Shangri-La Lodge No. 196
The Name
Shangri-La is a mythical valley described in the novel "Lost Horizon" (1933) by James Hilton. Located somewhere in Tibet, Shangri-La is depicted as a utopia inhabited by Buddhist priests who discovered the secret of prolonged life. Shangri-La has since come to mean any place where people live in perfect peace and happiness
The Lodge
Sometime before the end of 1971, several Masons in Davao City met together with the view of organizing a lodge in Tagum, a progressive town in Davao del Norte, some 65 kilometers from downtown Davao City, where they believed the beneficent light of Masonry could best be started in that part of Mindanao.
Several conferences were held with members from other lodges till finally on January 22, 1972 twenty-nine members in good standing from Sarangani Lodge No. 50, Davao Lodge No. 149, Rio Grande Lodge No. 192 and Isarog Lodge No. 33 filed a petition for a dispensation to organize a lodge in Tagum. On February 1, 1972 Grand Master Damaso Tria gave them a dispensation to form Shangri-La Lodge.
Two months later, on April 28, 1972, the Grand Lodge granted Shangri-La Lodge a charter and assigned number 196 to it. On July 1, 1972 it was constituted as a regular lodge by MW William C. Councel and its charter officers were duly installed, to wit: Ruben G. Feliciano- Worshipful Master; Desiderio F. Dalisay-Senior Warden; and Claudio C. Guerrero- Junior Warden.
"Mang Deryong", as the late MW Desiderio F. Dalisay was fondly called, was responsible for the erection of a magnificent Masonic Temple for the lodge in 1972. Built with the finest timber and employing superb craftsmanship, it was the pride of the Masons in that part of the country. The Temple, however, was razed to the ground by fire in 1990, thus compelling the members to transfer their stated meetings elsewhere.
In 1997, experiencing gradual loss in membership and a steady decline in attendance, Shangri-la Lodge No. 196 and Tagum Lodge No. 204 embarked on a modest joint project to rebuild the Temple. A temporary edifice was erected on a portion of the land and before the year was over the two lodges were able to hold their stated meetings in it. Shangri-La Lodge, under Worshipful Master Fortunato G. Cagas, Jr. formally returned to the site on September 6, 1997. In appropriate consecration ceremonies presided over by Grand Master Enrique L. Locsin, the new temple was finally devoted to the furtherance of the cause of Masonry on October 16, 1998. The ceremonies coincided with the First South Central Masonic District Convention that was held on October 16-17, 1998 with District No. 42 as the host and Tagum Lodge No. 204 as the lead lodge
Location: Tagum, Davao del Norte