This article is an abridged version of the results of a research completed by the author-sociologist. This was first published in the MetroPost on Nov. 20, 2011.
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 from 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 have 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 that was the parish church more accessible to the people.
But the intermittent raids from the sea continued, giving 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 to 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-establishes pueblo (town) con cura y gobernadorcillo (with parish priest and a 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, from 1888 to 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.)
Venancio ALDECOA Sr. Drive. 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 Dumaguete’s residents today, however, call the road ”Medical Highway” because it goes by the Silliman University Medical Center.
Journalist Ely Dejaresco wrote that the late Sen. Ramon Mitra sponsored the cementing of E.J. Blanco Road. Mitra was married to Cecille, one of the daughters of E. J. Blanco.
BURGOS St. and Tan Pedro TEVES St. These are two very short thoroughfares that begin at Sta. Catalina St. and end in Rizal Boulevard. On the Dumaguete street map, they almost form the shape of a triangle, with Tan Pedro Teves St. diagonal to and merging with Surban St. near the Boulevard.
Tan Pedro Teves was presidente or mayor of Dumaguete from 1903-1907, and then from 1934-1940.
The word “Tan” before his name was a title of respect given to officials of high rank. (I suspect, perhaps a shortened version of Capitan).
Don Luis Burgos was a well-known sugarplanter whose wife was haciendera Doña Tomasa Gomez from Avila, Spain.
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 those houses still stand, looking old and neglected now).
Tan Pedro Teves St. is where the Red Cross and Telecommunications 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.
Gen. DIEGO DE LA VINA Road. A relatively new road, from the Iglesia ni Cristo Church in San Jose Ext. 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 had liberated, and entered Dumaguete on Nov. 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 Ave. This road begins where Rizal Boulevard ends, and continuous to barangay Bantayan.
In 1986, it was named after one of the biggest clans in Dumaguete which produced community leaders: two mayors (Sr. Laureano Flores, September 1909-September 1912 and Sr. Simeon Flores, May 1945-August 1945) and several councilors.
HIBBARD Ave. Calle Alfonso XIII used to extend all the way north of Dumaguete, reaching barangay Piapi.
In 1930, this north section of the street, starting from Silliman Ave., was renamed Hibbard Ave. 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.
KATADA St. This is a relatively-short and narrow street that divides the Public Market into the area occupied by Buildings 1, 2 and 3, and the area of Building 4 adjacent to the Colegio de Sta. Catalina de Alejandria, and where one may go for budbud and sikwate.
The street was most probably named after one of the early administrators of the City.
Interestingly, Dumaguete has another Katada St. between Hibbard Ave. and the pier area, which divides a portion of the eastern Silliman campus, running beside Opeñas Restaurant and behind some Silliman buildings including the College of Engineering & Design, 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 St., 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).
Dr. Vicente A. LOCSIN St. (formerly Jones St.) This is the street that used to be called W.A. Jones St., after the American lawmaker William Atkinson Jones who sponsored the Jones Law of 1916, also called the Philippine Autonomy Act that promised independence to the country.
We do not know what the street’s earlier name was, but it was renamed Jones Street in 1918.
On Aug. 8, 1976, W.A. Jones St. was changed to Dr. Vicente A. Locsin St. after the physician who served as Dumaguete director of Health in 1904. In 1907, he was elected as Representative to the First Philippine Assembly.
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 Nov. 25, 1898.
That space today is rented out to different enterprises, but its owners maintain the second floor as it used to be.
MARIA CRISTINA ST. 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. Eduardo MICIANO Road. 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 St. (formerly Alfonso XIII St.). This has been Dumaguete’s main street since the Spanish times.
Alfonso XIII was born in 1886, just four years before Dumaguete became the capital of Negros Oriental. His father, Spanish King Alfonso XII, had died the year before. This made his son the Infant King, although his mother Queen Maria Cristina ruled as Regent Queen until her son came of age in 1902.
By that time, America had taken over the Philippines from Spain, and poor Alfonso XIII never had the chance to be our ruler.
Stuck with his name, Alfonso XIII was a quaint reminder of the Spanish past of Dumaguete. The Americans referred to it as “Alfonzo”.
The desire to honor one of Dumaguete’s local leaders in modern times brought about the remaining part of Alfonso XIII to Mariano F. Perdices St. on Sept. 30, 1987.
Mariano F. Perdices served with distinction as mayor of Dumaguete for 12 years, and later as governor of Negros Oriental.
Deogracias T. PINILI St. (formerly Urdaneta St.) This used to be Calle Urdaneta, until July 16, 1986.
Andres D. Urdaneta was the soldier, navigator, and priest who accompanied Miguel Lopez de Legazpi on his expedition to colonize the Philippines. He was navigator genius who blazed the later route of the Manila galleons in their yearly voyages to Acapulco, Mexico.
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.
REAL St.-VETERANS Ave. Most towns in Spanish Philippines had a Calle Real — Royal Street — which served as their main street in honor of the Spanish royalty. This street was where the larger houses stood, its inhabitants getting a better view of the religious processions that went by.
Dumaguete seemed to have been an exception, since its main street was Calle Alfonso XIII.
Calle Real was an important street, and was the main highway for entering and leaving the town.
