A Brief History of Masonic District Nueva Ecija East and Aurora

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The Groundwork

The former Masonic District Nueva Ecija South & Aurora has 19 Lodges under its jurisdiction that is stretched 238 kilometers from Gapan City along Nueva Ecija’s boundary with Bulacan in Central Luzon, to Casiguran near Aurora’s boundaries with Quirino and Isabela in Cagayan Valley. And over time, governing such a wide geographic area has become challenging due to the resources and time required and has resulted in unintended consequences.

Lodges in the fringes felt distant and somehow detached to the District’s seat of governance in Cabanatuan City, and some of them were disappointed that they are often left mostly by themselves to stand in vigil to honor the memory of a departed brother, a most solemn and important obligation where the District is expected to mobilize the participation of all Lodges within its jurisdiction.

Recognizing these constraints, WB Monico G. Delgado, a Past Master of Nueva Ecija Masonic Lodge No. 73 and Zaragoza Masonic Lodge No. 263 and the acknowledged Founding Father of Model Masonic Lodge No. 373 who all belonged to Masonic District Nueva Ecija South & Aurora, made representations to consider reorganizing the District into two.

With more than 50 years of serving the Craft, Kuya Monic as he is fondly called has witnessed the evolution of Nueva Ecija and Aurora from a single to multiple Masonic Districts.  He knows that this came to be for a practical reason, and that is to enable the Grand Master to govern effectively and efficiently through his delegated representatives to ensure that the principles, tenets and regulations of Freemasonry are being adhered to by subordinate Lodges.

But with 19 Lodges scattered across 5,360.73 square kilometers which is at least 60 percent of the total land area of two provinces, maintaining equity and focus has become a challenge. Discussions on dividing Masonic District Nueva Ecija South & Aurora persisted and Kuya Monic kept bringing up the idea for the consideration of the Grand Lodge and the District. 

It was during the incumbency of MW Abraham N. Tolentino in 2017 when the Grand Lodge started to consider the division of Masonic District Nueva Ecija South & Aurora and finally in 2019, MW Agapito S. Suan Jr. issued Edict No. 327 to reorganize the Masonic Districts in the National Capitol Region and Central Luzon. 

Edict 327 and the Reorganization

On the 6th day of December 2019, MW Agapito S. Suan Jr., Grand Master of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines, signed Edict 327 that created new Masonic Districts in the National Capital Region and Central Luzon.

In issuing the Edict, the Grand Master exercised his executive powers in pursuit of his mandated duty of carefully supervising the Craft, with the rationale of minimizing travel time and thereby allowing District officers to attend meetings and ceremonies that requires their presence, and to have a “geographically rational, balanced and manageable Masonic Districts”  that will enable the District officers “to effectively implement all the plans and programs of the Grand Lodge in their respective jurisdictions”.

And through the Edict, all 32 Lodges under the jurisdiction of what were then Masonic District R-III Nueva Ecija North and Masonic District R-III Nueva Ecija South & Aurora were reorganized into 4 Masonic Districts: Nueva Ecija North, South, West, and East and Aurora.

Six regular Lodges from what was once Masonic District Nueva Ecija South/Aurora and two Lodges under dispensation comprised the new Masonic District of Nueva Ecija East and Aurora, namely Pantabangan-Bonari Masonic Lodge No. 203 in Rizal, Talavera Masonic Lodge No. 273 in Talavera, Palayan City Masonic Lodge No. 331 in Palayan City, Model Masonic Lodge No. 373 in Sto. Domingo, Allium Cepas Masonic Lodge UD in Bongabon, Bagong Bayan Masonic Lodge UD in Llanera all in Nueva Ecija; Manuel L. Quezon Masonic Lodge No. 262 in Baler and Kasiguruhan Masonic Lodge No. 423 in Casiguran both in Aurora. Subsequently, District Deputy Grand Masters and District Grand Lecturers were appointed and reassigned by the Grand Master through Circular No. 21 (MW Suan) that was signed on 16 December 2019.

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