History of Dasmarinas

time, there were only 643 inhabitants that lived in Tampus, the heart of the community. After thorough discussions, the Gobierno Civil Superior of the Islands approved the creation of the new town on May 12, 1864 with Don Juan Ramirez elected as gobernadorcillo (town head).

An ensemble of nipa houses in the other barrios of the hacienda like Malinta, Nancaan, Salacay, Paliparan, Malagasang and Salitran were grouped and migrated into a reduccion (reduction) in Tampus in 1866. Reduccion which originally meant the religious and civic aspect of friar missionary activities, later, came to mean the process of resettling and unifying a community, thereby creating a newly organized town. For the Spanish missionaries and friars, this process was very advantageous not only for evangelization but also for bringing people under the Spanish rule. Thus a new town called with its native name Tampus was formed. From that time on, the people of Tampus built their house within the hearing distance of the church bells – "bajo las toques de campana". The new town could be reached through a good network of roads and bridges built by the best architects and engineers of the Recollect Order.

At the same year, the new town was rechristened Perez-Dasmariñas to honor the 7th Governor General of the Philippines, Don Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas (1590-1593). Governor Dasmariñas, a Knight of Santiago, was a native of Galicia, Spain and a former magistrate of Murcia and Cartagena, Spain who brought a lot of economic improvements during the early days of colonization.

Toward the end of 1866, the new town Perez-Dasmariñas has complied with the requirements of a typical Philippine town: a spacious town plaza at the center of the town with the church and the convent made of stone and bricks; a casa tribunal (courthouse) made of wood and nipa; a primary school for children and various houses made of nipa were built on their designated places;