"Maragondon Community Profile"
buried in this municipality. But indeed the town is now honored to have as historical sites the Spanish-vintage house where the Katipunan Supremo faced trial in Mount
Maragondon was recognized as a town in 1690’, but just like Indang, it was also considered an ancient town since there were pre-colonial settlements in the area since 1620. Formerly known as Madagundong, it was later changed to Maragondon as its official name under the recommendation of Lope K. Santos to the Committee of Geographic Names.
Maragondon was known by the Katipunan name “Magtagumpay “during the revolution and as a tourist destination it has many things to offer: The natural splendor of its scenic mountain ranges which can be seen from as far as Kawit and Bacoor on a clear day, the historic houses of worship, its local culture and rich folk traditions, rock formations and waterfalls, can all be found in this very fascinating town.
"History of Maragondon"
Some 55 kilometers southwest of Manila is this municipality of Maragondon Cavite. It is the farthest down south in the province, at the foot of a long mountain range that is the provincial boundary with Batangas. In geography maps, this mountain system named Tagaytay Ridge, for it extends to a more prestigious place, Tagaytay City in the east side of Cavite. But Caviteños call it “Bundok ng Maragondon” at least this longer west end of the ridge, which is the part visible in most of the province. It might as well be Maragondon town itself, because the municipality sprawls all over the west and entirely.
Seen from a far, but only in the direction of Maragondon, and no where else, the mountain backdrop has a peculiar skyline that gives first-time viewers the jitters somewhat. It is formed like the profile of a woman asleep. This is no play or stretch of the imagination. You can trace her long tresses loosened from overhead flowing into Manila Bay in the west; the aquiline but broken nose aptly named Pico de Loro (parrot’s beak); her maiden bust naughtily called Susong Dalaga; a prominent abdomen or Mount Buntis; and the blanketed under pinnings extending toward Tagaytay. A potential tourist attraction, if properly advertised.
By no means is it a very realistic picture. But for a mere craggy natural sculpture, the sight is beautiful and impressive enough. A sleeping lady is it like in the old fairy tale; thereby allegorizing Maragondon as “The Sleeping Beauty of Cavite”, whatever that means.
That unusual skyline makes Maragondon one of few places at once seen and identified from a great distance yet. First time viewers will never get lost in coming here, for as long as they are seeing that guiding landmark en route. The moment the configuration is no longer ahead, it means they are already in town.
Sprawled over a vast mountain mass, Maragondon is indeed a very large municipality, the largest in Cavite. Its area is 165.49 sq. km and the entire province itself measures 1,287.23 so this town is much larger that the average size of Cavite’s overall three cities and 20 municipalities which should be 55.96 sq.km only. But ironically, Maragondon is very small in the actual concept of town; that is a compact population center.
Maragondon is also an old town, one of the oldest and original Cavite municipalities. According to rare books and manuscript in our national library it had three foundation dates, all during the Spanish Period: 1611, 1690, and 1727. That was no inconsistency however. The three recorded dates were brought about by relation of Church with state during the Spanish era. You see, the mere construction of a church in a homeless site was enough to form a community around it. Or if there was already an existing community, the newly built church would give it the semblance of a municipality.
As it happened, year 1611 was when the Franciscan missionaries built a “visita” in this remote place. A visita, in English, is a small makeshift chapel to serve as part of main chart in a far-off regular parish. Then, as expected families living here and there, far apart from one another, move their homes closer to around that place of workship; thus forming the first compact community hereabout, an informal beginning of a town.
In 1960, the Recoletos order, taking over from the Franciscan, converted the new community into a regular parish. This conversation maybe called the “fundacion eclesiastica” of Maragondon. Eventually in December 1727, or 37 years later, the Spanish government made the parish a separate and distinct municipality of its own. That year, therefore, was the “fundacion civil”, rightly the official foundation of Maragondon.
However, we can be sure that Maragondon had much, much earlier beginnings than those religious and civil foundations, as shown by very recent findings. In 1962, crude porcelain wares were accidentally unearthed from the town outskirts. Consulted archeologists analyzed the various artifacts as from China, dating back to its Ming Dynasty era, 1388 – 1644. They conjectured there must be a Chinese graveyard beneath the present town, for those ancient people buried dishes with their dead as religious belief for salvation of souls.
It means there were also community near that burial ground, obviously a Chinese settlement, now covered and impacted by centuries of alluvial deposits from overflowing rivers and eruption debris from Taal Volcano in nearby Batangas Province. It can be presumed that, undaunted by the ever-thickening soil continually overlaying their homes, the settlers built and rebuilt through the ages until their original settlement became Maragondon of the Spanish times, but still populated by their descendants, although already with Tagalog and other bloods. The present townsmen, therefore, particularly those in the Poblacion, are fair complexioned and chinky eyed mostly.
By the way, “Maragondon” is such a long and exotic- sounding name. How did it come about? From where did it come from?
Tradition had it that the community was originally located in now Sitio Uugong overlooking and overhearing a great and noisy waterfall. Hence, it was first called “Madagundong” (rumbling like distant thunder, no end) by the natives and chances passers-by because of that roaring cascade. At present, however, that waterfall has been reduced to trickles and its noise now only “lagaslas” (splash sound).
Incidentally, thunders are also very loud in the place. They “dumadagundong” (roaring and rolling) even from a great distance, not only when the lightning strike overhead. The thunder claps are presumed to be amplified in sound by their echoes reverberating along the rocky mountain sides nearby.
