Maktan Lodge No. 30
The Name
Maktan is the name of the Island near Cebu where Ferdninand Magellan was killed by the forces of Lapu-Lapu, a native Chieftain, in 1521. Maktan means “refuge of safety” or “something to cling to”
Maktan is also the name of a Masonic Triangle (Maktan No. 69) established in Cebu, Cebu by Julio Llorente under the Gran Oriente Espanol during the Spanish regime.
The Lodge
In 1914, several Masons who were members of lodges in Manila and its vicinity, but residing in Cebu, and some sea-faring officers, whose boats made regular calls at the port of Cebu, formed a Triangulo, under the Gran Oriente Español. Their first meeting place was on the second floor of a house on the corner of Magallanes and Plaridel Streets. It was later transferred to a more spacious, building also located in Magallanes Street. In one of their meetings, they agreed to convert: their triangle into a lodge. On March 14, 1914 they laid the basis for the establishment of the lodge and on March 17 they elected Eulalio causing as Venerable Master, Severo Fuentebella as First Vigilant, Juan Lebron as Second Vigilant and Lazarus G. Joseph as Secretary. When Causing appointed Governor of Davao he relinquished his position in favor of Fuentehella.
A petition addressed to Grand Master Teodoro M. Kalaw of the Gran Logia Regional de Filipinas was signed by Eulalio E. Causing, Severo Fuentebella, Lazarus G. Joseph, Joaquin Alix, Jose Puyat, Juan Lebrun, Gerardo Borromeo and others. It was approved in 1916, and the new lodge was granted a charter as Maktan Lodge No. 357 under the Gran Oriente Espanol. On October 29, 1916, an Installation Commission headed by Pascual Casimiro, Ramon Mendoza, Ricardo San Agustin, Jose Rivera and Herman Franco officially constituted the lodge and installed Alfonso Raquel as Venerable Master, Severo Fuentabella as First Vigilant, Joaquin Alix as Second Vigilant and Eugenio S. del Rosario as Secretary.
In February 1917, when the American and Filipino lodges were unified, &Unlit Lodge transferred to the Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands and was given a new charter as Maktan Lodge No. 30.
In the early part of 1920, the members constructed a beautiful three-story lodge building along Andres Borromeo St., in Cebu City. This building unfortunately was reduced to smoldering ashes during the Second World War. AR) in 1920, several members of the lodge organized Tupas Lodge No. 62.
After the end of the War, the members of Maktan Lodge reconstituted their lodge with the assistance of Masons in the US Army and US Navy stationed in Cebu. The American Masons offered the free use of their officer's mess hall and transported the members on army vehicles in going to and coming from meetings. In 1948, the lodge merged with Tupas Lodge No. 62. A majority of the members of Tupas were no longer residing in Cebu, while others died during the war. So they went through the motions of re-establishing their lodge and immediately consolidated with Maktan Lodge. Be that as it may, this short lived daughter lodge of Maktan produced two Grand Masters, Joseph Alley and Sidney Austin.
When the Americans left Cebu, the meetings of Maktan Lodge were transferred to Bradford's Memorial Church at Jones Avenue and to other places until the members succeeded in building a permanent lodge hall on Borromeo Street in 1951.
Location: Cebu City