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Paete | |
|---|---|
| Municipality of Paete | |
    (from top to bottom, left to right) Paete Church, National & Local Heroes Monument, Ibaba del Norte, Aerial view of Paete | |
 Flag  Seal | |
| Nickname(s): "The Carving Capital of the Philippines & The Arts Capital of Laguna" | |
 Map of Laguna with Paete highlighted | |
 Interactive map of Paete | |
.svg)  Paete Location within thePhilippines | |
| Coordinates:14°22′N121°29′E / 14.37°N 121.48°E /14.37; 121.48 | |
| Country | Philippines |
| Region | Calabarzon |
| Province | Laguna |
| District | 4th district |
| Founded | July 25, 1580[1] |
| Barangays | 9 (Barangays) |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Ronald “Bokwet” B. Cosico |
| • Vice Mayor | Lorena B. Velasco |
| • Representative | Benjamin C. Agarao Jr. |
| • Municipal Councilor | Members
|
| • Electorate | 18,280 voters (2025) |
| Area | |
• Total | 55.02 km2 (21.24 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 168 m (551 ft) |
| Highest elevation | 536 m (1,759 ft) |
| Lowest elevation | −1 m (−3.3 ft) |
| Population (2024 census)[4] | |
• Total | 25,254 |
| • Density | 459.0/km2 (1,189/sq mi) |
| • Households | 5,883 |
| Economy | |
| • Income class | 4th municipal income class |
| • Poverty incidence | 7.02 |
| • Revenue | ₱ 175.8 million (2022) |
| • Assets | ₱ 2,324 million (2022) |
| • Expenditure | ₱ 140.9 million (2022) |
| • Liabilities | ₱ 29.15 million (2022) |
| Service provider | |
| • Electricity | First Laguna Electric Cooperative (FLECO) |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (PST) |
| ZIP code | 4016 |
| PSGC | |
| IDD : area code | +63 (0)49 |
| Native languages | Tagalog |
| Website | www |
Paete, officially theMunicipality of Paete (Tagalog:Bayan ng Paete), is amunicipality in theprovince ofLaguna,Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 25,254 people.[6]
Along the shores of picturesqueLaguna de Bay. It was founded in 1580 by Spanish friarsJuan de Plasencia and Diego de Oropesa of the Franciscan Order. It is believed that the earliest inhabitants were ofMalay lineage, coming all the way fromBorneo in their swift and sturdy boats called "Balangay".
The name of Paete is derived from the Tagalog wordpaet, which meanschisel. The proper pronunciation of the town's name isPī-té, longi, short gutturalê, sound at the end. The town was referred to as "Piety" by the American Maryknoll Missioners when they came to the town in the late 1950s.[7]
The Spanish friars had a tradition of naming towns they built in honor of saints. Paete was an exception. Legend has it that there was once a young Franciscan priest who was tasked by his superior to visit their newly founded settlements alongside Laguna de Bay. The priest knew little about the terrain so he asked a native the name of the place. The latter misinterpreted the young friar, thinking that the former wanted to know the name of the tool he was using. He answered,Paét (chisel), thus, the name Paete.
Sargento Mayor Juan de Salcedo was the first Spaniard to set foot in Paete. He was on his way to explore the gold-rich region ofParacale inBicol. His men first encountered some resistance from the settlers of what is nowCainta inRizal Province, but defeated the lightly armed natives. Then he ventured to the lakeside barangays of Laguna de Bay on his way to Bicol.
Around 1580, Paete was established as a pueblo by the Friars. Juan de Plasencia and Diego Oropesa. Due to a death of the prior of Paete at that time, Paete was annexed to the Convent ofLumban. Then in 1600, Paete became a barrio ofPangil. In 1602, Paete became independent town having its own convent and was christened Pueblo de San Lorenzo in honor of the town's first patron saint. The pueblo consisted not only of Paete, but included the neighboring towns ofPakil, San Antonio, Longos andKalayaan.[8] In 1671, Fray Francisco Soller reenacted the Via Crucis to resuscitate the people's waning faith. He carried a cross from the town proper up to Mt. Ping-as in Pakil. In 1676, when Pakil became a separate pueblo, the townspeople of Paete wanted crosses of their own, so they built and located them insitio Santa Ana, and named the siteTatlongKrus (Three Crosses). Paete regained its full township status only in 1850.[citation needed]
In 1899, American forces launched the Laguna campaign to subjugate the whole province and squelch insurrection. On the last leg of the campaign on April 12, anAmerican battalion of 200 men invaded Paete but met strong resistance from an inexperienced force of less than 50 men. The town was subdued but it proved to be a costly battle for the Americans.
