(Research paper presented in the 7th International Conference of the International Council for Historical and Cultural Cooperation – Southeast Asia (ICHCC-SEA) and 2020 Philippine Historical Association National Conference, October 31, 2020)
On May 2008, the Steering Committee of the Fatima Grand Marian Exhibit in Valenzuela City released its souvenir program with a feature write-up tracing the history of Marian devotion in Valenzuela City, with the researcher as the writer. Twelve years later, and with many new discoveries surfaced, it is about time to retell the history of the Valenzuelanos’ devotion to the Blessed Mother.
It started with a simple curiosity on the part of the researcher, way back 2008, on why the different parishes in Valenzuela City, now with their own patron saints as their pintakasi, all celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary every October. This curiosity grew when the researcher first encountered the antique images of Santo Rosario in the barangays Gen. T. De Leon, Karuhatan and Maysan, all of them showing striking similarities (by the time the researcher wrote the article, these three barangay knew nothing about the similarities of their Santo Rosario images). This curiosity draw him to conduct a research on this, which eventually grew in large proportion, discovering new facts after another, until the present.
This paper aims to answer the following questions:
- How the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary developed within the Catholic faithful in Valenzuela City, tracing its roots from the old town of Polo?
- How the devotion of the Valenzuelanos to the Blessed Virgin Mary influential in the creation of the different parishes in Valenzuela City, and eventually to the ecclesiastical history of the city?
Start of the Devotion in the Philippines
The time when the Spanish conquistadores set foot on our shores, starting with the arrival of the fleet headed by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521, one of their objectives was to propagate Christianity to their soon-to-become colonies. In the accounts of Antonio Pigafetta, the chronicler of Magellan’s voyage, the arrival of the Spaniards in (Cebu) was the start of anchoring of the natives to the devotion to Our Lord and His Blessed Mother. According to his account, “after dinner, the priest and some of the others went ashore to baptize the queen, who came with fifty women she was shown an image of Our Lady, a very beautiful wooden child Jesus and a cross. Thereupon, she was overcome with contrition and asks for baptism amid her tears.”
The return of the Spaniards and the fall of Manila into the hands of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi on 1571, heralded the start of Christianization of Luzon, signaled by the discovery of the image of Nuestra Señora de Guia (Our Lady of Guidance) along the shores of Ermita, Manila. From Manila, the missionaries started to evangelize the nearby places like Tundok (Tondo), Sta. Ana de Sapa, Aromahan (Caloocan), and Tambobong (Malabon). Manila then was created as a diocese placing it under the tutelage of Immaculate Conception.
Bulacan, then a part of the vast cahocoman of the Kingdom of Tondo was also Christianized. The defeat of Rajah Soliman at the Battle of Bangkusay Channel and the Fall of Kingdom of Tondo in 1571 paved the way for the Spaniards to establish their government in Manila. Due to the conquest of Luzon, Spaniards reached and pacified progressive and populous communities located several miles north of Tondo. On November 14, 1571, adelantado Miguel Lopez de Legazpi reached Calumpit and Malolos, constituting them as Encomienda de Calumpit and Encomienda de Malolos, respectively. Encomienda de Calumpit was entrusted to Sargento Juan Moron.[2] When the Provincial Chapter of the Augustinians in Tondo Church was established in May 3, 1572, Prior Provincial Fray. Martin Rada, sent Augustinian missionaries to north of Tondo headed by Fray Diego Vivar Ordoñez and companions. In February 1572 Feast of Our Lady of Presentacion, (so the Augustinians primarily placed Calumpit under advocacy to Nuestra Señora de Presentacion) they set foot at the riverbank of a place later called Meyto, and they planted a wooden cross symbolizing Calumpit under Bells, and celebrated Mass there, the first in Bulacan. They proceeded to Christianize the natives within the area. From Calumpit, Christianity reached Catanghalan (Polo, Meycauayan and Obando). The parish was founded in 1578 by Fr. Juan de Plasencia and Fr. Diego de Oropeza, the first batch of Franciscan priests to reach the Philippines in 1577.
METHODOLOGY
The researcher conducted triangulation method to validate the data received. This research first started with an extensive interview with the elders and parishioners of barangays Gen. T. De Leon, Karuhatan and Maysan that started in the year 2008, and with the elders and people from barangays Polo, Mapulang Lupa and Ugong recently. The researcher also asked for copies of the history of their particular parish churches, and examined plaques mounted in their churches that tells their history and dates of establishment.
