PAETE LAGUNA

CARVING
CAPITAL OF THE
PHILIPPINES
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 Laguna offers a variety of attractions for tourists. Nature has blessed the province with lush mountains, hot springs,

cold pools, and postcard-pretty landscapes. It offers folk crafts and distinct cuisine. It is the birthplace of heroes,

and Jose Rizal is its most illustrious son. Paete, Laguna is known for its generations of skilled artisans and their

woodcarvings—from life-size statues of saints, to miniature sculptures and wall hangings. The town is also famous

for its craft of colorful taka or papier-mache horses. Paete have a great reputation for handcrafted wooden

products. Aside from religious wood carvings, the town became distinguished for wooden shoes (bakya)

beautifully handcrafted and chiseled in various remarkable designs. It also believed that the modern yo-yo, which

originated in the Philippines, was invented in Paete. Today, the town still continues to keep the impeccable

traditions and skills of woodcarving. This lucrative industry unfastened several other crafts, like woodcarving,

furniture making, papier-mache, paper pulp, resin and countless notable creations from the town declared as the

Carving Capital of the Philippines on March 15, 2005 under Presidential Proclamation No. 809.

ETYMOLOGY

The name of Paete is derived from the Tagalog word paet, which means chisel. The proper pronunciation of the

town’s name is believed to be “Pa-e-te”, but the natives call it Pī-té, long i, short guttural ê, sound at the end. The

town’s residents use the first mentioned pronunciation rather than the second only when conversing with non-

residents. The town was referred to as “Piety” by the American Maryknoll Missioners when they came to the town

in the late 1950s. In the year 1580, missionaries of the Franciscan Orders arrived to a place north of the Laguna

Lake. It was called mission of St. Laurence the Deacon headed by Fr. Juan de Placencia and Diego de Oropesa.

The name “Paete” came about when one of the young friars was instructed by his father superior to visit their

mission at the coast of the lake. He saw one woodcarver with a carving tool called “PAET”. The young friar in his

desire to know the name of the place asked this woodcarver how is this place being called in the language only he

could understand. The woodcarver thinking that what was being asked for was the name of the tool he was holding

answered “PAET PO”. When the young friar returned to his father superior, he told that he was able to reach

“PAETE”. From then on, the name Paete came about and the St. Laurence was later called Paete.

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 HISTORY OF PAETE

The small town of Paete was founded around 1580 by Spanish friars, Fray Juan de Plasencia and Fray Diego de

Ongresa. Before the arrival of Spaniards in the town of Paete, it is believed that the first inhabitants of the place

were of Malay lineage, coming all the way from Borneo in their swift and sturdy boats called “Balangay”. Prior to

being a Christian settlement under the Spaniards’ occupation, the town was first part of Pueblo de Lumban.

Initially, Paete was called as Pueblo de San Lorenzo, as derived from the first Patron Saint San Lorenzo Ruiz,

given by the missionary priests.

PRE-SPANISH ERA Before the Spaniards came, Paete was said to be a village under Gat Lakampawid, a native

ruler from the ancient village of Lihan, a relative to Gatmaitim, Gat Silayan, Gat Pakil, the rulers of old town of

Pakil. These native rulers from Old Lihan (now Malolos, Bulacan) was scattered along the suburbs of Kingdom of

Tondo in the south and settled there. The Spanish friars had a tradition of naming towns they built in honor of

saints. Paete was an exception. Legend has it that there was once a young Franciscan priest who was tasked by his

superior to visit their newly founded settlements alongside Laguna de Bay. The priest knew little about the terrain

so he asked a native the name of the place. The latter misinterpreted the young friar, thinking that the former

wanted to know the name of the tool he was using. He answered, Paét (chisel), thus, the name Paete. Sargento

Mayor Juan de Salcedo was the first Spaniard to set foot in Paete. He was on his way to explore the gold-rich

region of Paracale in Bicol. His men first encountered some resistance from the settlers of what is now Cainta in

Rizal Province, but as expected, easily defeated the lightly armed natives. Then he ventured to the lakeside

barangays of Laguna de Bay on his way to Bicol.

SPANISH COLONIAL ERA Around 1580, Paete was established as a pueblo by the Friars. Juan de Plasencia and

Diego Oropesa. Due to a death of the prior of Paete at that time, Paete was annexed to the Convent of Lumban.

