Claveria's Surname Decree

The following texts are taken verbatim from the Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos as reproduced by the Philippine National Archives. I realized after 71 posts in this site that I had forgotten the one crucial entry, which was the content of Claveria's surname decree. So, here it is. Later on, when I am done, I will provide a link to the complete list of surnames from the Catalogo.

Governor-General Claveria's signature

“During my visit to the majority of the provinces of these islands, I observed that the natives in general lack individual surnames, which distinguished them by families. They arbitrarily adopt the names of saints and this practice has resulted in the existence of thousands of individuals having the same surname. Likewise, I saw the resultant confusion with regard to the administration of justice, government, finance, and public order, and the far-reaching moral, civil and religious consequences to which this might lead, because the family names are not transmitted from the parents to their children, so that it is sometimes impossible to prove the degrees of consanguinity for purpose of marriage, rendering useless the parochial books which in Catholic countries are used for all kinds of transactions. 

 "For this purpose, a catalogue of family names has been compiled, including the indigenous names collected by the Reverend Fathers Provincial of the religious orders, and the Spanish surnames they have been able to acquire, along with those furnished by the vegetable and mineral kingdoms, geography, arts, etc. In view of the extreme usefulness and practicality of this measure, the time has come to issue a directive for the formation of a civil register, which may not only fulfill and ensure the said objectives, but may also serve as the basis for the statistics of the country, guarantee the collection of taxes, the regular performance of personal services, and the receipt of payment for exemptions. It likewise provides exact information of the movement of the population; thus avoiding unauthorized migrations, hiding taxpayers, and other abuses. 

Having heard the testimonies of the Most Reverend Bishops, the Reverend Provincials of the religious orders, and the Honorable Assessor General of the Government, I hereby order: 

