Palayan City Masonic Lodge No. 331

In the earl 1990s, a number of Master Masons thought of and shared the idea of putting up a lodge in Palayan City. The idea, however, met opposition from other members of the Craft for the reason that there were then not enough brethren residing in the city to make the idea feasible. A couple of years later, another group endeavored to restart the project. Preliminary meetings were held, a set of officers was chosen, signatures for a petition were gathered but for unknown reasons, the petition was not filed in the Grand Lodge. Several attempts were subsequently made but nothing materialized. In the last 5 months of 1998 after a series of dilaogues with VW Gregorio Camiling who was then the Commanding General of the 7th Infantry Division of Fort Magsaysay, Bro. Voltaire T. Gazmin who was then Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, some senior military officers and determined Master Masons revived the idea of putting up a Masonic Lodge in Palayan City. Finally after a deliberation, an organizational meeting was held at the old Palayan City Hall on 26 May 1999. The meeting was attended by more than 50 Master Masons including VW Deogracias E. Rivera, then the District Deputy Grand Master of District 29, and his District Grand Lecturers. The request for dispensation to form a new lodge was endorsed by Kapatiran Lodge No. 228 and Pantabangan-Bonari Lodge No. 203 who were then headed by Worshipful Masters Isagani Irabagon and Edgardo Mangahas, respectively. The petition was formally filed with the Grand Lodge of the Philippines on 31 August 1999. On 01 October 1999, MW Franklin J. Monteverde issued the dispensation and designated Angel Merez Jr. as the Charter Master, Severino G. Abad as Senior Warden and Alfredo Alejandria as Junior Warden. On the same day, MW Demonteverde instituted the lodge and installed its officers. In April 2000, MW Demonteverde granted the lodge its coveted charter. On 10 June 2000, MW Oscar V. Bunyi constituted Palayan City Lodge No. 331 and installed its officers.

The lodge is named after the city where it is located which is the capital of the Province of Nueva Ecija. It is known to be the perennial champion of District bowling tournaments. A good number of its members are with the armed forces given its proximity to Fort Magsaysay. 

NOTE: This article was excerpted from the book "Philippine Blue Lodges (Heritage, Heraldry & Heart)" that was published by MW Abraham N. Tolentino in 2017.