The researcher also consulted written records in the Multimedia Section of the National Library (before its closure in the late 2000s for rehabilitation purposes), and scanned some records in the National Archives for possible accounts. The researcher also used secondary sources such as books about the local history of Bulacan and Valenzuela City, unpublished history of particular parish churches provided by their parish offices, souvenir programs and magazines, and even historical markers and markers found on some churches.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The growth and development of the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary in Valenzuela City, can be traced back in the old town of Polo (the old name of Valenzuela City, with the areas of Poblacion, Polo, Palasan, Coloong, Bisig, Tagalag and the surrounding barangays as the centers of the town). The period of development can be charted into different stages:
- Inmaculada Concepcion Period (1623 – 1900s)
By the time when Polo was separated from its matriz, Meycauayan in 1623, it was the Franciscans who tended first the spiritual needs of the 7,732 souls of the new parroquia (parish) that encompasses the town of Polo, and the three Augustinian-owned properties: the Hacienda Malinta, and the Haciendas Tala and Piedad that comprises the present-day Novaliches. The plan for the poblacion (town proper) of Polo was drawn and the first chapel was constructed in the year 1627 and finished in 1629. The parish has San Diego de Alcala, a Franciscan, as its patron saint. But in the Historical Data Papers of Polo, kept at the National Library, it is said that the church after its repair (in 1632, and made it into a church) was dedicated to another patron, the Nuestra Señora dela Inmaculada Concepcion.
The devotion of the Franciscans to the Immaculate Conception started long time ago. St. Francis of Assisi, who had a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin, composed a prayer to Our Lady. The Franciscan friar Blessed John Scotus provided an answer about the then-confusing teachings about the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Scotus solved the problem of the scholastic theologians by distinguishing between the “order of nature” and the “order of time.” In the order of nature, Mary was a child of Adam before she was justified by sanctifying grace; but in the order of time, she was sanctified at the very moment her soul was created. Although Scotus’ explanation was bitterly contested, especially by the Dominicans, it found official theological approval by the Church. In 1483, Pope Sixtus IV addressed the controversy surrounding the Immaculate Conception and gave Dun Scotus’s conclusion in favor of the papal approval. From this point forward, most people devoutly celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and the theological controversy was put to rest. Four centuries later, Pope Pius IX would proclaim Dun Scotus’s explanation ex cathedra (from the “Chair of Peter”) as an infallible truth through the papal bull Ineffabilis Deus on December 8, 1854, that the Blessed Virgin Mary, from the first moment of her conception, was preserved from any stain of original sin in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ.
Normally during that time, a church will not be left without an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. So with these, it would not be surprising if the townspeople will learn to love Our Lady, learn to recite the Holy Rosary, pray the novenas, participate in processions, or conduct a pilgrimage to any of the famous Marian shrines near the town of Polo: the Church of Obando with the image of Nuestra Señora de Salambao, or to Antipolo Church for Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje.
The devotion of the people of the old town of Polo to the Immaculate Concepcion was also manifested with the discovery of the image of Our Lady, also depicted as the Immaculate Concepcion, in the waters of Binwangan, and was brought to Obando Bulacan in the year 1763. This image, according to legend being caught in a fishing net called salambaw, is now popularly called Birheng Nasalambao, or Nuestra Senora de Salambao. Before the town of Obando was separated from Polo in 1753, Obando is known as a place of pilgrimage for childless couples, and, incorporating the pre-colonial practice of kasilonawan in the Catholic faith in Obando, became now popularly known as Obando Fertility Dance.
On this town where farming and fishing were the source of livelihood that time in Polo, the faith of the townspeople was tested during the heavy drought that happened in 1804, the smallpox epidemic in 1808, and the pestilence of locusts at the farms of Polo in 1832. Accordingly, the townspeople conducted nightly vigils, seeking protection and to mitigate the damage brought by the pestilence. The lutrina (a nightly procession asking for rain, good harvest or sparing from epidemics) was held in many occasions, wherein an image of Our Lady was borne in a procession, circuiting the church vicinity amid the fervent prayers of the Ave Maria. They still clung to their faith after an earthquake that rocked Polo and damaged the church on June 3, 1864, and the outbreak of an epidemic the next year, even during the uncertain years of 1896-1899, during the Philippine Revolution.