In 1997, a portion of Real Street from the Philippine National Bank northward to the Dumaguete-Sibulan boundary was renamed Veterans Ave. to commemorate the Filipino solders who, passing through Real St., helped liberate Dumaguete from the Japanese forces on April 26, 1945.
Jose RIZAL Ave.-Boulevard (formerly Calle Marina). The Dumaguete boulevard by the sea is the most well-known place in the City.
In early Spanish times, the Dumaguete shoreline was not protected by any breakwater. The waves lashed the shore, making it dirty and uninhabitable during bad weather. There was only a dirt road with no residences, because it was not safe either from the pirate raids.
But as the town grew, the area of the Marina also improved, and houses began to be constructed there.
By the time Dumaguete had developed into the largest pueblo of the Province, larger houses had been built along Calle Marina and nearby. One of the houses that stood there became the residence of the Spanish governors. This was the house which was rented by the Hibbards, and in which Silliman Institute was opened in August 1901. This site was near where Bethel Hotel now stands.
The Marina was important because it was the spot where passengers from the steamers anchoring in Dumaguete would disembark or board their vessel. Strong men would carry these passengers on their shoulders through the short distance to or from the shore.
This is how Jose Rizal began his Dumaguete visit when he dropped by on Aug. 1, 1896 on his way back to Manila, from his exile in Dapitan.
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.
SAN JOSE St. 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.
San JUAN St. 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.
SANTA CATALINA St. Calle de Sta. 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 pirate raiders who pillaged coastal towns.
Legends about her courage and physical prowess were narrated by then townsfolk who had observed that her image on certain mornings would carry amor seco (grass weed) clinging on to the hem of her dress, making the people believe that the ‘Saint’ had gone out at night to drive away the pirate raiders.
SANTA ROSA St. This was called Calle Santa Rosa, after the first canonized saint of the New World, St. Rose of Lima. Legend has it that she had extraordinary beauty that, finding it hard to be admitted by the Church as a nun, she deliberately disfigured her face by rubbing it with pepper and lime. As a nun, she worked among the poor Indians and slaves.
Bishop Epifanio B. SURBAN St. (formerly Legazpi St.) This is the street which used to be named after the first Spanish Governor-General and adelantado, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, a colossal figure in the annals of Spanish colonization of the Philippines.
The street ceased to be known as Legaspi St. when the name of Dumaguete’s first Bishop, Epifanio B. Surban, replaced it in 2005.
Bishop Surban served as bishop of the Dumaguete Diocese from 1955-1989, during which time he established various parishes, a seminary, a 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 broad-mindedness and ecumenism appears to be somewhat diminished today in this University Town).
SILLIMAN Ave. (formerly Calle Sta. Cecilia). Referred to as Calle Sta. Cecilia when the town was still new, this important street was one of those supposed to protect the residents from harm, in keeping with the concept of saint-named streets surrounding and protecting a community.
(St. Cecilia is also the patron saint of music.) Beyond the street grew coconuts and other trees, including fields of corn and sugarcane until the Silliman Institute campus was developed.
On June 5, 1905, the Municipal Council passed a Resolution renaming Calle Sta. Cecilia to Silliman Ave. 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.
William Howard TAFT St. (formerly Calle Nueva). The American governor-general of the Philippines who went on to become President of the United States visited Dumaguete in April 1901.
After his visit, General Taft was honored by having his name replace the name of a short street called Calle Nueva. It is located in the Old Merchant District across from the Dumaguete Public Market.
Taft St. 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.
Mayor JOSE PRO TEVES St. (formerly Calle Cervantes). Even today, pedicab drivers still refer to this street by its former name, Calle Cervantes.
The earlier choice of a street name after Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist of Don Quixote fame, dramatist and poet, is informative of the romanticism and enlightenment that the Spanish authorities in Dumaguete most probably possessed (which may also explain their choice of St. Cecilia, patron saint of music, for a street name.)
These friars and officials seemed to be men of intellectual interests. (In fact, this may have played a role in their choice of Dumaguete’s patron saint, St. Catherine of Alexandria, who was also the patroness of philosophers.)
Dumaguete seems to have been fortunate to have had this kind of enlightened leadership who helped shape it into the University Town that it is today.
Cervantes St. retained its name until the 21st century when it was renamed Jose Pro Teves St. on Feb. 3, 2005.
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.
When Martial Law was declared in 1972, Mayor Joe Pro Teves helped maintain stability at a time when great changes were taking place in the country.
LORENZO G. TEVES St. (formerly Colon St.) This is a street which many, including those working in its business establishments, insist on calling by its former name, Calle Colon.
Who was Cristobal Colon? None other than Christopher Columbus, the Italian navigator who served Spain and, by tradition, is known to be the discoverer of the New World in the 15th century.
Calle Colon was renamed Lorenzo G. Teves St. on March 17, 2005 in honor of the man who worked to make Dumaguete a chartered city on Nov. 24, 1948.
A Silliman alumnus, Lorenzo Teves 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, Senator Teves was recognized “for having given honor to the Province, and for many contributions to the life and history of the City and the Province.”
LUKE E. WRIGHT St. (formerly Calle Larga). This was Calle Larga during the Spanish times, probably because it was a long street next to the shorter Calle Sta. Rosa.
It was renamed Luke E. Wright St. after the American governor-general who served from 1904-1906.
In 1902, Luke Wright visited Dumaguete to settle a religious problem.
