1

Kabataang Tanglaw Sining

ng Victoria
Lina Residence, 5250 J.P.Rizal St.
Nanhaya, Victoria, Laguna

A Brief History of Victoria, Laguna

by Dave J. Atienza

Forward

The following narrative was written for the sole purpose of educating the
members of Kabataang Tanglaw Sining ng Victoria (KTSVi) of their towns glorious
and proud history. It is for them that this recounting was written. To help them
better appreciate their town, its people, culture, and serve as guide to visually aid
them in designing their Pamanang Kaloob (An Inheritance Gift) Mural depicting
primarily how Victoria was formed and got its name.

The events of this storyline deals only with events and occurrences pertinent
to the drama of how the barrios and peoples of Victoria came to be and got its name
as well as the logic the planned mural wishes to impart to viewers. As such, some
events were purposely left out.

Introduction

The town of Victoria was once a barrio of Pila, Laguna called Nanghaya.
According to town legend the barrios name came from the word naghayag or to
declare. The legend tells of how early villagers stood against a feared wicked man
named Klarin that lived by the lake who persistently terrorized the neighborhood.
The villagers eventually united and in a single show of force to declare their defiance
against Klarin all raised their bolos scaring the nasty man away..

A more scholarly investigation however, indicate the name Nanghaya came

from the ancient Malay term nayahaja meaning glittery. A description probably of
the sandy earth by the lakeshore that seem to sparkle when it catches sunlight. With
the passage of time Nanghaya eventually was pronounced Nanhaya as it is now.
From the place Nanhaya would come the shining town of Victoria.

Part One:
Ancient Pagalangan and Its Stone Church

Once Upon a Time

Our story begins when a Chieftain named Gat Salyan Maginto who was one of
the born leaders of the Lihan clan of the Kingdom of Tondo. Together with his wife
Potongan lived in Banilan (present day Pakil, Laguna). Banilan, sadly was frequently
raided by Chinese pirates. Because of this Banilan was in a constant state of conflict
as Gat Salyan and his tribe had to defend themselves from the bandits. To avoid the
marauders and the conflict, Gat Salyan takes his wife Potongan and his tribe and
settles in a land today known as Pinagbayanan. As luck would have it as result of a
volcanic eruption by Mt. Pinatubo up north in Zambales a few years earlier silted
Laguna Lake causing the lake to rise flooding Pinagbayanan. This forced Gat Salyan

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to again move his tribe. Buying a wide stretch of land paid by his own gold from
another datu Gat Salyan Maginto finally settles in Pagalangan or Place of
Reverence. Upon settling in Pagalangan, Maginto proceeded as was custom to
divided and distributed the tillable lands surrounding Pagalangan among the nobles
and freemen of his tribe in exchange for a yearly rent of hundred gantas or roughly
around five sacks of rice. This was in the year 1375 A.D. It is strongly believed that
some of the barangays of present day Victoria (namely Nanhaya and what would be
San Roque) came from this division of land.

Magintos small community successfully flourished in and around Pagalangan.

The terrain surrounding early Pagalangan was mostly thick forest of bamboo and
narra trees along with coconut, duhat (black palm), sinigwelas (Spanish plum),
guava, kamatsili (Manila tamarind), and banana trees. The houses were few and far
between especially in Nanhaya that when a neighbor was in any danger people had
to literally shout for help. Residents of early Pagalangan were described to be friendly
but known to be fierce and wary of strangers probably because of the trauma of
being attacked by pirates before. This is also the reason why thieves and strangers
hardly ever enter the area.

Then the Spanish Came

In the year 1571 the Spanish conquistador Don Juan de Salcedo aboard his
Spanish galera (galley ship) the San Miguel learns of Pagalangan while doing a
survey of the coastline of the Laguna Lake. With Salcedo was Fr. Alonso de Alvarado
an Augustinian friar (Order of St. Agustine) in who came to Pagalangan from Taguig
and nearby Bay. Fr. Alvarado built the first church in Pagalangan made out of
bamboo and cogon grass.

Seven years later (1578) the Franciscans under friars Juan de Plasencia and
Diego de San Jose de Oropesa took over the Christianization of Pagalangan which
they later named Pila from "pila de ponso" referring to the rows of termite mounds
that covered the area. Furthermore, it is assumed that Plasencia and/or Oropesa also
named the barrios of San Francisco, San Roque, San Felix, and San Benito after
luminaries of their Order.