1. A copy of the printed catalogue of surnames, previously prepared for this purpose shall be remitted to all the heads of provinces of these islands.
2. These officials shall assign to every town, in accordance with the number of families therein, the number of surnames that appear necessary, taking care that the distribution be made by letters, in the appropriate proportions. 
3. Having thus formed the catalogues corresponding to each town, the head of the province shall send these to the respective parish priests for distribution to the cabecerias (barangays); this distribution shall be carried out with the help of the gobernadorcillo, another municipal official, and two competent and respected principales. Each cabeza shall be present with the individuals of this cabeceria, and the father or oldest person of each family shall choose or be assigned one of the surnames in the list which he shall then adopt, together with his direct descendants.
4. Natives of Spanish, indigenous, or Chinese origin who already have a surname may retain it and pass it on to their descendant.
5. Children whose fathers are dead shall be given the surname of the paternal grandfather, and in the absence of this, the surnames of the brothers or relatives of their father, thus avoiding unnecessary multiplicity and ensuring that those of the same family branch shall have the same surname.
6. The children of unknown fathers shall be given the surname of the mother, and if this is also unknown, the surname of the guardian, or baptismal sponsor, or of the parish priest in case the sponsor does not allow it. 
7. In the lists that will be made for the cabecerias, in order to complete the register later, each person shall indicate (a) his baptismal name, followed by the new surname which may be assigned to him, and (b) the name which, until then may have served him as surname, leaving him free to retain this as long as he wishes.
8. To avoid confusion which might result to the prejudice of those who with their surnames inherited from His Majesty certain benefits, the names of Lacandola, Mojica, Tupas, and Raja Matanda shall not be adopted except by those who have a just title to possess them.
9. Families who can prove that they have kept for four generations their surname, even though it may be the name of a saint, but not those like de la Cruz, de los Santos, and some others which are so numerous that they would continue producing confusion, may pass them on to their descendants; the Reverend Fathers and the heads of provinces are advised to use their judgment in the implementation of this article.
10. Having notified the elders or parents of the new surname which corresponds to them and to the members of the family, that is, all those who because of their close relationship should bear the surname, each barangay shall be assigned two or three days for any objections which may be made before the parish priest; the latter will act on these objections in accordance with the provision of this superior decree.
11. School teachers shall have a register of all the children attending school, with their names and surnames, and shall see to it that they shall not address or know each other except by the surname listed in the register which should be that of the parents. In case of lack of enthusiasm in compliance with this order, the teachers shall be punished in proportion to the offense at the discretion of the head of the province.
12. The heads of families shall make known their new surnames to their children who may be absent, in addition to the notification that shall be furnished by the gobernadorcillo to the gobernadorcillo of the town in which the absent relative is residing. For this purpose, they will form official expedients or specific communications to this effect, signed by the gobernadorcillo and the respective cabezas with the approval of the parish priest. Likewise, they shall remit to the head of the province a list of the names of individuals in the service of the army to whom a surname has been assigned, so that the said provincial head may inform the branches of the army, and the surname which corresponds to each soldier may be recorded in his personnel file.
13. For record purposes, the gobernadorcillo of each town shall keep a list of the individuals who, by virtue of the preceding article, have been informed of the surnames which they are to use.
14. In towns where the residents were born in other places where their families reside, the gobernadorcillo, without prejudice to the provisions above, shall send a list of their names to the gobernadorcillos of the towns from which they had come, so that on the one hand, there may be no alteration or delay in transmitting the surnames which correspond to each one, and, on the other, there may be no unnecessary duplication. It adds to the confusion to assign a surname to individuals who should adopt that of the family from which they are descended, and no other.
15. The cabecerias in each town shall be numbered, starting from one and so forth; all classes of people in them shall be enrolled, natives as well as mestizos, no matter what their occupations may be, such circumstances being duly recorded.
16. Once the lists of the cabecerias are finalized and approved by the reverend parish priest, a register for each of them shall be prepared so that by assembling all of these, a general register for each town will result, signed by the gobernadorcillo and approved by the parish priest, following the customary practice for the annual inventories of the provinces; three copies thereof shall be prepared, one to serve as a master copy in the parish, another to be conserved by the head of the province in the archives, and the third to be sent to the Superior Government for inclusion in the expediente of this decree and for other uses as needed.
17. In order to obtain uniformity and to facilitate their completion, a sufficient number of registers, patterned on the attached model, shall be printed, to be paid for from the general discretionary funds of the province.
18. At baptisms, the parish priest shall demand a sheet of paper whereon, in addition to the name to be given to the one to be baptized, the names and surnames of his father and mother shall be written, except as prescribed in article 6. The same shall be done at marriages, in which case not only the names and surnames of the couple to be married, but also those of their parents, shall be entered.
19. In the margin of sacramental certificates as well as in all public manuscripts or documents that may be issued by either the provincial notaries or the town judges, the surnames of the interested parties to whom the documents refer shall be written in clear and legible writing; all such documents issued under names other than those which had been assigned to these parties, as certified by the master registers or their baptismal certificates, shall be null and void.
20. Neither the heads of provinces, nor parish priests, nor gobernadorcillos shall approve applications or documents in which the interested parties do not express their names and surnames; this rule shall be observed in the Capital [Manila], in municipal and provincial courts, by authorities, military chiefs of the navy, and treasury, and any other officials before whom the natives may appear or present themselves.
21. Any individual who, after being inscribed in the new register, changes his name or surname shall be punished in accordance with the malice and circumstances of the case. The penalty shall be no less than eight days in jail, redeemable by a three-peso fine, and this minimum penalty shall be imposed only in the case of least malice, that is, those caused by negligence or inattention.
22. The register having been prepared with the maximum accuracy in accordance with article 16, the heads of the provinces may easily submit such statistical reports as the Superior Government may require, and at the same time ensure uniformity and precision, and avoid frauds, besides establishing the number of those who should serve in communal public works, contribute to the communal funds, and pay taxes imposed by the law. The said register shall be prepared in accordance with the master copy, in which there are nine columns for those who pay tribute, those bound to perform communal labor, the name and surname of each of these together with those of the whole family, their ages, marital status, and occupation, the reason for exemptions from personal service and tribute, and a final column to be prepared each successive year, for recording any changes, increases or decreases in each cabeceria.
23. Items in the ninth column, pertaining to alterations of each register, shall be entered most accurately, for this is the only way by which the course of time it may become as perfect as possible, with the disappearance of inaccuracies which may occur at the beginning, especially with regard to the ages of the individuals. The cabezas de barangay therefore shall each month note all the variations that may have happened in their cabecerias, and shall submit these annotations on the first Sunday of every month to the gobernadorcillo and the parish priest for their examination and approval.
24. The heads of provinces shall exercise the utmost zeal and the full measure of their authority, both for the preparation of the registers with the requisite accuracy, and for the strict implementation of the previous article, by which the desired perfection may be obtained, and various significant advantages may be derived. It is understood that by the coming month of June [1850] the registers shall be completed and their submission to the Superior Government shall be accompanied by a report on the resultant increase in all the classes that compose the register."

