Nagcarlan

BRIEF HISTORY

Before the conquest of Laguna Lake region. Nagcarlan was headed by a valiant datu named Gat Lakilaw.  Its conversion to Christianity began in 1578 through the efforts of Fray Juan de Plasencia and Fray Diego Oropesa, both Franciscan missionaries.  The community formally became a pueblo in 1583 under Fray Tomas de Miranda, the Spanish priest who held the distinction of having brought to Nagcarlan the first seeds of wheat ever sowed on Philippine soil.

It was in this town that Fray de Plasencia wrote the first "Diccionario Hispano-Tagalog" in 1579.  Ten years later, he wrote the manuscript of "Costumbrez de los Tagalog", which according to Franciscan documents, served as a guide for the Alcaldes Mayores for effective and righteous governance.

In 1595, Don Juan Banol, then Alcalde Mayor of Laguna, visited Nagcarlan and appointed the town's first Gobernadorcillo in the person of Gaspar Cahupa, a native, who served until 1687.

In 1845, Fray Vicente Belloc, a Franciscan missionary who served as Nagcarlan parish priest for twenty years, led the construction of the Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery. The only one of its kind in the country, this cemetery was used as exclusive burial ground for Spanish friars.  It later served as a secret meeting place of Filipino revolutionaries.  The historic “Pact of Biak-na-Bato" was first planned by Pedro Paterno and Gen. Severino Taiño of the "Maluningning" Command during their secret meeting in this cemetery in 1897.

On January 1, 1919, after two unsuccessful attempts, eight barrios, namely, Antipolo, Entablado, Talaga, Maiton, Laguan, Pauli, Tuy and Pook, formally seceded from Nagcarlan, constituting a new municipality that is now known as Rizal, Laguna.

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION

The municipality of Nagcarlan straddles across the foot of Mount Banahaw (on the west-northwest slope) and Mount San Cristobal (on the north-northwest slope).  Its coordinates are N140°07.93’ E121°24.93’ at 229.0 meters above sealevel.

Considered the biggest among the upland municipalities of Laguna, Nagcarlan is located 103 kilometers from Manila and 16 kilometers from San Pablo City, a major urban center of the province.  It is 21 kilometers from Sta. Cruz, the provincial capital, via Liliw and 19 kilometers via Calumpang.

Nagcarlan is bounded on the north by the municipalities of Victoria, Pila and Liliw; on the east by the municipality of Liliw; on the south by the municipality of Rizal and the city of San Pablo; and on the west by the municipality of Calauan.

Nagcarlan’s town proper or poblacion is accessible to all types of land vehicles plying from Sta. Cruz, Laguna and San Pablo City, and likewise accessible to private transportation from Calauan and Lucban roads.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Nagcarlan has a total population of 62,260 (NSO Projection for 2011) and a total land area of 11,489.4 hectares.  Fifty two barangays comprise the municipality, three of which are urban and the remaining forty nine are rural barangays.  Land devoted to agriculture is 10,015 hectares or 87.17% of the total land area. Basic crops are coconut, rice, lanzones, rambutan, santol, citrus, avocado, coffee, banana, root crops and vegetables.

Its climatic condition is characterized by two pronounced seasons: Dry from February to April and Wet from May to January.  Temperature is slightly higher than Baguio City but much lower than Manila. The coolest months are from November to February.

Thriving industries include poultry and hog-raising, butchery and meat trading, meat processing, sweetened fruit preserves, cut flower production, purified drinking water, and cottage industries such as espasol (a rice delicacy), bread and crackers, purple yam jam, kropeck, banana chips, cassava chips, sing-a-ling, and candies.

Roman Catholicism remains to be the predominant religion of the populace although there has been significant growth in membership of other sects such as the Philippine Independent Church (Aglipayan), Jehovah’s Witnesses, Iglesia ni Cristo, Seventh-day Adventist Church, Emmanuel Bible Baptist Church, Born-again Christians, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon).  The town celebrates its fiesta on August 24 and 25 in honor of St. Bartholomew the Apostle and St. Diego of Alcala.

There are a numbers of elegant resorts which offer near-complete amenities for comfort and pleasurable stay.  Equally remarkable to see is the grandeur of the age-old Underground Cemetery and Roman Catholic Church.

Not to be missed is the splendor of country living and religious beliefs of rural folks every Friday morning at the "Kapilya ni San Jusep" or Saint Joseph’s Chapel in the barangay of Sinipian.  A visit to the place offers the experience of tasting different local "kakanins" or native delicacies.

Cradled at the foot of the gigantic Mt. Banahaw and Mt. San Cristobal, Nagcarlan is surrounded by six smaller, albeit equally magnificent mountains: Mt. Atimla, Mt. Mabilog, Mt. Nagcarlan, Mt. Malauban, Mt. Lansay, and Mt. Bayaquitos.  Nature has likewise endowed this town with spectacular bodies of water – the Bunga Twin Falls, the Yambo Lake, the Talahibing River and numerous streams flowing from up the mountains.

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