Working tirelessly, the friars Plasencia and Oropesa developed the church in
Pagalangan into a full pledge parish where Fray Oropesa became its first Parish
Priest. The church in Pagalangan (Pila) upon the choosing of for the people was then
dedicated to St. Anthony de Padua on June 13, 1581.

This new parish included the surrounding barrios of Nanhaya, and San Roque.

As a gift to the new parish church of San Antonio de Padua, King Philip II, the
King of Spain gifts the new parish its first church bell. However at this point the
church was still made of bamboo and cogon grass. It will take eighteen years later
(1599) for the parishioners of Pagalangan to receive permission from the ruling
Spanish government (Superior Gobierno) in Manila to build a stone structure for their
church and another eighteen years after that for the actual stone church to be
completed in 1617.

The stone church structure of San Antonio de Padua was made of adobe and
red brick (materials found in the area), and said to have faced to the east of Laguna
Lake. The church faade was as tall as it was wide, had a huge patio in front and a

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tall octagonal three story belfry on a square base to its left. To balance the churchs
panorama a large wooden cross with a three stepped concrete base placed on the
right side of the faade. San Antonio de Padua church at that time was described as
the most beautiful church in the whole province of Laguna.

Fray Juan de Medina, OSA in his book History of the Augustinian Order in the
Philippine Island published 1893, described the church and convent of San Antonio
de Padua in Pagalangan as a very large structure.

In 1681, a second larger bell was forged for the church of San Antonio de
Padua in time for the 450th anniversary celebration of the towns patron saint. San
Antonio de Padua now had two church bells. Inscribed in front of the second bell
were the words San Antonio de Padua Ao de 1681, on the top of the bells
inscription, just about the middle was a cross on a pedestal with three stair steps on
each side: A Franciscan symbol.

In 1762, the British who was at war with Spain invaded the Philippines (1762-
1764). After burning Pagsanjan (December, 1762), then the capital of Laguna, the
Brits stormed into Pagalangan and pillaged the town including the first church bell.
The residents of Pagalangan however were able to hide in time the second larger bell
by dragging and sinking it in the Laguna Lake not far from the church.

A town legend however has a different view of how the second church bell
was lost to the Lake.

Legend has it that the clang of the second church bell was so loud that it
caused the pregnant townswomen of Pagalangan to miscarry. Because of this the
legend says, some old townswomen stole into the church one night and dropped the
bell from the belfry cracking the bells face in the process. The next day the parish
priest one Fray Matthias Pico horrified and angered by the daring act hurled his
slipper from the patio of the church vowing where his slipper lands that is how far
the waters of the Laguna Lake will overflow and flood the town. The priest, the
legend continues, then summoned a golden crocodile and orders it to take the bell on
its back and bury it in the lake by the church which the crocodile did.

It is interesting to note, by the latter half of the 17 th century whenever the

waters of Laguna Lake overflowed it flooded Pagalangan up to the church.

The Flood and The End of the Church in Pagalangan

In 1781, a terrible typhoon struck Pagalangan which flooded the town and its
surroundings destroying farmlands, houses, and killed livestock. Since then every
monsoon season the lake would overflow and flooded Pagalangan with floodwaters
lasting three to four months before subsiding. The constant flooding made visiting
and doing business in Pagalangan difficult. It contaminated the drinking water,
brought disease, and death to the people of the barrio. The month long floods also
made attending church services complicated for church-goers from neighboring
barrios. Pagalangan which used to be a center of culture and commerce in Laguna
slowly waned and be came idle.

1794. Due to the inhuman conditions Pagalangan had fallen into a group of
principales (well to do) headed by the Tres Hermanos namely Don Felizardo, Don
Miguel, and Don Rafael de Rivera, along with the parish priest, proposed to move the

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town and the church to their hacienda in Barrio Sta. Clara. Don Regino Relova y San
Antonio countered the proposal and insisted the town and the church to be relocated
to his hacienda in Barrio San Francisco arguing that this was the towns center based
on the map. The residents of Pagalangan for years debated on the issue until in 1798
when it got the ire of a few gobernadorcillos visiting Pagalangan from Sta. Cruz,
Liliw, Nagcarlan, Bay, and Los Baos who collectively complained of the trouble the
muddy roads gave them.

