Don Juan Canciller Evangelista

Don Juan Canciller Evangelista: The Gentleman Farmer of Candaba

Don Juan Canciller Evangelista was a staunch Nationalist who distinguished himself in the field of Agriculture. He was a member of the Evangelista Clan, a Principalia Family and one of the largest landowners in Pampanga during the Spanish Colonial Rule. He was born in Candaba, Pampanga on May 28,1879, to haciendero and Gobernadorcillo Don Santiago Canciller Evangelista (Capitan Tiago) and his second wife Doña Antonia Alonzo. His godfather was his uncle Don Ambrocio Canciller Evangelista. He was only 3 years old when his mother passed away.

Well educated, Don Juan was privately tutored by a certain Don Feliciano at the age of six. When he was nine years old, Don Juan was sent to Manila where he attended the Benedicto Luna Institute, a prestigious private boarding school founded by philosopher Benedicto Luna, in Santa Cruz, Manila. He then received further studies at age 11 under Don Enrique Mendiola, the founder of the La Invencion de la Santa Cruz School in Ongpin Street, which was considered one of the outstanding Filipino-supervised schools at that time. At the age of 15, he enrolled at San Juan de Letran in Manila. He was studying at Letran when his father Capitan Tiago suddenly passed away of a stroke in Candaba in March 1895. Don Juan studied Medicine at the University of Santo Tomas from 1901-1903. However, his heart was always in agriculture, in cultivating land and managing his tenant farmers and sharecroppers whose families had worked on the Evangelista Estates for generations.

Don Juan married Milagros Reyes y Soriano, also from the landed gentry, on April 4, 1904. She was the daughter of Don Lino Cardenas y Reyes and Raymunda Soriano. They had two sons: Ernesto (b. 1906), and Gregorio (b. 1912). The family lived in a beautiful bahay na bato on Encarnacion Street, directly across from the San Andres Apostol Catholic Church in Candaba. Don Juan was a sought after godfather in Candaba. Among his godchildren were Amado Limjoco y Evangelista, the son of his first cousin Emerenciana Gallardo Evangelista-Limjoco; and famed violinist and jazz musician Joaquin “Ivan” Evangelista y Gatbonton, the son of his first cousin Nicolas Evangelista.

The year 1905 was a great turning point in Don Juan’s life. Surveying the hundreds of hectares of land he had inherited from his late father Don Santiago, Don Juan finally ventured into agriculture that year. It would be the industry where he would leave his mark. The agricultural sector in Candaba during that period faced many challenges including Land Reform which was initiated during the American Colonial Rule in the Philippines. To consolidate his property holdings, Don Juan later applied to register and confirm his titles to 4 properties totaling nearly 5 million square feet within the town of Candaba, which was also part of his inheritance from his late father. An enterprising businessman, Don Juan also owned an Overland motor car which he operated for hire. It was also in 1905 when Don Juan joined the nationalist Katipunan Mipanampun (Self-Help Society) which encouraged support of local cottage industries, the wearing of native dress like the barong Tagalog, peace and order, and which pushed back against radical labor ideas.

By the time he reached his early forties, Don Juan was a highly successful entrepreneur who was known for his patriotism. He often wore a barong Tagalog and a bamboo hat. On October 2, 1921, he married Carmen Arroyo y Sadie, who also belonged to an old Kapampangan clan. They had no children together.

According to Kapampangan historian Louis Aldrin Lacson Bartolo, in 1934, Don Juan was recognized for his contributions to the agricultural industry in the limited edition book, “NINU’T NINU QNG CAPAMPANGAN, Bilungan Dang Bie ding Anac nang Carangalan Ning Lalawigan Capampangan,” (Who's Who in Pampanga, A Compendium of the Lives of the Honorable Children of Pampanga Province), by Faustino Gutierrez, Catimawan Press, 1934. In the book, Don Juan declared his wish for future generations of Filipinos, “In this period, the youth must explore and learn agriculture.”

Don Juan Canciller Evangelista, the gentleman with a passion for agriculture and all things Filipino, passed away in Candaba, Pampanga, on February 7, 1952, at the age of 72, having survived his younger son Gregorio who died two years earlier in 1950. Don Juan’s funeral was held at the San Andres Apostol Catholic Church (Candaba Church), and he was laid to rest in the church cemetery, joining his illustrious forbears. Today, his ashes are interred in a niche on church grounds, together with his two sons.

In 2023, Don Juan Canciller Evangelista’s life was immortalized in the Evangelista Clan book, “Recuerdos de Candaba: Casa de Evangelista, Familia Principalia.”