In front of the imposing Malolos Cathedral, also known as the Basilica Minore de la Nuestra de Immuculada Conception, stands a very large tree. Locals fondly call it the Kalayaan Tree, which means “freedom tree.” There are similar trees around, but only this one has a name being a living witness to several events that happened in Malolos.
It was in nearby Barasoain Church where the convening of the First Philippine Congress was announced on September 15, 1898. Shortly after was the promulgation of the Philippine Constitution, popularly known as the Malolos Constitution on January 21, 1899. Finally, the inauguration of the First Republic of the Philippines on January 23, 1899, becoming the first democratic country in Asia.
The convent beside the cathedral served as the refuge of General Emilio Aguinaldo during the war for independence during the Spanish period and the young kalayaan tree was where the revolutionaries met, planned, and celebrated their losses and victories. General Emilio Aguinaldo eventually became the first president of the republic. A monument was placed under the tree to symbolize the meeting of the revolutionaries and its leaders together with the life size statues of Gregorio del Pilar, General Isidoro Torres, Don Pablo Tecson, Padre Mariano Sevilla, and Doña Basilia Tantoco.
During the Filipino-American war after the short-lived First Philippine Republic, General Aguinaldo ordered General Antonio Luna to burn the convent to kept the all-important documents stored on it from the surging American soldiers. The Kalayaan tree also caught fire but it incredibly survived.
The Siar tree is not native to the Philippines and not known how it reached the country, but today these trees can be found all over the archipelago. It is known to reach a height of nine meters in three years.
In the 1980s, the National Historical Institute and the Tree Preservation Foundation of the Philippines recognized the historical significance of the Kalayaan tree by placing a market under its shade.
