History of Pila

From 1849 to 1853, the towns of Laguna, especially Pila and Nagcarlang, fell prey to the raids of tulisanes who would swoop down from the mountains in the dead of night to terrorize the inhabitants, loot their houses and kill those who resisted them. In order to defend themselves with the help of the cuadrilleros, the alcalde mayor of Laguna petitioned the governor-general on April 26, 1852 to issue firearms to the gobernadorcillo and principales of Pila. This was apparently approved. However, the local leaders were no match to the tulisanes in cunning and ruthlessness. The latter still succeeded in sacking Pila in October 1852 and the frustrated alcalde mayor, probably looking for a scapegoat, fined the gobernadorcillo, Don Jacinto de San Gabriel Alava for “carelessness and negligence.” (48)