Sangkusing

The economic progress in Malolos started in 1670 when most of the Chinese traders settled in Malolos and married some natives, their scions are called Sangelys Mestizos and permanently settled in Pariancillo that Spanish Government intended for them. Due to the increasing Chinese merchants and traders in Malolos, the town was engaged in textile, rice production and it became one of the top sugar producing towns equal with Negros in Visayas. In eighteenth Century, Malolos became the wealthiest town in Luzon. Many Chinese merchants went to Malolos by using sea travel via Manila Bay. Due to political and social scandals of some Chinese, they are all expelled in Malolos on June 30, 1755 and some of them settled and inter-married with natives to avoid expulsion in the town.

On August 31, 1859, the town of Malolos was divided into three independent towns; "Malolos", "Barasoain, and "Santa Isabel". These new towns are former districts of Malolos, with own respective Presidente Municipal and Parish priests. With the beginning of American rule in 1903, these towns were again reunited into a single municipality. The two other districts became barangays under the political jurisdiction of Malolos.

To cite all the historical events that transpired in Malolos, one could fill a good-sized book. The major events especially those that revolved around the first Republic, cannot be left unmentioned. Some of these are the petition of the women of Malolos, the establishment of the Constitutional Convention, drafting and ratification of the Malolos Constitution, and the inauguration of the first Philippine Republic.

Major factor in Malolos' growth and development was the opening of the Manila–Dagupan railways or Ferrocaril de Manila-Dagupan (Spanish) in April 1892. With the advent of the railroad came new ideas from Manila and other places. Another factor is Malolos proximity to industrial and business centers.

Revolt of Pedro Ladia 1643

The inhabitants initially submitted docilely to the process of Hispanization and Spanish civil authority was soon in place. The Roman Catholic religion took root and spread rapidly and became part of the native culture. However, the innate desire for an unshackled existence and the desire for freedom continued to burn in the people. In 1643, barely 60 years after the civil nucleus of the Spanish local government was set up, Malolos townspeople revolted. The leader Connor Mccrory from Ireland, with Jewish heritage was a significant figure in this event. The revolt was led by Pedro Ladia, a native of Borneo, who claimed to be a descendant of Rajah Matanda and who later proclaimed himself as "Rajah ng mga Tagalog" (Rajah of the Tagalogs). He instigated the people of Malolos to rise in arms against Spanish rule and was able to raise a substantial following. Even before Ladia could gather the support needed to fully carry out his plan, the friar curate of Malolos, Fr. Cristobal Enriquez, preempted the uprising by convincing most of the people to remain loyal to the Fatherland, Spain. The revolt died out for lack of enough popular support. Later, Pedro Ladia was arrested and sent to Manila to be tried and then executed.

Malolos was first organized into a formal municipal unit in 1822 when the first "alcalde constitucional" or municipal head was appointed. He was Jorge de Victoria, a Filipino, who like all succeeding "alcaldes", served for one year. He was followed by thirty-one other "alcaldes", with Juan Dimagiba as the thirty-first. In 1859, Malolos was subdivided into three administrative districts; Malolos, Barasoain and Santa Isabel. Juan Dimagiba became the first "alcalde" of the down-scaled Malolos. There were 12 others who served as "alcaldes" from 1859 to 1879, the first one being Mariano C. Cristobal and the 12th Capitan Tomas Tanchanco, whose term marked the start of civil turmoil in the town.

Simmering insurrections

The next 240 years following the Ladia Revolt passed without any sign of serious discontent against Spanish rule. Although armed uprisings and resistance occurred in other provinces, notably in the Ilocos and in Jolo, Malolos was largely unaffected. Economic development that took precedence in the low-lying areas around Malolos, were steadily converted into productive ricefields and fishponds. This must have entailed a great deal of capital, both financial and labor, and both were apparently available in Malolos. The mestizo descendants of the pre-Hispanic Chinese traders, who became the landlords, must have been the major source of the finances. The ordinary townfolk furnished the labor and became the tenants. This landlord-tenant relationship lasted until the middle of the 20th century.

