Important Cultural
Properties or cultural properties having exceptional cultural, artistic, and
historical significance to the Philippines are determined by the National Museum,
the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), the National
Library of the Philippines (NLP), and/or the National Archives of the
Philippines (NAP). Pampanga is honored to have in its midst, important cultural
properties that are now included in the Philippine Registry of Cultural
Property (PRECUP), the repository of all
information pertaining to properties in the Philippines deemed significant to
our cultural heritage.
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SAN AGUSTIN PARISH
CHURCH (Lubao)
The San Agustin Parish Church is considered one of the
oldest in Pampanga, having been built in 1572, in Barrio Sta. Catalina. It
moved to its present site 30 years later, due to floods. Fray Antonio Herrera
undertook the construction using local materials, including sand mixed with egg
albumen as binder. It was used as a hospital in 1899 by American forces.
Destroyed in the last war, it was restored from 1949-1952, under Fr. Melencio
Garcia. It celebrated its 440th founding anniversary in 5 May 2012 with the
reception of the relics of St. Augustine and St. Monica. The church was
declared by the National Historical Commission as Important Cultural Property
on 28 August 2013.
THE CHURCH COMPLEX
OF SANTO ROSARIO (Angeles City)
The Holy Rosary Church was built by residents of Culiat
and was finished in 1896. Exhibiting a European Romanesque style, its most distinctive feature are its twin
bell towers, which served as watch towers for the revolucionarios from 1898-99.
The remains of Angeles founder, Angel Pantaleon de Miranda and his wife,
Rosalia de Jesus, are interred at the sides of the altar. During the
Philippine-American War, the church served as a military hospital from1899-1904,
and was also used by the Japanese army in the 1940s as a motor pool. The
adjoining building was a convent that Augustinian nuns turned into the Colegio
de la Sagrada Familia. German
Benedictine nuns took ver the school in 1922 and who renamed it Holy Family
Academy.
ANGEL PANTALEON DE
MIRANDA HOUSE (Angeles City)
The house of Angel Pantaleon de Miranda, considered the
oldest house in the city, was built in 1824, with much of the wood coming from
their original 1811 house in Barrio Cutcut reused in the construction. The stately
19th century bahay-na–bato
was bequeathed to daughter, Juana de Miranda, who was married to Dr. Mariano
Henson, LL.D. It then passed on to a
series of heirs, including son, Don Mariano Vicente Henson, Jose Pedro Henson,
and Vicente N. Henson. Vicente’s daughter, Rosalie, married to Mr. Sergio T.
Naguiat, Jr., are the current owners of the old house known today as “bale matua”.
PATRICIA
MERCADO-GOMEZ MASNOU HOUSE (Angeles City)
The house of Patricia Mercado was built in 1860, paid for
by Fray Guillermo Gomez Masnou, then Angeles parish priest, with whom she had 6
children, Upon his death, Mercado took over the domain until her death in 1900.
Daughter Maria Teodora “Mariquita” Gomez , who was married to Don Filomeno
Santos, inherited the house and rented out the ground floor to American
Thomasites John W. Osborn and Marion
Huff. Mariquita’s eldest—Francisco Santos—took possession of the house upon her
death in 1954; in 1986 he sold it to Mr. Jose G. Paras who restored the
crumbling home to its old glory. It
currently is being used as a function hall for social and community activities.
JUAN NEPOMUCENO
CAMALIG (Angeles City)
The old camalig (shed or storehouse for grains) along
Sto. Rosario St. was built in 1840 by Don Ciriaco de Miranda. A descendant, Capitan
Juan Nepomuceno, the town’s first post-colonial mayor, improved on the original
wooden structure. The 150-year-old wooden camalig was inherited by
descendant Armando L. Nepomuceno through
five generations, who owned a small pizzeria established in 1973. In 1980, he
transferred his pizzeria to the camalig Now known as the Historic Camalig
Restaurant, it is also billed as ‘The
Home of Armando's Pizza: Ang Pambansang Pizza'." The camalig houses many
old family photos and artifacts original to the granary. Armando’s son and his
family, Marc Nepomuceno, are the current owners of the place, which stands as a
fine example of successful adaptive re-use for business.
