The Dumaguete Fiesta is an occasion for us to feel a strong sense of community and the sharing of a common geographical space and culture. This includes reviewing briefly what we know of the history of some Dumaguete street names which form part of our everyday life.
Dumaguete started as one of the pre-historic clusters of small settlements along the Banica River, populated by fishermen-farmers and their families. Historian Caridad Aldecoa-Rodriguez says that Dinanguet was the early name of the settlement. It became part of the Tanjay Parish in 1590, which must have been the time when its name was changed to Dumaguete, from daguet (to snatch). Frequent raids were carried out in the Dumaguete settlement by bandit bands/pirate raiders intent on capturing people for slaves. In 1620, Dumaguete attained the status of an independent parish from the Tanjay Parish.
The street foundations of Dumaguete must have slowly evolved during this time, following foot trails that had been made by the earlier settlers. Carabao-drawn sleds to transport loads and horses to carry human passengers widened the trails, making the nipa-and-bamboo or wood structure that was the parish church more accessible to the people.
But the intermittent raids from the sea continued, giving an instability to life in Dumaguete and other coastal communities. It was not until the mid-18th century that some respite came with the building of a strong fortress by parish priest Fr. Jose Manuel Fernandez de Septien who served from 1754-1776. Church historian Fr. Roman Sagun writes that he had built a massive church (the first stone church in the Province) and convento of strong material surrounded by an equally strong wall over two meters in height. The wall enclosed a large plaza or space where the people could gather in times of danger. The Church was built like a fortress, and four watchtowers were set up on each corner of the surrounding wall, with canons mounted on them.
The presence of the strong church transformed Dumaguete into a well-defended, better-organized settlement, enabling the Spanish authorities to plan the further development of the town.
Dr. T. Valentino Sitoy writes that Dumaguete by 1850 was a well-established pueblo (town) “con cura y gobernadorcillo” (with parish priest and mayor), a church, convent, a tribunal (municipal hall), and a parochial school. It was the largest pueblo in eastern Negros, with 5,300 people and 896 houses in the poblacion, and more people residing in the barrios. Thus, in 1890 when Negros Oriental was established as a separate political unit from Negros Occidental, Dumaguete was chosen as its capital.
Fr. Sagun opines that the streets as we know them today must have been named officially around this time, 1888-1892. The authorities followed the concept of “encircle and protect” when they named the streets surrounding the poblacion after saints (e.g. Calle Santa Catalina, Calle San Jose) who would protect the town from danger. A few main streets were named after their rulers in far-away Spain (e.g. Calle Alfonso XIII), and some streets retained their original descriptive names (e.g. Calle Marina).
This survey of the naming of Dumaguete’s main streets (most of the featured streets are near the central business district) will help give a sense of history of the community we call our own. (More research is needed for the streets that are not included here.)
This is a major road in Dumaguete and was named after the Science teacher of Negros Oriental High School who served as Superintendent of Schools in the Negros Oriental Free Area (unoccupied by Japanese forces) in 1942-1943. Many of Dumaguete’s residents today, however, call the road “Medical Highway” because it goes by the Silliman University Medical Center.
This used to be a carabao trail and was widened as a road after World War II. It was named after Eduardo J. Blanco, provincial engineer during the Japanese occupation, one of Dumaguete’s local heroes. He was arrested by the Kempeitai on the charge that he had given plans of the Dumaguete airfield to the guerilla intelligence agents, which helped in the successful bombing of the airfield by American planes on September 12, 1944. While bound and weighted, he was thrown by the Japanese into the sea off Dumaguete. Journalist Ely Dejaresco wrote that the late Senator Ramon Mitra sponsored the cementing of E.J. Blanco Road. Mitra was married to Cecille, one of the daughters of E.J. Blanco.
The area bounded by these two streets used to be called Old Casa España District, where the homes of wealthy and important Spanish-Filipinos used to be (some of these houses still stand, looking old and neglected now). Tan Pedro Teves Street is where the Red Cross and Telecommunication Office stand. Burgos Street, on the other hand, is narrower and is where the City Post Office is located. It is still uncemented, its asphalted and pock-marked surface a reminder of how our streets looked in the not-so-distant past.
A relatively new road, from the Iglesia ni Cristo Church in San Jose Extension and extending northward, this road was named in 1980 after the “liberator” of Dumaguete and the northern towns of the province from the Spaniards. Gen. de la Viña marched from Vallehermoso town with more than 1,000 men through the towns they liberated and entered Dumaguete on November 24, 1898. By the time they arrived, the Spanish forces had deserted Dumaguete, having sailed to Cebu the day before in fear of the advancing forces.
Flores Avenue begins where Rizal Boulevard ends, and continues to Bantayan. In 1986, it was named after one of the biggest clans in Dumaguete which produced community leaders–two mayors (Sr. Laureano Flores, Sept. 1909-Sept. 1912, and Sr. Simeon Flores, May 1945-August 1945) and several councilors.