Then in 1600, Paete became a barrio of Pangil. In 1602, Paete became independent town having its own convent

and was christened Pueblo de San Lorenzo in honor of the town’s first patron saint.

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 The pueblo consisted not only of Paete, but included the neighboring towns of Pakil, San Antonio, Longos and

Kalayaan. In 1671, Fray Francisco Soller reenacted the Via Crucis to resuscitate the people’s waning faith. He

carried a cross from the town proper up to Mt. Ping-as in Pakil. In 1676, when Pakil became a separate pueblo, the

townspeople of Paete wanted crosses of their own, so they built and located them in sitio Santa Ana, and named the

site Tatlong Krus (Three Crosses). Paete regained its full township status only in 1850.

AMERICAN COLONIAL ERA In 1899, American forces launched the Laguna campaign to subjugate the whole

province and squelch insurrection. On the last leg of the campaign on April 12, an American battalion of 200 men

invaded Paete but met strong resistance from an inexperienced force of less than 50 men. The town was subdued

but it proved to be a costly battle for the Americans.

WORLD WAR II AND JAPANESE OCCUPATION In 1942, Japanese troops occupied Paete, local recognized

guerrillas and ongoing troops under the Philippine Commonwealth Army units were sieges and conflicts in Paete

was fought against the Imperial Japanese military and local collaborators from 1942 to 1944 until retreat by local

guerrillas from the Japanese hands. In 1945, combined Filipino and American soldiers adding recognized guerrillas

liberate Paete and defeat by the Japanese and ended in World War II.

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 HISTORICAL AND HERITAGE SITE

PAETE CHURCH. The town of Paete was founded in 1580 by Fray Juan

de Placencia. The previous stone church has been destroyed three times by

natural calamities. The present structure was built in 1884 but has been

damaged again by an earthquake in 1937. Looking at Paete’s centuries-old

church from its courtyard, we immediately thought of it to be among the

most florid in the country. Sculpted out of adobe, the church’s façade is

embellished with florals, garlands, and curlicues.

SANTIAGO MATAMOROS. Perched on the church’s topmost triangular

pediment is a relief of St. James the Apostle as a warrior mounted on a

horse, slaying the enemies. This familiar image of Saint James as Señor

Santiago Matamoros is also found guarding the entrance of Fort Santiago

in Intramuros. Old timers claim that this gallant saint was responsible for

guarding Paete against the raiders. It is said that he is seen as a Caucasian

in a warrior suit, striding on a horse while overlooking the town from a

hilltop. During World War II, the saint is said to have driven away the

Japanese enemy who attempted to follow the townsfolk who run for safety

in the nearby mountains while Paete was being burned.

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 ART HERITAGE OF PAETE. Inside the church is a gallery of religious art and antiquities. These church objects

like statues and over-sized paintings were used by the friars as visual aids for teaching catechism to the native

converts. Today, they are displayed inside the church not only as objects of devotion but conversation pieces that

tell stories about centuries of artistry by the town’s homegrown artists and craftsmen.

JOSE DANS. Equally impressive are the large paintings

attributed to Jose Dans. This Paete-born artist was known for

fashioning his brushes out of cat’s fur and for mixing pulverized

volcanic ash with pigments for his paintings. In 1645, he painted

two large paintings of scenes that seemingly straight out from

Dante’s vision of heaven, hell, and purgatory.

Brother Erning is a legend himself. His love for the Virgin, this

Church and his hometown is legendary. But he’s got a couple of

stories which floored me. His story goes that the Japanese Army

was not drawn to this town because of fear of being attacked by

ants. The other story has to do with Jose Luciano Dans’ 200 year-

old painting of “Langit, Purgatoryo (or Lupa?) at Impyerno“.

Heaven, Purgatory and Hell. When I asked Brother Erning why the painting depicted ONLY WOMEN in hell, his

candid answer was to point out that the figures included both men and women except ……. that Dans didn’t want

to be irreverent by painting men with their “hanging ornaments”.

TATLONG KRUS are three crosses on the peak of mount

Humarap, part of the mountain of Sierra Madre located in Paete,

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 in the province of Laguna, along the northeastern coast of Luzon island in the Philippines. The Three Crosses

started out with three wooden crosses and now are made of concrete.