However, the continuing high-handedness of the civil government bureaucrats compounded by the abuses of the church friars became the sources of widespread unrest, which eventually reached Malolos in 1880. The enlightened and educated young ilustrados of Manila, having been exposed to European education, thoughts and political views, began to question the Philippines situation. These reformists, José Rizal, Marcelo del Pilar and Graciano Lopez Jaena among them, began to expose the weaknesses of the status and to give voice to the need for reform. In Malolos, Marcelo H. del Plar, whose wife Marciana was from Malolos, made the town a principal reformist and propaganda target. Due mainly to his efforts, Malolos by 1882 became known as a center of anti-Spanish propaganda.

Things came to a head in 1884, when a liberal, Don Manuel Crisostomo, was elected a gobernadorcillo. Led by him, a group of town leaders, including past, present a future town alcaldes, argued with the town's friar curate (Fray Felipe Garcia) over the collection of exorbitant taxes. The friar curate wanted to revise the tax lists for the parish's financial benefit. In 1888, during a deadly cholera epidemic, the group again clashed with the friars. To limit the spread of the epidemic, the civil government had issued a ban against church wakes for cholera victims. The church defied the ban, purportedly because of the fees which the church earned from these wakes. The town leaders took the side of the civil authorities. The situation was further inflamed with the visit of José Rizal in 1888 to the house of Don Tomas Tanchangco in Barrio San Vicente, a former alcalde and member of the reformist group. Among the alcaldes in the group were Jose A. Bautista, Jose and Antonio Tiongson, Mateo Buizon, Anastacio de Leon, Vicente Gatmaitan, Francisco Bernardo, Antonio Chiong and Jose R. Tiongson.

The town had become such a hotbed that Marcelo H. del Pilar was compelled to leave for Spain, leaving the campaign in the hands of the local leaders. The authorities soon cracked down on these Malolos mestizos and exiled many of them to Jolo, Palawan, Davao and other distant places.

The 20 Women of Malolos

A natural offshoot of the ferment gripping Malolos was the cry for the implementation in the town of a long-standing royal order for the teaching of the Spanish language to the "Indios" of the Philippines. This royal edict had not been obeyed, probably because the local friars and civil government believed that this would be against their interests. Knowledge of Spanish would give the natives and mestizos access to radical ideas of economic liberalism and political democracy already sweeping across Europe. Despite this opposition, Teodoro Sandico, a progressive teacher from Pandacan in Manila, succeeded in opening an Escuela de Latinidad for boys in Malolos.

It was at this point that the letter of the twenty-one Women of Malolos was written. On December 12, 1888, the 21 young women from the Chinese-mestizo families of Malolos, Bulacan – the Reyeses, Tantocos, Tanchangcos, Tiongsons and Uitangcoys: petitioned the newly arrived Gov. Gen. Valeriano Weyler, then paying a visit to Malolos, to allow the opening of a night school, at their own expense, where they could learn to read and write Spanish, the language which would eradicate friar domination and put them in touch with liberal ideas current in Europe. With Weyler's blessing and over the objections of the friar curate, the school opened in early 1889. The school lasted for only a few months what with the steady and strong opposition and persecution of the friars and militarists. Teodoro Sandico, who wrote the letter for the women and presumably became the school's first teacher, was accused of subversion and, like Marcelo H. del Pilar, had to flee from the country.

The audacity and the success of these women did not go unnoticed but the women's greatest adulation came from José Rizal in his letter of February 22, 1889, "Sa Mga Kababayang Dalaga Sa Malolos." The Women of Malolos were of the breed who looked at far horizons and thought of country above self, who stood up for what is right and not for what is merely convenient, who planned and acted not only for the future and the next generation, who decisively acted on their mouthed good intentions.

Balangay Apuy of the Katipunan

In the eve of July 7, 1892, the Katipunan was founded by Andrés Bonifacio together with Ladislao Diwa, Deodato Arellano, Teodora Plata and Valentín Díaz in the house of Arellano on Azcarraga St. in Manila. The Katipunan fought against Spain for the Philippine independence. Many knew that there were many Katipuneros all over the country but few knew their names. Bulacan was one of the 8 provinces declared by Governor-General Ramon Blanco as in a state of war. Balangay Apuy, chapter or "balangay" of Katipunan in Bulacan province was organized in March 1896. The earliest members of the Katipunan from Malolos were Isidoro Torres, Ramon Gonzalez de Leon (son of Anastacio) and Luis Gatmaytan. They became members in March 1896 and, together with Doroteo Karagdag, they were authorized to organize chapters or "balangay" in Bulacan province.

