ABELLERA 1

THE PERSISTENCE OF FALSE MEMORY:

REY CARLOS III IN PANGIL, LAGUNA and JOSÉ RIZAL IN LUCBAN, QUEZON
John Paul Egalin Abellera
ABSTRACT
Memory is integral to one's identity. If one does not remember the words he speaks, the
actions he does, and the concepts he believes in, then he does not really know himself. The same
can be said of communities. Their collective memory is integral to their collective identity.
However, memory is not always accurate and reliable. Thus, there are things that people believe
had happened, but they cannot provide enough evidence to prove that those things did happen.
In the town of Pangil, Laguna, the residents continue to believe in the story that Rey Carlos
III lived there for two years when he was still a prince and that he gave the images of Nuestra
Señora de la O and of Santo Niño de la O to the residents of Pangil as gifts. Meanwhile, the
residents of Lucban, Quezon hold on to the belief that José Rizal stayed in their town and wrote
his El Filibusterismo on their Puente de Arco. Both stories lack strong evidence to prove that they
actually happened. This essay would like to determine possible origins of these two stories and
to determine the reasons why people continue to believe in them.
 ABELLERA 2

THE PERSISTENCE OF FALSE MEMORY:

REY CARLOS III IN PANGIL, LAGUNA and JOSÉ RIZAL IN LUCBAN, QUEZON
John Paul Egalin Abellera
In his book, Varieties of Cultural History, Peter Burke considered the French sociologist-
anthropologist, Maurice Halbwachs, as the first serious explorer of the “social framework of
memory”. Halbwachs argued that memories are constructed by social groups. Although
individuals are the ones who remember in the literal, physical sense, social groups are the ones
who determine what is “memorable” and how it will be remembered. Individuals identify with
public events of importance to their group. They “remember” a great deal that they have not
experienced directly. Mihai Stelian Rusu, in his article, “History and Collective Memory: The
Succeeding Incarnations of an Evolving Relationship”, refers to it as what is collectively
commemorated without being personally experienced. This is externalized through artefactual
objects (such as written texts, statues, monuments and memorials) that facilitate the inter-
generational transmission of social memories. In this perspective, memory may be seen as a
group reconstruction or representation of the past, and it plays an important role in maintaining
the group’s identity.1 2
Rusu’s paper also discusses dynamic interaction between history and collective memory.
He states that history serves as the fuel for collective memory, supplying it with historical details
to be incorporated into the corpus of memory. However, history may also play the opposite role:
that of challenging collective memory’s truth-claims, of subjecting collective memory to a drastic
cure of demythologization or demystification.3
Memories, including social or collective memory, are malleable, and there is a need to
understand how they are shaped and by whom, as well as the limits to this malleability. 4 In
psychology, there is such a thing as “false memory syndrome”. It refers to the experience of
seeming to remember events that never happened.5 The influence of external factors, such as
the opinion of an authority figure or information repeated in the culture, may lead to the
development of false or pseudomemories.6 It seems that the same can be said of social or
collective memory. A community might remember things not as they actually happened [in
contrast to Leopold von Ranke’s “the way it really was” (wie es eigentlich gewesen)] or even

1
Peter Burke, Varieties of Cultural History (New York: Cornell University Press, 1997), 44.
2
Mihai Stelian Rusu, “History and Collective Memory: The Succeeding Incarnations of an Evolving Relationship,”
Philobiblon. 18:2, 262-263,
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259310300_History_and_Collective_Memory_The_Succeeding_Incarn
ations_of_an_Evolving_Relationship.
3
Ibid., 264.
4
Burke, Varieties of Cultural History, 46.
5
“False memory syndrome,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, accessed June 18, 2019,
https://www.britannica.com/science/false-memory-syndrome.
6
“Memory and Reality,” False Memory Syndrome Foundation, accessed June 18, 2019,
http://www.fmsfonline.org/.
 ABELLERA 3