2. Santo Rosario Period: The Discovery of the Coloong Image, and the Revitalization of the Devotion to Our Lady
Though a town established by the Franciscans and has their own title of devotion to Our Lady, a strong devotion to the Santo Rosario started at the turn of the 19th century with the discovery of the image of Our Lady of the Rosary among the mangroves of barangay Coloong during the late Spanish period.
The image of Our Lady is a painting measuring 13×10.5 inches. It greatly resembles the image of Our Lady of Pompeii, only that Our Lady sits on a pile of clouds, with St. Dominic reaching the rosary from Our Lady’s hand while St. Francis same on the other side. A dog can be seen under Our Lady, holding an orb with a torch between its teeth, which is a famous attribute of St. Dominic.
Stories has it that one day during the late 1800’s, a heavy downpour that lasted for days (“siyam-siyam”) made Coloong submerged in flood. At nightfall, a resident of Coloong then heard someone singing the Ave Maria. The voice recurred for many days, every after the evening oracion. Curiosity led this man into the swamps of Coloong following the mysterious voice, and there tangled within the mangrove roots, he saw the painted image of Santo Rosario. The man quickly rescued the image and brought it in his home. The first miracles immediately happened: the rain stopped and the flood started to subside. News quickly spread among the neighborhood, which prompted them to build a small chapel of thatched nipa and bamboo.
On the following years, a unique devotion called taluki florished in Polo. Taluki is the daily recitation of the Holy Rosary accompanied with series of prayers, songs and reflections during the entire month of October, following the prayers indicated in a book “Mes de Octubre.” By Father Jose Ma. Moran, OP. Due to security reasons, two replicas of the Coloong image were commissioned and served as the “block rosary” images that go house to house within the confines of Coloong. In San Diego de Alcala Parish, a wooden image of Santo Rosario was commissioned and her feast was celebrated in the month of October.
Upon the discovery of the Coloong image, the devotion to the Santo Rosario flourished in the old town of Polo, prompting the parish to declare the Nuestra Senora del Rosario as the segunda patrona of the parish, replacing the title of Inmaculada Concepcion. No existing records were found whether there is a formal declaration about the patronato of the Santo Rosario (due to the fact that San Diego de Alcala Parish in Polo was one of the casualties of the Battle for the Liberation of Manila in 1945), but extant photos shows that as early as 1920s, the image of Santo Rosario (the standing one) was already enshrined at the main altar. It can be concluded that this action happened after the last Franciscan friar who administered the parish in Polo, Pedro Alcantara Flores, OFM, who fostered the propagation to the Inmaculada; and upon the advent of the Filipino diocesan prelates who introduced the devotion to the Santo Rosario.
From the simple outward expression of devotion to the Blessed Mother, lay people started to organize themselves to show solidarity and lead people to the different devotions to Our Lady. In Polo, the Hijas de Maria, one of the oldest Marian-oriented organizations in Polo, was established, composed of women devotees of the Blessed Mother. They had their first election in 1919, with Aurora Agustines as its first president. She was then followed by Petronila Santiago, Placida Herrera, Antonia Bartolome, Aurelia Valenzuela, Encarnacion Alvarez, Apolonia Bautista, Leonora Miranda, Josefina Alejandrino, Generosa Cruz, Concepcion Anselmo among others. Also in this period, Severo Hermoso become famous for sponsoring images of saints and of the Blessed Virgin for the church and those which were included in the procession during Holy Week. Some of these celebrated images were a statue of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, the Dormition of the Blessed Mother, and the Immaculate Conception. Also, the nearby barrios or barangays outside of the town proper started to establish chapels to serve the spiritual needs of the increasing number of people within these places. Most of these chapels chose a title of Our Lady as their patroness.
- 1st Wave of The Spread of the Marian Devotion: Bukid Part of Polo
Because of the growing spiritual needs of the faithful on the outskirts of the old poblacion of Polo (Maysan, Torres Bugallon, Ugong and Karuhatan), the San Diego de Alcala Parish established chapels called tuklong in their areas, as they attend to their spiritual needs. These tuklong were also venues of monthly Holy Masses done in these places. The parish brought to these barangays the devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary. Afterwards, the faithful of these barangays commissioned their own images of Santo Rosario. As of today, there are four (4) existing images of Santo Rosario in Valenzuela City, that can be traced its beginnings before the war:
>>The image of Our Lady of the Rosary, from Parish of the Holy Family, Karuhatan, Valenzuela City, under the care of the current Hermana Mayor. The parish has its own celebration of the Rosary Month, and the image was passed to the next Hermana Mayor at the end of the previous’ term.
