Lasting gift that keeps Angeles City reading
ANGELES CITY — When city librarian Erma Manalo thanked the children of Renato “Katoks” Tayag for their father’s donation of land for a city library 54 years ago, she recalled a legacy built over three generations of two families.
Manalo described the 1,690-square-meter property as a “gift” during a commemoration of the late lawyer and writer’s 111th birth anniversary on Oct. 9.
In a deed of donation dated Oct. 24, 1972, Tayag gave the property to the city “for and in consideration of the love and affection” he had for his birthplace and in memory of the lot’s former owners.
Article continues after this advertisement
READ: Angeles City: From a forested area to a highly urbanized city
FEATURED STORIES
NEWSINFO
NEWSINFO
NEWSINFO
Identified as Lot No. 281 in what was then Barrio Santo Rosario, the property on Santo Entierro Street is known to Tayag’s 12 children as “Brookside.”
Tayag stipulated two conditions: The city government must construct a building primarily for a public library, and the facility must include a Filipiniana Division and a law library.
READ: Angeles City: Where exciting opportunities await
Then Mayor Rafael “Don Peleng” Lazatin signed the deed on behalf of the city, while Tayag’s wife, Adoracion Suarez-Tayag, gave her marital consent. Their donation laid the foundation for what is now a modern public library.
Article continues after this advertisement
Brookside’s beginnings
Brookside has its own story. Using back pay he received as a World War II veteran, Tayag began acquiring a property whose ownership had not been formally titled, according to the late Central Luzon Times columnist Hannah Bauzon.
Tayag traced the owners through a family tree he prepared, identifying them as descendants of Cristobal “Apung Tubal” Lacson of Angeles and nearby Magalang. The heirs agreed to sell their shares for P30 to P50 each.
Article continues after this advertisement
One of the heirs, Loreta “Imang Loreng” Lacson Feliciano, was the wife of Lazatin. She declined payment for her share after learning that Tayag intended to build a family home on the property.
Tayag built the house in 1949, the year his fourth child, Renato Jr., or “Abong,” was born. The family moved to Villa Gloria, also in Angeles City, in 1965, said Claude, the ninth of the 12 children.
The city government later rented the compound for P500 a month as an annex to the nearby city hall. Tayag eventually donated the property after a major flood struck the area in July and August 1972.
Rent-free space
Four years after Angeles became a chartered city, the city library and museum were approved in 1968. Then Mayor Eugenio Suarez, Adoracion’s elder brother, established the library in 1971 in rent-free space at Sandico Building on Plaridel Street.
Lazatin began constructing a city hall building in 1981, setting aside part of the third floor’s right wing for the library, Manalo recalled.
His son, then Mayor Carmelo “Tarzan” Lazatin, reconstructed the building in 2002 and converted the entire structure into a library.
Tarzan’s son, then Mayor Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin Jr., spearheaded major renovations in 2023. The library reopened in 2024 with improved facilities.
To comply with the donation’s conditions, Pogi sought the Tayag family’s consent to accommodate a barangay hall on one corner of the property.
Current Mayor Carmelo “Jon” Lazatin II continued improving the library’s reading areas, auditorium and learning rooms.
The main library offers a wide selection of books and internet-connected computers for research.
On the second floor, memorabilia rooms dedicated to Lazatin and Tayag stand beside each other.
Tayag’s room features photographs and personal belongings documenting his life. His daughter, Carmen McTavish, helps oversee the collection.
Claude recalled how his father encouraged people to read. Vice Mayor Amos Rivera said Tayag promoted a culture of reading through the library.
For Rene Ricardo “Abe” Tayag, the library exemplifies his grandfather’s values: thinking of the community and sharing with others. Abe now leads the Abacan River and Angeles Watershed Advocacy Council Inc. after the death of his father Abong in 2025.
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.
Also a pioneering Pampanga journalist, Tayag was honored with a campus journalism award named after him. INQ
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.