For a complete list of the surnames listed in the Catalogo, see below.

[A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [L]

[M] [N[ [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V]

[Y] [Z]

Source: Narciso Z. Claveria. Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos, reprinted by the Philippine Nationa Archives, 1960.

Celebrating Lapu-Lapu's Genealogy

April 27 marks an important event in the city of Lapu-Lapu, specifically, and for most of the Philippines, in general, Today is known as the Kadaugan sa Mactan - Victory in Mactan - the day that is considered by most Filipinos as the first successful act of defiance by a Filipino against a foreign invader. Today commemorates the defeat of Magellan at the hands of Datu Lapu-Lapu of Mactan.

The names Datu Lapu-Lapu and Ferdinand Magellan are perhaps two of the names that majority of Filipinos will never forget among the the pantheon of Filipino heroes and martyrs. Aside from the Philippine National Hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal, Lapu-Lapu remains one of the few historical figures that Filipinos are proud of. After all, the story of the conquistador Magellan's death at the hands of Lapu-Lapu (or one of his men) is a story that is etched forever in the heart and mind of the Filipino people.

And yet no matter how enduring the legacy of Lapu-Lapu is he also remains one of the heroes in our history to have an incomplete story.

Little is known about Lapu-Lapu's beginnings. What we now know of him comes from Antonio Pigafetta's account of Magellan's voyage and eventual death in Cebu. After the Spaniards left Cebu following the death of their leader we know nothing about what became of the country's first hero. In fact, it is not even clear if his name was Lapu-Lapu or Caliph Pulaku. The latter name would indicate an Islamic root, and some historians have alluded to the possibility that Lapu-Lapu was a Moslem. 

Pigafetta's account calls him Cilapulapu, which, in my opinion, is actually "si Lapulapu" thus making his name Lapulapu. Despite the scarcity of records we can still piece together the life of Lapu-Lapu based on oral traditions. Various articles and essays have been written about him with stories taken from families claiming to be descended from Lapu-Lapu. The Pagobo and Baring families of Mactan and the Mundo family of Borbon, both in Cebu province, claim that they are modern-day blood relatives of hero of Mactan. Other oral traditions gathered through the years from various local sources have actually yielded more or less the same information as those coming from the families claiming to be Lapu-Lapu descendants.

In one online article it is said that Lapu-Lapu's father was called Kusgano and his mother was Inday Puti (clearly symbolic names, as Kusgano stands for strength while Puti pertains to purity). He also appears to have a brother called Mingming and a grandmother called Matang Mantaunas, said to be a very powerful ruler in her heyday. Later, Lapu-Lapu is said to have married a beautiful princess by the name of Bulakna (flowers), the daughter of another local chieftain. Their child was called Sawili and was said to be as brave as his father.

I also checked academic write-ups and found two. One was written by Heidi K. Gloria and the other one by Linda Kintanar Alburo. When I was working for UP Cebu's research arm way back 2002 I also read a research by one of my former professor, Ms. Fe N. Reyes, about Lapu-Lapu based on folklore. It is from their write-ups that I base this brief genealogy of Lapu-Lapu.

A simple family tree of Lapu-Lapu

According to the tales gathered by these writers, the tales about Lapulapu have unearthed a circle of names related to him, among them: Datu Manggal, his father; Matang Mantaunas, his mother; Malingin or Mingming, his daughter; Bulakna, his wife; and Sawili, his son. And while we would expect these oral traditions to put Lapu-Lapu at the forefront of the stories it is apparently Lapu-Lapu's father, Datu Mangal, who appears as the "lead" in most of these tales. These tales also appear to have better sources than the one earlier mentioned above.

These stories do not only tell about the quests Lapu-Lapu had to undergo in order to win the hand of Princess Bulakna, it also tells of the magical tradition that was apparent in the members of Lapu-Lapu's clan. Accordingly, Lapulapu possessed supernatural powers because of his father Datu Manggal’s anting-anting or talisman. Of course, no one was more powerful than the father as he also possessed the power of foresight as well as having a horse that could fly.

