LOCHIST

• San Pablo


  • 90 km from Metro Manila, southeast corner of Luzon
  • Trans-provincial city with portions in the provinces of Laguna, Batangas, and Quezon
  • Part of the Tagalog-speaking Calabarzon Region
• Boundaries of San Pablo

  • North: Mount Makiling (dormant volcano) and the Laguna towns of Los Banos, Calauan, and Nagcarlan
  • East: Quezon towns of Dolores, and the mythical Mount Banahaw
  • South: Quezon Province and the foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountain Range
  • West: Province of Batangas
• Sampalok (Sampaloc)


  Formed from the 4 large upland barangays (barrios), named for the tamarind trees around Mount Makiling
• First Spanish conquistadors led by Captain Juan de Salcedo took possession of Sampalok


  1571
• Sampalok became an Augustinian mission under Lipa, Batangas


  1586 to 1883
• Renamed "San Pablo de los Montes" in honor of St. Paul of Thebes


  1647
• Transferred to Laguna jurisdiction due to the Franciscan missionaries


  1883
• Filipinos established the first secular government (separation of church and the state)

  1898
• Followed by one under the Americans

  1899
• Local leaders of San Pablo obtained independent status as a city

  Philippine Commonwealth Era
• President Manuel Quezon signed the City Charter of San Pablo


  May 7, 1940
• The city was inaugurated, commercial, residential, educational, and resorts or recreational places

  March 30, 1941
• Size of San Pablo

  24,695 hectares, mostly rural
• Seven crater lakes


  Sampalok, Palakpakin, Bunot, Pandin, Yambo, Muhikap, Calibato
• The City of Seven Lakes

  Popular name of San Pablo
• 3 Beautiful Mountains


  • Mount Makiling (dormant volcano, 1,050 m)
  • Mount Banahaw (tallest peak in Calabarzon, 2,170 m)
  • Sierra Madre Mountain Range (longest mountain range in the Philippines)
• Mount Makiling


  Named after the legend of Maria Makiling
• Mount Banahaw


  Favorite site for pilgrims and mountain climbers due to its mystical reputation
• Mount Cristobal


  Devil Mountain
• Abundant water supply


  • Waterfalls, streams, and seven lakes
  • Mountain forest cover cleans the air, brings rain, and produces fresh water
  • Wind blowing against the mountains creates a natural air-cooling effect
• Tropical rain forests


  • Bred ecological diversity for plants and animals
  • Ideal breeding place for insects like white ants (termites) and black ants (beetles)
  • Provided housing materials, cash crops, ornamentals, edible foods, and medicines
  • Home to the monkey-eating eagle (Philippine national bird), wood pigeons, thrushes, gaudy parrots, and parakeets
• First settlers


  • Aetas (Negritos, Agtas, Atis)
  • Settled 25,000 to 30,000 years ago, small dark people with kinky hair and black eyes
• Other settlers unite


  1. Atisan, Napayong, and other hillocks of Mount Bulaho bound themselves together under a single leadership

  2. Settlers in Sandig, Palakpakin, and Saluvan to the north also united

  3. Lowlanders of Botokan, Makopa, Wawa, Malinaw, and Sampalok agreed to unite under their leader

  4. Aetas forced to withdraw to other high ground in Quezon and Aurora provinces

  5. They traded products like ratan and beeswax for cloth, ornaments, and other wares
• New Malay settlers


  Arrived 12,000 to 15,000 years ago, brought new material culture, linguistics skills, and metal technology
• Hunting and food gathering

  • Depended on wild animals, birds, edible plants, fish, roots, nuts, fruits, and berries
  • Used tool flakes and volcanic rocks to make tools and weapons
• Primitive farming


  Kaingin or slash-and-burn farming, a self-destructive type of agriculture
• Domestication of plants and animals

  • Taming animals
  • Livestock raising
  • Irrigated farming
  • Crop rotation
• Domesticated animals


  • Dog
  • Pig
  • Fowl
  • Carabao
• Irrigated farming


  Encouraged residential stability and a more complex social structure
• Oryzazativa


  Rice introduced by Indian and Chinese traders, highly suitable for wet farming methods
• Two-field system


  Farming technique where one field was planted in crops while another was left fallow to regain fertility
• Edible plants farmed


  • Gabi (uraro)
  • Peas
  • Beans
  • Yam
  • Fruits
• Nga-Nga or buyo


  Favorite ancestral "chewing gum" with a mild stimulant
• Trade or barter


  Exchanging of goods for the product of others
• Trade exchanges


  • Ancients of Makopa and Balagbag exchanged rice surplus for hogs and fowls of Lumbangan and Banlagin
  • Bakuli fish from Palakpakin exchanged for root crops of Tikew and Imok
• Transport of goods


  • Carabao as carrier
  • Paragos (carabao drawn-sled)
  • Atisan
  • Bunot
  • Wawa, Sapa, Ilog (watersheds)
  • Bae (place noted for women)
  • Makopa and Sampaloc (for local trees)
• Means of time


  • Day - isang tulog lang
  • Lunar passage - isang buwan
• Sampalok


  Biggest center of trade and commercial center for the dispersed communities in the mountains, named after the tall sampalok (tamarind) trees
• Sampalok fruits or blossom

  Picked to spice up food dishes
• Tamarind


  Used to flavor Indian food, stewed fish (sinigang) and meat dishes (Worcestershire sauce)