JOSE PEDRO
HENSON’S “DEPOSITO” (Angeles City)
This structure—which was meant to be a used as a storage
and parking house for carrozas and processional santos, was built in 1899 by
Jose Pedro Henson, great grandson of the founder of Angeles. It served as a
jail for errant American soldiers during the Philippine-American War. One such
prisoner was Pvt. George A. Raymond who was put on trial,found guilty of
murder, robbery and rape, and sentenced
to death by a U.S. Military Commission. After the last war, it was rented to
the U.S. Army 11th Film Exchange. Once again, it was used as a jail by the U.S.
military police and 13th U.S. Air Force at various times, from 1947 to 1965. It
was converted into the city’s post office building form 1967-1978 and today it
houses a Physical Therapy Clinic.
CIRIACO DE MIRANDA
HOUSE (Angeles City)
The Nepomuceno Ancestral House was built in 1840 by Don Ciriaco de Miranda,
the first gobernadorcillo of Angeles
town, and the younger of two surviving sons of the founders of Angeles, Angel
Pantaleon de Miranda and Rosalia de Jesus. He was married to Carlota de Leon.
As they were childless, they raised Agustina Henson, the daughter of Mariano
Henson and Juan Ildefonso de Miranda, daughter of the founder of Angeles, Angel
Pantaleon de Miranda with Rosalia de Jesus. On 25 July 1868, Carlota willed
their house of wood, stone and capiz to their foster daughter Agustina, who
married Pio Rafael Nepomuceno of Lucban, Quezon. Upon her death on 27 July
1905, her property was passed on to her heirs, children Ysabelo, Juan, Ramona,
Nemesia, Maria, and her Dayrit grandchildren, from late daughter Carmen.
MARIANO LACSON
HOUSE (Angeles City)
Mariano Lacson was a rich haciendero who owned most of Sapang Maisac. He had this house built
around late 1930’s, it was said to be the first "architected" house
in Angeles. It was commissioned to Arch’t Fernando Hizon Ocampo. During WWII,
the Japanese took over the house and made it their garrison. It was occupied by
the USO, an agency of the American military in the 1950s. Dr. Amelia Guiao
& Dr. Luz Ayson made this house the Mother of Perpetual Help Hospital. It
was then used as the site of the first OB Montessori Pre-School in
Angeles—whose most famous alumni is international Broadway star, Lea
Salonga.Today, this house is owned by a Cebu-based company; it is building a
tall structure at the back though they promised to keep the house intact.
RAFAEL YUTUC SR.
HOUSE (Angeles City)
Along Sto. Entierro St stands the old Yutuc House, which once
belonged to Rafael Yutuc Sr., a
pharmacist , and his wife Felixberta Dela Cruz. The house, which sits on a
spacious 1,647 sq. m. lot, bears traces of its 19th century
beginnings. The senior Yutuc died at an early age and a son, Rafael Jr., with wife
Carolina Dela Cruz, inherited the house.
Family lore has it that the residence was so beautiful that Juan Luna
was moved to make a painting of it. The house has undergone many restorations,
including one in 1923. A neighbor put up a funeral parlor business just across
the house; but as the Yutuc children apparently could not
stand having a front view to funeral wakes every day, they sold the house to
the Lagunilla family. The new owners solved this problem by putting up a high wall which unfortunately hides the house—now
known as Casa Lagunilla-- from public appreciation.
MUNICIPAL HALL OF
GUAGUA
The heritage town hall of Guagua where the mayor and
other elected officials hold office, was built in 1937. It has kept most of its
original features, which is remarkable for an 80 year old edifice built in the
Commonwealth years. It stands on the grounds fronting Brgy. Plaza Burgos. The
old statue of the patriotic writer, Aurelio Tolentino has been moved to the
front of the municipal hall.
THE CHURCH COMPLEX
OF INMACULADA CONCECPION (Guagua)
The first church edifice was constructed in 1587 but was
unfortunately razed by fire. The current Church structure was constructed in
1772 under the administration of the Augustinians. The Church was greatly
improved in 1862 until 1870. The interiors are simple and the centerpiece attraction
is the main altar, a creation of noted local artist Willy Layug. While still
simple, the exteriors on the other hand, are marked by massive strength. The
Cathedral-type church is located immediately adjacent to the Guagua Municipal
Building and houses the Cardinal Santos Catholic Center and the Immaculate
Conception Parochial School.
