Nueva Vizcaya
The Name
Named after the province where this lodge is situated. In 1839 Governor General Luis Lardizabal y Montojo created Nueva Vizcaya and named it in memory of his home province, Vizcaya, in Spain.
The Lodge
This lodge had its inception a decade after the Second World War. A few Masons who were members of Magat Lodge No. 68 and who were residents of the towns of Solano and Bagbag in Nueva Vizcaya conceived of the idea of forming a lodge in Solano to make it easier for them to attend meetings and other Masonic activities.
During the stated meeting of Magat Lodge No. 68 in November 1955, its members agreed to support the move to set up a lodge in Solano. Hence, in the second week of November 1955, thirteen Master Masons, all members of Magat Lodge No. 68, met in the residence of Santiago G. Bayaua and signed a petition for the establishment of a new lodge. Some suggested that it be named Lumabang, the old name of Solano during the Spanish Era; others liked Sierra Madre, the mountain range in the eastern part of the province, while still others proposed the name of the province, Nueva Vizcaya. The final decision was to name the lodge Nueva Vizcaya Lodge. For the officers of the lodge, they choose Guillermo E. Bongolan to be the Worshipful Master, Simplicio Alegre, the Senior Warden, and Emiliano Menzen, the Junior Warden.
Grand Master Camilo Osias issued a dispensation for the formation of the lodge in December 1955. In April 1956, the lodge was granted a charter by the Grand Lodge and on June 23, 1956 Nueva Vizcaya Lodge No. 144 was duly constituted and its officers installed by a team of Masonic dignitaries led by Grand Master Clinton F. Carlson. The ceremonies were held in the old Solano Public Market. For some members of the community it was the first time they had witnessed the installation of officers of a Masonic lodge.
From 1955 to 1960, the lodge held its meetings in the residence of WB Santiago G. Bayaua. In 1960 it moved to the Danlima Enterprises (NORENCO Bldg.) where it stayed up to 1967,courtesy of Bro. Efipanio C. Galima and his wife. In 1965, 23 brethren pooled their resources and purchased a 676 sq.m. residential lot from Bro. and Sis. Francisco Alayu who sold it to them at half the price. The 23 brethren then donated the lot to the Nueva Vizcaya Masonic Temple Association- Construction of the Temple started in 1965 when VW Salvador C. Aquino was Master. It was finished in 1967 when he was on his third term. Many brethren helped but VW Aquino and Bro. Heliodoro Galamay deserve special mention for working from the start of the construction until the Temple was completed without any monetary reward.
During the first five years of its life, the lodge raised 65 brothers. The first to be initiated was Emiliano Ma. Tumaneng, a District Supervisor of the Bureau of Public Schools and the first to be raised was Rodolfo 0. Velasco, who later became the President of Nueva Vizcaya State Polytechnic College in Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya.
Today, Nueva Vizcaya Lodge No. 144, has on its rolls many of the leading citizens in the community and the province, people whose occupations are channeled to uplifting the life of the citizenry.
Location: Solano, Nueva Vizcaya