Hacienda de Mariquina, A Noble Estate
The History of Marikina and the Ancestral Clans
From Mariquina to Marikina… from a family hacienda to a highly-urbanized city.
The Hacienda de San Isidro de Mariquina, so named by the Jesuits to affirm the dignity of labor and to enlist the cooperation of workers, was one of the biggest land estates in the Philippines at the end of the 1700’s. It gained prominence when it was declared a mayorazgo (noble estate) on August 20, 1794, by the order of the King of Spain. Another 80 years, the mayorazgo came under the administration of an intelligent, strong-willed Marikeña known in History as Doña Teresa dela Paz.
The noble estate, created to “defend and sustain the privileges which His Majesty has been pleased to grant me… and to show my gratitude for such a unique favor…” was the brainchild of Don Antonio Tuazon of Binondo, a chineze mestizo who made his fortune through the Galleon Trade. Don Antonio was elevated to the Spanish nobility by Royal Decree for his services to the Spanish Crown, first against the English invaders of Manila (1762-64) and laterm the Moslems. Thus, his name was changed from Son Tua to Tuason. But he soon died to benefit from the mayorazgo.
The Jesuits were expelled from the Philippines in 1768, and their properties were seized by the Spanish government. One of these is Hacienda de Mariquina, which was purchased by Don Vicente Tuazon at a public auction for 33,750 pesos(in gold and silver coins). Consisting of more than 3,000 hectares, the estate bordered on seven mighty towns: Pasig, Antipolo, Cainta, San Mateo, Mandaluyong (then part of Sta. Ana), Sta. Mesa (then part of Pandacan) and Calooocan.
Later, Don Vicente and his successor, Don Mariano, purchased Hacienda de Sta. Mesa and added it to the mayorazgo. Hacienda de Nagtahan, purchased by Don Vicente’s sister, Sor Petrona, for 7,000 pesos, remained outside the noble estate.
Among the inquilinos (tenants) of Hacienda de Mariquina were two chinese mestizos, Don Antonio de los Santos, who became gobernadorcillo (mayor) in 1792, and Don Tomas dela Paz, who took the position in 1799. Both were described as “troublesome” because of their tendency to question, even in the court, the policies of the hacienda especially on rent.
Meanwhile, Don Jose Maria Tuazon, a noted economist, died in 1856 and his son, Don Severo, became the fourth Lord of the Manor, He was expected to marry a woman of his class. But his family and Manila society were dissapointed when he fell in love with the diminutive, buxom daughter of a tenant family, the De la Paz in their Hacienda de Mariquina. Teresa was to prove herself strong-willed, enterprising, artistic, adn educated (she also could speak Spanish) until Tuason learned to utter her name with respect.
In addition to mothering her seven children, five of them boys, Teresa was encouraged by her husband to involve herself directly in the administration of Hacienda de Mariquina and Hacienda de Sta. Mesa. In 1866, she took their maiden aunts, Doña Petrona and Doña Tomasa Tuason, the administration of some of the sitios in Marikina. Unlike these absentee landlords, Don Severo and Teresa spent a good part of their time in Marikina. There in the Casa Hacienda, she gave birth to their youngest child, Augusto Humberto, who was baptized in the local church. During the couple’s term, the Hacienda underwent its most productive period.
In time, the Hacienda, became the richest in the country; its harvest of rice and vegetables was bountiful. The numerous chineze mestizos who had settled in the valley helped boost production with their farm techniques.
When Don Severo died in 1874, Doña Teresa became joint administrator of the estate and guardian of her children with her brother-in-law Don Gonzalo Tuason. This status she lost a year later when she got married to a lawyer 12 years her junior, Don Benito Cosme Legarda, a cousin of the Tuazons. Unlike her first betrothal, she received the complete blessing of the groom;s family. After a year, she gave him a son, also named Benito.
It was during this period, while not the administrator of the mayorazgo, that she remained active as renter of parts of the hacienda. In 1876, she outbid Don Timoteo Andres, called Tandang Mate, in the management of choice sections of the estate. In the latter part of the 19th century, major tenants rented vast portions, or even the whole hacienda, for at least five years which they, in turn, subleased to other tenants.
What was remarkable about these super inquilinos was that they were almost all women entrepreneurs. They include Doña Petrona and Doña Tomasa Tuason, Doña Timotea Andres (mother of Don Laureano Guevara, founder of the shoe industry of Marikina) and Doña Segunda Salvador, who rented the Hacienda de Sta. Mesa. These Museres Fuertes provided models as well as competition to Doña Teresa.
In the year 1878, her eldest son, Jose Victoriano, died in Germany. As her son’s universal heiress and successor, Doña Teresa became lady of the manor, holder of its usufruct and administrator. Like a magnet, she soon attracted land suits against her. She was fortunate to have married a lawyer for a husband, a fact that helped her fact that helped her face the suits, which involved boundaries, rents, and the demands of cousins, of Tuasons for share in the fruits of the hacienda.
As lady of the manor, she used her wealth to help the poor and the needy. For the education of girls, she bought a spacious house in Marikina to serve as their school. She acquired another house from Don Laureano Guevara with whom she apparently reserved for needy relatives and residents.
Doña Teresa died on April 22,1890 of pneumonia at the age of 49. Among her requests were cash donations for the poor of Mariquina and Tondo and to the San Juan de Dios Hospital.
The blogger, marikenya, is part of the research team and is the assistant editor of the Souvenir Booklet for one of Marikina’s Festivals where this history was published.
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