But back to Lapu-Lapu. Oral tradition states that though he successfully defeated Magellan, Lapu-Lapu did not come out of the battle unscathed. In fact, he had a serious enough knee wound which made him weak. Later, after a great whirlpool in Mactan, a miracle of the Sto. Niño restored the island and reconciled Lapulapu with Humabon.

Oral history further states that five months after the battle of Mactan, Lapulapu asked Rajah Humabon to help him return his family and himself to his native home, which apparently was Borneo. In the end, Lapu-Lapu left Cebu with three wives, eleven children and, twenty servants. His warriors and other followers to given to Rajah Humabon as a parting gift.

But there is also a more romantic end to Lapu-Lapu's life. It is said that sometime after the battle of Mactan, in his twilight years Lapu-Lapu and Bulakna decided that the time had come for them to leave the world and go on to the next. After making sure their son was ready to rule Lapu-Lapu and Bulakna entered a sacred cave and were never seen ever again.

In the future I would be adding an article on "possible" Lapu-Lapu descendants. While this would be hard to verify historically it would still be good to trace the genealogies of these families claiming descent from Lapu-Lapu.
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Sources:

1. Linda Alburo's write-up on Lapu-Lapu
2. Heidi K. Gloria's "The Legend of Lapu-Lapu: An Interpretation" published by the PQCS
3. Fe N. Reyes's research on Lapu-Lapu, published by the CVSC

Filipino Beauty Pageants: A Family Affair

Beauty in the family. From L-R, T-B: Anita Noble and her daughter Edith Nakpil, Pura Villanueva
and daughter Maria V. Kalaw, and Nieves Gonzales and granddaughter Margie Moran. 

Although this write-up is more for the benefit of the readers of my good friend and fellow blogger, Domz of Kattera, as with my previous article on the inter-relatedness on Filipinopolitical families, this article will work on the same concept. That is, that all famous personalities in the Philippines are related.

The other night, my missosologist friend asked me if I could write a brief article on beauty pageants so he could list my Genealogy blog as one of his favorite blogs. Naturally, the first thing to cross my mind was to connect various beauty pageant titleholders to each other.

So let us start with "the first". The first ever Miss Philippines. This was Anita Agoncillo Noble, a granddaughter of another "first", Felipe Encarnacion Agoncillo, the first Filipino diplomat. The choosing of Anita Noble as the first Ms. Philippines can be best recounted through the souvenir program of those times:

"In 1926, a nationwide beauty search was announced which was generally greeted with enthusiasm. Just as it is now practiced in international beauty searches, the local candidates are pitted against each other until the most beautiful is discovered. This was generally how most of the local Ms. Pageants were conducted in 1926. In Batangas, however, the provincial governor already had a candidate in mind. He then cancelled the search in his province and named Anita Noble from Lemery, Batangas as “Miss Batangas” who was then immediately sent to the national contest.

"The candidates for Ms. Philippines attended a tea dance party given by the Bachelors’ Club at the Hotel de Francia along Avenida Rizal, were paraded in the evening in decorated automobiles around Rizal, Escolta, Taft Avenue and ending at the Manila Grand Carnival auditorium at the Luneta. Alighting from the cars, the candidates boarded individual wheeled chariots bearing the name of their respective provinces. Before an adoring crowd and a panel of judges, the candidates were thus presented and voted on.

"The regional winners—Misses Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao—proved easy to choose. When it came to awarding the Miss Philippines title there was a tie between Miss Zamboanga (Carmen Fargas) and Miss Batangas (Anita Noble). A more stringent process then followed in order to break the deadlock, with even the president of the Commonwealth, Manuel L. Quezon, joining in the process. Noble and Fargas were even, at one point, asked to wear simple baro at saya without any makeup. Finally, Noble earned the honor of becoming the first Filipina to be awarded with a national beauty title."

Anita went on to marry Juan Nakpil, the son of composer and revolutionary hero Julio Garcia Nakpil and Gregoria de Jesus, widow of Katipunan founder Andres Bonifacio. Two of Anita and Juan's daughters became beauty titlists themselves: Annie, who became Ms. Batangas, and Edith, who also bore the title Ms. Philippines  in 1955 and would have represented the country in the Ms. Universe pageant in 1956 but decided not to join. 

