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Tuesday, December 7, 2010

The Wenceslao Pascual House

Tucked behind an auto supply shop in Barangay Hulo is a charming house - the WENCESLAO PASCUAL HOUSE.  With the trees and plants framing it, you could almost imagine yourself in a kind of English country manor setting.









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Because of the flooding problem, this house has met the same fate as that of many other heritage houses in Malabon.  The present owners have had to raise the level of their grounds up to nearly the level of the windows.  But, it's still so picture-pretty.

The house was built in 1930 by Mr. and Mrs. Silvestre Pascual.  It was designed by the Dean of Filipino architects, Juan F. Nakpil.   The couple's son Dr. Wenceslao Pascual, who became Governor of Rizal Province from 1951 to 1955, was born and raised in this house. The present owner Esperanza is one of his daughters.


The WENCESLAO PASCUAL HOUSE c. 1930s when it was still at least five steps up from the yard.   The house has two unique features:  a curved roof,  and its lightning rods. (Photo from Mrs. Esperanza Pascual-Bautista)

  



The house c.1983.  The fishponds at the back of the house could be seen from the front. (Photo from Mrs. Esperanza Pascual-Bautista)

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Bangus decor apparently to show the original owner's main livelihood.

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The WENCESLAO PASCUAL HOUSE is on the main street and has a fishpond at the back, which is not a common setting compared with most other heritage houses in Malabon.

The back yard c.1970s (Photo from Mrs. Esperanza Pascual-Bautista)



The fishponds at the back today.  Because of the vanishing fishponds along Letre Road and Governor Pascual Avenue, every fishpond still in existence is a delightful and comforting discovery.



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WHY WE'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER GOVERNOR PASCUAL

One of the main roads leading out of Malabon was named after him - so undoubtedly we will always remember Governor Wenceslao Pascual.

Governor Pascual was a doctor of medicine by profession before he became governor of Rizal province.


Up to the early 50s, it used to be all fishponds in that area after Lambingan Bridge in Barangay Concepcion.  Even Sto. Rosario Village and the areas right across its entrance used to be fishponds.

In September 1954 Governor Pascual and the Provincial Board of Rizal decided to build a road through those fishponds going to Caloocan, and of course the affected fishpond owners were not happy about it. Work on the project stopped, and was eventually resumed by Governor Isidro Rodriguez. The road was finally completed in August 1970.   1/

The road was initially called the Concepcion-Potrero Road. 1/    Governor Isidro Rodriguez formally inaugurated the road as the Gov. Wenceslao Pascual Avenue on December 27, 1970.  For many years after it was built, locals used to refer to the road as "Bagong Daan" before they finally got accustomed to calling it by its official name.


Gov. and Mrs. Isidro Rodriguez inaugurated Gov. Pascual Avenue.  The house in the background with the intricate grills used to be the Bautista House.


The marker was located in front of Arellano University/Jose Rizal High School. (Inauguration photos from Mrs. Esperanza Pascual-Bautista)




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This photo taken Dec. 9, 2010 and added to blog Dec. 12, 2010.  I couldn't resist taking a picture of the marker at present.  Imagine how high Governor Pascual Avenue has been upgraded since 1970!


Thanks to Mrs. Esperanza Pascual-Bautista and Chiki Pascual Bautista for the info and the old photos.




1/     Information found on the marker.


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16 comments:

  1. Thanks again for this posting. More people know about Malabon because of you.

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  2. Yes you are so right.... it is a beautiful house, stately and refreshing unique. I use to go there a long time ago...... Hi Chikki my friend, the good old care free days are gone, we all just grew older and wiser I hope. I miss Our Malabon !!!!
    zarina

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  3. Imelda, thanks for your comment. I'm discovering so many things about Malabon just now myself - and I'm happy to share what I discover with everyone!

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  4. Zarina, Hopefully Chiki will get to read your comment. But if he doesn't, I'll surely tell him.

    Thanks for dropping by.

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  5. THIS IS A MEMORABLE HOUSE FOR ME AND MY BARKADA. THIS IS WHERE WE MEET ALMOST EVERYDAY WITH MY BARKADA. I HOPE CHIKI WOULD BE PROUD IF HE SAW THIS.I STILL GO THERE WHEN I GO ON VACATION.

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  6. Oyet, I really love the fact that, not only is this such a charming house, it has fishponds at the back even. I'm so glad that Chiki and his mom have been maintaining it.

    By the way, my husband Rod (Manapat) says hi.

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  7. Thank you for posting this.. I'd like to add some details regarding the owner.. Dr.Wenceslao PASCUAL also called as Gov and Bense. He was born on 28 Sep 1898 and died on 24 Dec 1967. He belongs to the 6th generation of Pedro Pascual and Clemencia Josepha. As researched and compiled by Melencio Pascual and his son Ronnie and Alejandro "Alex" Pascual IIII

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  8. Darqueangel, thank you for your comment and the added info on Gov. Pascual. Most of us pass through the street named after him every day and we have no idea about him.

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  9. It is sad that nobody took care of that historical marker..

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  10. Archie, In a way it served a purpose in showing us just how high Gov. Pascual has been elevated through the years on account of our flooding problem. But, I totally agree with you, I hope they'll now do something about that marker for posterity. Thanks for dropping by.

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  11. hi where is this house located?

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  12. Anonymous, it's on General Luna Street, Hulo - near the Methodist Church.

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  13. because of this blog, i had a Story telling session with my father. ^_^ This was the place where my grandfather hide after he escaped the death march. He was a veteran soldier and Dr. Wenceslao sr. was his uncle and godfather, who protected them during that time. (that was according to my father's legend. hehehe). He told me how beautiful this house was. They used to play here with his siblings when they were young and he met his godfather, Wenceslao jr here. The Pascuals have been nice to them that's why they never forget it. He mentioned the name ate inday too other than his ninong. I asked who's that ate inday, he said, a UP professor and so kind to them.

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    1. Nice to hear about your story-telling session with your father. I hope you get to have more such sessions with him! I wish I had taken more time myself to sit down with my Lola, mom and auntie when they were still around, to find out more about the Malabon of old.

      Thanks for dropping by.

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  14. Hi. I am Chito Pascual Guerrero, the grand son of Dr. Wenceslao Pascual, Sr. I chanced upon this article as I was telling my children about my memories of my childhood and my mother's ancestral home. Thank you for this blog as I was able to relive them with my children and my mother, Susana Pascual Guerrero. May I ask permission to share this on Facebook? God bless!

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    1. Thank you for your comment, Chito. It's certainly nice to reminisce about our childhood memories and share them with our cildren. Yes, please feel free to share this on Facebook.

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