Gregorio Canciller Evangelista

Don Gregorio Canciller Evangelista was a Filipino politician who was elected Municipal Presidente (office formerly known as Gobernadorcillo) in 1898, also served as Justice of the Peace, and member of the Municipal Council of Candaba, Pampanga. He was a member of the Evangelista Clan, a Principalia Family and one of the largest landowners in Pampanga during the Spanish Colonial Rule. They were mestizos de Sangley (Chinese mestizos).

Don Gregorio was born on April 23, 1850, to Haciendero Don Rosalino Canciller Evangelista and his wife Doña Dorothea Tecson y Tongco whose family was from Malabon. Well-educated, he had a reputation as highly intelligent and hardworking, and was respected by the townsfolk. He led Candaba through one of the Philippines’ most tumultuous times, the Spanish-American War, which then segued into the Philippine-American War.

In 1898, Don Gregorio had the great distinction of being one of the signers of the Philippine Independence to Foreign Governments, a declaration sent by Philippine President Emilio Aguinaldo to world leaders. In the early 1900s, during the start of the American Colonial Rule, Don Gregorio was part of the Municipal Council of Candaba. He also served as Justice of the Peace of the town until his resignation on April 5, 1909.