things that did not happen at all. This essay would like to explore the false memories of certain
communities and their persistence in the collective consciousness of the people.
Local history is replete with stories of a community’s origins and its important
personalities and events. Some of these stories might have roots in actual people or events, but
some of them might simply be products of creative minds. Retold from generation to generation,
these stories eventually embed themselves in the minds of the people. They eventually began to
be accepted as true, as historical.
The town of Pangil in Laguna has various stories regarding the etymology of the town’s
name. One version claims that the town got its name from Gat Paguil (Gat Panguil), a local
chieftain who led a rebellion against the Spanish colonizers who arrived in the place in 1571.7
However, there seems to be no documentary evidence to support the existence of Gat Paguil.
For now, he cannot be anything more than a legendary figure. Still, the residents of Pangil
continue to pass on this story from generation to generation. In each retelling, the story becomes
more and more of an accepted truth for the residents. In fact, there exists a statue of Gat Paguil
in the town plaza of Pangil to remind the people of his heroism.
Another statue used to stand in the town plaza of Pangil, that of Rey Carlos III of Spain.
Almost all of Pangil’s residents are familiar with the story of Infante Carlos living in the convent
of the town’s church, the Nuestra Señora de la Natividad Church, from 1724 to 1727. It is said
that the town’s convent was the largest in the province of Laguna. Just as how Pangil became a
favorite vacation destination for Spanish officials in Intramuros, the young prince fell in love with
the town’s charming scenery and gentle people. He enjoyed swimming in one of the creeks that
flowed through the town, which the residents have named “Bambang Hari” (King’s Canal) in his
honor. He also enjoyed hunting in the woods of Pangil that teemed with deer and other exotic
animals. The road behind the church leading to the woods (now the Panguil River Eco Park) came
to be known as “Daang Hari” as it was the road used by Infante Carlos to go to the woods to hunt.
In 1728, his father, Rey Felipe V, ordered the prince to return to Spain. After the death of his
father in 1746 and the death of his half-brother, Fernando VI, in 1759, Infante Carlos became Rey
Carlos III, the king of Spain. In 1764, Rey Carlos III sent two images, the Nuestra Señora de la O
and the Santo Niño de la O, to the town of Pangil as a sign of his gratitude to its residents for their
hospitality and kindness. It is said that the crown on the head of the Santo Niño de la O was the
crown that Rey Carlos III wore as a child.8

7
Connie Veneracion, “Gat Paguil and Prince Carlos at the Pangil town plaza,” Casa Veneracion,
https://casaveneracion.com/gat-paguil-prince-carlos-pangil-town-plaza, (April 2, 2013).
8
Reynaldo Gamboa Alejandro, Laguna de Bay: The Living Lake (Manila: Unilever, 2002), 69; Anita Feleo and David
Sheniak, Cabinet of Wonders and Other Laguna Stories (Pasig: Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2001), 48-49; Ronald A. Yu,
ed., Laguna: A Celebration of Life (Hong Kong: In-Frame Media Works, 2010), 191; “Pangil,” Wikipedia, accessed
May 8, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangil#History.
 ABELLERA 4

This story is even included in the novena for the Nuestra Señora de la O, where a “dalit”
(a short Filipino poem consisting of four lines per stanza, with each line having eight syllables)
prayed during the first day of the novena details the arrival of the image in Pangil: 9
Nuestra Señora de la O Our Lady of the O,
Devota naming totoo Our true devotion,
Tanggulan ka namin dito. You are our shield here.

Dakila ka pong larawan You, the great image

Ni Maria Birheng hirang, Of the chosen Virgin Mary
De La O, iyo pong ngalan Of the O, your name
Pag-asa ang kahulugan. Means hope.
Dalangin mo po’y masasal Your prayer so fervent
Sa anyo mo nawawarian. Show through your image.

Na, nawa ay isilang na May you give birth to the one

Ang magliligtas sa sala, Who will save us from the sin
Mana kay Adan at Eba. Of Adam and Eve.
Hangarin mo’y pang lahat na It is your will for everyone to know
Sa Espanya ka nagbuhat That you came from Spain
Upang dito ay mahayag. To preach here.

Isang libo, pitong daan One thousand seven hundred

Apatnapu’t isa ang bilang And forty one is the year
Ng taon ka po dumatal When you arrived
Dito sa hamak na bayan, Here in our humble town.
Sadya ka ditong padala You were deliberately sent here
Ng haring Carlos ang badya. As a sign by King Carlos.

Kasabay ng idating ka You arrived together

Ay ang Setro at Korona, With the scepter and the crown.
Lubhang napakahalaga Of great significance
Mga ganting ala-ala. Are mementos like this
Sapagkat dito’y nagtira For here lived
Yaong mahal na Monarka. The beloved monarch.

Nang siya ay prinsipe When he was a prince,

Anak ng Haring Felipe The son of King Philip,
Nagkasala, ay ang sisi Committed a sin. His punishment
Ma-destierro ay siya dine. Was to be banished here.
Dalawang taong singkad Two full years passed
Bago siya pinatawad. Before he was forgiven.