Through the generations, the community expanded and thus moved farther and farther away from U-ugong until it finally settled on the present townsite, possibly during the establishment on the first visita there. A devoutly religious people, the inhabitants changed their community name to Maria-Gundong in honor of the Santa Maria (Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion), patron saint of their new parish. From Maragondon, this was made official during the American regime by a committee on geography names headed by nationalist Lope K. Santos.
Historically, Maragondon had much to be proud of. This supposed backwoods town was actively represented in the historic and radical Propaganda Movement Revolution. Representing Maragondon on his own accord was Ramon Riego de Dios, who was then in Madrid just to take up medicine, and as a painter of local renown only, to compete in international paintings contests. No less than our national hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal, who was a Propaganda leader, considered him a professional contemporary and close friend.
The ensuing Philippine Revolution produced two generals in Maragondon, and brothers at last, Emiliano and Mariano de Dios, first cousins of Ramon.
Maj. Gen. Emiliano Riego de Dios was elected in the Tejeros Convention as Director of War of Revolutionary Government, a position he carried over to the First Philippine Republic later on established. Then was designed Vice Chairman of the Committee Central Filipino, a diplomatic mission sent to and assigned in Hong Kong, to seek world recognition for the newly independent nation. Lastly, he was appointed Military Governor of Cavite province.
Brig. Gen. Mariano Riego de Dios, the younger brother, distinguished himself in many battle fields, not only in Cavite but also in other province. Camp Riego de Dios in Trece Matires City is named so in cognition of his war exploits.
Although Maragondon people had nothing to do with the infamy, Revolution leader and hero Andres Bonifacio was court-martialed, shot to death, and
Nagpatong (not Mount Buntis where he was executed and buried).
Maragondon should also take pride that a resident (although a Spaniard who married and settled in the place, who was the mount Nagpatong property owner, buried the hero who had been left uninterred by his executioners; otherwise, the Bonifacio remains would have been lost to the nation forever, either devoured or mangeled by jungle beast, or the precise spot he has buried would have remained unknown.
During World War II, Maragondon youths were among those called to the colors. They fought in Bataan and Corregidor among other places. The survivors, upon return, helped organize and joined an underground force, Maragondon own liberators Guerillas, to continue their resistance against the Japanese invaders. The unit joined the returning American forces in liberating Cavite, Quezon, and Batangas provinces.
The municipality of Maragondon, Cavite, is agricultural in economy, but not so productive at that. Its chief products are rice and corn, yet the harvest are merely enough for local consumption. The only products the communities has in abundance and able to sell outside are bamboos and derived materials, firewoods and charcoal, gravel and sand, boulders and landfilling soil, removal of which from source causes ecological imbalance. For lack of other means of town income, and due to market demands, there is no stopping these outside shipments
But this town was never in such desperate straits long, long ago. During Spanish times and the early American period, it was a favorite vacation place for manila and Cavite families who found family friends here welcoming them heartily. It meant the hosts were well-to-do, brought about by prosperity of the town itself.
Why was Maragondon prosperous then? From our Spanish times yet, it produced for export to as American and Europe various items such as so-called lumbang oil fuel (extracted from a wild nut), muscovado or brown sugar and balicucha (solidified molasses), preserved fruit in garrafon (glass jars), and abaca fiber.
Soon these products were altogether edge out of world export by circumstances as follows, respectively: extensive mineral oil drillings world wide, advent of refined or white sugar which is more preferable, invention of canning of fruits, and devastation by pest of all abaca plantations of Maragondon (farmers did not dare plant abaca again lest another infestation come)
Also, Maragondon was once the trade center not only of Cavite but likewise of the entire southern Tagalog region, making town business thrive. But then, shortly before World War II, the concrete Tagaytay national highway to Manila and its strategic feeder roads were constructed. As a result neighboring Cavite towns and Batangas and Laguna started transporting their products directly to Manila, skirting Maragondon where the route was dirt roads only, longer, circuitous, in other words, left behind from progress of the outside world.
What are the chances at present of Maragondon’s regaining its past glory, of the sleeping beauty of Cavite to rise from its long slumber? “Maragondon, kailan ka pa babangon?” was the election campaign line of the then opposition party.
Chances are Maragondon or the sleeping beauty will soon rise. With the most part of progressing Cavite province now teeming with factories, industrialization has no more place to go but down south to Maragondon where vast idle lands yawn, awaiting investors to come and develop them.
The present Municipal Mayor MONTE A. ANDAMAN also envisions making Maragondon a popular tourism attraction. First, there is of course its Sleeping Beauty image which is quite a sight to behold. Then, there is Pico de Loro by itself, fast becoming a mountain climbers favorite cliff due to the panoramic view from atop of Maragondon town, Manila Bay and historic Corregidor Island and Batangas province.
More, as we have mentioned earlier, Maragondon is rich in historic sites. The government may restore the Bonifacio court martial venue to its original grandeur, with colonial furniture and all, to make the house truly significant and attractive to Bonifacio homagers. It may also build roads and bridges leading to the hero’s death site in Mount Nagpatong and develop the mountainous areas around into a national park in his honor.
The only hitch to the investment prospects here is the insufficiency of infra-structures like heavy–duty roads and bridges all around the sprawling municipality including over the mountains which connect Cavite to Batangas. Therefore, roads would give Maragondon a short cut to that progressive province.
Whichever manner it may be, Maragondon, Cavite faces the challenges of the future, to become progressive at last.