Before the concept that would become Quezon City was conceived, the Quezon City we know today was a patchwork of different settlements that belonged to different jurisdictions and/or were part of vast haciendas owned by influential landowners like the Ortigas and Tuason families. Moreso, these areas were far removed from the city center that was Intramuros and were not as developed as the suburbs around the Walled City, like Tondo, Binondo, Quiapo, and Ermita. Nevertheless, they have their own rich histories to tell, even if fragments of these histories remain today.
One such community happens to be the first and the oldest in Quezon City. And it was a community that was established by a Catholic saint nonetheless.
A Franciscan Retreat North of Manila
As soon as the Spaniards under Miguel Lopez de Legazpi established Spanish rule in Luzon by 1571, the Catholic Church wasted no time in reaching other parts of the island and the rest of the Philippines as well to spread the Catholic faith. The Franciscan Order founded by St. Francis of Asissi were among the earliest religious orders to establish itself in the country, arriving in Manila in 1577. (the second after the Augustinians who arrived with Legazpi).
The Franciscans immediately went about and spread the faith and, in the process, helped establish new communities such as Santa Ana, Sampaloc, and Pandacan, among many neighboring towns and provinces. The pace of the evangelism work they were doing can be considered frenetic and it was taking a toll on the health of the Franciscan missionaries tasked to do such work.
A need soon arose for a place where the Franciscan missionaries to take respite from their activities and have a chance to retreat and be attuned to God.
A Saint Builds the Community
To spearhead the work of finding a suitable site for their retreat place, the Franciscans turned to a Franciscan who had recently arrived in the country: Fr. Pedro Bautista.
Born in Spain in 1542, Fr. Pedro Bautista arrived in the country in 1584 and was first assigned to teach music at Santa Ana. He would become a prominent figure in the order and helped establish communities in present-day Rizal, Laguna, Bulacan, and Quezon provinces, and many towns in the Bicol area.
Bautista was among the first to realize the need for a retreat place for the Franciscans. So when the work was given to him, he wasted no time finding a suitable spot, a 250-hectare land he found northeast of Manila, with a hilly terrain overlooking Manila Bay. He sought the permission of the Spanish colonial government to acquire the land, which the government agreed to on February 17, 1590.
The place would be named San Francisco del Monte or St. Francis of the Mountain, in honor of the order’s founder and the site’s geography. Bautista would build a convent and a chapel made of bamboo and thatched nipa palm dedicated to the Marian image Our Lady of Montecelli. This would become the home base of sorts for the Franciscans, with a retreat house for missionaries, a novitiate, and a relaxation place as well for colonial officials.
Fr. Pedro Bautista would eventually be sent to Japan as the ambassador of the Spanish colonial government. However, the Japanese were beginning to view foreigners, especially those teaching the Christian faith, with suspicion in the midst of fears of invasion by foreign forces. Thus, Bautista and 25 others were executed by crucifixion on orders of the Japanese authorities in Kyoto in 1597. Because of this Bautista and his companions were regarded as martyrs by the Catholic Church and were proclaimed as saints in 1862.
From Church to Basilica
Meanwhile, the church built by St. Pedro Bautista underwent major changes over the years. The bamboo and nipa chapel was replaced by a wooden structure in 1591, and in 1593 was fortified by clay and natural just as the convent was also constructed. The chapel was rebuilt with adobe in 1599 but was destroyed during the Chinese uprising led by Limahong in 1639, during which the Chinese rebels used the church as headquarters.
The church and convent were eventually rebuilt, with works completed by 1699. It was briefly occupied by Filipino revolutionaries during the Philippine Revolution from 1896-1898. The church would undergo a major renovation in 1969, when it was expanded by removing the northeastern wall and a new nave was constructed northeastward from the wall.
The church was declared an archdiocesan shrine by the Archdiocese of Manila on February 25, 2001, owing to its historical and cultural significance. It was also given a new name: the Santuario de San Pedro Bautista, after the saint who helped build the church and the San Francisco del Monte community. Then in September 14, 2020, the Holy See elevated the church’s status to minor basilica.
The Community Evolves
The establishment of the church and convent also brought about the development of San Francisco del Monte into the thriving community that it is today. It first became part of the town of Caloocan before it was carved out in 1939 to become part of Quezon City.
San Francisco del Monte is today considered an “unofficial district” of Quezon City, comprised of the modern-day official barangays of Damayan, (where the church and convent are located) Del Monte (the sort of district center), Mariblo, Paltok and Paraiso, as well as at least (it’s unclear how much was the extent of the old San Francisco del Monte) parts of Bungad, San Antonio, and Veterans Village.
Today, the remote community of San Francisco del Monte is an urbanized neighborhood with all the good and the grim that comes with it. Fortunately, there still remains a part of the community that has kept the charm that has attracted St. Pedro Bautista and the Franciscans to build their retreat centuries ago.
Acknowledgements as well to OFM Philippines, ofmphilarchives, and Wikipedia
