Template:Malolos City/Malolos History
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[edit] History
No other towns in the Philippines can be linked to the great patriots and heroes in the country's history more than the City of Malolos — capital of the short-lived Philippine Republic. Such name as General Emilio Aguinaldo, Pedro A. Paterno, Dr. Jose P. Rizal, Marcelo H. del Pilar, Pio del Pilar, Gregorio del Pilar, Apolinario Mabini, Antonio Luna, Felipe Calderon, General Isidoro Torres and a host of others are forever engraved and enshrined in the annals of Philippine History, all of whom share one commonality -
the City of Malolos.
The name of Malolos was presumably derived from the Tagalog word "Paluslos", meaning " downwards". The name resulted from a misunderstanding among the first Spanish missionaries who reached the place. Searching for inhabited places along the Calumpit River, these priests came upon some natives of a riverside barrio (now Kanalate or Canalate). They asked for the name of the place. The natives, not knowing the Spanish tongue, answered that the flow of the river in that part was downstream -"paluslos"-, which the Spaniards pronounced "Malolos" or "Malulos". Corruption of the word through the years led to present "Malolos".
The town originated from a small settlement started by the Spanish missionaries. Later, after clearing forests and virgin lands, the settlement grew, and the population increased. After the construction of a big church, the place was made into a town. From the very beginning, Tagalog made up the majority of the Malolos populace. They were led by prominent families, among them the Gatsalians (Gatchalian), and the Manahans.
To cite all the historical events that transpired in Malolos, one could very well fill a good-sized book. The major events especially those that revolved around the first Republic, cannot be left unmentioned.
Malolos is the historical site of the constitutional convention of 1898 that led to the establishment of the First Philippine Republic, the first republic in Asia, led by Emilio Aguinaldo. Malolos served as the capital of the short-lived republic from 1898-1899. In 1899, after the Malolos Constitution was ratified, the Universidad Literia de Filipinas was established in Malolos, Bulacan. It offered Law as well as Medicine, Surgery and Notary Public; Academia Militar which was established on October 25, 1898; and The Burgos Institute, an exclusive school for boys
During the Philippine-American War, Malolos was captured by the Americans through a bloody battle that led to the escape of Aguinaldo to San Fernando, Pampanga.
It was a town of so many heroes and great men along its enclaves, among which are the 20 Women of Malolos. On December 12, 1888, 20 young women from the Chinese-mestizo families of Malolos, Bulacan–the Reyeses, Tantocos, Tanchangcos, Tiongsons, Uitangcoys, petitioned the newly-arrived Gov. Gen. Valeriano Weyler to allow the opening of a night school - at their own expense where they could learn to read and write Spanish, the language which would eradicate friar domination and put them in touch with liberal ideas current in Europe. With Weyler;s blessing and over the objections of the friar curate, the school opened in early 1889. The audacity and the success of these women did not go unnoticed. But the women's greatest adulation came from Dr. Jose Rizal in his letter of February 22, 1889, "Sa Mga Kababayang Dalaga Sa Malolos." The Women of Malolos were of the breed who looked at far horizons and thought of country above self, who stood up for what is right and just over what is merely convenient, who planned and acted not only for the future and the next generation, who decisively acted on their mouthed good intentions.[1]
The wealth of Malolos lies not only in its more than four thousand hectares of fertile rice lands and more than two thousand hectares of fishponds, but in the character of its people as well. Its people have long been known for their diligence and ingenuity. In early days, farming and fishing took up most of the poultry, farming, pigeon rising, carpentry and woodwork, and other profitable cottage industries and handicrafts. A major factor in Malolos growth and development was the opening of the Manila-Dagupan railways or Ferrocaril de Manila-Dagupan (Spanish) in 1892. With the advent of the railroad came new ideas from Manila and other places. Another factor is Malolos proximity to industrial and business centers. Only 42 kilometers off from Manila, the town and its people are inevitable subjected to an influx of metropolitan thoughts.
In work methods and tools, it is estranged to find Malolos folk using a combination of the old and the new Ramshackle hops tremble to the whirl of modern electric-powered machines. Fishermen go out to the sea in the same dugouts their grandfathers used. Some of them have outboard motors. And handicraftsmen, woodworkers and weavers still follow the ageless techniques of their forefathers.
Malolos was the site of the inauguration of President Joseph Estrada on June 30, 1998 in Barasoain Church.
