𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐆𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐎𝐒 𝐃𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐑 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗣𝗔𝗔, 𝗟𝗔 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗝𝗔 & 𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗡: 𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗛𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗧𝗢𝗪𝗡 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝟭𝟴𝟲𝟬’𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗬 𝟭𝟵𝟬𝟬’𝘀

Allen, one of towns in Northern Samar Province is a fifth class municipality with a population of 25,469 people. Today, this town is marked as one of the important ports of Samar Island which caters inter-island transport, specifically between the island of Samar and the island of Luzon. Located on the northwestern tip of the province, bordering the municipality of Victoria to the south, the municipality of Lavezares to the east, and the strategic San Bernardino Strait to both the north and west.

Its early history traces to the middle of the 19th century when it was one of the big visitas of Capul. It was served spiritually by the Franciscans priests of nearby pueblos such as the aforementioned Capul, Bobon and Calbayog.

In the 1860’s, prominent settlers of the settlement made petition to the Colonial Government on their clamor for separation as an independent town and parish until finally it was granted in 1863.

𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙑𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙖 𝙩𝙤 𝙋𝙪𝙚𝙗𝙡𝙤

In the olden, the settlement was called Minapaa. It was made a visita of Capul and was visited by Franciscan priests of the neighboring parishes.

Until in the 1860, Don Davan Novoa, the Spanish Politico-Military Governor of Samar, wrote a letter to the Governor General of the Philippines suggesting that the visitas of Minapaa, Mawo, Pinonayan, Sucjan and Barobaybay belonging to the towns of Capul and Bobon be made into a new pueblo because of the problems in administration and communication. He also recommended that Minapaa be the new población because it was more central and populous’ and it had a church, school, government house, and parish house already.  

It was located in a good port and its residents were “the most resolute in confronting the Moro pirates” who frequently appeared.  He further recommended that the new pueblo be called “Solano” in remembrance of the services to Spain and the Philippines of Governor-General Ramon Maria Llanderal Solano; and that the other four visitas named earlier be added to it as well. 

On a letter dated March 14, 1861 by the Bishop of the Diocese of Cebu, he stressed the distance and time between the pueblos of Calbayog and Catarman for the regular supervision of its parish priests to serve the spiritual needs of the people. 

On June 28, 1862, the leading citizens wrote a letter stating their opinion to change their status from a visita to pueblo. They mentioned on their letter that their village was already in existence as early as 1838 and they also done a strong petition of separation earlier in 1856.

The parish priest of Calbayog, on his letter dated July 3, 1862, he confirmed the public buildings, good site, good water, value of port, and good land for Minapaa as the site of new pueblo joined to Mawo and Dalupiri and various rancherias. By July 5 of the same year, the Samar Governor wrote that the proposed pueblo has a good site of lands and an ideal port because Capul was isolated and cut off often from the visita. 

By September 21, 1862, the colonial government in Manila asked more information to the authorities of Samar province on the tribute status of the proposed new pueblo.

𝘾𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙨 𝙋𝙪𝙚𝙗𝙡𝙤 𝙙𝙚 𝙇𝙖 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙟𝙖

On the 29th of October 1862, the Bishop of Cebu wrote again and said that if the new pueblo were established, Capul should be a parish too even though short of 500 tributos because of value of having a resident priest there.  Given the frequent storms and contrary currents, Capul is often cut off from communication.  If no resident priest, Capul would become “a den of lost people [un madriguera de gente perdida].”

On 30 January 1863, the governor of Samar said that Bobon at present had 1,008.5 tributos and that Sucjan had 44; Pinonayan had 168.5; and Borobaybay had 78.  Minapaa is much closer in transit time than the población of Bobon to these three visitas.  The Bishop added on the 16th of April 1863 that the Franciscans had adequate personnel to fill the positions for both Minapaa and for Capul. 

On December 1, 1863, Minapaa together with other visitas belonging to it was created a new pueblo. The new pueblo was named “La Granja”, a Spanish term, means “a farm”, a “dairy farm” or a “dairy shop.” The responsible for changing the name of the town was probably the first parish priest of the town. Confirmation came from Madrid on 25 February 1864.

𝘾𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙝

It was only on May 22, 1867 when it was made an independent parish separated from the parishes of Calbayog and Catarman through a Diocesan Decree from the Diocese of Cebu and was placed under the patronage of Santiago Apostol.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙇𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙨

The Franciscan historian-priest, Fray Felix de Huerta, OFM on his book Estado, Geografico written and published in 1865, wrote that, “the town's climate is healthy and perfectly ventilated, and the only status that can be given today (as of 1865) concerning the town, there is no religious (parish priest or assigned curate) who administers it.” 

Fray Valentin Marin y Morales, on his book Ensayo written in the late 19th century and was published only in 1901, wrote that, the first Franciscan parish priest assigned to the town of La Granja was Fray Eusebio Ibañez who arrived on May 15, 1862 as a deacon and was later ordained and destined to Samar particularly in the pueblo of La Granja to become its first curate. 

Fray Eusebio Ibañez (1868-1870) was responsible for the creation of the first church and convent of La Granja. Though there was already a church of stone and nipa built in 1855 and 1856.  There was no rectory yet and just a very small house.

The completion of the construction of two buildings was finished by Fray Vicente Zamora (1871-1873) who arrived in La Granja in 1871. The completed church was of masonry up to the height of two and a half meters and the rest made of wood. The convent is all of wood but of great consistency. Fray Felix Cencerrado (1889-1898) roofed the church and the convent in 1892 with hierro galvanizado despite of the lack of funds, he was able to carry out such a great work with the help of his parishioners. Fray Eustaquio Paniagua built a beautiful baptistery for the church and constructed two wooden schools under his direction. 

In 1896, Fray Eustaquio Paniagua (1874-1888) advised his co-parish priests Fray Felix Cencerrado and Fray Severino Páramo to construct a road from La Granja, passing through Lavezares, until arriving at the town of Bobón. It was funded by the people of three towns and directed by the said parish priests.

The last Franciscan parish priest of the town was Fray Felix Cencerrado. From the time of the Philippine Revolution to the second advent of the Franciscans in the early 1900’s, the same Fray Felix Cencerrado returned to his former parish and served until 1904. He was succeeded by the Catbalogan native priest, Presbitero Don Pablo Cui who administered the church until 1911. 

𝙍𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙇𝙖 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙟𝙖 𝙩𝙤 𝘼𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣

In 1903, the pueblo of La Granja was joined with San Antonio and it was renamed Allen in honor of General Henry Allen, an American General who detached the Spaniards in Visayas and later became the American Military Governor of the Visayas after the Spanish-American War.

In contemporary years, among the towns that were changed to American names (Tubig, Pambujan del Sur, La Granja and Paranas), only the town was Paranas was reverted back to its former name. In 1911, the town has a total population numbering 6,755.

(Some passages in the article were taken from Dr. Bruce Cruikshank, Sources for Writing Pueblo Histories (Allen) published on September 9, 2018 in Academia.)

𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘰𝘯 𝘯𝘨𝘢 𝘗𝘢𝘨𝘴𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘨 𝘴𝘢𝘯 𝘒𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘯, 𝘉𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯!

(c) Manuelito Uy

Via JA Berbon

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