Why History is on Agnes A. Magpale's Side

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Although political observers and observer-wannabees have given their opinions about the current drama at the Cebu capitol, I believe there are still a lot of things left unsaid.

Some say that the assumption of Vice-Governor Agnes A. Magpale as Acting Governor is a clear political move by the Liberal Party to neutralize the Garcias. Some say that there is no clear change of power because a member of a dynasty has been replaced by someone who also belongs to a political dynasty.

To paraphrase a statement by a member of the Magpale family: "bloodline is only as good as those who carry it with the kind of responsibility that such pride deserves ...  yes, there is honor and there is privilege that comes with the history of a family but what is more important is that the members of the family carry on the tradition with humility and dignity...that is all that truly matters in the end..."

Though those in the know know that Acting Governor Agnes Magpale is a member of the Durano family of Danao, ordinary citizens are still taken aback when told that Magpale is actually a Durano by blood.

The thing is, Magpale is not just a Durano. She is an Almendras, one of the most prominent families in Danao before the Duranos became powerful. She is also a Dimataga of Lapu-Lapu and a Mercado of the old Parian in Cebu City. And her husband, the late Arsenio J. Magpale, was a respected and honest associate justice of the Court of Appeals. So when one looks at the suspension of Gwen Garcia and the rise to power of Agnes Magpale from the perspective of a genealogist, one sees the amazing twists and turns that have paved the way for this drama to happen.

Magpale can trace a long line of public servants on her mother's side of the family. Her mother, Rosita S. Dimataga, was a sister of Mariano S. Dimataga, who was a Municipal Mayor of Opon (now Lapu-Lapu City) from 1938 up to 1942. After the Second World War, Mariano served again as the Municipal Mayor from 1945 up to 1961 when Opon became the chartered city of Lapu-Lapu. He continued to serve as city mayor until his retirement in 1968. Their older sister, Leonila, was the wife and first lady of President Carlos P. Garcia. The Dimataga siblings were the children of former chief excutive Bartolome Mangubat Dimataga and Leoncia de la Serna, still of another political clan in Opon. Thus, not only was she the niece of the longest serving mayor of Opon, she was also the niece of President Garcia, who is best remembered for his "Filipino First" policy. She can also count incumbent Representative Arturo O. Radaza (former Lapu-Lapu City Mayor) as a cousin, since Radaza's mother, Sindulfa de la Serna Ompad, was a third cousin of Agnes through the de la Serna line; she can also count all the de la Sernas and Tumulaks and scores of other old Opon families as relatives (including former Cebu governor Vicente Tingting de la Serna), as her mother's roots go very deep in the historic city of Opon, the place where the first Filipino hero (or one of his troops) slayed the foreigner Ferdinand Magellan.

Now, if we are to look at Magpale's father's genealogy, we get a myriad of movers and shakers. Her father, Josefino Durano Almendras, belonged to what used to be warring families in Danao City. Josefino's father, Paulo Almendras, was the eldest son of Juan Almendras and his first wife, Cecilia Gonzales, while his mother Elisea was the eldest daughter of Demetrio Tan Durano and Bibiana Mercado. Although maritally allied the Duranos and the Almendras were at odds as the Duranos were close supporters of Mariano J. Cuenco while the Almedrases were die-hard allies of Sergio Osmeña. It was Governor Sergio Osmeña himself who appointed Magpale's father as acting mayor of Danao in 1952 when the previous acting mayor, Pedro Tecala, was gunned down during a Parents-Teachers' Association meeting. Needles to say, Tecala was also a close relative of the Almendrases as he was married to Paulo's sister Sofronia. Although the Duranos were suspected to be behind the slaying of Tecala, Ramon Durano was found innocent during the trial. Another close relative of Magpale was her father's brother, Alejandro Almendras, who served as a Senator of the Philippines from 1959 to 1972. A sister of Josefino was Cecilia Almendras de la Paz who served as governor of Davao del Norte, while a niece and first cousin of Gov. Agnes Magpale, Elisea Gillera Gozun, known as the leading activist of the environmental movement, served as Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) from 2002-2004 and currently sits as a Presidential Adviser on Climate Change.

Elisea Durano, Magpale's grandmother, was the older sister of Ramon Durano, Sr., the famous overlord of Danao City who for many years owned almost all the establishments and businesses in town. He started his political career in 1949 and ended it in 1988 when he passed away. It must also be noted that since the Duranos were allied with the Duterte family, also a branch of the Velosos of Cebu, Magpale can then add dozens of political families as relatives. Although not her blood relatives, because her grand-uncle Ramon Durano, Sr. married a Duterte, Magpale can also count the Dutertes of Davao (Mayors Rody and Sara) and Cebu City (Mayor Ronald) as cousins-in-law, along with the Locsins, Petillas, and Larrazabals of Ormoc and the Borromeos and del Mars of Cebu City.

