Calamba

San Juan Bautista Parish

In the town of Calamba the Dominicans had an hacienda which they rented out to tenants. The Calamba church was built in the 19th century and was characterized by a semi-circular pediment. The church has been greatly renovated.

Calamba is closely associated with the national hero of the Philippines, José Rizal. He was born in this town and his family’s residence is now a museum and shrine. A marker placed in the Calamba church in 1961 indicates that Rizal was baptized by Fr. Rufino Collantes on 22 June 1861 in the church (three days after he was born) and his godfather was Fr. Pedro Casañas.

A religious group honoring Rizal has its headquarters on Lecheria Hill, the site of a cow pasture, hence its name.

Heritage Features: The Mercado House: Restored in 1951 using funds donated by school children and again in 1996 for the Centennial of the Philippine Revolution, the house where Jose Rizal was born is typical of the large bahay na bato of an affluent provincial family. The family’s surname was Mercado but because Jose’s elder brother, Paciano, got into trouble with the authorities, he advised his younger brother to change his family name to Rizal.

The Mercado house has a small stable for horses and storage for carriages on the ground floor. The upper floor is the living area; all the rooms are furnished in period pieces. In the garden is a bahay kubo playhouse, a replica of one where Rizal used to spend his days as a child. A statue of Rizal when he was a child made by Dudley Diaz for the 1996 Centennial celebration stands in the garden. Though the Mercados had no land of their own but rented farmlands from the Calamba hacienda, they were able to live a comfortable and cultured life. The family had a good sized library. The family fortune turned when rental for the land was raised.