Banahaw Lodge No. 24

The Name

                Banahaw is a prominent extinct volcano 7,382 feet high not far from Arimonan, Quezon where the Lodge was established Banahaw is a Tagalog word meaning "clouded," and also where the anahaw tree is found.

The Lodge

                This lodge was established in Atimonan, Quezon by Emilio D Campomanes Andres Enriquez, and Placido Maniunes as Banahaw Lodge No 332 under the Gran Oriente Espanol. In February 1917 following the unification of the Spanish and American lodges, Banahaw Lodge transferred allegiance to the Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands and was granted a new charter as Banahaw Lodge No 24.

                Many prominent citizens of Atimonan saw the light of Masonry in Banahaw Lodge. To name a few of them we have Gregorio Orda Vicente Aguilar Pareja, Victor Amador Francisco Zamora, Silvestre Orda, Francisco Decembrana Cristino Ayson Victor Degracia, Alfredo Bautista, Juan Luna Pedro Dias Ambrocio Velasco, Monico Songco, Eleuterio Lim Seng Guan Francisco Ortiz Enrique Epino, and Cristino A Tan Chay.

                With the support of respected residents of Atimonan Banahaw Lodge recorded early successes. It roster jumped to 34 in 1919 and 59 in 1921. In the Nineteen Thirties the lodge started to falter. Because of an economic slowdown and the heightened opposition of the Church to Masonry a number of members shied away from the lodge .In 1936, membership dropped to only 14. In 1940 it slid down further to 12 .Then came the Second World War which forced the lodge to cease working and scattered its members. At the end of the war, the few remaining members could not reactivate the lodge. Like the volcano after which it was named, Banahaw Lodge is now extinct.