9
Note that the dalit of the novena does not follow the structure of a traditional dalit.
 ABELLERA 5

Ang utos ng Haring Ama His father, the King, ordered him
Sa Espanya magbalik na, To return to Spain.
Isasalin ang korona To him will be passed the crown
At kapangyarihan niya. And the power to rule.
Nang sa Espanya’y dumating Upon his arrival in Spain,
Ganting loob dito’y Birhen. He sent the Virgin here in return.

Mula noon ay ikaw From then on, you,

Pinatakasing minamahal, Our beloved patroness,
Pinupuri’t iginagalang Are praised and honored
Nitong buong sambayanan. By the entire town.
Kami po’y iyong tulungan Help us
Ng sa Diyos ay kaawaan.10 To receive God’s mercy.11

Just like the story of Gat Paguil, however, there seems to be no documentary evidence to
support the story that Rey Carlos III lived in Pangil. None of the king’s biographies mentioned him
being sent to the Philippines. In fact, the first recorded member of the Spanish royal family to
visit the Philippines were then Prince Juan Carlos de Borbón and his wife, then Princess Sofia,
back in 1974.12 Chronicles and other documents from the Spanish colonial period made no
mention of Rey Carlos III’s stay in Pangil as well. Fr. Félix de Huerta, OFM's Estado geográfico,
topográfico, estadístico, histórico-religioso de la santa y apostólica Provincia de S. Gregorio
Magno, de religiosos menores de scalzos de la regular y más estrecha observancia de N.S.P.S.
Francisco, en las islas Filipinas : comprende el número de religiosos, conventos, pueblos, situación
de estos, años de su fundación, tributos, almas, producciones, industria, cosas y casos especiales
de su administración espiritual, en el Archipiélago Filipino, desde su fundación en el año de 1577
hasta el de 1853, which chronicled much of the history of the Philippine towns under the care of
the Franciscans, made no mention of the Spanish monarch when he discussed Pangil. 13 Even Fr.
Gabriel Ma. Delfino of the Diocese of San Pablo made no mention of the story of Rey Carlos III
when he wrote the history of the Parish of the Nativity of Our Lady, Pangil, Laguna. 14

10
Pagsisiyam sa Mahal na Birhen de la O (Pangil: Revtech Printing Services, 2017), 3-4.
11
My translation
12
Tomas U. Santos, “Spanish Royal Couple’s first visit to UST remembered,” The Varsitarian,
http://varsitarian.net/news/20120706/spanish_royal_couples_first_visit_to_ust_remembered, (July 6, 2012).
13
Félix de Huerta, OFM, Estado geográfico, topográfico, estadístico, histórico-religioso de la santa y apostólica
provincia de S. Gregorio Magno, de religiosos menores de scalzos de la regular y más estrecha observancia de
N.S.P.S. Francisco, en las islas Filipinas : comprende el número de religiosos, conventos, pueblos, situación de estos,
años de su fundación, tributos, almas, producciones, industria, cosas y casos especiales de su administración
espiritual, en el Archipiélago Filipino, desde su fundación en el año de 1577 hasta el de 1853 (Manila: Ymprenta de
los Amigos del pais, á cargo de D.M. Sánchez, 1855), 132-134, accessed May 8, 2018,
https://books.google.com.ph/books?redir_esc=y&id=XxwQAAAAYAAJ&q=pangil#v=snippet&q=pangil&f=false.
14
He used Obras Sociales Franciscanos en Filipinas (Makati, 1973) by Fr. Cayetano Sanchez as his source.
 ABELLERA 6

