History of Pila

When General Cailles surrendered to the Americans on 20 June 1900, the “pacification” of Laguna was deemed complete. Pila in ruins was occupied at length by American troops starting in September 1901. They stayed in the convent as well as in the sacristy, baptistery and choir loft for a year picking up where they left off in vandalizing and looting the edifices again without let up until August 1902. Before their return, the parishioners had fortunately salvaged the church records except for the account books, which the soldiers had expropriated apparently as a guide to plundering sacred vessels, furniture and other properties of the church. Barely a few months after their departure, another unit of black soldiers came back to the rectory and stayed for another two months. The conservative estimate of the damage they inflicted was between 1,700 to 2,000 pesos, which was an enormous sum in that era. (58-b: Arzobispado de Manila y los Obispados Sufragáneos. Catálogo de las Reclamaciones que por daños y perjuicios inferidos a la Iglesia Católica de Filipinas presenta al Gobierno de los Estados Unidos de América. (Manila: El Mercantil, 1903) pp. 68-69. )

The Americans tried to make amends to the Pileños by offering the local offices back to the elite as in the Spanish period. The military government installed a prominent musician and composer, Don Ignacio Alava as the mayor of Pila (1900-1902). With the establishment of civil rule, Don Juan Bartolome (originally from Pasig) was chosen to replace Alava (1902-1904) (Gotiangco 1980:139-175, Gleeck 1981:1-13). (59)

To help revive the spirit of Pila after the tragedy of war, its youth organized a socio-civic group, the Capisanan ng Pag-asa (Hope Association) in 1905. The first officers were: Srta. Encarnacion Francia y Rivera, president; Sr. Mesiton Rivera y Rivera, vice president; Sr. Gregorio Agramon, secretary; and Srta. Consuelo Rivera, treasurer. Their parents and older relatives had just reconstructed the rice and sugar mills a year or two earlier to give employment to the people and impetus to the town economy. From the ashes had risen again their homes made of strong wood and thatched with nipa - a far cry from their imposing homes before the holocaust (Paterno 1902:95). (60)