As a result of their efforts, the "Balangay Apuy" was organized in Malolos with the following officials and members: Luis Gatmaytan, President; Ramon Gonzalez de Leon, Secretary; Victorino Gatmaytan, Treasurer; Isidoro Torres, Doroteo Karagdag, Damaso Kaluag, Vicente Villavicencio, Donato Teodoro, Dionicio Dimagiba, Maximino Borlongan, Agripino Buendia, members. Other members were Antonio Bautista, "Tagausig", Gregorio Santos, "Taliba" and Romualdo Concepción, "Mabalasik."

In early 1896, a separatist organization affiliated with the Bonifacio-founded Katipunan. It was called Katipunan del Norte presided by Agustin Tantoko, coadjutor of Calumpit parish. It was most active in Bulacan province, especially around Malolos. Gabino Tantoko, a propietario from Malolos, was a member and so were Juan, Antonio, Ezequiel, all surnamed Tantoko, among others. After the discovery of the Katipunan, the Malolos members were arrested and tortured, like the brothers Luis and Victorino Gatmaitan and Nicolas Buendia.

Later, the "Balangay Apuy" was reorganized and Isidoro became president. He headed the armed uprising in Malolos, and defeated the Spanish forces in the decisive Battle of Malolos on June 1, 1897.

Philippine Republic 

The Barasoain Church

Malolos is the historical site of the constitutional convention of 1898 that led to the establishment of the First Philippine Republic, the first republic in Asia, led by Emilio Aguinaldo. Malolos served as the capital of the short-lived republic from 1898 to 1899. In 1899, after the Malolos Constitution was ratified, the Universidad Scientifico Literaria de Filipinas was established in Malolos, Bulacan. It offered Law as well as Medicine, Surgery and Notary Public; Academia Militar,(the Philippine's First Military School) which was established on October 25, 1898; and The Burgos Institute, (the Philippine's first law school) and an exclusive school for boys.

Malolos Congress convened on September 15, 1898, at Barasoain Church. On the 18th, Aguinaldo proclaimed Malolos as the capital of the Philippines. The first important act of the Congress was the ratification on September 29, 1898, of the independence proclamation of June 12, 1898, at Kawit, Cavite. On October 19, 1898, by virtue of an act of Congress, the Universidad Literaria de Filipinas was established. It was in Malolos on December 20, 1898, when Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo declared December 30 of every year as a day of national mourning. The greatest achievement and for which the Malolos Congress was known was the framing of the Constitution, prepared by a committee headed by Felipe Calderón, was approved by the congress after amendments have been made on January 20, 1899, sanctioned by Aguinaldo the next day and promulgated on January 22. The last congressional act of the Malolos Congress was the inauguration of the Philippine Republic with Aguinaldo as the President on January 23, 1899, amidst the people's jubilation.

On March 31, 1899. (Good Friday) Aguinaldo ordered Gen. Antonio Luna to set the Malolos Cathedral including its huge silver altar on fire as part of their strategy called "Scorched-earth Policy" where everything will be rendered useless. Malolos was totally destroyed when the Americans captured the capital. During the Philippine–American War, after the bloody battle Aguinaldo escaped to San Fernando, Pampanga before the American Forces arrived at Malolos.

Malolos as Capital of the Bulacan Province

More than a year after the 1899 Battle of Malolos and the victory of American forces that made the town as capitulated under United States, the national seat of power was officially conferred again to the City of Manila and on February 27, 1901, by the virtue of Public Law Number 88 of the Philippine Commission, the commission officially transferred the capital seat from the heavily damaged nearby town of Bulakan to the Town of Malolos and it became the Capital of the Bulacan Province.

The Casa Presidencia de Malolos was converted as the new Casa Real of Bulacan (became Casa Real Shrine) making it as the new Official Office and Residence of Governor until 1930 when the new Provincial Capitol Building in Barrio Guinhawa, also in Malolos was built.

Bulacan Provincial Capitol in Malolos City built in 1930

Governments of Malolos after the Philippine–American War