Don Rosalino de Santa Cruz Canciller Evangelista

Don Rosalino Canciller Evangelista: Haciendero

Don Rosalino Canciller Evangelista was a third generation haciendero. He was a member of the Evangelista Clan, a Principalia Family and one of the largest landowners in Pampanga during the Spanish Colonial Rule. The Evangelistas were mestizos de Sangley (Chinese mestizo). He was born around 1815 in Candaba, Pampanga, to haciendero Don Gaspar Evangelista and his wife Doña Guillerma del Rosario who came from another land-owning family in Candaba. Don Rosalino was the grandson of haciendero Don Marcos Evangelista, the patriarch of the Evangelista Clan of Candaba.

On July 18, 1842, Don Rosalino married Doña Dorothea Tecson y Tongco at San Bartolome Catholic Church, Malabon, the bride’s hometown. Don Rosalino was the consummate Haciendero and businessman concentrating his time in managing and growing his own share of the vast rice and watermelon fields, and fishery business in Candaba. Some of the palay harvested by the Evangelista tenants were stored in one of his warehouses on Calle Real within the town of Candaba.

Don Rosalino and Doña Dorothea had seven children: Doña Monica, Don Ambrosio, Don Santiago, Don Adriano (died in infancy), Don Gregorio, Doña Tomasa, and Don Adriano II Canciller Evangelista. The Evangelista Clan’s estate covered a large part of Candaba, stretching as far as the eye can see. It was so vast that Don Rosalino’s sons needed to ride horses just to get around their properties.

Don Rosalino’s sons distinguished themselves in the political, social, and economic life of Candaba. They all continued the tradition of managing the Evangelista estates. His son Don Santiago became the richest man in Candaba, the town’s banker who was elected as Gobernadorcillo of Candaba in 1881. His youngest son Don Adriano was elected as Teniente Mayor that same year. His son Don Gregorio was elected Municipal Presidente in 1898.

Don Rosalino passed away sometime in the 1860s. In 2023, Don Rosalino Canciller Evangelista’s life was immortalized in the Evangelista Clan book, “Recuerdos de Candaba: Casa de Evangelista, Familia Principalia.”