Anita's marriage into the Nakpil family also gives us our first connection with another beauty titlist. Juan Nakpil's uncle, Ramon Melecio, younger brother of Julio, had a son, Angel Nakpil, who married Carmen Guerrero Cruz, whose daughter from her first husband, Ismael A. Cruz, was Gemma Guerrero Cruz-Araneta, another first in Philippine pageants. Gemma Cruz represented the Philippines in the 1964 Ms. International beauty pageant held in Long Beach, California. By winning that year's crown she became the first Filipina to win the Ms. International title. True to her heritage, being a Rizal descendant, she apparently donated her $10,000.00 prize to the orphanages Boys' Town and Girls' Home.

And then, two of Gemma's first cousins, Paz and Maria Cruz Banaad, married Bienvenido and Roberto Laurel, respectively, relatives of President Jose P. Laurel. It must be recalled that one of President Laurel's sons, Vice-President Salvador "Doy" Laurel, had a dalliance with 1967 Bb. Pilipinas-Universe contestant Pilar Pilapil.

Another connection of Gemma Cruz Araneta is through her husband's prominent family. Gemma's marriage to Antonio Sebastian Araneta goes on to connect her further with many beauty pageant winners. A distant cousin of Antonio Sebastian (5th cousin, once removed) is Jorge Leon Araneta, whose wife is Stella Marquez, formerly from Colombia and the first woman to win the title of Ms. International. Jorge Araneta's sister, Judy Araneta, married Senator Gerardo Roxas, whose mother, Trinidad de Leon Roxas, was not only first lady of the Philippines but was also the Queen of the 1920 Carnival of Victory.

Meanwhile, Gerardo's half sister, Charo Roxas Moran, was the mother of Margarita "Margie" Moran Floirendo, the 1972 Ms. Universe winner. Margie Moran's paternal grandmother, Nieves Gonzales Moran, became the Queen of the Pangasinan Carnival of 1919. Nieves's first cousin, Augusto, was married to the 1916 Manila Carnival Queen, Manolita Barretto.

Antonio Sebastian's first cousin is Greggy Araneta, husband of Irene R. Marcos, in turn the daughter of President Ferdinand Marcos and Imelda Romualdez Marcos, herself a winner of several beauty titles such as Ms. Leyte and the Rose of Tacloban. She also was awarded the title Muse of Manila when she failed to win the Ms. Manila title. Imelda's own first cousin, Amelia Z. Romualdez, was named Ms. Leyte of 1927 and went on to compete but failed to win in the Ms. Philippines beauty contest. Imelda's eldest daughter, Imee Marcos, married Tommy Manotoc, whose first wife was Aurora Pijuan, the 1970 Ms. International titleholder.

Furthermore, another first cousin of Imelda's was Danieling Romualdez, who married Pacita Gueco whose first cousin was Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. Ninoy's own mother, Aurora Aquino Aquino, served as one of the princesses in the 1927 Petit Carnival of Concepcion, Tarlac. Ninoy's second cousin was Eva Estrada Kalaw, whose husband, Teodoro Kalaw, Jr., was the son of Pura Villanueva Kalaw, the first ever Carnival Queen in the Philippines. She was named Queen of the Orient in 1908, to distinguish her from the Caucasian beauty that was also named Queen of the Occident. Pura's daughter Maria Kalaw would later follow in her footsteps and be crowned 1931 Ms. Philippines.

Finally, Ninoy Aquino's marriage to Corazon Cojuangco goes on to relate the Aquinos with the Cojuangcos, whose one member, Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr., was Cory's first cousin. A son of Eduardo Jr. is Carlos "Charlie" Cojuangco whose wife, Rio Diaz, was a younger sister of Gloria Diaz, the first Filipina to win the title of Ms. Universe.

Of course, it is quite obvious that the beauty queens of yesteryear were connected in one way or another. Just like politics, beauty pageants in the past were not as democratized as today and only the well-born and the daughters of the elite competed or were chosen to be contestants.

Regardless, in the end, just like everything else in the Philippines, beauty pageants and pageant winners have proven to be a family affair.

© 2013. Todd S. Lucero / Filipino Genealogy Project
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Sources for the photos and the article:

1. Alex R. Castro's Manila Carnival blogsite
2. Lipa City Tourism and Heritage: Lipa's Famous Families
3. Araneta Family Tree
4. Miss Universe website