Calle Alfonso XIII used to extend all the way north of Dumaguete, reaching Piapi. In 1930, this north section of the street, starting from Silliman Avenue, was renamed Hibbard Avenue, to ensure that the name of Dr. David S. Hibbard, beloved missionary and first president of Silliman University, would be a permanent part of the community.
Interestingly, Dumaguete has another Katada St. between Hibbard Ave. and the pier area, which divides a portion of the eastern Silliman campus, running beside Opeña’s restaurant and behind some Silliman buildings including the College of Engineering, ending near the pier. This street used to be called Calle Corta (“short street”) and connected Alfonso XIII to Calle Marina. No explanation can be found on how it got to be named Katada Street, although it has been speculated that it probably was in honor of Sr. Jacinto Catada, Dumaguete mayor from October 1916-June 1917. (The letters “c” and “k” used to be interchanged.)
At the corner of Locsin and Sta. Catalina Streets is the historic Locsin house whose first floor was the organizational site of the new revolutionary government, when Diego de la Viña and the town leaders met on November 25, 1898. That space today is rented out to different enterprises, but its owners maintain the second floor as it used to be.
Queen Maria Cristina was the mother of the Spanish Child King Alfonso XIII and ruled as Regent Queen until her son came of age.
Dr. Miciano, a physician, served as Municipal Doctor at one time and as Mayor of Dumaguete from October 1922 to September 1925. His daughter married the future popular mayor and governor Mariano Perdices after whom the main street of Dumaguete is named today.
Mariano F. Perdices served with distinction as Mayor of Dumaguete for twelve years, and later as the Governor of Negros Oriental.
Deogracias T. Pinili served as Dumaguete Mayor from 1946-1953, when the town was recovering and rebuilding from the destruction of the Japanese occupation and subsequent liberation by the combined Filipino and American soldiers.
In 1997, the portion of Real Street from the Philippine National Bank northward to the Dumaguete-Sibulan boundary was renamed Veterans Avenue to commemorate the Filipino soldiers who, passing through Real Street, helped liberate Dumaguete from the Japanese forces on April 26, 1945.
On Sept. 16, 1906, through a municipal resolution to honor the memory of the national hero who stepped on Dumaguete soil, Calle Marina was renamed Jose Rizal Ave.
Calle San Jose was named after St. Joseph, the Worker (also known as the Carpenter and earthly father of Jesus). His feast day on March 19 is an occasion when homes re-enact the life of the Holy Family, how they welcomed others into their home and shared their food with them.
Calle San Juan was named after St. John the Baptist. For years, his feast day on June 24 was celebrated with good natured splashing and drenching with water of its residents and hapless passersby.
Calle Santa Catalina was named after Dumaguete’s patron saint, St. Catherine of Alexandria, known as the “Warrior Saint.” We read that she was chosen to be the town’s patron saint due to the great need for protection against the pirate raiders that pillaged coastal towns. Legends about her courage and physical prowess were narrated by the townsfolk who had observed that her image on certain mornings would carry amor seco (a grass weed) clinging to the hem of her dress, and making them believe that the saint had gone out at night to drive away the pirate raiders.
Bishop Surban served as Bishop of the Dumaguete Diocese from 1955-1989, during which time he established various parishes, a seminary, hospital, several schools, and even a radio station. In the early 1960s, Bishop Surban figured very strongly in the emergence of a wider ecumenical spirit between Dumaguete Roman Catholics and Protestants. (This spirit of broadmindedness and ecumenism appears to be somewhat diminished today in this university town.)
On June 5, 1905,the Municipal Council passed a Resolution renaming Calle Sta. Cecilia to Silliman Avenue. This honored the American philanthropist Horace B. Silliman who gave the initial donation to start a school for boys in Dumaguete that became Silliman University.
Taft Street today is a short, undistinguished and dusty passage way that curves into the better-known Miciano Road. Many, especially pedicab drivers, are not aware of Taft St. and mistakenly refer to it as part of Miciano Road.
Jose “Joe” Pro Teves succeeded Mariano Perdices as Dumaguete Mayor for 19 years (1959-1978). People of my generation thought we would know no other mayor but him! He was loved by the people who appreciated his simple ways. The Mayor when martial law was declared in 1972, he helped maintain stability at a time when great changes were taking place in the country.
Calle Colon was renamed Lorenzo G. Teves Street on March 17, 2005 in honor of the man who worked to make Dumaguete a chartered city on November 24, 1948. A Silliman alumnus, he was elected to the Philippine Senate where he was one of the longest serving Senators (1952-1972). In 1978-1986, he served as Negros Oriental Governor. In renaming Calle Colon to his name, he was recognized “for having given honor to the province and for many contributions to the life and history of the city and the province.”
This was Calle Larga during Spanish times, probably because it was a long street next to the shorter Calle Sta. Rosa. It was renamed Luke E. Wright Street after the American Governor-General who served from 1904-1906. In 1902, Luke Wright visited Dumaguete to settle a religious problem.
