila. In Pila, he introduced sanitary methods to combat gastra-intestinal diseases and administered medicines for typhoid and malaria. He became Pila's general practitioner, but he was considered a specialist for Typhiod Fever and Malaria, and was responsible for eliminating them from the town. As the first doctor in the town, he was the first to introduce sterilization and to get the people to strictly comply with prescriptions given to them, and for removing their reliance on quack doctors ("arbularios"). He opened public dispensaries (early form of pharmacies).

He had seven children with Soledad Agra.

Info from the biography of Dr. Teodoro Alava from the Pile Family Archives.

Photo from the Pila Family Archives

Image from the Pila Family Archives

Teodoro Rivera y Alava and Solita Agra Alava on their wedding day, December 29, 1917. Image from Pila Family Archives

Solita Agra Alava. Image from Pila Family Archives

Salvadora Oca Bartlome “Doray”. Image from Pila Family Archives

Eusebio Rivera Alava, brother of Teodoro. Image from Pila Family Archives

Eusebio and Teodoro Rivera Alava, circa 1905. Image from Pila Family Archives

Ignacio Alava. Image from Pila Family Archives

Teodoro Rivera y Alava and Soledad Agra Heritage House. Image Credits

"The First Professionals": Santiago, Luciano P.R. “THE ROOTS OF PILA, LAGUNA: A SECULAR AND SPIRITUAL HISTORY OF THE TOWN (900 AD TO THE PRESENT).” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, vol. 25, no. 3/4, 1997, pp. 125–155. JSTOR, jstor.org/stable/29792218.

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Pileños in History: Doña Mercedes Lina Rivera

Doña Mercedes Lina Rivera. Image from Rivera Family Archives.

"In 1919, a group of seven Filipino women co-founded the Philippine Women's College, which became the Philippine Women's University in 1932, the first university for women in Asia founded by asians." (Santiago, Doña Mercedes Lina Rivera, pg 1).

The founders were:

Clara and Concepcion Aragon

Paz Marquez Benitez (1894-1973)

Socorro Marquez

Carolina de Ocampo Palma (1882-1945)

Francisca Tirona Benitez (1886-1974)

and

Mercedes Lina Rivera (1879-1932)

Doña Mercedes was born on September 23, 1879, in Pila, Laguna. She was the second child of Don Luis Nicolas Rivera y Alava (1850-1912), mayor of Pila from 1883-1885, and Doña Francisca Rivera y Agra ( 1853-1921).

Doña Francisca Rivera y Agra ( 1853-1921) and Don Luis Nicolas Rivera y Alava (1850-1912). Image from Rivera Family Archives.

She is the sister of Doña Corazon Rivera (married Pedro del Mundo).

Doña Corazon Rivera and Pedro del Mundo. Image from Rivera Family Archives.

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Doña Corazon Rivera with her children Loreto and Renato

Pedro del Mundo, Governor of Marinduque, an island province in the Philippines, with Teddy Roosevelt Jr., former Governor General of the Philippines in 1932, (appointed by then-President Herbert Hoover). Image and info from Cora Relova of the Pila Historical Society Foundation. She is the granddaughter of Pedro del Mundo.

The founder of the Rivera clan, Don Juan de Rivera, is the great-great-great-great-great grandfather of Doña Mercedes. She spoke Spanish, Tagalog, and English (with a British accent, having been educated by Augustinian sisters who had learned English in British Hong Kong - 1901). Her father Don Luis was also a teacher, and teaching was a profession of high prestige in the community, so she became an educator. (Santiago, Doña Mercedes Lina Rivera, pg 2).

Santiago, Luciano P. R. “DOÑA MERCEDES LINA RIVERA (1879-1932): A FILIPINA MAESTRA IN THE COLONIAL TRANSITION.” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, vol. 20, no. 1, 1992, pp. 14–23. JSTOR, jstor.org/stable/29792072.

