Iloilo-Acacia Masonic Lodge No. 11 – Iloilo City, Philippines

Freemasonry took root in the Philippines under American colonial rule, expanding rapidly after 1900 as the country’s civic leaders and expatriates formed lodges. In Iloilo City, a group of local Freemasons (Filipino and American) petitioned the Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands to charter a lodge. The petition was approved and Iloilo Lodge No. 11 was formally chartered on 13 February 1917. Initially meeting in rented rooms on Rizal Street, the growing membership soon outgrew its quarters. By the mid-1920s the lodge decided to build its own Temple, forming the “Masonic Temple Association of Iloilo, Inc.” to finance and construct a permanent lodge building.

Construction of the Masonic Temple (1927–1928). In 1927 members raised funds (issuing shares in the Association) and laid the cornerstone of the new Temple. The project was led by Worshipful Brother Thomas N. Powell, a prominent American lawyer in Iloilo. By 1928 the imposing concrete-and-stone edifice was completed: a three-story Lodge building fronting the central Plaza Libertad (also called Rizal Park). This Temple provided a formal meeting hall for the Masons and also housed a clubroom and library for members. It became a landmark in Iloilo City’s government and commercial district, reflecting both local craftsmanship and American architectural influence.

World War II Occupation. When Japan invaded the Philippines in 1942, all Freemasonry came to a halt nationwide. The Japanese military seized the Iloilo Temple as a garrison and headquarters. According to lodge history, the occupiers even removed the Masonic emblem from the building façade in April 1942 – ironically this may have saved the structure from being marked for destruction. During the occupation, the lodge ceased all Masonic work and many Filipino Masons suffered persecution; prominent brethren such as WB Engracio Padilla were executed by the Japanese. Allied bombing raids on Iloilo City in 1945 reportedly did not target the Masonic Temple – American pilots had been forewarned to avoid the building, perhaps because of its missing Masonic sign. Nevertheless, by war’s end the Temple had been heavily damaged and most lodge furnishings were looted or lost.

Post-War Reorganization and Merger (1945). After liberation in 1945, the surviving members of Iloilo Lodge returned to Iloilo City to rebuild the lodge and repair the Temple. On 2 June 1945 a meeting was held in the city (often described as in a downtown restaurant) to discuss reorganization. Acting Grand Master Michael Goldenberg had sent Wor. Walter M. Saul as a special representative to assist. Wor. Saul proposed that Iloilo Lodge No. 11 merge with the nearby Acacia Lodge No. 78 (also reorganizing after the war). The membership unanimously approved this plan. On 19 June 1945 a joint session of both lodges formally ratified the merger, creating the consolidated Iloilo-Acacia Lodge No. 11. In the meantime they agreed to continue meeting under the old Iloilo Lodge name until Grand Lodge approval was granted. Lodge officers were elected for the new body, and American servicemen stationed in the Philippines even contributed Masonic regalia (Bibles, aprons, working tools) to help refit the Temple. Members also began physical restoration of the damaged building, repairing war-inflicted cracks and refurbishing the lodge hall (recorded on the future historical marker as having been “restored in 1945”).

Formal Inauguration as Iloilo-Acacia No. 11 (1947). In early 1947 the Grand Lodge of the Philippines formally approved the consolidated lodge’s new name. On 22 January 1947 the Grand Lodge granted official status to “Iloilo-Acacia Lodge No. 11,” and on 4 February 1947 the Grand Secretary notified the membership that they could thereafter use the new title in all Masonic activities. A formal inauguration ceremony (pinasinayaan) was held that year under the Iloilo-Acacia name. (The lodge’s later historical marker notes simply that it was “inaugurated as Iloilo-Acacia Lodge No. 11 in 1947”.) The first officers of the merged lodge – Master, Wardens, Treasurer, Secretary – took charge of the fully restored Temple in 1947 and resumed regular Masonic work. Thus, by mid-1947 the once-wartime ruin had been reborn as a single consolidated lodge with a strong membership drawn from both predecessor lodges.

Legacy and Historical Recognition. In the postwar decades Iloilo-Acacia Lodge No. 11 remained an active center of Freemasonry in Western Visayas. Its restored Temple continued to serve as a meeting place and local landmark. On 9 February 2018 the National Historical Commission of the Philippines unveiled an official historical marker for the building. The text of the marker (in Tagalog) succinctly recounts the key dates: the Temple was “built under the leadership of W.B. Thomas N. Powell, 1927–1928,” “used as a garrison by Japanese soldiers during the Second World War,” then “restored in 1945” and “inaugurated as Iloilo-Acacia Lodge No. 11 in 1947”. This marker, now fixed on the lodge’s facade, recognizes the building’s importance in Iloilo’s social history. Today the Lodge remains operational under the Grand Lodge of the Philippines, and the 1928 Temple stands as one of Iloilo City’s surviving heritage structures, embodying both the prewar fraternal culture and the resilience of its members through wartime and reconstruction.