>>The image of Our Lady of the Rosary, from Parish of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, Maysan, Valenzuela City, being kept and venerated in her old chapel in Maysan. There was a larger parish church dedicated to the Santo Rosario, but the old visita still has the antique image.
>>The image of Our Lady of the Rosary, from Parish of the Holy Cross, Torres Bugallon (now Gen. T. De Leon) Valenzuela City, under the care of Demetillo family. The parish has its own celebration of the Rosary Month and before, the antique Santo Rosario was being fetched from the Demetillo family in what they called sunduan for the festivities.
>>The image of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, being kept and venerated in her chapel in Mapulang Lupa, Valenzuela City. The SPPC also celebrates the feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary every October.
The four de vestir images of Santo Rosario of Karuhatan, Gen. T. De Leon, Maysan and Mapulang Lupa were believed to be carved on the same period, of the same height, and have striking similarities (notice the resemblance of the Niños of Maysan and Gen. T. De Leon images). The images were believed to serve as the taluki images of the aforementioned barangays of Karuhatan, Maysan, Mapulang Lupa and Gen. T. De Leon when only visitas (chapels) were the only places of worship in these barangays.
It was a well-established fact that Fr. Esteban Daez of Polo, Bulacan spearheaded the establishment of the first chapel in Karuhatan during 1910-1920. Fr. Esteban Daez was the first priest to celebrate Mass at the newly-built bisita of Kaduhatan. He could have brought the Santo Rosario devotion to Kaduhatan and the tradition of taluki. Fr. Esteban Daez is not a Dominican. The first chapel of thatched roof and bamboo sides first housed the image of Our Lady of the Rosary and an image of the Crucified Christ.
The de-vestir image of Our Lady of the Rosary was one of the images commissioned to serve as the taluki images when the devotion to Santo Rosario starting to flourish in Polo. Father Daez brought the practice of taluki to Karuhatan and taught them how to recite it. Elders of Karuhatan would recall that every month of October, the prayers of taluki were recited and this particular practice is a venue for the community to converge and bond, since Karuhatan has a wide stretch of rice fields wherein trees of duhat were abundant (hence kaduhatan).
Aside from the taluki, residents of the old of Karuhatan perform the lutrina, wherein the Santo Rosario was borne in a litter or being carried by hand as they processed within the fields of Karuhatan asking for rain or a good harvest. The festivities in October were usually called as “Pistang Matanda”, proving that the existence of a feast for the Santo Rosario predates other celebrations of the community.
Written in the old documents of Ugong that a steady devotion to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary is present in the areas of Ugong (Mapulang Lupa was then a part of Ugong before). The taluki prayers were also recited before here in Mapulang Lupa every month of October, until the practice dwindled, just like what happened in some barangays like Karuhatan. Nevertheless, the old image of Santo Rosario is still intact, and the devotion to her is still flourishing.
These chapels established in Maysan, Gen. T. De Leon, Karuhatan and Ugong were very crucial in the formation of the Catholic history of Valenzuela City; as these chapels, where they usually celebrated Holy Masses and practice the taluki, eventually became parish churches. From a small chapel, Maysan became a full parish as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish in 1978, the chapel in Gen. T. De Leon became the Holy Cross Parish Church in 1990, the chapel in Karuhatan became the center of Holy Family Parish established in 1995, and Ugong became San Juan Dela Cruz Parish in 1997. They may have different titular patron saints, but the devotion to the Santo Rosario remained
3. The Fatima Period: The New Center of Marian Devotion in Valenzuela City (1961 – present)
One year after the splitting of Polo into two (the old Polo on the northern half, and the new town of Valenzuela on the southern half), a new parish was created. On March 7, 1961, the Parish of Our Lady of Fatima was established by then Rufino J. Cardinal Santos, and appointed Msgr. Espiritu D. Izon as its first parish priest. This new parish encompassed the 10 barangays in the new town of Valenzuela: Karuhatan, Marulas, Malinta, Torres Bugallon (now Gen. T. De Leon), Ugong, Mapulang Lupa, Paso de Blas, Maysan, Canumay, and Bagbaguin. It should be noted that this new parish was not one of the four old chapels of Santo Rosario established earlier.