THE CHURCH COMPLEX
OF SAN BARTOLOME (Magalang)
The 19th-century baroque church of Magalang, dedicated to
San Bartolome, is located at Brgy. San Nicolas I, Magalang. Around 1725, the Magalang convent was exempted from paying
its dues to the Augustinian province, thus allowing it to save up financial resources
for the erection of a more permanent church structure. The church, as we know it, was built by Fray Ramon
Sarrionandia in 1866, with the finishing touches undertaken by Fray Fernando
Vasquez, who had 2 bells installed. In
1891, Fray Toribio Fanjul renovated the
church flooring and sacristy.
MUNICIPAL HALL OF
MAGALANG
The Magalang Municipal Hall is a town landmark located
across the Plaza de la Libertad. Its predecessor was the old Spanish era (ca.
1866) Casa Tribunal building built after the transfer of the town from San
Bartolome. Made of light materials like nipa and bamboo, it was refurbished in
1875 during the tenure of gobernadorcillo Tereso Manalo, who had military
barracks (cuartel) added. More improvements were initiated by Capitan Paulino
Gueco in 1896, before the revolucionarios
took over who used the municipio to detain
Fr. Pedro Diez Ubierna (the last Spanish priest of Magalang) and two
Spaniards. The new edifice was built in 1922 , during the presidency of Antonio
Y. Luciano, and was inaugurated 2 years later. The municipal building, which
survived the war and other natural calamities, was declared an Important
Cultural property in 2015.
MUNICIPAL HALL OF
LUBAO
The Municipal Hall of Lubao, constructed around 1937 is
one of the early concrete structures erected during the Commonwealth years. It
was originally a 2-storey building with stairs at the sides that was expanded
over the years, eventually acquiring a neo-classic look distinctively
characterized by its massive frontal columns and clean, elegant lines. Much of
its original features are intact—from its wooden flooring, balustrades to its
offices. In march 2016, a new municipal hall costing Php14.7 million is
envisioned to rise in an eight-hectare property along Jose Abad Santos Avenue
in Brgy. Santa Catalina in an area where the town traces its beginnings.
HELIOGRAPH TOWERS
OF SAN ISIDRO AND STA. CRUZ (Magalang)
In Magalang, the remnants of two 20 meter high torre heliografico (heliographic
towers)—one in Brgy. San Isidro, the other in Sta. Cruz--were declared as
Important Cultural Properties in 2017. Of the two, the Sta. Cruz tower is
better preserved—part of a series of more than 10 heliograph towers that were
strategically located in Magalang, Mabalacat and Concepcio in Tarlac as
stations of communications. Messages are transmitted through flashes of light
generated in rapid succession by mirrors that are turned on an axis.
Transmission of messages via mirror signaling was known and practiced by North
American Indians.
MUNICIPIO DEL
PUEBLO ANGELES
The town hall was constructed during the American regime,
in 1922, under mayor Juan D. Nepomuceno, and was built from the original 1840
Casa Tribunal. A detachment of the Spanish Army occupied the Tribunal in 1897,
and the Philippine Revolutionary Government took it after the Spaniards fled in
1898. It was in this building that the Americans installed Florentino Pamintuan
as the town alcalde. During WWII, the Japanese used the town hall as a jail for
American escapees from the Death March prior to their execution. Beginning
1999, the town hall has been converted into a museum, Museo ning Angeles, by the
Kuliat Foundation. In June 2012, the Museo ning Angeles was declared an Important Cultural Property of the Philippines, the first such structure to
be given such a distinction.
SOURCES:
Mercado-Masnou
House: The Officoial Website of Angeles City.
Yutuc House/ Mariano
Lacson House/ Yutuc House: Information and pictures c/o Joy L. Cruz
Heliograph Towers:
Joel Pabustan Mallari / Louie Bartolo Lacson
Ciriaco de Miranda
House: Nepomuceno, Marc: The Nepomucenos of Angeles City
Magalang Church:
Galende, Pedro G. (1996). Angels in Stone: Architecture of Augustinian Churches
in the Philippines (2nd ed.). Manila, Philippines: San Agustin Museum. pp.
143–144
Lubao Municipal
Hall: 1939 Lubao Town Fiesta souvenir program
Magalang Municipal
Hall: Photo: iorbitnews
