LOCAL DEVELOPMENTS IN BIÑAN CITY

Captain Juan de Salcedo discovered and founded Biñan at the end of June 1571, a month
after Miguel Lopez de Legaspi established Manila when he explored the largest freshwater
lake in the Philippines and second in Asia (Laguna de Bay). When the seat of the provincial
government of the Provincia dela Laguna de Bay was moved from Bay to Pagsanjan in
1688, Biñan separated from its mother town Tabuco (now the city of Cabuyao). In 1791,
during the time of Pablo Faustino, Santa Rosa separated from Biñan. The following year,
January 15 Sta Rosa de Lima was established and became an independent town.

Historically, Biñan is nationally recognized in the books related to the biography of José
Rizal, the country’s national hero. It was in June 1869 when José Rizal as a young boy went
to Biñan with his brother Paciano. They proceeded to his aunt’s house near the town proper
where they were to be lodged. Here, his first formal education was entrusted to Maestro
Justiniano Aquino Cruz who after a year and a half of tutelage advised young Rizal to
continue higher education in Manila. In honor of José Rizal, a plaque of recognition was
bestowed on the house where he stayed at. A monument now stands at the center of
Biñan’s town plaza in recognition of Biñan’s affiliation to Rizal. Biñan City contains a few
local developments and traditional residences, some of which were renovated and some that
are still accessible to this day. These establishments are:

Almeda House

Like most stone houses along Don Jacobo Gonzales Street, the Almeda House stands
prominently with the trappings of a stately home. It’s two meter-wide front entrance is
decorated with scroll-typed brackets that support the entablature and pediment above it.
Engaged Doric columns are found at the corners of the stone wall, which support the upper
story of the house. The upper story boasts of well-appointed interiors that never fail to
impress guests of past and present times.

Status/Condition: Excellent (for habitation)

Potenciano House

Architectural opulence best describes this ancestral house built on a 1,231 square meter lot
along Don Jacobo Gonzales Street. The house is a combination of the geometric and
organic styles in Philippine architecture. Built on a transitional bahay-na-bato style, it is a
very long house with steeply hipped roof and ceiling made of sawali (woven split bamboo
mats). Floral elements are articulated in carved rococo garlands molded above the sliding
windows. Originally made of capiz, the windows were changed to colored glass panes in the
chic Victorian style. Adobe walls about sixty centimeters thick help support the wooden
frames at the second floor. The façade is highlighted by four engaged columns with pilasters
that decorate the ground floor stone walls and are followed up to the second story by smaller
versions in wood. The corner pilasters are fluted and have a base of almost a meter high.

This property belonged to Don Pablo Potenciano y Gana who married Doña Feliza Almeda
Garcia. Don Pablo served as Kapitan of Biñan in 1889. He died in 1941 and the ownership
was passed on to his son, Dr. Conrado Potenciano, who graduated with a medical degree at
the University of Santo Tomas and pacticed his profession in Manila. He later came to to be
well known for being a specialist in the treatment of tuberculosis and was the founder of the
Polymedic General Hospital. The house remains to be a common property of the heirs of Dr.
Conrado Potenciano.

Status/Condition: Needs conservation (Basic structure still erect but uninhabitable)

Baylon House

This bahay-na-bato is noticeably taller that most of the houses along its street, or any house
in town during its time.The rather conservative character of the house’s exterior aesthetics
finds a visual focal point in the main entrance decorated with pediments and flanked by
windows with rejas na buntis on both sides. It may be safe to say that what it lacks in depth,
(as the house is rather shallow compared to other houses of its type) was compensated in
height. This may be attributed to the house’s dual function as a bodega and a residence.
Bodega houses were a practical solution for hacienderos and land managers to keep a close
watch of their sugar and grain inventory which were precious commodities.

Don Francisco Baylon, its owner, belonged to the upper middle class of Biñan during his
time and was a land manager. Hence, the need for a huge storage for rice, sugar and other
agricultural produce “right under his nose”.

Status/Condition: Needs Conservation (inhabitable with parts needing repair or replacement)

Ocampo House

Aside from the Alberto House, the Ocampo House comes a close second as the most
recognizable architectural edifice in the town plaza. It is of the same caliber as any bahay-
na-bato In town, although the house had undergone several renovations during the early
1900s to adopt the more favored American look with its capiz windows replaced by glass
panes and its transoms by gable and louvered vents.
The house was originally owned by Don Gil Ocampo. He married Magdalena Reyva Arevalo
who was known to have purchased the Alberto mansion when the Albertos moved to Manila
for an unknown period. Gil and Magdalena had two children, Edilberto Ocampo and Isabel
Ocampo. Edilberto who was Biñan Mayor from 1906-1909 inherited this paternal house. He
married Maria Paz MR Yatco who was the daughter of Isidro Yatco and Bonifacio Mercado-
Rizal, thus establishing the link with the Rizals. Isabel (Ñora Abe) to whom the Alberto
House devolved, married Don Macario Marco and had a daughter named Pilar. By sheer
twist of fate, the rightful Alberto heirs regained ownership of their ancestral mansion through
the marriage of Zoilo Cortazar Alberto and Pilar Ocampo Marco.

Status/Condition: Good (for habitation)