History of streets in Angeles City
L-O-V-E
Retro tayo. Let’s journey back in time. It is a story about a street in Lubao town. Ito ay noong bata pa si Sabel. Hindi pala, ito’y noong bata pa si Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. It is one story told to me years ago by my friend Marvin Paule (RIP) a retired banker who was a constant companion of my Cumpareng Tony De Jesus.
Marvin who was a certified native of Lubao recalled one street in Barangay San Nicolas which to this day called by the local residents as Calle Cuco. This is the street where former President Diosdado Macapagal, his brother Angel who was a former congressman and sister Lourdes were born. It is in the same street where the Arrastia family lived, whose descendants include socialites Mercy Tuazon and Letty Arrastia, wife of Mario Montenegro a matinee idol in the early years and one of the prized stars of Donia Silang De Leon’s LVN studios. Also the family of Isabel Preysler, former wife of Spanish balladeer Julio Iglesias once had their ancestral home in Calle Cuco. The late Pampanga Governor Jose B. Lingad who was Department of Labor secretary and Bureau of Customs commissioner in the sixties was born and had his early childhood spent in Cuco street. Two other known personalities, movie icon Rogelio Dela Rosa and brother Jaime were also born in this street.
As a background. It was and and still is called in its nickname as ‘Calle Cuco’because in the early years many of the people who lived there suffered from respiratory and pulmonary diseases. When one dies , it was mostly traced to tuberculosis.( The late President Manuel L. Quezon died of tubercul osi s) . Purita de la Rosa, the first wife of President Macapagal also died of tuberculosis. There was no found cure yet during those years. Penicillin came later.
‘What’s in a name? A rose by any name will still smell sweet’. Moneyed people when they convert their large estates into subdivisions, most likely the street names are of their kins. For example if there’s in Angeles City, the changes of the names of streets should have been done years ago. Example is the Leoncia subdivision in the city wherein all streets are named after all known cigarette brands. Not a single street was named after a distinguished person who have contributed to the history of the city. Whoever was responsible for naming the streets there should make a visit to the Lung Center in Quezon City.
A postman must be confused which of the two Magalang roads in Angeles City where to deliver a letter of the addressee if its postal marking is Magalang road. The two roads intersect each other. Once I asked a local historian if he knows how the most popular street in the city, the Fields Avenue, got its name. It was named after whom? And there’s Jake Gonzales boulevard, the eight lane road after you descend Abacan bridge going to the downtown area. Who is Jake Gonzales? May we ask our mayor, the vice mayor and the barangay officials who’s this Mr. Gonzales why we have to name a boulevard after him? What was his contribution to Angeles or Philippine history?
Roads and subdivisions tell the history of a community. Like Carmenville Subdivision of the Tayags.
Just as we celebrated Christmas and welcomed the New Year, it is surprising to know that a month has already passed right before our very eyes. And as they say, our favorite time of the year is here, the love month. Exactly six days from now, the world will be celebrating Valentine’s Day. It’s the day we celebrate and express our affection to the people we deeply care about through sending flowers and chocolates, writing a sweet greeting card, having a candlelight dinner date, watching a romantic movie, or simply hanging out and spending time with each other. Some call it Hearts’Day, Cupid’s Day or even Lovers’Day, but no matter how we prefer to call it, February 14 is the day we show our loved ones how special and important they are in our lives.
While the celebration tends to be more focused on how lovers and partners show their affection for one another through the various ways I have enumerated above, let us not forget that romantic love is not the only kind of love that we should honor during Valentine’s Day. It is also a day when we can appreciate our family, friends, relatives, colleagues, and all the people who are around us.
The first kind of love that I probably experienced is called puppy love. I was a young grade schooler when I first developed a “crush” towards one of my classmates. I admired him because he was very good in drawing, and of course, he was cute. The term
“puppy love” was coined because it occurs at a young age and it is also sometimes called as infatuation. This kind of love is not long lasting and sees only the person’s good qualities. Puppy love is when we think and dream about the person all the time, feel shy around the person, or when we feel like floating in the air when we get near him/her.
Candlelight dinners, fairy tale endings, and walks in the park symbolize the sweetest and most thrilling kind called romantic love. Unlike puppy love, this is experienced by mature people although it also usually starts with physical attraction. A traditional set-up begins with courtship; however, times have changed a lot nowadays. People have become more liberated and some get hitched in an instant. You know you’re in love with a person when you want to be with him/ her all the time, and you always put his/ her happiness first.
When things get more serious, it is called committed love. It signifies a deeper meaning which translates to a promise, a covenant and a commitment to the person you love. Therefore, it is long-lasting and entails trust, devotion, faithfulness and sacrifice. This is typically the love shared between husbands and wives, bestowing vows with each other upon the sanctity of Marriage. This is when we utter the words “for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part.”
It was named after Carmen Dayrit, the mother of the late writer Renato ‘Katoks’Tayag. There is a street there named after Augustina Henson, the wife of PIo Rafael Nepomuceno of Tayabas, Quezon province. He was the first Nepomuceno to establish residence in the town of Angeles. Then there’s the gated Villa Teresa subdivision named after Teresa Gomez, the wife of Don Juan Nepomuceno and their heirs who are considered till today as one of the richest families in Angeles City.
Villa Leoncia was named after Leoncia Laxamana, the wife of Trinidad Lazatin, parents of the late former Mayor and Governor Rafael L. Lazatin. Rafael sisters also have subdivisions named after them. Villa Gloria, Villa Angelina and Villa Angela. Not to be outdone, Francisco Gopez Nepomuceno named several streets in the Nepo Subdivision like Sylvia, Edwina, Sandra and Gail streets among others. They are the Nepomuceno sisters.
Marisol Village is among the first fenced subdivision in Angeles City. It was named after Maria Soledad Dolor, a property developer from Batangas. For many years 98% of the tenants were American servicemen and their dependents. The Gis left already and the community was renamed Barangay Ninoy Aquino.The property was owned by Emiliano Valdez and Maria Soledad Dolor of Batangas was the developer. The Diamond Subdivision in Barangay Balibago was initially named Severina Subdivision and named after its developer Severina Lim but was renamed later. So if you look around looking for an address and saw a street post, for sure the name of that road there’s history behind it.( Btw. I hope road signs under the care of the barangays can be refreshed with new paints.)