History of Pila

In the Filipino-American War, General Juan Cailles succeeded Rizal’s brother as the commanding general of Laguna. He divided the province into six military zones and commissioned Colonel Regino Relova as the commander of the district comprising Pila (his hometown), Calauan, Bae, and Los Baños. Apparently on the orders of Cailles, the Filipino soldiers caught the erstwhile Spanish and now American sympathizer Quisumbing and executed him in Sta. Cruz (Gotiangco 1980:139-175; Gleeck 1981:1-13). (57)

The ruthless American invaders under General Lawton captured the provincial capital on 10 April 1899 and trooped to Pila the next day. For vehemently opposing the new colonizers, the town was put to the torch by the Americans. At the end of the grimmest day in the town’s memory only the church and convent, the school building across the street, and a few and far between stone houses (bahay na bato) of the elite were left standing amidst the fire and smoke of the battle. Before returning to Manila, the Yanquis vandalized, looted and turned these buildings into garrisons where they entrenched themselves against their angry victims. The casa real (municipal hall) as well most of the houses of the principalia and the nipa huts of the poor in the town center and the adjacent barrios had been razed to the ground. The people felt as though the earth had been pulled out from under their feet. Proud of their heritage, most families were able to save their legajos (bundles) of ancestral documents dating from as early as the 18th century (Gotiangco 1980:139-175, Gleeck 1981:1-13). (58)

Despite the recent holocaust, the Pileños pulled themselves together and held their heads up high to greet the 20th century with fervent hope and prayers.