Sindangan Lodge No. 240
The Name
Sindangan is the name of the town in Zamboanga del Norte, where the lodge meets. Near the seat of the lodge may also be found Sindangan Bay and Sindangan Point. Sindangan comes from "indangan," the name of a fish in the native Subano tongue. One story goes that a long time ago, a Spaniard approached native fishermen on the seashore asking for the name of the place. The locals, not understanding him and presuming that the Spaniard was asking for the name of the fish they had for their catch, answered "indangan". The Spaniard retorted aha!! "Sindangan." And the word stuck.
The Lodge
Through the combined initiatives of Bro. Eleuterio Barinaga and WB Jose M Lagahit, forty-five Master Masons in good standing petitioned the Grand Lodge on March 26, 1979 for a dispensation to open a lodge in Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte to be named Singangan Lodge. Grand Master Jolly R.
Bugarin gave them a dispensation on May 5, 1979 and on September 15, 1979, the lodge founders formally opened the lodge. Incidentally, the first officers of the lodge were: WB Jose M. Lagsahit- Worshipful Master; Bro. Edmund Gewchua- Senior Warden; and Bro. Eleuterio Barinaga - Junior Warden.
On April 25, 1980, the Grand Lodge granted Sindangan Lodge a permanent charter and assigned number 230 to it. Deputy Grand Master Simeon Rene Lacson constituted it as a regular lodge on October 11, 1980. Upon the creation of District No. 38 in 1981 and with the appointment of Bro. Lagahit as its first District Deputy Grand Master, Sindangan Lodge, like Mount Diwata Lodge No. 236, was immediately pushed into the forefront of Masonic activities. Sindangan Lodge initially conducted its stated meetings at the house of Bro. Alfonso B. Molina and in the meantime purchased a 400 square meter lot as site of its future home. On March 1, 1987, the construction of the Temple was commenced. It was inaugurated on February 18, 1989 or roughly ten years after it received its dispensation.
Location: Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte