A Brief History of Pasig
The Adelantado (3) Don Miguel Lopez de Legazpi granted the
encomienda of Pasig to Don Juan de la Isla on November 14,
1571. The first town center was located in Baranggay
Pinagbuhatan but because it was always becoming flooded, the
town center was located to a higher ground.
A year later, the town of Pasig under the province of Tondo was
declared a reduccion. As a reduccion, Pasig formally became a
village or settlement established by Spanish missionaries for the
religious and cultural education of the so-called “Indios.”
It was almost two years after Pasig became an encomienda that
the parish received its first bell and was inaugurated on July 2,
1573. Pasig’s first patron Saint was the Visitation of the Blessed
Virgin Mary but five years later, on April 25, 1587, the Augustinian
parish would be formally known as the Parish of the Immaculate
The 17th century saw Chinese rebellions against the Spaniards.
Thousands of “Sangleys of Parian” died in the beginning of the
century and again in another uprising 1639. In response, the
Chinese of Sagar (perhaps contemporary Sagad), a visita of Pasig,
burned the church and villages of Pasig and San Mateo.
This is a copy of the oldest surviving
photo of the church from the Collection of
the Pasig Museum. This is how the church
looked during the pre-Revolutionary
period in 1894. This view was taken from
the San Nicolas side of the church. The
high dome near the transept no longer
Antipolo’s patroness, Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage (originally from Mexico), made several trips, the
first of which was in 1632, along the Bitukang Manok from Manila to the hills of Antipolo, where she was
installed by the Jesuits. The 17th century saw the first of the many territorial conflicts between the
Augustinians and the Jesuits, such as the competition for the “spiritual administration” of Mariquina
(contemporary Marikina), Cainta, and San Mateo.
The very first recorded name of the mayor of Pasig is Don Domingo de Masangcay in 1638. By this time,
however, the local government under the Spaniards has been in existence for more than 60 years.
The first major beaterio (or religious congregation) for women outside of Manila was formed in 1740 by
parish priest Fr. Felix de Trillo, OSA. The Beaterio de Santa Rita de Pasig is a religious and educational
institution. Its buildings would later become the Colegio del Buen Consejo.
Built in 1870 as a religious house for
women, this was known as the Beaterio de
Sta. Rita. This is a photo of the building
reconstructed in 1931 to 1932. From the
collection of the Pasig Museum.
The Beaterio de Sta. Rita was destroyed in
1945 by the end of WWII and reconstructed
in 1947. This is the present structure now
known as the Colegio del Buen Consejo, an
educational institution for girls.
|M. Reyes Roque, Last Updated 9May2006 Email
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