San Teodoro, officially the Municipality of San Teodoro (), is a municipality in the province of Oriental Mindoro, Philippines. According to the , it has a population of people, making it the least populated municipality in the province.
The municipality is classified as partly urban. It has a total land area of . Mineral deposits found in the area are gold and iron.
History The town of San Teodoro was called "Subaan" during the Spanish times however the town center and seat of government was located at what is now Lumangbayan. Officially, Subaan and its neighboring town Baco, were "visitas" of Calapan, the cabecera (capital) of Oriental Mindoro.
In 1828, the visita was headed by Gobernadorcillo Ysidro Crisostomo. He was succeeded by Gobernadorcillo Juan Sextol in 1830. When Subaan became a visita del pueblo y cabecera de Puerto Galera in 1840, Candido Fulgencia's position was reduced to "Cabeza de Barangay". This was also the title conferred on Marcelino Crisostomo in 1841.
Subaan and Baco were again annexed to Calapan in 1852. Melchor Alcones Felix was elected gobernadorcillo with Rufino Arcon and Justo Arandia as cabezas de barangay of 2 barangays. In 1856 they were replaced by Domingo Artillero and Bernardo Arenillo. There were just 3 barangays in 1889 and the cabezas were Faustino Artellero, Telesforo Fernandez and Modesto Alcones. When Subaan was declared a sovereign municipality (pueblo) in 1892, the new gobernadorcillo was Juan Rojas. In 1897, it was Ruperto Arce but the title Gobernadorcillo was changed to "Capitan Municipal". When Capitan Juan Rojas won the election again, it made him the only official who had been addressed by 3 different titles in his capacity as mayor of Subaan. He was the last gobernadorcillo because after his term, it was changed to capitan municipal. He was the last capitan because when Mindoro fell to the hands of the revolutionaries, he took oath under the emissary of Gen. Miguel Malvar on July 1, 1898, as "Presidente Municipal". Pres. Rojas was the first and the last leader of Subaan under the Revolutionary Government of General Emilio Aguinaldo.
Before the turn of the century, Subaan had four cabezerias: Ylag, Tacligan, Bigaan and Pauican plus Subaan Proper (Lumangbayan) which in turn had 7 sitios namely Agbiray, Calabugao (both named after adjacent rivers), Bulaso, Calero, Calumpang, Tanak and Tubigan. During those times only the coastal areas were populated as water boats were the only mode of transportation between barangays. Bigaan was an exception because it had 10 inhabitants despite being inland.
The coming of the Americans In the morning of early February 1902, at the decline of the Philippine–American War, the town people of Subaan proper (now Lumangbayan) were disturbed by the deafening series of horn blasts coming from an American warship escorting a gunboat that anchored off the shores of Subaan Bay. The people headed by Capitan Juan Rojas preferred to flee to the forest and took refuge in the hills of Tanak and Pawikan.
The people had reasons to be apprehensive. Six months earlier, 25 Mindoreños were killed during the American assault of Calapan. Random firing from Calero hilltop felled the priest named Fr. Vicente Jose and former Gobernadorcillo Pedro Luces Luna. Several houses were torched and large cache of firearms and ammunitions were captured. Mindoro is used to be bypassed by the Americans at the height of their campaign against Filipino insurgency. But after the capture of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo in March 1901, they turned their attention to Mindoro, one of the islands in Luzon under Filipino control. The Americans employed many Filipino mercenaries whom they called "Macabebes". These mercenaries were feared more by the Mindoreños because of their ruthlessness.The hoisting of the American flag in the Calapan town plaza on July 29, 1901 ended the short-lived revolutionary government in Mindoro. But the insurgency never came to a halt. Sporadic fighting around the island continued. Americans employed reign of terror. Towns were razed to the ground, sources of drinking water poisoned, animals and harvests were confiscated or burned, and prisoners were maltreated. Houses were demolished for the construction materials needed in building military quarters and stockades and to create spaces for plazas and markets. War between the Americans and Mindoreños became destructive. Each camp resorted to atrocities utilizing kidnapping and hostage taking of families to force rebels to surrender as in the case of Governor Juan Morente of Pinamalayan. The group of Valeriano Gasic of Naujan in turn executed 70 suspected American collaborators.
The sparsely populated Subaan community was defenseless. The US pacification and exploration force leader Commander Lt. Theodore Hutchins and his soldiers went ashore but were surprised to see that the town was deserted. Before noontime, when still nobody showed up, Lt. Hutchins ordered the burning of the town. President Juan Rojas upon seeing what happened from his observation post at Tanak Hills rushed to the shore and approached the Americans. To appease the returning evacuees. Lt. Hutchins through the interpretation of Sgt. Teodoro Viray of Pampanga, offered them a policy of attraction. It was the objective of Governor William H. Taft to “hold the Philippines (as colony) for the benefit of the Filipinos”. He replaced Gen. Arthur MacArthur, the father of Douglas MacArthur of World War II fame, because the military governor treated the Filipinos harshly. Civil Governor-General Taft then launched a sweeping reorganization of central and local government. He later returned to the United States to become the 27th American president.