But despite her amazing political pedigree, in the years I've seen her campaign she has always been consistent in using her married name "Magpale", rather than make use of the more familiar Durano and Almendras names. Indeed, Agnes Magpale has been the epitome of nobility; nobility that stems from the fact of greatness and prestige of a family, but also the humility that is carried by her when she serves the people of Cebu.

What I find most interesting in the genealogy of Agnes Magpale are the similarities of events in the past. Consider these:

1. The Almendrases have always been supporters of the Osmena and Aquino families. The Garcias, on the other hand, became who they are now due to Pablo Garcia's relationship with dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

The current generation of Almendras are still loyal to the Aquinos, while the Garcias are loyal to PNoy's bitter rival, former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

2. Magpale's father, Josefino, only became acting mayor of Danao when the mayor was suspended and the acting mayor, Tecala, was gunned down.

Picture Magpale, suddenly becoming Vice-Governor when Vice-Governor Gregorio Sanchez, Jr., died. And then, in just a short period of time, picture Magpale becoming Acting Governor of the Province of Cebu.

3. The Almendrases are related by marriage to the Locsins and Larrazabals of Ormoc. It goes without saying that Gwen is related by marriage to the Codillas, the family of her estranged husband. Now picture this: the Locsins and the Larrazabals in a political rivalry with the Codillas!

4. Picture this: Magpale's late husband, Arsenio J. Magpale, was a model Associate Justice of the court of appeals. And now picture this: where is Gwen Garcia's petition for a TRO on her suspension currently awaiting decision?

5. Best of all, picture this: Magpale's maternal roots go very deep in Opon, Cebu, where most old families, including the de la Sernas and the Dimatagas, claim to be descended from Lapu-Lapu, the first Filipino leader to say no to foreign rule by slaying the invader Magellan. Now, finally, picture this: Gwen Garcia, a descendant of a Spaniard named Pablo Garcia, born in Ciudad Real, Spain, who came to the Philippines in the mid 1800s and whose descendants now occupy lofty positions in Philippine government. Picture again Lapu-Lapu slaying the Spaniard.

I know it is a stretch and many of my former political science professors and classmates would probably groan and roll their eyes, but I believe Gwen should just pack up her botox and leave the Capitol before she, too, meets the same fate as that Spaniard centuries ago.

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Sources:

1. An Anarchy of Families: State and Family in the Philippines By Alfred W. McCoy
2. The Rulemakers: How the Wealthy and Well-Born Dominate Congress by Shiela S. Coronel
3. http://www.prescarlosgarcia.org/son/
4. http://184.107.250.205/cebu/opinion/2012/05/05/wenceslao-magpale-factor-219808
5. http://philurbanlegends.blogspot.com/2012/06/lapu-lapu-legends-lets-have-quick.html
6. http://www.senate.gov.ph/senators/former_senators/alejandro_almendras.htm
7. Tumulak and de la Serna genealogies
8. Durano genealogy
9. Almendras genealogy

Finding the Padre in Padre Noconocido

Fr. Juan Aballe

Although Christmas has always had a religious significance for most, I have always seen it in a more feminist perspective. I have always appreciated the idea of a woman giving birth to a child without a father. This is only too true in the Philippines today where many unwanted childbirths happen everyday. And when I do think of the religious side of Christmas I always remember that many children born out of wedlock are children of priests. Crazy as it may sound these two thoughts keep crossing my mind every Christmas day.

The idea of having a priest in the family tree is not something new to the Filipino mind. In fact, having a priest in the family is a source of pride for a lot of Filipino families. Many towns in the Philippines take pride in having one of its residents ordained priest or bishop or even the occasional cardinal. During fiestas and special events the parish priest is always given a place in the presidential table and is always the first to be served the best course.

On the other hand, another image of a priest comes to most Filipinos’ minds. The country’s national hero himself portrayed the priest in two fashions: the pious and admirable confessor in the character of Padre Florentino in his novel El Filibusterismo, and the abusive, undesirable, and lascivious priests in the characters of Padre Damaso and Padre Salvi.

When one looks at the Spanish and early American period church records one would find many illegitimate births where the child is always listed as having padre noconocido, or roughly “father not known”. In fact, almost all parishes had separate baptismal books for illegitimate children towards the latter part of the 19th century, with these books called Libro de bautismos de hijos illegitimos (baptismal books for illegitimate children).

