Dalisay Lodge No. 14

The Name

                “Dalisay” is a Tagalog  word for “Purity”. Other meanings are “ Immaculate”, ‘limpid”, “clear”.

The Lodge

 Dalisay Lodge came into being in Santa Cruz, Manila on May 31, 1892 as Triangulo Dalisay No. 8 (now equivalent to a Lodge U.D.). It was founded by Sixto Celis, in collaboration with Venancio Reyes, Alejandro Reyes, Justo Guido and Miguel Heras. Later, Felipe Barretto, Pedro Villanueva, Lucas Ricafort, Ceferino de Leon and Ramon Zaragosa joined the triangulo. After Triangulo Balagtas in Sampaloc was upgraded into a lodge, the members of Dalisay started to work for the conversion of their own Triangulo into a regular lodge. Their efforts bore fruit. The Gran Oriente Español issued a charter to Logia Dalisay No. 177 and on September 13, 1892, it was constituted as a regular lodge. Thereafter, Dalisay took in more members. It initiated Severino Reyes, Manuel de la Fuente, Agaton Cecilio, Isidro Morales, Isidro Francisco and others. In those days, the Spanish authorities relentlessly persecuted Masons. To avoid detection, the meetings were held in different places, sometimes in the house of Luis Villanueva, at others, in the house of Manuel de la Fuente, and at still other times in bancas, in the middle of the Pasig River in Nagtahan, Pandacan.

For the Masonic Legislature of 1894-1895, the election of officers was held in the house of De la Fuente on Gunao St. in Quiapo. He (De la Fuente) was elected Master, Martiniano Zamora, Senior Warden, Antonio Cuevas, Junior Warden, Felipe Barretto, Secretary and Gregorio Mariano Cancipit, Treasurer.

 In those days, Dalisay Lodge had a high reputation in the Masonic community. Thus, in one of its circulars, the Gran Oriente Espanol enjoined all lodges under its jurisdiction to take Dalisay Lodge as a model and emulate its activities. That recognition was due to the assiduity with which the members propagated Masonic tenets. They were always eager to spread the light of Masonry to other areas. Some of its members led by Justo Guido and Felipe Barretto founded a Masonic lodge, Binhi, but unfortunately the Revolution broke out before it could be constituted .

In 1895, Dalisay Lodge had to temporarily suspend its labors. The authorities had resumed their persecution of Masons and many members of the lodge landed in jail. Dalisay Lodge would remain closed until 1903.

On October 28, 1903, the members reconstituted their lodge. Once again Sixto Celis was elected Master Moises Celis was installed in the West and Alejandro Reyes in the South. A petition for a new charter was sent to Spain, but the Gran Oriente Español ruled it was unnecessary because it never considered the lodge dissolved, but only temporarily closed due to the Revolution.

In this second phase of the life of the lodge, she was frequently visited by prominent Americans, among whom was Gen. Randall.

 The meetings of Dalisay Lodge after its reorganization were first held in Raon St. Then they transferred to the house of Bro. Isidro Morales and when special meetings were held they used the Temple of Sinukuan Lodge in Tondo. Later, the members rented a house on O'Donnell St, Sta. Cruz. In 1918, upon the invitation of Nilad Lodge, Dalisay Lodge moved into the new Temple of Nilad Lodge on Lepanto St. in Sampaloc.

The frequent peregrinations of Dalisay Lodge were not unnoticed by the members. Two of them, without communicating with one another, conceived of the same solution. They started the construction of houses that they intended to offer to the lodge for its use without charge. Roque Bautista constructed his house on Echague Street in Sta. Cruz, while Flaviano Cabansag had his built on Antonio Rivera St. in Tondo. The two houses were finished at the same time and were offered to the lodge in the same stated meeting. No action was taken by the lodge to avoid offending either brother. Fortunately, a happy / solution was found. Solidaridad Lodge was then looking for a lodge hall, so it was proposed to give Bautista's house to Dalisay, and Cabansag's to Solidaridad. The proposal was acceptable to both brothers and everybody was pleased.

In later years, Dalisay passed through a period of difficulty. Its roster dropped to only nine. The monthly dues of P 2.00 per member was not enough to pay for the rent, electricity, office of the Secretary, assistance to widows and orphans of deceased brethren, and other sundry expenses. To remedy the situation the members increased the dues to P 5.00 per month. The rich members like Felipe Barretto and Isidro R. Morales gave P 100.00 each. Also, the almoner's sack that was passed around during every meeting was replaced by a plate so that everybody could see the amount deposited. Nobody deposited less than P5.00 ,although the meetings were held once a week.

 When the Grand Lodge acquired the Plaridel Masonic Temple, Dalisay Lodge sold its Temple at the corner of P. Guevarra and Forbes Streets, and transferred to the Plaridel Temple. It has remained there ever since.

 Dalisay Lodge closed down during the Second World War, but was reactivated soon after the Liberation of Manila. The war, however, weakened die lodge and in 1950 it was constrained to consolidate with Solidaridad Lodge No. 23. The merged lodges adopted the name Dalisay-Solidaridad Lodge No. 14 . The following year, however, the members dropped the name Solidaridad, so the  lodge is once again called Dalisay Lodge No. 14.

Harmony and good fellowship have been the hallmark of Dalisay Lodge. The strong ties of fellowship were shown even during the Japanese occupation when the lodge was closed. The members never failed to visit brothers who were in distress and to console with the families of fallen brothers.

Many prominent persons have been members of Dalisay Lodge.To mention a few we have Senator Ceferino de Leon, Grand Master Esteban Munartiz, %Igo Ed. Regalado, and Severino Reyes, the famous dramatist, author of "Walang Sugat."

Carrying the ball for the lodge these days are Junior Grand Warden Hermogenes Ebdane, Jr., Ladislao Fajardo, Efren Lagdamen, Edward See, Adam Sim, Benito Sy, Johnny Tan, Edwin Chiong, Rowell Justo Santos, Allen Tiu Mg Ke Yu, Reuben Abenojar and others.

Location: Plaridel Masonic Temple, Manila