History of Pila

Before the turn of the 18th century, Don Antonio Maglilo, a descendant of the aforementioned Cabeza de Barangay Don Francisco Maglilo (1599), emerged as the first durable leader of Pila. He served for sixteen years (1696-1712) as the gobernadorcillo (mayor) – the longest tenure during the Spanish Regime (Rivera 1792). Indeed, in Old Tagalog, Maglilo means “to be brave or authoritarian.” (20)

During the mayorship of Don Juán Carillo in 1721, Mount Banahaw, the sacred mountain of the Tagalogs, erupted furiously. Looming over the forests of Pila and the surrounding towns, it wreaked havoc on the countryside. Up to this day, volcanic rocks of different sizes can still be seen strewn in various parts of the town. (21)

Another prominent figure who made his appearance in the early 18th century was Don Juán de Rivera, founder of the Rivera clan, who became the mayor in 1728. By hard work, inheritance and marriage, he came to own the hacienda in Barangay Sta. Clara, which had belonged to three spinster sisters of Spanish descent surnamed Thenorio. According to oral tradition, the sisters were named Doña María Silvana, Doña Jerónima and Doña Inés. Surviving family documents, however, identify Doña Inés Hilapo (“High Grade Gold”) as the niece and heiress of Doña María Silvana. Both were unmarried and bequeathed their estate to the Riveras who were also their collateral descendants. Doña Jerónima was not mentioned in the documents. Don Juán ably managed the estate for the sisters even at the expense of neglecting his own landholdings in another part of Pila called Caralangan (“the sparse lands”). He eventually married the lady’s niece, Doña Josepha de Rivera y Thenorio, who was also his paternal cousin. Further augmenting the Rivera legitime, was Don Juán’s son Don Nicolás Bonifacio de Rivera who also married a cousin on the Thenorio side, Doña Paula Sarmiento de Silva y Thenorio. It should be noted that according to Spanish chroniclers, cousin marriages were not uncommon among early Filipinos. Overlooking Pagalangan, the hacienda, as we shall see, would figure prominently in the history of Pila at the close of the 18th century (Rivera 1792)(22).

The oldest surviving church book of Pila is the Libro de Bautismos (1729-88). Since the baptismal entries include the names of the child’s parents, modern Pileños can trace their ancestry to at least the beginning of the 18th century or about ten to twelve generations back. The second oldest book is the Libro de Casamientos (1752-1834) and the third oldest, the Libro de Entierros (1755-1833). The last book indicates that the principalía were buried inside the church and the rest in the cemetery in the patio or near the church in Pagalangan. (23)