LUBAO, PAMPANGA

Precolonial Times and Indigenous Civilization

The name Lubao was derived from the indigenous word “lubo” which means low. “Lubo” is
characteristically muddy and flooded; later, the term evolved into “lubao,” which is the town’s present
name. The Austronesian word is associated with the low or depressed elevation of the town. Hence, Lubao
is synonymous to its ancient name Baba.
The aborigines of Lubao are the Aytas who are also popularly known baluga to the lowlanders. The
Aytas were nomadic, hunters, superstitious and paganistic.
Along this low, yet fertile and sandy (mabalas) riverbanks of the area, strategically settled the
pioneering balugas which defined them as the earliest pangpangans (riverbank settlers). The ancient balugas
built their communities (balayan) along the banks of these small rivers or estuaries (sapang malati) which is
why they were called tau lati or pangpangans or simply river bank people.
As the settlement flourished, the early pangpangans (later Kapampangans) of Lubao strategically
concentrated themselves in Caongutan or Lalam Ungot (a swampy hamlet in Sta. Cruz). Hence, the
cosmogenesis of the Kapangpangan realm.
Soon, intrepid Austronesians (Malays) started to amalgamate with the natives and taught them trade,
education, government and religion. Barter was the mode of exchange, Sanskrit the orthography; monarchy
the government, and Islam the religion. It was in the same area where th
ey politically organized themselves and the ancient pagaga (cemetery) was located.
Shortly, Lubao was the trading emporium
of the kapangpangans (riverbank people) that
shaped Lubao as the Cradle of Kapampangan
Civilization. Similarly, Lubao or Baba became
synonymous to Kababan because it was the center
point of trading and enterprises in the
Kapampangan sphere. Its ancient port was believed
to have direct trade links with Brunei, Malacca,
Sumatra and Guangshou (China).
The thriving trade in Lubao attracted
mostly the Chinese merchants in trading their
clothes, earthen wares, iron, camanguian and other
Figure 1. Some of the trading products of the people of Lubao stuffs in exchange for gold and rice of the natives.
during the pre-colonial times The Chinese called the place Liu Bao, which refers
to the six treasures in Chinese geomancy: gold,
wood, water, fire, earth and air that suggest Lubao’s abundance and immensity of these treasures. The
Lubao-China trading relation is evident among the earthen ware materials (kapsa) that are commonly
scattered in the environs of the ancient Lubao trading post in Lalam Ungot.
The aboriginal language evolved which is today the lingua franca of the Kapampangans.
Traditionally, its territoriality was believed to include all regions that surrounded it, which later on were
detached by the Spaniards to facilitate the collection of tributes and jurisdiction disputes among friars.
From a small baluga settlement it developed into a powerful Austronesian (Malay) kingdom that
helped shaped the configuration of the great Kapampangan Empire. As a kingdom, it was governed
by datu (king) and lupun (council).

Spanish Period (1571-1898)

Lubao was a prosperous kingdom with an organized system of government and with strong military
fortifications when the Spaniards led by maestro de campo Martin de Goiti, together with Lt. Antonio
 Carvajal, selected Spanish soldiers and Augustinian friars, set foot to conquer Lubao on September 14,
1571 (Feast Day of the Triumph of the Cross). The Spaniards aptly chose the date because of its guiding
providence and holiness. The date is the foundation day of Lubao.
Learning lessons from the ill-fated battles of their neighboring Kapampangan neighbors in
Bangkusay and Betis against the Spaniards, the Council of Elders, headed by Datu Macabulus, the last
known King of Lubao finally, accepted submission to the crown of Spain in behalf of its people.
On that date, Martin de Goiti, in behalf of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, sealed amity with Datu Macabulus by
giving him a miraculous cross with the crucified Christ as a symbol of peace and unity. Faithful to his
Mohammedan faith, Macabulos buried the Cross a little farther the town station and left the place, and went
to Porac until he reached Tarlac, a hamlet of Pampanga and settled there.
Today, the Cross is permanently sheltered in the Holy Cross Parish in Santa Cruz. The holy image
is sacredly endeared and venerated as Apu Santo Cristo de Lubao or simply Apu, and is probably one of
the oldest sacred crucifixes in the country today.