Taft Avenue Manila in History and a mention of Mercedes Rivera under the Philippine Women's University (was then the Philippine Women's College in 1933).

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Pila Historical Landmark Designation

Pila is now a national historical landmark by The National Historical Commission of the Philippines, protected by a Heritage Bill. The preservation was led by Don Felizardo de Rivera’s direct descendants, Cora Relova and Monina Rivera, the founders of the Pila Historical Society Foundation. The declaration was formalized on site with a marker in Pila and attended by former Philippine President Fidel Ramos.

National Historical Institute Mandate/Presidential Decree

Proclaimed as a National Historical Landmark by the National Historical Institute (NHI)) on May 17, 2000, by NHI Resolution no. 2, series of 2000.

2010: Philippine Cultural Heritage Act passed into law, giving protections to all cultural heritage properties. In Luzon, a notable heritage town is Pila, Laguna.

National Commission for Culture and the Arts

Designated Historic Sites:

The San Antonio de Padua church and church complex

Town Center of Pila

35 Heritage houses and buildings

Pila Town Plaza. Photo by Michael R. Price

Pg 20, Santiago, Luciano P.R. “THE ROOTS OF PILA, LAGUNA: A SECULAR AND SPIRITUAL HISTORY OF THE TOWN (900 AD TO THE PRESENT).” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, vol. 25, no. 3/4, 1997, pp. 125–155. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/29792218.

Photo Credits: Statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Pila Municipal Hall. Photo from the Pila Family Archives.

Corazon Rivera Heritage House. Photo Credits.

Teodoro Rivera Alava/Soledad Agra Heritage House

Map of Historic Structures

Pila Historical Society Foundation:

The Pila Historical Society Foundation Inc. was organized in 1993 by a group of concerned citizens with the objective of preserving the town’s heritage, cultural, environmental and historical landmarks.

The Foundation was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on November 10, 1993 as non-governmental organization (NGO). On December 27, 1993, it was accredited by Pila’s Sangguniang Bayan (SB) and appointed as the caretaker of the town plaza.

Using funds raised and provided by the Foundation, and with the cooperation of the late Mayor Querubin Relova and the Sangguniang Bayan, the Foundation undertook the demolition or relocation of structures that detracted from the plaza’s historical relevance. A portion of the old school building was also repaired to house the artifacts retrieved from the Pinagbayanan excavations of the 1960s.

Then, with additional funds solicited from Senator Rodolfo Biazon, a new pathway was built around the plaza. Subsequently, development continued with funds approved by then Governor Lina for the construction of the Pila arch and installation of lights and benches at the park.

Pila Arch. Image from Pila Family Archives.

More recently, Senator Biazon granted new funds to enable the rehabilitation of the plaza’s old water fountain.

Pila's Antique Fountain. Photo by Michael R. Price.

The Foundation is proud that its efforts in researching and documenting Pila’s culture and history, and has played a major role in securing the declaration of the town as a National Historical Landmark by the National Historical Institute (May 17, 2000).

Update: 5/12/21: From Raffy Alava Antonio, Pila Committee Chairman on Culture and Tourism, great-great-great grandson of Don Felizardo de Rivera: An ordinance was recently passed naming the town plaza of Pila "Felizardo de Rivera Plaza". The ordinance is for the recognition and legacy he has given the town.

References:

(“The Roots of Pila, Laguna: A Secular and Spiritual History of the Town, 900 AD to the Present”, by Luciano P.R. Santiago, Filipino writer and historian, published in the Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, Vol. 25, No. 3/4, Special Issue, Local Histories, September/December 1997, published by the University of San Carlos Publications. jstor.org/stable/29792218).