How the story of Rey Carlos III living in Pangil, Laguna came about is still a mystery. Though
he never set foot in the Philippines, the king did initiate some reforms that were aimed at
improving the trade and social conditions of the Spanish colony, such as the establishment of the
Real Compañia de Filipinas and the donation of the deeds to large piece of land in the Hacienda
de Mayhaligue to the San Lazaro Hospital for the construction of a facility to house and care for
lepers. However, these might not be enough motivation or inspiration for the residents of Pangil
to create a story about Rey Carlos III living there.
On a darker note, it was during the reign of Rey Carlos III when the British attacked Manila
and occupied it for almost two years. In writing his paper, “The British Occupation of Manila,
1762-1764, through Franciscan eyes”, Bruce Cruikshank studied manuscripts from the Archivo
Franciscano Ibero-Oriental in Madrid. Interestingly, he found a letter written in 1763 by Fr. Roque
de la Purificación, OFM, the Franciscan Provincial in the Philippines, to the Provincial of the
Franciscan, Spanish Province of San José that mentions several Spaniards and their families
fleeing from Manila and taking refuge in Franciscan rectories in Laguna and in Tayabas (now
Quezon Province).15 Although Pangil was not specifically mentioned in that letter, one cannot
totally dismiss the idea that some Spaniards and their families might have taken refuge there.
Another possibility is that the residents of Pangil could have heard the news of Spaniards taking
refuge in convents of other towns in Laguna. Could this be a possible inspiration for the story of
Rey Carlos III in Pangil?
The Franciscans were also instrumental in the Spanish-Filipino resistance against the
British during that time. In a letter written in 1762 by Fr. de la Purificación to Simón de Anda y
Salazar, he planned to visit all the Franciscan parishes in the provinces of Laguna and Tayabas to
rally the principales in support of the king of Spain. When emissaries sent by Archbishop Manuel
Antonio Rojo del Rio y Vieyra went to Pagsanjan, Laguna to reclaim funds and use them to pay
ransom to the British, the Franciscans told them that the 500 Filipinos surrounding the rectory
would not leave until they were assured that the funds would not return to Manila and fall into
the hands of the British. The emissaries eventually left without the funds. The Franciscans soon
brought the funds to Majayjay for safekeeping before delivering it to Anda’s headquarters. In
1763, Anda wrote a letter to the Franciscan Provincial in recognition of the help of the Franciscans
as one of the reasons by which Divine Providence was able to accomplish the salvation of the
Catholic faith and the fidelity of the indios to the king of Spain.16 Surely, these words of gratitude
from Anda must have reached the ears of the Franciscans serving in the towns of Laguna. Could
this be a possible inspiration for the story about the Rey Carlos III’s gratitude to the people of
Pangil?

15
Bruce Cruikshank, “The British Occupation of Manila, 1762-1764, through Franciscan eyes,” Academia, 12,
https://www.academia.edu/12429534/The_British_Occupation_of_Manila_1762-1764_through_Franciscan_Eyes,
(May 15, 2015).
16
Ibid., 20.
 ABELLERA 7

More research is needed to see if these connections hold water. Until they are backed up
by historical documents, these ideas remain simply as speculations.
The story of Rey Carlos III living in Pangil continues to persist in the memory of its
residents, even if the statue has been moved from its prominent place in the town plaza to the
side of the Nuestra Señora de Natividad Church. When asked about the history of their town,
children, adults and senior citizens would immediately share the romantic story of Rey Carlos III
and his happy days in Pangil. The story has even been published as fact in devotion, travel and
coffee-table books and in various websites; thus, lending credence to the story. For the residents
of Pangil, what has been published is considered the truth. The lack of documentary evidence
does not seem to diminish the residents’ perceived veracity of the story. It is a case of the
imagined becoming the real.
The Puente de Arco that spans the Camatian River in Lucban, Quezon has its own share
of false memories as well. The residents of Lucban proudly inform visitors that the Puente de
Arco, also known as Abang Bridge or Arco Bridge, was one of the places where José Rizal wrote
his novel El Filibusterismo, and that it was the bridge mentioned in Chapter One of the said novel.

“Scientists, Ben-Zayb—do you know what they are?” asked

the Franciscan in a hollow voice, scarcely stirring in his seat and
making only a faint gesture with his skinny hand. “Here you have in
the province a bridge, constructed by a brother of ours, which was
not completed because the scientists, relying on their theories,
condemned it as weak and scarcely safe—yet look, it is the bridge
that has withstood all the floods and earthquakes!” 17

Rizal did not mention the name of the bridge in that chapter of his novel. So, how did
people start thinking that the bridge he wrote about might have been the Puente de Arco? The
origin of that idea cannot easily be determined. Nonetheless, we can point to some reasons why
the idea persists to this day. In his 1912 English translation of El Filibusterismo, Charles Derbyshire
inserted a footnote at the end of the paragraph that was quoted above.

This bridge, constructed in Lukban (Lucban) under the

supervision of a Franciscan friar, was jocularly referred to as
the Puente de Capricho, being apparently an ignorant blunder in
the right direction, since it was declared in an official report made
by Spanish engineers in 1852 to conform to no known principle of
scientific construction, and yet proved to be strong and durable.—
Tr.18

17
José Rizal, El Filibusterismo, trans. Charles Derbyshire (Manila: Philippine Education Company, 1912), chap. 1,
accessed May 8, 2018, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/10676/10676-h/10676-h.htm.
18
Ibid, chap. 1.
 ABELLERA 8

