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CITY HALL BUILDING OF SAN PABLO

The site of the present City Hall Complex was purchased by the Municipal Government of San Pablo during the administration of Municipal President Inocencio Barleta in 1937, but the actual construction of the townhall was undertaken during the administration of Municipal President Cristeto Brion, and it was inaugurated with Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon as guest of honors on March 30, 1940. According to Hometown Historian Juan B. Hernandez, it was during the ceremonies that Quezon promised that he will readily approved the bill being authored by Assemblyman Tomas D. Dizon proposing the conversion of the town into a city. Quezon fulfilled his promised when he signed Commonwealth Act No. 520 on May 1, 1940.

When the first set of city officials lead by former Laguna Governor Potenciano Malvar as City Mayor took their oath before Interior Secretary Rafael Alunan on January 2, 1941, the town hall was readily converted into city hall to house the Office of the City Mayor, the Office and Session Hall of the Municipal Council, the City Treasurer; the Office of the City Health Officer, and the Office of the Chief of Police.

Former City Engineer Guillermo P. Inciong said the building was designed by Architect Antonio M. Toledo of the Division of Architecture of the defunct Bureau of Public Works as a norm during the Commonwealth Era. The structural stability of the building was tested during the War for Liberation when it was able to withstand the explosion of a 500-pound bomb dropped by the U.S. Air Force plane of returning General Douglas Mac Arthur. (Ruben E. Taningco)

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