Pila, Laguna on wikipedia

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Name Changes and the Claveria Decree of 1849

Image Credits: By Narciso Claveria y Zaldua. - Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos, Manila, 21 de Noviembre de 1849. Reimpreso. National Archives Publication No. D-3. Manila. Governmentr Printing Office. 1973., Public Domain

On July 2, 1578, Franciscan missionaries Fray Juán Portocarrero de Plasencia and Fray Diego de Oropesa de San José arrived in Pila, Laguna to catholicize the population. The missionaries soon discovered that the datu and his descendants had never used surnames. They named their families after places or parentage. For instance, Maguinto ni Pila, which meant Maguinto of Pailah, or Anak ni Maguinto (child of Maguinto). But when they were christianized, the population took saint’s names as their surnames, for instance, San Antonio, Santo Tomas, and San Gabriel. (This would later greatly confuse tax collectors because so many people used the same saints' names).

On November 21, 1849, the 18th-century Governor General of the Philippines, Don Narciso Claveria y Zaldua, issued a law called the Claveria Decree which required Filipinos to do away with their saint surnames and adopt acceptable, standardized Spanish names, one per family, from a book of surnames compiled by two authors, Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa and Domingo Abella, called the Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos. So for instance, one prominent Pila family of Don Alejandro San Antonio, chose the name "Relova". The Relova family was a Chinese mestizo family originally from the City of Pasig, and intermarried with the Riveras. The Relovas also governed as Pila’s mayors. Don Regino Reloba de San Antonio changed his surname to Relova after the decree and was Capitán Municipal of Pila in 1855–1856.

Prominent Pila Family Name Changes:

San Gabriel became Alava

Santo Tomas became Agra

There were some families who did not have saints' names, but also changed their names:

Diunaculandan became Dimaculangan.

The Rivera family, however, had never previously adopted a saint’s name. They were a major branch and relation of the Maglilo Family (descendants of datu Maguinto) and changed their name from Maglilo to “Rivera” or "People of the River" to honor their origins.

From Pg 15, Santiago, Luciano P.R. “THE ROOTS OF PILA, LAGUNA: A SECULAR AND SPIRITUAL HISTORY OF THE TOWN (900 AD TO THE PRESENT).” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, vol. 25, no. 3/4, 1997, pp. 125–155. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/29792218.

The Claveria Decree of 1849, Catálogo alfabético de apellidos, wikipedia

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Pila Crematorium

Archeological Excavation at Pinagbayanan: Ancestral Remains. Photo by Michael R. Price.

"....along with gold beads and ornaments, Pilenos (people of Pila) regaled their loved ones with...pottery as "pabaon" (provisions) for their last voyage to a better world. (Tenazas)" (Santiago, Ancient Pila, Pg 6, The Roots of Pila, Pg 3).

Crematorium Excavation. Photo from Pila Family Archives.

Archeological Excavation at Pinagbayanan: Crematorium. Photo by Michael R. Price.

"The only pre-Hispanic crematorium in the (Philippine) archipelago, constructed with soft stones, is also found in Pila". (Santiago, Ancient Pila, Pg 6).

Photo from Cora Relova of the Pila Historical Society Foundation

Ancient Burial Grounds. Photo by Michael R. Price.

Pila Crematorium Excavation Site. Photo Credits here.

Photo from the Pila Family Archives

Photos and Info from the Agra Family Archives

Inhumation....Pg 5, Dakudao, Michaelangelo E. “THE DEVELOPMENT OF CEMETERIES IN MANILA BEFORE 1941.” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, vol. 26, no. 1/2, 1998, pp. 254–271. JSTOR, jstor.org/stable/29792419.

(Santiago references Rosa C. P. Tenazas, A Report on the Archeology of the Locsin-University of San Carlos Excavations in Pila, Laguna, 1967-1968, Santiago, When a town has to move, Pg 2).