Since its declaration as The National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in June 12, 1976, many important city-wide, diocesan and national Marian events took place at this place, since the arrival of the National Pilgrim Image of Our Lady of Fatima in the National Shrine in October 17, 1999 to be the official custodian, the Shrine. The image was present in the EDSA People Power in 2001, and in the wake of the President Corazon C. Aquino. The Shrine became the venue of the 1st Diocesan Marian Celebration in January 5, 2008, and the Solemn Consecration of the Philippines to the Immaculate Heart of Mary initiated by the CBCP last May 13, 2020. The National Pilgrim Image of Our Lady of Fatima was granted the Episcopal Coronation by the Diocese of Malolos last May 13, 2017, while the City Council of Valenzuela, through their Ordinance Number 16 series of 2011 declared Our Lady of Fatima as the Patroness of Valenzuela City on February 28, 2011. This is the paramount act in the part of the Church and secular government in recognition of a popular Marian devotion in Valenzuela City.
The National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima at the present bears the responsibility of being the custodian of the National Pilgrim Image of Our Lady of Fatima, the national and Asia-Pacific center of World Apostolate of Fatima; and the national center of Fatima devotion in the country, being the first national shrine in Valenzuela City and in the Diocese of Malolos.
The splitting of Polo and its eventual reunification, aside from the influx of people outside of Valenzuela to settle in the southern part of the town and the transfer of the municipal building from Polo to Malinta, led to the increase of the number of population in this part of Valenzuela, and its gradual polarization of the political center of the town; shifting its weight from Polo-Poblacion area to the southern part of the city. This also led to the successive creation of parish churches in the southern part of Valenzuela: Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish in Maysan, the Holy Cross Parish Church in Gen. T. De Leon, the Holy Family Parish established in Karuhatan, and San Juan Dela Cruz Parish in Ugong.
It is in this parish church during its formative years that some of the oldest Marian organization started. The oldest existing praesidium of Legion of Mary (Aba Banal na Reyna, 1965), and the Blue Army (now World Apostolate of Fatima, 1982) in Valenzuela City started here and continues up to this day.
Growth of Marian Devotion in Valenzuela City at Present
Aside from these places of worship, chapels were built in other parts of Valenzuela City with the Blessed Mother as its patroness, like in sitio Bitik in Gen. T. De Leon (1963), the Santo Rosario chapels in barangay Veinte Reales and San Simon in Malinta.
Also, old devotional practices accorded to the Mother of God were developed to suit for the modern society. From the old practice of taluki, it was developed into the block rosary groups. From lutrina to dawn penitential procession (actually started at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in the 1970s, intended first as a supplication to the heavens for the speedy construction of the parish church that was then under construction). Marian movements and parish-based organizations are also growing steady in the different parishes in the city.
CONCLUSION
From the painted image of Santo Rosario in the swamp area of Coloong to the episcopally-crowned Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuelanos have made the devotion to Our Lady not only a part of their human psyche, but also developed the history of this town, and helped bounded the poblacion and the outskirts of the old town of Polo because of this particular devotion. As we close this month dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary, may we Valenzuelanos always recall the times when Our Lady manifested her maternal care to us, as we always pray under the string of her beads, “awit-awit ang Ave Maria!”
This research hopes to be a contributory factor in the creation of the religious-ecclesiastical history of Valenzuela City, which the researcher hopes to make in the near future.
Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, pray for us.
DANILO ACOSTA LUMABAS
Bibliography
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Aviado, Lutgarda A. Madonnas of the Philippines. Quezon City: Manlapaz Paublishing, 1975.
Fabularum, Virgilio C. “Spreading Further the Message of Our Lady of Fatima.” In Grace, Gratitude and Generosity: The History of the Parish of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. Valenzuela City: National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, 2012.
Moran, Jose Maria, OP. Bouan nang Octubre sa Macatuid ay manga Pagninilay nang manga Catotohanan sa Rosario nang Mahal na Virgen. Manila: UST Press, 1930.
Pigafetta, Antonio. “Primo Viaggio Intorno al Mondo, Italian text with English translation. MS. ca. 1525, of events of 1519–1522.” In The Philippine Islands 1493-1898. Edited by Emma Blair. Translated by James Alexander Robertson. Ohio: McCullough Printing Company, 1906
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Dyigs, Souvenir Program for the Feast Day of San Diego de Alcala, Polo. Valenzuela City: San Diego de Alcala Parish, 2011.
