THE TRESTLEBOARD

Bro. Manuel Luis Quezon was born on 19 August 1878 in the sleepy coastal town of Baler in what is now the province of Aurora. He fought for independence during the Filipino-American War where he reached the rank of a major. During the American colonial era, he was elected to the Philippine National Assembly and then to the senate where in 1916 he became the Philippines' first Senate President. In 1935, he won the Philippines’ first presidential election which he contested with two other equally worthy brother Masons: Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo and Bishop Gregorio Aglipay. He died of tuberculosis in Saranac Lake, New York while in exile in the United States during World War II and was later interred at the Quezon Memorial in the city named after him. Kuya Manuel was made a Master Mason on 17 March 1908 in Manila’s Sinukuan Lodge No. 16 and  is acknowledged as the First Filipino Grandmaster of the Grand Lodge of the Philippines which he helped establish in 1917 after spearheading the unif

Finally, DDGM Rommel Angara concluded his official tour of the 8 subordinate Lodges within Masonic District Nueva Ecija East and Aurora when he graced the regular meeting of Ang Bagong Bayan Masonic Lodge No. 463 with his entourage. But it will not be his last official visit to the Lodge since he will be coming back in behalf of Grand Master Johnny Pimentel for his farewell tour during the 2023 installation rites season.  DDGM Rommel was warmly received by WM Edwin Ubungin, also the District Deputy Grand Master of Nueva Ecija North, who received in behalf of the brethren of Bagong Bayan 463 a P25,000 donatin to support their Lodge's projects.

After being postponed due to surging COVID-19 cases, the subordinate Lodges of Masonic District Nueva Ecija East and Aurora was finally convened by DDGM Rommel Angara for their first quarterly District Council Meeting that was hosted by WB Steve Domingo and the brethren of Talavera Masonic Lodge No. 273.  During the meeting, DDGM Rommel informed the District Council members that the Annual District Convention will be hosted by Manuel L. Quezon Masonic Lodge No. 262 on September 16 in Baler, Nueva Ecija where the District will nominate its Junior Grand Warden candidate . It was also agreed that the District Christmas party will be held in the first week of December 2022. The District Council Meeting was graced by the presence of DDGM Ramon Manalac of Masonic District Bulacan East who personally conveyed his invitation to the Central Luzon Multi-District Covention that his District will host in San Rafael, Bulacan on November 18-19.