In 1942, Japanese troops occupied Paete, local recognized guerrillas and ongoing troops under the Philippine Commonwealth Army units were sieges and conflicts in Paete was fought against the Imperial Japanese military and local collaborators from 1942 to 1944 until retreat by local guerrillas from the Japanese hands. In 1945, combined Filipino and American soldiers and guerrillas liberated Paete and defeated the Japanese.
The town has had a long reputation for its craftsmen highly skilled inwood carving and its embellishment. In 1887,José Rizal described Paete as a town where "carpenter shops" were issuing images "even those more rudely carved" (chapter VI,Noli Me Tangere). Even now, its inhabitants (calledPaeteños orPaeteñas) continue with their centuries-old tradition in carving and painting. Its statues, pulpits, murals and bas relief are found in churches, palaces and museums all over the world, including theSt. Peter's Basilica in Rome,St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York, the Mission Dolorosa in San Francisco, the San Cayetano Church in Mexico, the St. Joseph's shrine in Santa Cruz, California, and various churches in the Philippines. The official town hero is not a statesman nor a soldier but a woodcarver, the master artisanMariano B. Madriñan, whoseobra maestra, the lifelike Mater Dolorosa, was honored by the King of Spain with a prestigious award in Amsterdam in 1882. The town was proclaimed "the Carving Capital of the Philippines" on March 15, 2005, by Philippine PresidentArroyo.[9]
Not only in wood, but Paeteños found a way to showcase the craftsmanship in different materials and medium. Ice sculptures and fruit and vegetable carvings done byPaeteños abound on buffet tables of cruise ships and world-class hotels and restaurants. Today the town thrives mainly on the sale and export of woodcarvings andtaka, tourism, poultry industry, farming and fishing.
Taka,papier maché made using carved wooden sculpture used as a mold, then a layers of paper and paste was used to make the wooden mold into an art piece was also originated from Paete. It is also believed that the modernyo-yo, which originated in the Philippines, was invented in Paete.[10][1]
In Paete, Holy Week orSemana Santa is a blend of faith, culture, and artistry where the local carvers' sculpture is the center role of the tradition. Paete is known for its almost a week of Lenten Processions during the Holy Week, which starts on Palm Sunday up to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday.
Known as the "Town of the Moving Saints", Paete has 2 notable moving saints: theMater Dolorosa, which is carved by master artisanMariano B. Madriñan around 1882, andSanta Veronica. The moving saints, together with other sculptures of saints, are paraded through a Solemn Procession (Prusisyon) to the whole town of Paete, and in between the Solemn Procession, the traditional "Salubong" in different parts of the town was enacted.
Also, during the week-long tradition, locals dressed as Roman Soldiers (Hudiyo), wearing carved wooden masked, paraded through the streets of Paete for the traditional "Senakulo". This Lenten play dramatizes the life, passion, and death of Jesus Christ.
The Paete Ukit-Taka Festival celebrates the town's renowned woodcarving (Ukit) and papier maché (Taka) artistry, showcasing local crafts, street dances, band exhibitions, and cultural events. It is usually held every3rd week of September, and the event highlights Paete as the "Carving Capital of the Philippines". Ukit-Taka Festival key activities include the Art & Craft Showcasing, Street Dancing & Parade, Ginoo at Binibining Paete, and Cultural Performances.
The Kasiningang Paete is an event held every February, corresponds toFebruary being the National Arts Month. Paete is known as the "Arts Capital of Laguna", to showcase the arts and crafts of the town, Kasiningang Paete highlights the skills of the locals through different art making competitions (e.g. Ice carving, Fruit carving, Clay sculpting, Poster making, etc.)
The Salibanda Festival is a vibrant cultural and religious month-long celebration held in Paete, honoring the Santo Niño (Holy Child Jesus) by splashing water to each other. The term “Salibanda” comes from “Saliw sa Banda” meaning “dance with the band” reflecting the festival’s lively combination of faith and festivity. The celebration begins with a mass and a fluvial parade on Laguna de Bay, featuring the statue of the Santo Niño, followed by a street parade through the town accompanied by marching bands. Salibanda originated from Paete by the IFI Church (Aglipay) as an honor to Santo Niño, it is then spread and celebrated to the nearby towns and communities.