Historical Data Papers, Polo, on microfilm. The National Library, 1951.
La Virgen Maria Venerada en Sus Imagenes Filipinas. Manila: Imp/ de Santos y Bernal, 1905.
Mahal na Birhen, A Commemorative Magazine in Celebration of the 10th Year of the Grand Marian Exhibit of the Museo Valenzuela Foundation and the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. Valenzuela City: National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, 2008.
Mahal na Birhen, A Commemorative Magazine in Celebration of the 10th Year of the Grand Marian Exhibit of the Museo Valenzuela Foundation and the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. Valenzuela City: National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, 2015.
Parokya ng Banal na Krus, Aklat Pang-alaala, Ika-25 Taong Pagkakatalaga ng Parokya. Valenzuela City: Parish of the Holy Cross, 2015.
Elder, Fr. Joseph Mary. “Understanding the Immaculate Conception.” December 9, 2016. https://capuchins.org/2016/12/09/understanding-the-immaculate-conception/
1. Antonio Pigafetta, “Primo Viaggio Intorno al Mondo, Italian text with English translation. MS. ca. 1525, of events of 1519–1522” in The Philippine Islands 1493-1898, ed. Emma Blair trans. James Alexander Robertson (Ohio: McCullough Printing Company, 1906), 159.
2. _______, “The Spaniards’ first 50 years in the Philippines, 1565-1615: A sourcebook,” in The Philippine Islands Volume 34. trans. James Alexander Robertson (Ohio: McCullough Printing Company, 1906), 304-307.
3. Robertson, “The Spaniards,” 308-310
4. ______, Historical Data Papers, Polo, on microfilm (The National Library, 1951), 3.
5. Fr. Joseph Mary Elder, Understanding the Immaculate Conception, Last modified December 9, 2016. https://capuchins.org/2016/12/09/understanding-the-immaculate-conception/
6. Fr. Joseph Mary Elder, UIC.
7. __________, La Virgen Maria Venerada en Sus Imagenes Filipinas (Manila: Imp/ de Santos y Bernal, 1905), 25.
8. Lutgarda A. Aviado, Madonnas of the Philippines (Quezon City: Manlapaz Paublishing, 1975), 149.
9. Aviado, Madonnas, 151.
10. Mar D.J. Arenas, Valenzuela: Ang Bayani at ang Bayan (in Tagalog), (Valenzuela City: Museo Valenzuela Foundation, Inc. & Valenzuela Historical and Cultural Society, 1997)
11. Pasco-Miranda, Elena (camarera, Nuestra Senora del Rosario de Coloong). Discussion with the author. February 2017.
12. Jose Maria Moran, OP, Bouan nang Octubre sa Macatuid ay manga Pagninilay nang manga Catotohanan sa Rosario nang Mahal na Virgen, (Manila: UST Press, 1930), 5.
13. Data, Jose Jr. (retired teacher, CMIC; camarero). Discussion with the author. March 2017.
14. Data, Jose Jr., March 2017
15. _________, Dyigs, Souvenir Program for the Feast Day of San Diego de Alcala, Polo (Valenzuela City, 2011), 7.
16. Dyigs, 9.
17. Ravela, Erico P. (Teacher, DepEd Valenzuela). Discussion with the author. March 2019.
18. __________, Historical Data Papers, Polo (Manila, The National Library, 1951), 67.
19. Historical Data Papers, 69.
20. Historical Data Papers, 92
21. ________, Mahal na Birhen, A Commemorative Magazine in Celebration of the 10th Year of the Grand Marian Exhibit of the Museo Valenzuela Foundation (Valenzuela City, 2008), 12.
22. Mahal na Birhen, 10.
23. _________, Grace, Gratitude and Generosity: The History of the Parish of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima (Valenzuela City, 2012), 65.
24. An Ordinance Declaring Our Lady of Fatima as the Patroness of the City of Valenzuela, Ordinance No. 16 s. 2011
TATAK VALENZUELANO 
The Augustinian are still present in their former properties via the nuns of the Augustinian Sisters of Our Lady of Consolation who owns the La Consolacion College Valenzuela( St. Jude Academy ) located at the former Hacienda de Malinta and La Consolacion College Deparo Kalookan located at former Hacienda de Tala.
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Yes po. But what I am curious here is the location of the “church” that the American records mentioned. Tanque (or sitio Tangke in Malinta) was mentioned in the annals.
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