For many Filipino families, having a priest for an ancestor is always a terrible secret to be kept as much as possible. However, add a generation or two and the idea of a priestly ancestor becomes somewhat of a novelty. Some even proudly boast of their priestly antecedents, which may pinpoint to the more liberal times we all live in now. Indeed, many famous personalities have priestly antecedents. Imelda Marcos's grandmother's father was a Castillian priest while one of President Manuel L. Quezon's antecedents was also a Spanish friar.

The same may be said of one branch of the Aballe family of Argao, Cebu. One of its current members, Mr. Andrew Levine (who is married to an Aballe descendant), sought my assistance in tracing the roots of his wife, Felicia Salvacion Levine. This was a particularly fulfilling research work for me because it was my first time to trace the genealogy of a “priestly” family. The family of Felicia S. Levine has always believed that they are descended from a Spanish priest from Moalboal, Cebu by the name of Fr. Juan Aballe.

When I saw the name I immediately identified the priest as a descendant of one of the more prominent clans of Argao during the Spanish period. Its members served in various capacities during the Spanish era in the town of Argao, Cebu and one descendant even became the first Governor of the province of Cebu. Although my research has gone to disprove the family’s lore that Juan Aballe was Spanish, his story is still interesting enough to be told. Plus, he came from a family that helped shape not just the history of the town of Argao, but also of the province of Cebu.

Juan Aballe, the priestly ancestor of Felicia, was one of the earliest priests from Argao, Cebu and his name has been memorialized in various charts and books. It was thus another big surprise for me to find out that one more of the 52 ordained priests of Argao has left descendants today. For someone who has seen plenty of priestly ancestors in various genealogies, and someone who is a priestly descendant myself (twice, in fact!), I should not have been surprised at all. But it still surprised me because when I first set my eyes on the photo of Juan Aballe a few years ago I would have never thought that that regal-, pious-, and stern-looking priest actually had kids. Which just goes to prove that people back then were extremely gifted at hiding secrets.

The search for Padre Juan Aballe also gave me a reason to go back to the basics in genealogical research. When I checked my database of Argawanon families I immediately spotted Juan Aballe’s name but, to my horror, I failed to connect his name to his parents! I went back to all my digital copies of the church records of Argao but, alas, my baptismal records were deleted when I had to reformat my laptop a few years back. So, without any information on Padre Aballe except for the fact that he was a former parish priest of Moalboal, Cebu, and that he was ordained priest in 1887, I set about looking for this particular padre. In the end I had to go look at old books of ordained priests from the Cebuano Studies Center of the University of San Carlos in Cebu City and had someone dig up Juan Aballe’s records from the LDS Family History Center in Quezon City as I had no time going to a FHC or to Argao to look for Padre Aballe’s records. But, in the end, my return to basic research steps proved successful.


Juan Aballe was born in the town of Argao, Cebu on June 24, 1862, to Ciriaco Aballe and Teresa Abear. By the standards of those days he was born into a life of relative wealth and prominence. Both his grandfathers were members of the principalia; as mentioned earlier his Aballe grandfather, Don Tiburcio Victoriano Aballe, was a long-time Juez de Semetera, while his maternal grandfather, Don Feliz Abear, was a long-time cabeza de barangay. Scores of his relatives also served in various capacities in the church and the government.  He was confirmed into the Roman Catholic faith in 1864 with Don Juan Ordaneta as his godfather.

When he was old enough to go to school he was groomed by the family to become a man of the cloth. His cousin, Julio Aballe Llorente, son of Martina Aballe de Llorente (a sister of Ciriaco), was already groomed for public office. The Llorente family sent their son Julio to Manila to study. As for Juan, his was a career geared towards the priestly vocation, and he was schooled at the Seminario de San Carlos de Cebu where he completed all minor and major subjects needed for his priestly education.

He was ordained priest in the year 1887 by Cebu Bishop Martin Garcia Alcocer. In that same year he was appointed as co-adjutor of the parish of Loay, Bohol. He was also the parish priest of Moalboal, Cebu, from 1896-1899, during which he became the father of at least two sons, one of which was Cornelio (Aballe) Sabello.

The tracing of this particular Aballe line’s roots has allowed me to yet again give the name of the father of one of the children baptized towards the end of the Spanish period who would have otherwise been forever branded as an illegitimate child: Felicia Levine’s grandfather, Cornelio Sabello, was baptized and listed down as having padre noconocido. His baptismal record only gave his mother’s name, Marina Sabello, while his father was not listed. For obvious reasons, priests could not list their names down as the father of this or that child. It took just three generations before the paternity of Cornelio Sabello has become documented for posterity.

Through this pursuit of the past, we have finally found the name of the father of Cornelio Aballe Sabello. Happy Christmas, everyone!