Santiago, Luciano P.R. “Ancient Pila: From Pailah in Pinagbayanan to Pagalangan.” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, vol. 38, no. 1, 2010, pp. 1–36. JSTOR, jstor.org/stable/29792692

Santiago, Luciano P.R. “THE ROOTS OF PILA, LAGUNA: A SECULAR AND SPIRITUAL HISTORY OF THE TOWN (900 AD TO THE PRESENT).” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, vol. 25, no. ¾, 1997, pp. 125–155. JSTOR, jstor.org/stable/29792218.

Santiago, Luciano P.R. “WHEN A TOWN HAS TO MOVE: HOW PILA (LAGUNA) TRANSFERRED TO ITS PRESENT SITE (1794-1811).” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, vol. 11, no. 2/3, 1983, pp. 93–106. JSTOR, jstor.org/stable/29791789.

Locsin – University of San Carlos Archaeological Project: Leandro and Cecilia Locsin, University of San Carlos, Rosa C.P. Tenazas, 1967 to 1968. A report on the archeology of the Locsin-University of San Carlos Excavations in Pila, Laguna. wikipedia, Prehistory of Laguna Province

Prehistory of Laguna (province) - Wikipedia

[pilalaguna]

Ancient Pottery of Pila

Pinagbayanan Pottery found in Pila archeological excavation. Pottery was donated to the Pila Museum by Manda Elizalde. Photo by Valerie R. Price.

Evidence of a large precolonial settlement (Pila, Laguna) were found in an area called Pinagbayanan, or “Where the town used to be located". (Santiago, Ancient Pila, pg 3).

In 1967-1968, archeological excavations found “Pila pottery.” (Santiago, Ancient Pila, pg 3).

"Clay pottery of handsome design and proportion was being fashioned on local kilns". (Santiago, Ancient Pila, pg 3).

"A considerable quantity of exquisite Chinese porcelain was recovered archeologically in Pila. Many of the pieces completely unknown in Western collections." (Santiago, Ancient Pila, pg 6).

"...earthenware based on local clay..." (Santiago, Ancient Pila, pg 6).

" As early as the Iron Age...clay pottery of handsome design and proportion was being fashioned in local kilns." (Santiago, Roots of Pila, pg 1).

The ancient Pileños (people of Pila)..... accumulated works of art which date back to the Northern Sung, (960–1127 AD), the Southern Sung, (1127-1280 AD) and the Yuan (1280-1368 AD) (Santiago, Ancient Pila, pg 6).

".....the ancient Chinese wares were contemporaneous with the Laguna Copperplate record." (Santiago, Ancient Pila, pg 6).

Photos from Luis Carillo, Pila Family Archives.

The Pila Museum (Museo de Pila). Photo Credits.

From Cora Relova of the Pila Historial Society Foundation: The Pila Museum used to be a catechism school of the Church, the Escuela Pia. During the American era, it became a property of the municipality of Pila.

Santiago, Luciano P.R. “Ancient Pila: From Pailah in Pinagbayanan to Pagalangan.” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, vol. 38, no. 1, 2010, pp. 1–36. JSTOR, jstor.org/stable/29792692.

Santiago, Luciano P.R. “THE ROOTS OF PILA, LAGUNA: A SECULAR AND SPIRITUAL HISTORY OF THE TOWN (900 AD TO THE PRESENT).” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, vol. 25, no. 3/4, 1997, pp. 125–155. JSTOR, jstor.org/stable/29792218.

The Esso – Elizalde Project: Excavations, Prehistory of Laguna archeological, 1967, Julita Fernandez, Amelia Rogel - University of the Philippines - Anthropology Department, Robert Bradford Fox, anthropologist and leading historian on pre-Hispanic Philippines, and Avelino Legaspi from the Anthropology Division of the National Museum of the Philippines. The study was funded by the ESSO Standard Philippines and Mr. and Mrs. Manuel Elizalde. From the Prehistory of Laguna (province), wikipedia,

Prehistory of Laguna (province) - Wikipedia

Photos from the Agra Family Archives

Photos and info from Cora Relova of the Pila Historical Society Foundation and Francisco Agra