After an ocular review of the area by the Provincial Commissioner at the turn
of the century (1799), he saw for himself the dreadful and sorry state Pagalangan
was in. Shortly after the provincial government with finality ordered the capital of
Pila be moved from Pagalangan to the barrio of Sta. Clara on June 13th, 1803.

After the municipal buildings were moved, stone by stone for the next twenty
years the church, the last edifice of the old capital, was took apart and relocated to
Sta. Clara. In the end after they had taken all of the materials they needed to rebuild
the church in Sta. Clara only a portion of the base of the belfry of the once most
beautiful church in Laguna was left standing. A sad, bitter end indeed.

Part Two:
The End of Pagalangan and the Rise of Nanhaya

From the Rubble of Pagalangan

While the rich families moved to Sta. Clara, the small landowners and peasant
folk in turn chose to settle in nearby Nanhaya and San Roque. Pagalangan, the once
proud center of Lagunas culture and commerce sadly became a desolated barrio; a
shadow of its former self. Eventually a ghost town.

Over time Pagalangan would be swallowed up and incorporated into Nanhaya

and be referred to by Nanhaya residents as Lumang Bayan (Old Town). The name
Pagalangan vanishing and unmentioned for years to come.

In contrast the people of Nanhaya, those left behind by the exodus to Barrio
Sta. Clara picked up from where they were left off and started over. From this the
residents of Nanhaya learned resilience, self-reliance, and diligence. Qualities they
will repeatedly rely on and demonstrate

Nanhaya eventually would be commonly viewed by many as a pseudo-town.

As such that even if one is going to San Roque or Lumang Bayan they would say they
were going to Nanhaya.

In December of 1901, during the Philippine American War (1899-1902)

Brig. Gen. James Franklin Bell, in charge of military operations on Luzon Island in
order to flush out from hiding Filipino Revolutionaries under Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo
probably including Regino Diaz Relova a lieutenant colonel and Lagunas overall
commander whose family had an Hacienda in San Francisco, ordered the entire
population of the provinces of Batangas and Laguna to be gathered into small areas
within the poblacion of their respective towns. Barrio families had to bring clothes,
food, and everything they could carry into the designated area. Everything left
behind, houses, gardens, carts, poultry and animals, were burned by the U.S. Army.

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People found outside the concentration camps were shot. This scorched earth
approach that took a heavy toll on Filipino guerrillas and civilians alike. Nanhaya and
San Roque were not spared this horror. The American Army burned every house in
Nanhaya and San Roque including the municipal building and tribunal which both
stood in Nanhaya, Only the houses of Juan Rebong in San Roque and Jesus Calderon
of Nanhaya were left unscathed.

After Aguinaldo and all his men had surrendered and sworn allegiance to the
United States ending the three year war residents of Nanhaya and San Roque
returned to once more showed their resilience and rebuilt their homes. It is around
this time that Nanhaya grew in prominence and slowly became Pilas largest, most
populous barrio.

Ba Kusep

Jose Camitmit Rebong of Nanhaya was an industrious, enterprising

gentleman. Known to many as Ba Kusep he was of strong character admired by
many of his neighbors. Seeing how small clams and shellfish were abundant in
Laguna Lake he raised mallard ducks (Itik) who fed on clams and sold duck eggs.
Little did he know at the time that the itik he was raising would eventually be the
prime industry of the soon to be town Nanhaya would end up being.

Aside from raising ducks Ba Kusep also traded coconut, lazones, and fish.
From these he would eventually own large tracks of land where he planted coconut
and rice.

With a charismatic personality Ba Kusep inevitably became the acknowledged

leader of the community who hosted visiting priests and Laguna politicians. The
patriarch of the Rebong clan.

The Churches of San Isidro and San Roque

As a consequence of the transfer of the church of San Antonio de Padua to

Sta. Clara, the parishioners of Nanhaya and San Roque were left churchless and had
to trek the long distance to Pila in order to hear mass and receive the sacraments. As
a remedy, a chapel first built out of wood and sawali was raised in Nanhaya devoted
to San Isidro Labrador patron saint of farmers. Later on from the contributions of
residents of Nanhaya and those from nearby barrios sturdier structure with cement
walls on the lower half and wooden upper half which similar to the Bahay na Bato
was built.

Later on another chapel was build in the vicinity of barrio San Roque devoted
to their namesake. Even with these two chapels nearby the church of San Antonio de
Padua now in Sta. Clara was still the parish church of both Nanhaya and San Roque.
This means that although they have places of worship they lack permanent priests as
only a parish church can have.