It is difficult to determine where or how Derbyshire got his information about the
bridge in Lucban serving as the Puente de Capricho or the bridge mentioned in El Filibusterismo.
40 years later, Pantaleon Nantes would come out with the book, Kasaysayan at Talâ ng Bayan
ng Lukban, Quezon. He wrote in his book:
1851… Nang ipagawâ ang tuláy na kilala sa tawag na Arkó
sa daáng patungo sa Mauban… Ang tulay na itó, Arkó, na sinasabi
na noóng makaratíng dito at makita ni Dr. José Rizál (waláng
pagkakitaan kung kailán, anóng petsa kung anóng taón man lamang
naparito), ay pinangalanan na “Fuente del Capricho” o “bukál ng
katwáng pagka-ibig”…19 20
For Nantes, Rizal did not write El Filibusterismo on Arco Bridge. Instead, it was he who
named it as “Fuente (Puente) del Capricho”.
Meanwhile, Leandro Tormo Sanz wrote in his book, Lucban (A town the Franciscans built),
that:
Fr. Victorino del Moral de Calatrava… was the one who
constructed the bridge called “Puente del (de) Capricho,” about
which many have (been) written. Rizal himself composed a poem
about this bridge and dedicated it to a friend. Legend calls it
“Puente del Suspiro” (Bridge of Sighs), and Alvarez Guerra
reproduced the following information.
“It was built over the river Olla, based on two mountains…
If it was a bridge constructed according to principles and rules of
building, the tests carried out on the Mahayhay (Majayjay) bridge
would be enough proof of stability.”21
Tormo gave us additional conflicting information. First, Rizal wrote a poem, not El
Filibusterismo, on the Puente de Capricho (more on this later). Second, the bridge was
constructed in Majayjay, Laguna, not in Lucban, Quezon. Where exactly is Puente de Capricho
located?
In an article written for the website of International Council on Monuments and Sites –
Philippines, Architect Manuel Maximo Lopez del Castillo-Noche mentioned two bridges that were
built during the Spanish Colonial Period:

19
Pantaleon Nantes, Kasaysayan at Talâ ng Bayan ng Lukban, Quezon (Manila: Benipayo Press, 1952), 24.
20
1851… when the bridge known as Arco was built on the road leading to Mauban… It is said that when Dr. José
Rizal came here (there is no source that says when, what date or what year this happened) and saw the bridge,
Arco, he named it as the “Bridge of Caprice” or “Wellspring of Creative Passion”… (my translation)
21
Leandro Tormo Sanz, Lucban (A town the Franciscans built), trans. Antonio Serrano (Manila: Heritage
Conservation Society, 1971), 73.
 ABELLERA 9

PUENTE DE CAPRICHIO (CAPRICHO)

Majayjay, Provincia de la Laguna

Built in 1826 by Fray Victorino del Moral de Calatrava to

provide a footway to town.22 Built over the river Olla, the arch is 90
feet high, constructed using Mamposteria technique, (rough stone
placed one on top of another) and bound together using only a lime
mixture.
PUENTE DE CAPRICHO
Lucban, Quezon

Now more popularly known as Puente de Arco, the bridge

made of adobe was constructed in 1851. Originally a two arched
bridge that spans the Camatian River only one arch remains
standing.23
Noche’s article makes the issue more interesting. There seems to be not just one, but two
Puentes de Capricho – one in Majayjay, Laguna, the other in Lucban, Quezon. The question now
is, which Puente de Capricho was Rizal referring to in the first chapter of his El Filibusterismo?
Even though Rizal did not mention the name of the bridge in his novel, he did write that
the steamer Tabo, the setting of his first chapter, was sailing towards the province of La Laguna.
Thus, one would easily assume that the bridge referred to by Padre Salvi (the Franciscan) was
found in Laguna. The Puente de Arco was and continues to be located in Lucban, Tayabas (now
Quezon). In his chronicles, which was published in 1855, Huerta included the town of Lucban in
the province of Tayabas.24 When he had El Filibusterismo published in 1891, Rizal must have been
aware that Lucban was a town in Tayabas.
Furthermore, in writing about the town of Majayjay in the province of Laguna in his
chronicles, Huerta wrote the following:
Además de los cuatro ríos que atraviesan el pueblo de que
vamos haciendo mérito, corren por su término otros muchos, y
sobre uno de ellos fué construido por el R. P. Fr. Victorino del Moral
en el año de 1851, un puente de sola argamasa, cuyo ojo principal