Figure 2. Holy Cross Parish during the Spanish period. Figure 3. The present-day Holy Cross Parish Church in Lubao.

Immediately after conquest, Captain Martin de Goiti and the Augustinian missionaries led by Fr. Juan
Gallegos founded, re-organized and started to Christianize the pagano-Muslim people of Lubao. Because of
the flooded nature of the town, they exclaimed: lo bajo! (very low).
From 1591-1593, the confederated towns of Lubao and Betis had about five thousand tributes or
20,000 souls (Christian converts) which was far enormous than the population of Cebu, Mactan, Manila and
Vigan with 2,000 souls for each town only. At that time, Betis was a part of the huge territoriality of Lubao.
Due to its power and affluence, Lubao was a royal (king) encomienda. It has an alcalde-mayor and a deputy
that exercised the town’s justice system. Gaspar de Ysla was the first chief magistrate of Lubao. This political
structure characteristically indicates Lubao as Pampanga’s central government.
The Lubao Revolt of October 1660 (also called Pampanga Revolt) led by Francisco Maniago of
Mexico was staged due to the grave and oppressive treatment they received from Juan de Corteberria, chief
overseer of timber-cutting in the area. The rebellion was quelled through the efforts of Juan Macapagal of
the village of Arayat.
In 1732, the population of Lubao was only 1,732 which was a tremendous decreased from the 1591
report of tributes. The event was probably due to a powerful mudflow that struck and buried the town and
made people to move (minalin) to nearby places. Thus, the catastrophe changed the geographical condition
of the town.
In 1896, Lubao’s population increased to 21,151.
American Period (1898-1942)

In 1903, the town’s population was 19,603 and 29,157 in 1939. From 1901 to 1905, the town’s
municipal mayor was Eugenio Fernandez.
The period of serenity in the town had brought the cultural and literary geniuses of the town to
greater height and glory. The Hormiga de Hierro (Panas a Bacal), a socio-cultural organization was
organized by Ambrocio Gonzales in 1901. The flowering of sarzuelang Capampangan flourished which
included “Ing Sinta Alang Pacundangan” by Ambrocio Gonzales; “Calulung Martina” by Engracio Ibarra;
“Sumpa ning Pengari,” and “Tauling Sisi” by Jose Guilas Vitug. In 1929, playwright Urbano Macapagal
wrote and staged the bespectacled “Bayung Jerusalem, Sumpang Metupad, Atul ning Banua, Numan Carin
ating Dios and Lua ning Tulisan” that included Diosdado Macapagal, Rogelio de la Rosa, Eliodoro Congco,
Soldedad Reyes, Purita de la Rosa, Jaime de la Rosa, Isabela Lumanog, Ladislao Lumanog, and Israel
Macapagal as stage players.
In the late 1930s, Rogelio de la Rosa became the most popular romantic idol in the Philippine
cinema. Carmen Rosales proved to be his most durable onscreen partner, and their “love team” is said to
be among the most successful in the history of Philippine movies. Elected to the Philippine Senate from
1957 to 1963, he decided to run for the presidency as an independent candidate but withdrew from the
election shortly before Election Day, which resulted to the victory of his brother in law, Diosdado
Macapagal.
On August 31, 1939, the parish of San Rafael de Baruya was created through a decree issued by
Manila Archbishop Miguel O’Doherty. Rev. Fr. Arsenio Yusi was the first parish priest.

