Don Salvador P. Lopez Lodge No. 276

The Name

            Named after Salvador P. Lopez, Sr., former Municipal President of the town of Mati, Davao Oriental. He was a Mason honored for his philanthropic deeds, well known in the entire Davao Oriental.
 

The Lodge

            Following the dictumn that "two heads are better than one" the brethren of Mati-Aurora Lodge No. 190 conceived the idea of establishing a second lodge in the heart of Mati. With the assistance of the brethren of Mati-Aurora, Tagum and Davao Lodges, they petitioned the Grand Lodge for the issuance of a dispensation authorizing them to form a new lodge in Mati, Davao Oriental to a named Don Salvador P. Lopez Memorial Lodge.

            On September 5, 1985, Grand Master Pedro W. Guerzon gave them the requested dispensation. During the 1986 ANCOM, the Grand Lodge granted a charter to the lodge and assigned to it number 276.

            On June 28, 1986, Grand Master Reynold S. Fajardo duly constituted Don Salvador P. Lopez Lodge as a regular lodge. Immediately thereafter the three principal officers was installed in impressive ceremonies. They were: VW Cirilo R. Valles, Worshipful Master; Bro. Antonio B. Ladera, Senior Warden; and Bro. Luis R. Ocdenaria, Jr., Junior Warden.

            From September 5, 1985 to April 1986, the lodge raised seven Master Masons, but from 1986 to 1990, the lodge accepted only eight petitioners and out of this number raised only three. The reason for this was the obsession of the founding fathers to take in only "quality applicants." Masonic education in accordance with the Lodge System of Masonic Education to the candidates was faithfully complied with

            Total membership of the lodge as of December 31, 1999 was twenty-six (26), composed of nineteen organic members, two dual members and two entered apprentices on the trestleboard.

            Location: Mati, Davao Oriental