FINDING THE FOUNDATION: FORMERLY A BARRIO BELONGING TO THE VILLAGE OF BAY TO LOS BAŇOS, LAGUNA

Abstract

This study deals with the history of Los Baňos, Laguna, Philippines. It compared the
recognized history of the town of Los Baňos and available primary and secondary sources. The
researcher traced the sources cited in the in the official website of the municipality that states
September 17, 1615 as it’s foundation day. In the year 2015, the researcher was part of the
historical committee under the Quadricentennial Committee that was formed by the local
government of Los Baňos to come up with a timeline of the history of the town in connection
to the celebration of the 400th founding anniversary of the town. In doing the timeline, the
researcher found out that there are no primary sources that explicitly cites the date (September
17, 1615) as the foundation of the town of Los Baňos. With a combination of various sources,
the researcher was able to identify the correct foundation day of the town of Los Baňos.
Furthermore, the researcher believes that there was actually an error in the translation of
primary sources which was originally written in Spanish that lead people to believe the
foundation day is September 17, 1615.