TUBOG FALLS Pabuntok River Sitio Tubog Upland Barangay 6, PAETE, LAGUNA

CULTURAL PRACTICES

Paete, Laguna - Paet- Taka Festival To celebrate what the town is

known for, Paet Taka Festival was created. Paet (Chisel) Taka

(paper mache).

Paete, Laguna, a small town in the Philippines has always been

proud of its culture and arts. To celebrate its culture the town has

been holding a week-long festival called Paet-Taka

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 Pageant Drum & Lyre

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 Soap Carving Food Garnishing

Street Dance Dance Competition

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 PAETE SLANG WORDS

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 Religious and Ceremonies in Paete

THE SINAKULO a major part in the commemoration

of the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ,

which is still practiced in several parts of the country

such as Rizal, Bulacan, Pampanga, Laguna, Camarines

Sur and even Metro Manila. The sinakulo, also spelled

as cenakulo, or the passion play, tells of the life and

suffering of Jesus Christ, and is mostly staged by local

organizations, composed of members of the community,

many without a background in theater. With bright

blood and glistening costumes, I was introduced to the

Lent of Paete. The small plaza sees the most activities

during this time. It is surrounded by the municipal hall,

the Catholic church and Aglipayan church. A rivulet, the

Paete River, separates it from the Catholic church.

While most of Metro Manila slows down almost to a

halt and many of its residents stay home or fly to the

provinces and beaches starting Maundy Thursday, Paete is abuzz. Just after the sinakulo, the Maundy Thursday

procession was gearing up.

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 SALUBONG The Maundy Thursday procession is

inspired by the Passion of the Christ, telling the story

before the crucifixion. The Paete procession is

distinctive with salubongs, literally “meetings,” the

points where two characters/images meet and sort of

have a dialogue, which is chanted. Many people carry

the black nazaren every year to show faithfulness.

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 ARGUMENT

This study focuses on the historical events of Paete

Laguna presented in this documentation by following

the guidelines in comprehensive research. Historical

events becomes a treasure in paetenians because paete is

so associated with woodcarving that is homegrown 19th

century painter Jose Dans is not well-known. There are three huge paintings on wood that adorn Paete Church, two

of which have been attributed to Dans. The oldest painting, “Last Judgment ( Juicio Final), it was painted around

17’s when the church was built. It is not dans and too faded for further study. It claims that its Dans work but the

work of dans are in the main church entrance of paete. In his work, dans produced all the possible torments using

his brush. The painting is referred to “Heaven, Earth and Hell” but it should really called “ Heaven, Earth,

Purgatory and Hell”. Some years ago when the Dans painting of St. Christopher was brought down for cleaning, it

was discovered that an even older painting of St. Christopher was painted directly on the stone wall. Made by an

anonymous native artist in the 18th century, about the time the present church was built, this depiction has a

character and color palette different from Dans’ 19th-century work.

his wonderful discovery and the research into its origins and possible author expand our knowledge of Laguna art

and artists pushing the parameters of present Philippine art history. Even though there is some art work that they

don’t want to claimed by dans, his work of art in paete becomes historical that’s why paete laguna became the

Carving capital of the Philippines because of its different artwork that started to be well-known because of the

greatness of dans when it comes to art work.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gridgrosser (April 26, 2015). the-passion-in-paete-lenten-

traditions. Blogspot
http://gridcrosser.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-passion-in-paete-
lenten-traditions.html

Atom (2017). paete-laguna-paet-taka-festival. Blogspot

http://lagunatoptenfestivals.blogspot.com/2017/04/paete-
laguna-paet-taka-festival.html

Traveleronfoot (January 2008). jose-dans .Wordpress

https://traveleronfoot.wordpress.com/tag/jose-dans/

Baraoidan, Kimmy (April 28, 2019) wood-carving-art-alive-

in-paete . Philippine daily Inquirer
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1111371/wood-carving-art-
alive-in-paete

Paete.gov. About Paete

https://paete.gov.ph/about-paete/

Ocampo Ambet R (March 05, 2014)treasure-in-paete.

Philippine Daily Inquirer
https://opinion.inquirer.net/72223/treasure-in-paete?
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