19th Century Calaca, Batangas as Described by the Spanish Historian Manuel Sastron

This document is another transcription of a chapter of the Spanish historian Manuel Sastron’s book “Batangas y Su Provincia¹,” published in 1895. The chapter deals with the present-day city of Calaca which was a small municipality at the time of the writing of Sastron’s book. Here is the translation:

Calaca was founded in 1836, when the nine barrios that composed it separated from their mother town, Balayan, to be erected as an independent pueblo. It is located 39 kilometers from the provincial capital, along the main road that begins there and, with no interruption other than the river dividing it from Lemery, soon becomes connected.

The road, whose construction was nearing completion, extended all the way to Nasugbu. The town had a population of 12,207 souls.

Calaca bordered Batulao to the north, the great lake of Bombon to the east, the Bay of Balayan to the south, and Balayan itself to the west. Its anchorage was not frequented by any vessel. The jurisdiction had no rivers, only streams, the most important of which was the Dacanlao, rising in the sitio of Tatlongtilos in Nasugbu. Other streams carried large volumes of water during certain seasons, such as Pasongbaca, Bagongtubig, and Madalimot. There were also esteros, the principal ones being Malagaclac and Lumbang.

The cultivated lands were both dry and irrigated. They produced sugar; palay, though not enough for local consumption; mongo; maize; peanuts; cotton; and a considerable quantity of garlic and onions exported to other towns. From one cavan² of sugar seed, 20 to 30 picos³ were obtained; from the same unit of palay seed, 10 to 15 cavans were harvested; cotton yielded one pico; and onions produced 8 to 10 picos.

The expenses of cultivation were similar to those in the rest of the great sugar‑producing zone of the province. Through the caingin method, a considerable amount of mountainous land was utilized, reserving the most rugged areas for pasture. The agricultural lands were valued at one hundred pesos per cavan of seed in the higher, dry areas, and one hundred fifty pesos for the same surface in the lowlands.

There was no industry or commerce. The church and the adjoining parish house were masonry buildings, well maintained and restored by the devout parish priest, whose admirable qualities deserved to be recorded. The priest, Don Manuel Buendía, was one of the natives of these islands who possessed an exceptionally high degree of technical education. His name should have been mentioned earlier, particularly in the paragraphs discussing the evident differences in aptitude among various races. He was a priest who, in addition to virtue, had always cultivated his intellectual faculties, achieving through perseverance a level of instruction proven on many occasions, especially before the tribunal that examined him during the competitive process that granted him the parish administration. All the parish priests of the province considered him highly worthy of the position.

AI-imagined church plaza in late 19th century Calaca, Batangas.

The tribunal house was built with light materials for the roof and stone for the lateral walls. There were no proper public school buildings; the schools were in extremely poor condition, housed in rented structures. It was regrettable that certain government buildings were not being used—such as the one in this town, which had served for many years as a school for both sexes and could continue to do so if repaired.

Although Calaca did not appear to be an unhealthy place, many cases of intermittent fever occurred in January, February, and March. These were benign, simple attacks in which sweating was excessively abundant, as observed in a clinical case during one of the author’s visits. The fevers were so mild that they were generally cured with nothing more than the remedies provided by local herbalists. There was no permanent medical assistance of any kind. Only a few well‑off families occasionally summoned a doctor from nearby Taal or Balayan, often with poor timing.

There were two cemeteries in elevated terrain near the town. One of them, lacking a stone wall and enclosed only by cane fencing, was in poor condition.

The town’s industry was limited to sugar production, with about one hundred fifty wooden and iron mills scattered throughout the municipality. There were also small‑scale weaving operations. The fishing industry existed only to the extent required by the town’s modest consumption.

Calaca imported rice from the Manila market and exported sugar, mongo, and peanuts. These products were transported by sea. The town had two sailing vessels registered, sufficient to export all the sugar produced in the jurisdiction and to import the rice needed. Freight cost twenty centavos per pico of sugar and twelve centavos per cavan of peanuts or mongo. Because the town lay very close to the beach, transporting these products to the embarkation point was very cheap—two centavos per pico or bayón.