Of the spirituality of the residents of Victoria, in her 1971 thesis on the towns
of Laguna, Estelita C. Averion wrote "Malaki ang pag-ibig at paggalang ng mga tao
sa relihiyong ikinalat ng mga Kastila. Sa katunayan lahat ng ipinag-uutos ng
simbahan ay kanilang sinusunod, Ang mga Katoliko ay umaalinsunod sa mga araw
ng pangilin at ang karamihan ay kasapi sa mga samamhang pansibahan." It is no
surprise then that the neighborhoods of Nanhaya and San Roque would take steps to

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have their own places of worship as pious religiousness is engrained in the

inhabitants of both barrios.

The First Break from Pila

On May 5, 1944 the first Filipino Bishop of Lipa his holiness Msgr. Alfredo
Verzosa D.D., whose diocese covered Batangas, Laguna, Tayabas (now Quezon),
Marinduque and Mindoro declared the barrio of Nanhaya a separate parish from Pila
with the church of San Isidro Labrador in Nanhaya as parish church.

As a parish, Nanhaya, San Roque and surrounding barrios now enjoyed the
privilege of having its own parish priest. The first regular parish priest was Padre Pio
Manalo of Malvar, Batangas.

Added to the privilege of being a parish is that the church may now have its
own parochial register where baptisms, marriages, as well as deaths may now be
recorded. The first recorded baptism in Nanhaya as a parish was on May 7, 1944
performed by Fr. Pio Manalo who christened Erlinda Lawas daughter of Sevillano
Lawas and Coronacion Kampitan. The first recorded wedding was between Catalino
Rebong who married Aurelia Lunar on May 24, 1944. Solemnizing officer was also Fr.
Pio Manalo. This also gave the community permission to put up a parochial school.

Dreams of Independence

At the end of World War II, dwellers of Nanhaya and San Roque were mostly
of the middle class; being made a parish of their own embolden the residents to
dream of being a town. Unfortunately the fear of being economically dislocated
and/or shunned by the rich and powerful in Pila stopped most of the people of
Nanhaya and San Roque from pursuing such a dream. This was especially for true for
people who had agricultural dealings with Pila refrained from being vocal about the
idea of township.

None the less after personally experiencing ill treatment and contempt from
the rich people of Pila who looked down at the residents and peasant folk of
Nanhaya, teachers Gregorio A. Herradura of Nanhaya and Tomas Daguinsin of San
Roque met on May 2, 1945 under a mango tree in front of the Nanhaya Elementary
School to discuss their desired independence. They agreed that both Nanhaya and
San Roque be made as single town each.

Their reasons for secession were: Nanhaya did not receive its fair share of
municipal funds despite being the biggest barrio of Pila and subsequently the biggest
revenue earner. They believe especially Mr. Herradura, that self-rule would boost the
progress of Nanhaya. Finally, the stature and pride that comes from being a town
and not just a simple barrio.

Herradura and Daguinsin then sought to convince and ask legal help from
Fiscal Jose Fernandez who was then Laguna Assistant Fiscal, and his brother
Alejandro who was also a lawyer. The brothers agreed to help wherein Fiscal Jose
Fernandez took care of legalities while Alejandro took care of the leg work needed to
convince the powers that be in Manila to support their cause.

Herradura then approached his good friend Mrs. Peregrina RebongDator the
only daughter of Ba Kusep, and fondly known as Na Queenay. Like her father she

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was a prominent resident and acknowledged woman-leader. Herradura asked Na

Queenay to organize the women of Nanhaya and San Roque to help convince the
residents of San Francisco, San Felix, Banca-banca, Masapang and San Benito to
unite, support, and raise funds for their move for township.

August 14, 1945 Laguna Governor Augusto de Castro along with other
provincial officials inspected Nanhaya upon the invitation of Fiscal Jose Fernandez, to
view proposed sites for the municipal hall, schools, and other institutions a town
would need. This to assure and persuade the Governor that Nanhaya and San Roque
are capable to exist on its own as a new town. Governor de Castro was indeed
persuaded and approved the plan for the new town which boosted the morale of Mr.
Herradura, Daguinsin, and Fernandez.