One of the festival’s most distinctive features is the water-splashing tradition, symbolizing baptism, joy, and blessings, participants oftenwear red attire to honor the Santo Niño. It isheld every Sundays of January, the last Sunday usually the biggest and highlight of the celebration. Salibanda festival brings together the locals and visitors in a shared expression of devotion and community spirit.
Paete is located at the north-eastern part ofLaguna. From Manila, Paete can be reached passing throughRizal Province viaManila East Road or viaSouth Luzon Expressway. It is 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) fromSanta Cruz, 102 kilometres (63 mi) fromManila, and 63 kilometres (39 mi) fromLucena.
Paete is politically subdivided into 9barangays, as indicated in the matrix below. [11] Each barangay consists ofpuroks and some havesitios.
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| PSGC | Barangay | Population | ±% p.a. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024[12] | 2010[13] | |||||
| 043420001 | Bagumbayan | 21.8% | 5,503 | 4,556 | ▴ | 1.38% |
| 043420002 | Bangkusay | 1.9% | 474 | 542 | ▾ | −0.97% |
| 043420003 | Ermita | 2.2% | 556 | 583 | ▾ | −0.34% |
| 043420004 | Ibaba del Norte | 12.3% | 3,108 | 3,024 | ▴ | 0.20% |
| 043420005 | Ibaba del Sur | 9.0% | 2,277 | 2,630 | ▾ | −1.04% |
| 043420006 | Ilaya del Norte | 9.5% | 2,392 | 1,973 | ▴ | 1.41% |
| 043420007 | Ilaya del Sur | 6.2% | 1,571 | 1,390 | ▴ | 0.89% |
| 043420008 | Maytoong | 7.2% | 1,809 | 1,790 | ▴ | 0.08% |
| 043420009 | Quinale | 28.7% | 7,255 | 7,035 | ▴ | 0.22% |
| Total | 25,254 | 23,523 | ▴ | 0.52% | ||
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1903 | 3,047 | — |
| 1918 | 4,183 | +2.13% |
| 1939 | 4,536 | +0.39% |
| 1948 | 5,546 | +2.26% |
| 1960 | 7,443 | +2.48% |
| 1970 | 11,601 | +4.53% |
| 1975 | 14,733 | +4.91% |
| 1980 | 16,383 | +2.15% |
| 1990 | 20,579 | +2.31% |
| 1995 | 21,809 | +1.09% |
| 2000 | 23,011 | +1.16% |
| 2007 | 24,696 | +0.98% |
| 2010 | 23,523 | −1.76% |
| 2015 | 25,096 | +1.24% |
| 2020 | 24,945 | −0.13% |
| 2024 | 25,254 | +0.30% |
| Source:Philippine Statistics Authority[14][15][13][16][17] | ||
In the 2024 census, the population of Paete was 25,254 people,[18] with a density of 460 inhabitants per square kilometre or 1,200 inhabitants per square mile.
Paete is predominantly Roman Catholics. The only Catholic Church in the town is theSaint James the Apostle Parish Church which was first built in 1646.
Paete is also apilgrimage site. One of the primary products of the town's woodcarving industry are carving ofpu-on or images of saints.[19] The town's patron saint is St. James the Apostle, also known as St. James the Great. Residents celebrate his feast day every 25th of July. The 1st Patron Saint of Paete is St. Lawrence, the deacon.
St. Anthony the Abbot is a secondary patron of the town and his feast is celebrated by the townsfolk every January 17th. The patron has a stone chapel locally known asErmita as a shrine dedicated to him. There is a town legend related to the saint where a town native sneaked in the chapel during aconflagration and took a statue the St. Anthony to bathe it in the river. Following this, it began to rain and the fire was extinguished, an event considered as a miracle by the townsfolk.[20]
Poverty incidence of Paete
Source:Philippine Statistics Authority[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]
The Paete Schools District Office governs all educational institutions within the municipality. It oversees the management and operations of all private and public, from primary to secondary schools.[29]
Places adjacent to Paete | |
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