Founding of San Teodoro Lt. Hutchins saw that the topographic location of Subaan proper was not suitable for future municipal site expansion. The place was surrounded by nipa swamps and marshland, and the shores were muddy and rocky. He asked Pres. Juan Rojas if they could find a broader place for the town site. The president together with the inhabitants led the Americans to the North crossing Subaan River. After about a kilometer walk, the commander was delighted to see the broad, level land facing Subaan Bay with the hills of Balucanag at the rear and the flat land extending up to the banks of Subaan River.
During a meeting with the local leaders, Melecio Apolinar, the Cabeza de Barangay, Simplicio Castillo, Jacinto Jurado, Donato Arcon, and Felix Arguelles, Lt. Theodore Hutchins learned that the place was called Ylag. Sgt. Teodoro Viray suggested that the new town be named "San Teodoro" in honor of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, the American President during that time who had the sovereign authority over the colonial Philippines. Adding the prefix ‘San’ in naming a place was customary during the Spanish period in honor of patron saints thus San Teodoro.
Because the first names of Sgt. Viray and Lt. Hutchins were also Teodoros, this led others to believe that the town was named after them, too. Teodoro Viray was a Macabebe and Theodore Hutchins ordered the burning of Subaan. Being authors of atrocities, the naming of San Teodoro could not be attributed to their infamous deeds.
A temporary town planning was conceived to formalize the future town site. They fell down some trees and outlined 3 streets parallel to the shore. The new streets from the shore going inward were named after the owners of the lots: the Castillos, Arenillos and Jurados. The 3 streets parallel to the shoreline had undergone several name-change due to provincial politicking until they were officially identified as Juan Luna, J.P. Rizal and Mabini Streets. Some residents of Subaan were advised to move to the new site. Being related by blood, the leaders did not have a hard time on the distribution of the lots.
Thereafter, Melecio Apolinar was the designated president. The other officials were Simplicio Castillo, Jacinto Jurado, Aquilino Arenillo, Juan Rojas and Angel Aldaba. Subaan proper became a barrio of San Teodoro and was called Lumangbayan, meaning “former poblacion”. Ilag is still used today to refer to a neighboring barangay north of Poblacion but it now extends up to the boundary with Puerto Galera near Bisay-an River.
During that time, San Teodoro extends up to Pulang Tubig in the south (now part of Baco) up to Matala on the north (Km. 37) along the shores of Subaan Bay and Varadero Bay (now part of Puerto Galera), and to a limitless boundary on the west.
The new municipal government of San Teodoro was short lived. In 1903, together with Baco and Puerto Galera, San Teodoro was absorbed to become a barrio of Calapan as organized by the Philippine Commission headed by Gov. William H. Taft. In 1905, the new Philippine Commission Act No. 1280 decreed that the 15 municipalities of the entire island (Mindoro was divided into "Oriental" and "Occidental" only in 1950 by virtue of Republic Act No. 205) be reduced to eight. Abra de Ylog, formerly a part of Puerto Galera, was added to Mamburao together with Paluan.
Foundation Day
In 1921, due to some political maneuvering, San Teodoro was annexed to Baco as its barrio. Representative M.P. Leuterio lobbied that San Teodoro be incorporated with the newly reconstituted town of Baco, his hometown, in order to gain patronage from his constituents. He was supported by his ally, Gov. Juan Liboro. When their rivals, Juan Luces Luna and Arturo Ignacio were elected representative and governor respectively, they reversed the works of their predecessors.
Act No. 3498 was passed by congress on December 8, 1928 declaring San Teodoro, Baco and Mansalay as separate municipalities. Our Lady of Immaculate Conception is the patron saint of San Teodoro whose feast day is celebrated every December 8. However, the official founding was held two months later on February 16, 1929, with Governor Arturo Ignacio and Congressman Juan Luces Luna officiating the ceremonies. The official observation and celebration of the founding of San Teodoro started on February 16, 1941, until today.
A street was named after Congressman Juan Luna to show the town's gratitude for his effort to make San Teodoro a sovereign municipality.
People In 1903, there were only 302 residents in San Teodoro, the smallest among the settlements in the province and elsewhere in the country. There was a slight increase in population by 1918 (1,069 residents). Population doubled by 1939 with 2,911 residents. The density per sq. kilometer was less than 5 persons before 1918.
It was the gold rush in San Teodoro of that year that brought the influx of migrants from all over the country majority of which were Bicolanos. San Teodoro became famous as No. 1 gold producer in the whole of Mindoro and became known as the logging center of the province. It once had the largest forest reserves supplying the country's need for lumber, the rest being exported to other places of the world. The "Valbueco Inc." and "Philippine Matchwood Co." employed many workers and planters in response to the reforestation program of the government. People from adjacent Batangas, Bauan and Isla Verde migrated to San Teodoro.
Religion Owing to the long Spanish rule, the people of San Teodoro were mostly Catholics. After 1920 some changes in religious dominance took place. The migration of Batangueños, most of whom were Aglipayans, caused the town to be multi-sectarian.
In the morning of December 9, 1920, the Parish Priest from Puerto Galera was not able to come ashore due to sudden change of weather condition and instead proceeded to Calapán. Pres. Melecio Apolinar instructed the intrepid sailors from Isla Verde to cross the sea and fetch a priest from Batangas. They brought with them an Aglipayan priest thus weddings and baptisms were all officiated by him. For almost three years, many were converted to Aglipayan, Salve, Protestant, Adventist and Iglesia ni Cristo faiths.