September 1945, Fiscal Jose Fernandez and a some community leaders from
Nanhaya, San Roque, Masapang, and San Francisco despite strong opposition from
the rich clans in Pila presented the petition for township to the then Philippine
Commonwealth President Sergio Osmea. The petition sought an executive order to
segregate Nanhaya, San Roque and peripheral barrios from Pila and declared a new
town be called Esperanza after the Presidents wife. Despite the assurance of
Senate President Eulogio Amang Rodriguez that President Osmea would indeed
sign the executive order after the elections of 1946 especially if the group would
support Osmeas re-election. This did not materialize though as Osmea lost the
presidency to Manuel Roxas. Due to embarrassment for supporting Osmea and not
Roxas for President, Mr. Herradura, Daguinsin, and the Fernandezs could not
approach the new President to present the petition thus their hopes for township was
momentarily set aside.

July 4, 1946 saw the birth of a new republic as the Philippine separated from
the United States. Manuel Roxas is sworn in as the first President of the Republic of
the Philippines.

After some time the group of Herradura, Daguinsin, and Fernandez revived
the move to separate from Pila but this time proposed to name the town Trinidad,
instead again after the First Lady, the wife of then President Manuel Roxas. However,
President Roxas was only able to serve the office as President for one year, ten
months and eighteen days. After delivering a speech before the United States
Thirteenth Air Force at Clark Air Field in Pampanga the President felt dizzy and later
that day died of a heart attack.

Continued strong opposition from the rich families in Pila and the death of
President Roxas shelved the bid for independence once more.

On April 17, 1948, two days after Roxas death Vice-President Elpidio Quirino
took the oath of office as the second President of the Republic of the Philippines.

With a new president in power Herradura, Daguinsin, and the Fernandez

brothers together with Andres Franco, Dr. Agrifino Oca, and Leonardo Rebong saw a
new hope for their bid for township. This time the attempt was supported by
Nanhayas and San Roques most prominent clans. On this new attempt it was
suggested that the town be named Victoria after President Quirinos fourth child
who stood as the First Lady. The Presidents wife Alicia Syquia perished along with
three of their children when Japanese soldiers massacred their family during the

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Second World War. Aside from the President only his children Tomas (the eldest), and
Victoria survived.

On the afternoon of October 14, 1949 Peregrina Rebong-Dator Na Queenzay,

asked her eldest grandson Joy Dator to get dressed as they were going on a special
trip. The four year old boy obediently followed as he was told. After a long trip the
boy holding his grandmothers hand climbed the steps of a grand staircase of this
huge white painted house. They proceeded to enter a great hall filled with people he
recognized but thought nothing of it. After a while a well dressed gentleman of great
stature entered the hall. This man was President Elpidio Quirino. Little did Joy know
that he was at the Malacaang Palace.

Back in Nanhaya Gergorio Herradura and Tomas Daguinsin their families and
other neighbors gathered at Mr. Herraduras residence knelt and prayed.

At around 6 oclock P.M. back at the Malacaang Social Hall, President Quirino
in view of Fiscal Jose Fernandez, Atty. Andres Franco, Chester Rebong, Esteban
Kampitan, Judge Milagros German, Amelia Oca, Adoracion Zalamea, Rosario Dator,
Semona Sumilang, Peregrina Rebong-Dator and other members of the Fernandez
and Rebong clans excitedly waited the following event. Under the recommendation
of the Secretary of the Interior Sotero Baluyut, citing Section 68 of the Revised
Administrative Code of the 1935 Constitution Pres. Quirino to his joy finally signed
Executive Order (EO) 282.

Entitled Organizing Certain Barrios Of The Municipality Of Pila, Province Of

Laguna Into An Independent Municipality Under The Name Victoria the order
declared the eight barrios of Nanhaya, San Roque, San Benito, San Francisco,
Masapang, San Felix, Daniw, and Banca-banca as separated from the municipality of
Pila and organized into an independent municipality named Victoria with the barrios
of Nanhaya and San Roque as poblacions.

Township at last!s

The morning of the next day Fiscal Jose Fernandez brought home the freshly
signed executive order and was met by Banda Quatro-Ocho and a big delegation of
residents of Nanhaya at Balite in Banca-banca. As they all marched back to Nanhaya
they merrily shouted Bayan na tayo!! Everyone was euphoric. Mr. Herradura who
was not a church-going man made a sign of the cross in thanksgiving for the blessing
while Mr. Daguinsin cried in extreme joyousness.