World War II and the Japanese Occupation (1942-1945)

The quietude of the town was disturbed

at the onset of World War II which the people
called gubyernung Hapon. During its eruption
on December 8, 1941, several young men of
Lubao (including Jose B. Lingad) enlisted
themselves in the United States of America
Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) to join fellow
Filipinos to fight the Japanese Imperial Army.
Silvestre Liwanag (alias Kumander Linda Bie),
Abelardo Zuniga (alias Kumander Verzosa) and
Abelardo Dabu prominently fought with the
invaders as guerillas of the Hukbo ng Bayan
Laban sa Hapon (HUKBALAHAP).
After the United States-Philippine forces Figure 4. World War II.
surrendered to the Japanese in May 1942, most
of the 80,000 prisoners of war captured by Japan’s Imperial Army at Bataan were forced to undertake the
infamous Bataan Death March. As they passed through Lubao, many prisoners were bravely rescued,
harbored and fed by the people until they were reunited with their families and relatives.
After the war, the townspeople eagerly waved flags and flashed their hands with victory sign, danced and
chanted “Victory Joe” to the Filipino-American soldiers that passed through the streets of the town. The
people called this period “liberation.”
 On July 4, 1946, the noble people of Lubao proudly raised and sang the Philippine flag and
anthem once more on its sacred soil minus the American symbols.

Contemporary Period (1946-present)

Much had been lost and disturbed during the war but the people were
not perturbed by the ravage of war. Public and private schools
reopened and reconstruction begun. Diosdado P. Macapagal won his
first election in 1949 to the House of Representatives. In 1952, he
started the construction and diver
sion of the Porac-Gumain River to the Pampanga Bay
Channel to minimize flooding during rainy seasons. In 1957, he
became vice-president of President Carlos P. Garcia, and in 1961, he
defeated Garcia’s re-election bid for the presidency.
Soon, Lubao’s fame surfaced to the prominence because the
“Poor Boy from Lubao,” became the 9th President of the Philippines,
serving from 1961 to 1965. As President, he worked to suppress graft
and corruption and to stimulate the Philippine economy. During his
term, he placed the Philippine economy second only after Japan. He
is also known for shifting the country’s Independence Day from July 4 Figure 5. Diosdado Macapagal
to June 12, commemorating the day Filipino patriots declared
independence from Spain in 1898. He introduced land reform and conceptualized the construction of the
North Luzon Expressway.
The Parish of San Antonio de Padua in barrio San
Antonio was established on November 10, 1986 through the
ecclesiastical decree of the Most Reverend Oscar V. Cruz, DD,
of the Archdiocese of San Fernando, Pampanga.
Later, the parish of San Roque in San Roque Dau 1st
was also established on October 1, 1990 by Archbishop Paciano
B. Aniceto of the Diocese of San Fernando, Pampanga. San
Roque Parish’s first resident priest was Re. Fr. Donny G.
Ocampo.
On the afternoon of July 16, 1990, Lubao was rocked by
a powerful earthquake with intensity 7.8. As a probable
consequence of the quake, Mount Pinatubo erupted with strong
explosions on June 7, 1991, which heavily covered the entire
town “snow-like” due to the sulfur smelling white ash that
carpeted the place. Fleeing upland residents from nearby towns
went to the churches and schools of the town as their temporary
evacuation shelters.

Figure 6. San Antonio de Padua Parish in Pampanga

 Figure 7. Mt. Pinatubo's eruption in 1991.

Lubao returned to its being the cradle of glory and vibrancy. Maria Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
succeeded deposed President Joseph Estrada and was installed as the 14th President of the Philippines and
is the country’s second female president. She served as senator, vice-president and Secretary of Social
Welfare and Development. She was elected to a full six-year presidential term during the May 2004
elections, and was sworn in on June 30, 2004.
In the 2009 rankings of Most Powerful Women by
Forbes Magazine, she was ranked as the 44th most powerful
woman in the world. She is the first Philippine and Asian leader
to chair the 15-member nations of the powerful Nations
National Security Council.
Never tiring in serving her townspeople, she was
elected congresswoman in the 2nd congressional district of
Pampanga and convincingly won as the district’s representative
during the May 11, 2010 national elections.
Lubao as the Cradle of Kapampangan Civilization
prides itself in its timeless monuments: simple, proud and
noble people; Christianity; and good governance in public
service. These are immemorial traditions embellished in the
persona of its people which they cherish forever because they
are inherently germane in their soul.

Figure 8. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the daughter of

Diosdado Macapagal.