History of Brgy. Cadre Site

Brgy. Cadre Site is an historic place. According to old timer Joey Ferrer, Cadre Site was a part of the Camp Gregg Military Camp, one of the US military bases established in the Philippines after the Filipino-American War. The base had been a training site of the 20-year old cadre, thus the name Cadre Site. 

According to Iluminada Junio Mabanglo, who grew up in the place, this period was referred to as "peace time." When they were just young children, she recalled, American soldiers would treat locals to free movies. After the screenings, the kids would greet the Americans, "Victory Joe!" The soldiers would distribute candies and canned goods.

Joey Austria added that Cadre Site is where the United States Army Forces in the Far East or USAFFE assembled until the Japanese invasion broke out. 

According to Austria, in the late 1960s, a concrete structure that served as kitchen of the camp was converted into a horse stable by a certain Amading Layno (a kutsero or horse carriage driver). 

In addition, Jonathan de Castro reported that a flagpole was erected at the top of the hill during that time. The flagpole is now located inside Dr. Lalaine Macam-Lansangan's garage.

Mabanglo's additional input likewise corroborated the above report: The lot now occupied by Lourdes Quesada and family was the original site of the water tank used by the Americans. 

Former PSU Dean, Dr. Clarita Jimenez notes in a manuscript of the town's history that the water tank has been reduced to thrice its original height and transferred to the PSU-Bayambang campus, where it is now kept.

After the war against the Japanese, the US military camp was ceded to the national government, recalled Ferrer.

Cadre Site has a hilly area in its western portion, so that the lower part would be eventually called Lower Cadre Site and the upper portion is called Upper Cadre Site. 

There was a time when Upper Cadre Site was called Kalaokan because the new settlers came from different barrios of Bayambang, but the name soon lost popularity, Mabanglo further recalled. 

Cadre Site is an historic district even before the Americans came. This is where the arch of the old cemetery is located, in a street now called Heritage Road.

The old cemetery is reportedly where General Emilio Aguinaldo's infant daughter Flora Victoria was interred after she died along the way while Aguinaldo and company were fleeing the American Army in hot pursuit. Mabanglo further shared that her father, Don Zacharias Moya Baldelomar y Junio, told her about this. (Don Zacharias Junio was also the father of the former mayor of Bayambang, Atty. Jaime Junio, and Election Registrar Atty. Pepe Junio.)

Sources: Iluminada Junio Mabanglo, Joey Austria, Joey Ferrer, Rosabella Austria, Jonathan de Castro