PAGSANJAN, Laguna -- The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) declared on Thursday the gate, known as Puerto Real ng Pagsanjan, a national landmark.
NHCP Deputy Executive Director Veronica Dado, together with Mayor Girlie “Maita” Ejercito and Acting Director Marissa Castro of the Department of Tourism (DOT) 4-A (Calabarzon), led the unveiling of the marker of the gate located on Calle Real leading to the town proper.
The unveiling of the marker was followed by the signing of the official documents of the declaration.
Ejercito said in her remarks that the conferment of the gate as a national landmark is timely as the town is celebrating its 350th Foundation Anniversary from Dec. 6 to 12.
She said historical accounts show that the gate was built in 1878 until 1880 by the people of the town under the leadership of friars Cipriano Bac and Miguel dela Fuente, to express their gratitude to a beautiful luminous lady holding aloft a shining sword that appeared to stop the group of bandits led by Tankad from looting and plundering the town on December 8, 1877.
Legend has it, she said, that the lady turned out to be the Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of the town, and the gate was built right at the line drawn by her sword.
The mayor also expressed her gratitude to NHCP for declaring the gate a national landmark as it also depicts the history and culture of the town.
In an interview, architect Mansley Kimhoko, head of the Municipal Tourism, Culture and Arts Office (MTCAO), said the gate is made of adobe stone plastered with lime and still maintains the original structure, though rehabilitations were done in 1975 when the famous historian Gregorio F. Zaide was mayor; and in 2015 during the term of Girlie Ejercito due to incidents of vehicular road crashes.
He said further that atop the three Roman arches of the gate is the original stone carving replica of the seal of Spain, also known as an escutcheon guarded by two lion stone carvings.
According to Kimhoko, the vertical columns at the gate are expressly unique as he could not compare them with any historical objects he had researched in any period. Thus, they termed them as the “Pagsanjan Order”.
As part of the tourism attraction and memento of the town, Kimhoko said that plans to further protect the arches from vehicular road crashes will be undertaken now that they will not be affected by the government’s road-widening programs or any other form of development in the area.
“Being the major gateway to the town and other neighboring towns, we need to protect ‘Puerto Real’ from vehicular road crashes, which have destroyed part of the structure in the past,” he said.
Meanwhile, George ER Ejercito, former Laguna governor and former town mayor, expressed his joy and pride along with the town folks that finally the gate has been recognized by the national agency as a historical landmark.
“For more than 130 years, the gate had withstood through typhoons and earthquakes and I am glad that finally it is recognized as a national landmark,“ he told reporters.
Historical records revealed that Pagsanjan was coined from the Tagalog word “pinagsangahan” (juncture) as it is located where the Balanac and Bumbungan rivers merge to drain their water into Laguna Lake.
It used to be a village of the town of Lumban but as trade, initiated by the original settlers of Christian Chinese and Japanese traders and the further migration of native families from the neighboring towns of Cavinti, Lumban, Santa Cruz and Pila, flourished, it achieved its status as a town on Dec. 12, 1668 through the gubernatorial decree of then Governor General Juan Manuel dela Peña Bonifaz.
Pagsanjan was the provincial capital for 170 years (1688-1858) and considered as the “Athens of Laguna” as it was the leading commercial, cultural and learning center of the province in those times.
In addition to “Puerto Real”, the town is also famous to foreign and local tourists for shooting the rapids at the river leading to the majestic Pagsanjan Falls. (PNA)
