Villaverde Lodge No. 206
The Name
Named after Villaverde, a town of Nueva Vizcaya that was, in turn, named after the Spanish priest, Juan Villaverde, who founded the municipality in 1882.
The Lodge
Upon the petition of thirty-one Master Masons in good standing, most of whom were members of Nueva Vizcaya Lodge No. 144, Grand Master John O. Wallace issued a dispensation on November 25, 1974 authorizing the formation of this lodge in Villaverde, Nueva Vizcaya. The lodge was immediately organized and the members started working. By the time the annual communication of the Grand Lodge took place in April 1975, the lodge had already initiated sixteen candidates for the degrees of Masonry, had passed nine and had raised three to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason. Upon the favorable recommendation of the Committee on Charters, the lodge was granted a charter and assigned number 206.
Grand Master Teodoro V. Kalaw, Jr. constituted Villaverde Lodge No. 206 at the Villaverde Social Hall on July 12, 1975. Its first set of officers were installed with Bros. Salvador Aquino, Avelino Salinas and Dominador Licodini as its first Worshipful Master, Senior and Junior Wardens, respectively. Progressively, the lodge has increased its membership by an average of five a year.
Like many other lodges, Villaverde Lodge initially had an itinerant existence. It held its first meetings at the Ibung Sawmill Company, and when the firm transferred operations Tagkawayan, Quezon, the lodge transferred to the house of Bro. Roberto N. Ramiro. When Bro Ramiro migrated to the West Coast, lodge transferred to the Barangay Social Hall. After the installation of officers in 1981, Villaverde Lodge again transferred to the Industrial Arts Building of the Villaverde Central School.
But the dream to have its own Masonic Temple never died. It organized the Villaverde Masonic Association Inc. In 1982 and soon a lot was donated Coloma Familyl for and in behalf of the late WB Benjamin S. Coloma.
Location: Ibung, Villaverde, Nueva Ecija