22
In his book, Puentes de España en las Filipinas: The Spanish Colonial Bridges in the Philippines (Manila: University
of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2011, 84), Manuel Maximo Lopez del Castillo-Noche corrected the construction
date of the Puente de Capricho to 1849-1852.
23
Manuel Maximo Lopez del Castillo-Noche, “Bridge Over Not So Troubled Waters: Spanning Communities and
Building Relationships,” ICOMOS-Philippines, http://www.icomosphilippines.com/2006/04/bridge-over-not-so-
troubled-waters.html, (April 5, 2006).
24
Huerta, Estado geográfico, 229,
https://books.google.com.ph/books?redir_esc=y&id=XxwQAAAAYAAJ&q=pangil#v=onepage&q=lucban&f=false
 ABELLERA 10

tiene de luz cincuenta y dos pies de alto por cuarenta y ocho de

ancho, y con la particularidad de no haber costado un solo
maravedí, sino el trabajo personal del citado religioso y el de sus
feligreses, que no eran por cierto arquitectos de profesión, pues
alternaban en el trabajo todos los hombres del pueblo, sin
excepción de personas. Este famoso puente, no concluido aun, ni
con esperanza de concluirse por causas independientes de la
voluntad del referido P. constructor, y que tampoco es tiempo
ahora de consignarlas, es notado por el señor arquitecto mayor de
Filipinas en su informe al Superior Gobierno, fechado en 7 de
Diciembre de 1852 de: ««construcción asaz atrevida por su esmero
é inteligencia:::::: si se tratase de un puente levantado con estudio
y bajo las reglas del arte, la prueba hecha con el de Majayjay era ya
suficiente para manifestar su estabilidad. Por desgracia se trata de
una obra sin principios; que los aplicados en su ejecución han sido
caprichosos, y si bien el arco se mantiene sin desprenderse, como
no puede hallarse en la ciencia una regla que manifieste la causa
de este procedimiento, ó mejor diré fenómeno, no es la opinión del
que suscribe, sino la de toda la ciencia junta la que lo condena::::::
»» y hete aquí un puente tan asáz atrevido que a pesar de estar
condenado por toda la ciencia junta tiene la desfachatez de
mantenerse firme; de sufrir temblores como los del 16 de
Setiembre de 1852 sin resentirse; fuertes avenidas como las que
suelen desprenderse del gran monte Banajao; que le descimbren
antes de hallarse perfectamente seco, y con pensamientos quizá de
decir después de algunos siglos: Yo fui construido el año de 1851
por un fraile Francisco sin principios. Sabed que los principios
aplicados en mi construcción fueron caprichosos, y más caprichoso
aun el empeño de construirme sin gastar un solo maravedí y llevar
á cabo su empeño. Dicho puente se halla sobre el rio Holla, hacia el
ONO. del pueblo, basado sobre dos montes, y cuyo arco, inclusos
los pilares, tiene sobre noventa pies de cuerda, sin haber usado
más amarras ni maderas para la formación de la colosal cimbra, que
bejucos, cañas, cocos y bongas. Para concluirse solo falta la
construcción de un mediano arco en cada lado, que haga las veces
de terraplén, evitando de este modo el inmenso peso que
 ABELLERA 11

necesariamente debía cargar sobre los pilares del arco principal si

se terraplenase.25 26

It is important to note that even though Huerta did not specifically call the bridge in
Majayjay as Puente de Capricho, he certainly described it as such. Padre Salvi in El Filibusterismo
seemed to be quoting Huerta, a Franciscan as well, when he said:
Here you have in the province a bridge, constructed by a
brother of ours, which was not completed because the scientists,
relying on their theories, condemned it as weak and scarcely safe—
yet look, it is the bridge that has withstood all the floods and
earthquakes!27
Furthermore, Noche stated in his article and book that the Puente de Arco in Lucban was
originally a two-arched bridge. There are photographs that clearly show the bridge with two
arches. Cornelio “Jojo” Rañeses, the General President of Lucban Historical Society, told me that
American soldiers blew up half of the Puente de Arco in 1941 to prevent Japanese soldiers from
using the bridge. Thus, Puente de Arco could not have been the half-finished bridge mentioned
in El Filibusterismo.

25
Ibid., 129-130,
https://books.google.com.ph/books?redir_esc=y&id=XxwQAAAAYAAJ&q=pangil#v=onepage&q=majayjay&f=false
26 In addition to the four rivers flowing through the town that we saw with much merit, there are many others

that run through it, and on one of them a bridge of mortar was constructed by Fray Victorino del Moral in the year
1851, whose main arch is fifty-two feet high by forty and eight wide, without costing a single penny, but the hard
work of the aforementioned religious and of his parishioners, who were certainly not architects by profession,
since all the men of the town alternated in the job, without exception. This famous bridge, not yet finished, nor
with the hope of being finished for reasons independent of the will of the mentioned priest-constructor, and now
is not the time to record them, it is noted by the Senior Master Architect of the Philippines in his report to the
Higher Government, dated December 7, 1852: "construction quite daring for their dedication and intelligence…if it
were a bridge built with studies and under the rules of the art, the test done with that of Majayjay was already
enough to express its stability. Unfortunately, this is a work without principles; that those applied in its execution
have been capricious, and although the arch remains attached, since one cannot find in science a rule that
expresses the cause of this procedure, or better I will say phenomenon, is not the opinion of the undersigned, but
also that of the whole science board which condemns it…" and lo and behold a bridge so quite daring that despite
being condemned by the entire science board has the audacity to stand firm; to experience earthquakes such as
that of September 16, 1852 without damages; strong currents such as those that often emerge from the great
Mount Banahaw; that scaffoldings are removed before it becomes perfectly dry, with thoughts perhaps of saying
after several centuries: I was built the year of 1851 by a Franciscan friar without principles. Know then that the
principles applied in my construction were whimsical, and even more capricious the effort to build me without
spending a single penny and carry out their commitment. This bridge is located on the river Holla, toward the
West-Northwest of the town, based on two mountains, and whose arch, including its pillars, has about ninety feet
of rope, without having used more moorings or timber for the formation of the colossal formwork, than vines,
reeds, coconuts and kapok. To finish it, we only need the construction of a medium arch on each side, which acts
as an embankment, thus avoiding the immense weight that necessarily should be loaded on the pillars of the main
arch if it were embanked. (my translation)
27
Rizal, El Filibusterismo, chap. 1.
 ABELLERA 12

According to Huerta, Tormo and Noche, Fray Victorino del Moral de Calatrava built the
Puente de Capricho in Majayjay. Both Tormo and Noche wrote in their books that Moral was
eventually relieved from his position in Majayjay and was transferred to Lucban. Nantes even
wrote in his book that Moral died in Lucban in 1856 and was buried behind the Sacristia. It must
be noted, however, that not one of them mentioned that Moral built the Puente de Arco in
Lucban.
Given all of these information, it is safe to assume that Rizal was referring to the Puente
de Capricho in Majayjay, Laguna when he wrote the first chapter of El Filibusterismo. Therefore,
the idea of Rizal writing the said novel on the Puente de Arco in Lucban, Quezon and using it in
the said novel are false memories or myths.
The story of Rizal in Lucban even has a second version. Aevan Marron Galleno, a member
of Lucban Historical Society, posted on Facebook that Dr. Ursula Chanco Maderal wrote a
souvenir book in 1941 that mentions the Puente de Arco as the site where Rizal gave the poem,
Sa Aking mga Kababata, to his friend, Saturnino Raselis. Rizal was said to have been fascinated
with the bridge, inspiring him to mention it in his novel, El Filibusterismo.28 Dr. Maderal might
have gotten her information from Hermenegildo Cruz’ 1906 book, Kun(g) sino ang kumatha ng
‘Florante: Kasaysayan ng Buhay ni Francisco Baltazar’ at pag-uulat nang kanyang karununga’t
kadakilaan, which includes the said poem and a footnote stating that Rizal gave it to Raselis. With
historians and literary scholars like Ambeth Ocampo and Paul Morrow questioning the idea of
Rizal writing Sa Aking mga Kababata and even questioning the existence of Raselis, Rizal meeting
Raselis on the Puente de Arco might not have happened at all.29 The only document I found
mentioning Rizal and Racelis on the same page was Nantes’ book, where he wrote that in 1899,
when Anselmo Racelis was the mayor of Lucban, a poetry contest was held to honor Rizal. Still,
the residents of Lucban continue to hold on to those false memories of Rizal writing a novel or a
poem on the town’s Puente de Arco.
It is quite difficult to counter false memories or myths because they serve social functions.
In the case of Rey Carlos III staying in Pangil, it is quite understandable why the townspeople
would hold on to such a fantastic, romantic idea. It is a way of privileging the towns beyond the
walls of Imperial Manila. That a Spanish prince preferred to stay in Pangil with the indios instead
of the peninsulares and insulares in Intramuros says a lot about the town and its residents. For
three years, the residents of Pangil were seen as equal to or even superior to the Manileños, even
if it only happened in the imagination of the townspeople.