Executive Order 282 came with two conditions, First, that the new
municipality shall pay its share of Pilas six thousand peso loan obligation to the
Agricultural and Industrial Bank, secondly that the new town shall only begin to exist
upon the appointment and qualification of a mayor, vice-mayor, and majority of
councilors no later than November 15, 1949. To this end President Quirino appointed
Alejandro Fernandez as Victorias first Mayor who presided over the early years of
Victoria, Laguna from November 15, 1949 to December 1951.

Mateo H. Rebong was appointed Vice-mayor, Andres Franco as Judge, while

Leonardo Rebong, Ambrocio Herradura, Eusebio Nava, and David Arete as councilors.
They took their oaths of office on November 26, 1949 before Laguna Governor
Dominador Chipeco, Sr. at the house of Epitacio Herradura at the corner of now
Quezon and M. H. del Pilar streets which also served as the town hall.

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On December 31, 1972, President Ferdinand E. Marcos signed Presidential

Decree (PD) 86 creating and reorganizing existing barrios into barangays. As a
consequence of this decree the area referred to as Lumang Bayang in Nanhaya
became Barangay Pagalangan, the ninth barangay of Victoria.

This is how the town of Victoria, Laguna was born and got its name.

In praise of the people of Victoria, Estelita C. Averion writes, "Ang Kaugaliang

Pilipino ay hindi pa rin nawawala sa mga tao (ng Victoria). Ang kubtihang-asal sa
mga dumarating na kasamahan, kaibigan at mga panauhin ang siyang
ipinagkakapuri ng mga mamamayan. Ang ugaling paghahanda ng masasarap na
pagkain, pagpapakita ng kabutihang-ugali ang ipinagmamalaki ng mga taga-
Victoria"

HISTORY OF VICTORIA TIMELINE

1357 - Datu Gat Salyan Maginto tribe buys and settles in Pagalangan.

1571 - Don Juan de Salcedo aboard the galera ship San Miguel learns of
Pagalangan.

- Fr. Alonso Alvarado, OSA builds first church made of bamboo and cogon.

1578 - Fr. Plasencia & Fr. Oropesa, OFM arrive in Pagalangan, takes over
evangilization.

June 13, 1581 - Parish of San Antonio de Padua is established.

- Pagalangan receives 1st church bell.

1599 - Pagalangan receives permission to build a stone church.

1617 - San Antonio de Padua stone church is completed.

1681 - San Antonio de Padua church receives 2nd bell,

December 1762 - British Infantry invade Pagalangan steals 1st bell.

- Residents dump 2nd bell in Laguna Lake.

1781 - Typhoon hits Pagalangan floods the town. Constant flooding begins.

1794 - Tres Hermanos de Rivera proposes to move Pagalangan to Barrio Sta. Clara.

June 13, 1803 - Capital is ordered to move to Barrio Sta. Clara.

- Church is demolished.

1850? - Nanhaya begins to flourish.

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- Pagalangan is absorbed into Nanhaya becomes Lumang Bayan.

1903 - Chapels of San Isidro Labrador and San Roque are built in Nanhaya

May 5, 1944 - Bishop Alfredo Versoza declared a parish separate from Pila.

- San Isidro Labrador becomes the parish church.

- Becoming a parish inspires residents of Nanhaya of township.

May 2, 1945 - Gregorio Herradura & Tomas Daguinsin discuss cessation from Pila.

- They seek the help of Fernandez brothers (Jose & Alejandro).

- Peregrina Rebong-Dator rallies neighboring barrios to join the separation

move.

September 1945 - Jose Fernandez presents proposal of township is presented to

Pres. Osmea (Town to be called Esmeralda).

April 23, 1946 - Roxas becomes President.

July 4, 1946 - Philippine Independence from US.

1947 - Jose Fernandez presents proposal of township is presented to Pres. Roxas

(Town to be called Trinidad).

April 15, 1948 Pres. Roxas dies.

April 17, 1948 - Qurino becomes President.

October 14, 1949 - Pres. Quirino signs E.O. 282 declaring the barrios of Nanhaya,
San Roque, San Francisco, San Benito, San Felix, Banca-banca, Daniw, and
Masapang a new town called Victoria.

- Alejandro Fernandez becomes 1st Mayor of Victoria.

1964 - Construction of La Ressurecion Parish church.

December 1972 - Pres. Marcos signs P.D. 86 converting barrios into/or creating
barangays.

- Lumang Bayan becomes Barangay Pagalangan (the ninth barangay of

Victoria).

Kabataang Tanglaw Sining ng Victoria (KTSVi)