28
Aevan Marron Galleno, Facebook, January 31, 2019,
https://www.facebook.com/aevan.essencehg/posts/2134321713254726.
29
Paul Morrow, “The poem that Rizal did not write,” Pilipino Express, https://www.pilipino-express.com/history-a-
culture/in-other-words/3050-the-poem-that-rizal-did-not-write.html, (August 16, 2015); Ambeth R. Ocampo, “Did
young Rizal really write a poem for children?” Philippine Daily Inquirer, https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/45479/did-
young-rizal-really-write-poem-for-children, (August 22, 2011).
 ABELLERA 13

The same can be said with the case of the Puente de Arco in Lucban. The idea of a National
Hero, José Rizal, staying and writing in Lucban means that the town was special to him, that it
had inspired him to write one of his greatest works, and that he wanted to immortalize Lucban
by writing about its famous bridge.
These stories, even if they are false memories or myths, are important as they allow the
people to share a common history, to reinforce cultural values or highlight important
traditions.30 They provide the people with a cultural heritage that helps them to determine their
further thinking, desires and attitudes.31 More importantly, these stories serve as the people’s
collective memories.32 Memory is important as it is related to identity. A person depends on his
memories, even if those memories are fragmentary and unreliable, to get a sense of who he is.
The same can be said of a group, a town or a nation.
When I shared my research with Lars Raymund Ubaldo, Associate Professor of History at
the De La Salle University-Manila, he commented that these stories have become necessary
fictions to the residents of Pangil and Lucban. They reflect the residents’ search for their identity,
their soul as a community.
“Malulungkot ako kapag napatunayang hindi totoo na tumira si King Carlos dito.” Those
were the words told to me by Sergio Martinez, who has lived all his life in Pangil and serves as
the President of the Culture and Arts of Pangil Association. “Isa yan sa mga sobrang
ipinagmamalaki ng mga Pangileños,” he added, “Kapag tinanggal ang paniniwala na iyan sa amin,
mahihirapan kaming maghanap ng ipapalit na magbibigay sa amin ng parehong karangalan.” 33
The same sentiment was echoed by Ronald Villa, a member of Lucban’s Disaster Risk
Reduction Management team, whose office occupies the old Puente de Arco, “Nakaka-proud
isipin na nakarating si Rizal sa Lucban, at dito pa niya isinulat ang El Fili.” 34
However, Rañeses was more cautious in accepting that idea as fact, “Ang trabaho ng
historian ay itama ang mga kwento. Kung hindi totoo, e di hindi totoo.” This is where the work of
local historians become important. Burke wrote in his book that he preferred to see historians as
the guardians of the skeletons in the cupboard of the social memory. Their writings might not
completely stop the spread of false memories or myths. However, their writings can preserve
records of the past, which are inconsistent with the false memories or myths, which undermine

30
“Why are folktales important?” August House, accessed May 8, 2018, https://www.augusthouse.com/why-are-
folktales-important.
31
Lekau Eleazar Mphasha, “Folktales Reveal the Cultural Values of the Community: A SWOT (Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis,” The Anthropologist 19:1, 295-
302, DOI: 10.1080/09720073.2015.11891663.
32
Katherine Langrish, “Folklore and Memory,” The History Girls, http://the-history-
girls.blogspot.com/2017/12/folklore-and-memory-by-katherine.html, (December 4, 2017).
33
Sergio Martínez: It will sadden me if it will be proven true that King Carlos did not live here (Pangil)… It is one of
the things that the residents of Pangil are proud of. If that belief is taken away from us, it will be difficult for us to
find a replacement that will give us the same sense of pride. (my translation)
34
Ronald Villa: It make me feel proud that Rizal stayed in Lucban and wrote El Filibusterismo here. (my translation)
 ABELLERA 14

them - records of a past, which might be awkward and embarrassing, a past which people for one
reason or another do not wish to know about, though it might be better for them if they did. 35
Rañeses, though, would not want to dismiss totally the false memories or myths. For him,
stories like those can co-exist with historical facts. “Hindi natin dapat bina-balewala o
kinakalimutan ang mga pinaniniwalaang kwento tulad nito. Ang mahalaga ay alam ng mga tao
kung ano ang kwento at alam din nila kung ano ang katotohanan.”36
These false memories, myths or folktales have already become part of the two towns’
cultural heritage, serving as a source of pride even if that source cannot be proven as true.

35
Burke, Varieties of Cultural History, 59.
36
Cornelio Rañeses: The job of the historian is to prove or disprove these stories. If it is not true, then it is not
true… We should not dismiss or forget stories like these. What is important is that the people know what are
stories and what are historical facts. (my translation)
 ABELLERA 15

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