Lakandula Descendants: The Santos-Bernardo Family and Genealogical Provenance

Many people have grown up hearing various family lore. Stories about famous and infamous relatives who lived amazing lives and did extraordinary things. Others have heard that their family is descended from some great and grand families like those of Har'i Humabon, Lapulapu, or Lakan Dula. Many blogs and websites online claim these, with some even posting their family trees in public genealogy sites like MyHeritage and Geni. Unfortunately, many of these families claiming descent from pre-Hispanic clans not only have no proof of descent from these families, they also show inconsistent and incorrect generational information.

This is especially true with family trees found in Geni.com. Many of the family trees and information here are really quite suspect and have no genealogical provenance at all. In one family, for instance, have complete birth dates for all its members, even for ancestors born before the founding of their town's church. When checked against existing archival documents, none of the information given could be found.

Similarly, trees claiming descent from Lakandula always have questionable generational count. For instance, in the Geni family tree of Jose Rizal, some bogus connection has been made to show his descent from Lakandula, as already discussed in this previous post. But simple math and a whole lot of logic would show us that there is no way that Rizal was separated by only 7 generations from Lakandula, as was shown by the Geni tree. Again, this is without a doubt a false link. Many other families who claim descent from Lakandula fail in proving the correct number of generations between them and their purported ancestor, Lakandula. In the absence of accurate and empirical data, we can not accept these claims as factual.

There are some families, however, that are able to prove their descent from Lakandula. One such family, of course, is the family of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Another family is the Santos-Bernardo family of Sampaloc, Metro Manila.

The Santos-Bernardo family are the descendants of Regino Tolentino Santos (originally de los Santos) and Veronica Aliwalas Bernardo. While both Bernardo and Santos families have lived in Sampaloc, Metro Manila, Philippines for as far back as 1892, various civil and church records also indicate that they have moved around the various districts of Metro Manila during the late Spanish period up to until the first quarter of the twentieth century. So while the current descendants consider Metro Manila their home, the grandparents of both Regino and Veronica all came from somewhere else. The Santos hometown was Santa Maria de Pandi, Bulacan, now known as Santa Maria, Bulacan, while the Tolentino side was from Montalban, Rizal, today known as Rodriguez, Rizal. On the Aliwalas-Bernardo side, the Bernardo roots are from Pulilan, Bulacan, while Aliwalas was from the neighboring town of Calumpit, Bulacan. 

One interesting fact for the Santos-Bernardo family is that the various surnames in their family were not adopted because of the Claveria surname decree; in fact, all surnames in their family tree can be considered pre-Claveria decree surnames and have been used by their ancestors long before 1849 and can be traced in most instances to the late 1680s until the early 1700s. Overall, the Aliwalas side of the family has yielded the most data in terms of the availability of archival documents. The Aliwalas family and connected lines can be stretched back to the 1670s in Calumpit, Bulacan, and two lines, the Salalila and Macapagal families, can be connected, due to the etymology of the name and through archival documentation, to the ruling class of Tondo and Manila prior to the arrival of the Spaniards. 

The following are the genealogical provenance of the Santos-Bernardo family tracing their descent from Don Juan Macapagal, a great (3X)-grandson of Lakandula:

Generation 1. We start with Veronica Bernardo, who was born to Silverio Bernardo and Aleja Aliwalas on January 13, 1909, as shown in her birth certificate:

Generations 2 & 3. Aleja Aliwalas, mother of Veronica Bernardo (Generation 1), was born on July 13, 1889 in Calumpit, Bulacan, to Julian Aliwalas and Eusebia Aguilar . Aleja’s baptismal record also gives us the names of her grandparents. In this case, Eusebia’s parents were given as Jose Aguilar and Estefania Espiritu:

Generation 4. Jose Aguilar married Estefania Espiritu on August 6, 1851. Their marriage record gives the names of his parents as Roverto Aguilar and Juliana Salalila:

Generation 5. Roverto (Alverto) Aguilar married Juliana Salalila on July 29, 1815. Their marriage record mentions the names of Rovertos parents: Juan Aguilar and Manuela Tolentino:

Generation 6. Juan Aguilar married Manuela Tolentino on June 14, 1791 which gives the names of Manuela’s parents: Don Francisco Tolentino and Doña Maria Capili:

 Generation 7. Maria Capili was baptized on January 15, 1746, the daughter of Lazaro Capili and Ana de la Cruz:

Generation 8. Lazaro Capili was baptized on December 3, 1718, the son of Francisco Nicolas and Maria Decena:

Generation 9. Maria Decena was baptized on November 7, 1683, the daughter of Don Juan Macapagal and Doña Maria Pazquala:

From this, we connect the family further using previous research done on the Macapagal family and other descendants of the royal houses of Lakandula, Matanda, and Soliman, like that of Luciano P.R. Santiago's:

Family Tree of Juan Macapagal (Santiago, 1990)

The connection of the family to the ruling families of Tondo and Manila further connects the family by blood to the royal houses of Sulu and Brunei, and much further to the founder of the Sultanate of Sulu, Sultan Sharif ul-Hashim, whose father, Shariff Ali Zainal Abidin, was a thirteenth generation descendant of Fatimah bint Muhammad, daughter of the Prophet Muhammad. This then makes Veronica Bernardo a 32nd generation descendant of the Prophet.

The amazing connections of the family do not end here. One of the sons of Fatimah, Shariff Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abi Talib, married Princess Shahrbānū, daughter of Shahanshah Yazdegerd III of the Sassanid empire, the last kingdom of the Persian Empire before the rise of Islam that ruled from 224 to 651 AD. This then makes Veronica Bernardo and her family direct descendants of the Shahanshahs (King of Kings) of Persia, a family tree that stretches back to Sassan, the founder of the dynasty. A direct ancestor of Princess Shahrbānū was Shahanshah Yazdegerd I who married Shushandukht, a daughter of Abba Mar ben 'Ukba, the 20th Exilarch. Exilarch was the title given to the head of the Babylonian Jews and was the leader of the Diaspora Jewish community in Babylon following the deportation of King Jeconiah and his court into Babylonian exile after the first fall of Jerusalem in 597 BCE and augmented after the further deportations following the destruction of the kingdom of Judah in 587 BCE. This then traces the family back many generations to the various Exilarchs, up to the Kings of Judah, Judea, and Israel.

Much further than already discussed, the family tree of the Prophet Muhammad is said to be traceable up to Ismael, the son of Abraham, and then further up to Adam and Eve. The Prophet is the 62nd generation descendant of Abraham and thus the 82nd generation descendant of Adam and Eve. Thus, Veronica Bernardo can then be counted as the 117th lineal descendant of Adam and Even. Although this descent from antiquity does not have 100% complete and accurate documentation, these genealogies continue to be held and believed by Muslim and Jewish families as true. So while not to be taken as gospel truth, this connection to these ancient lines makes the family extremely unique in Philippine genealogy.

The Santos-Bernardo family is one of the few families in the Philippines whose genealogy is well documented and can prove an unbroken, direct, and factual descent from Lakandula, as shown by their genealogical provenance.

It is my hope that other families claiming descent from Lakandula can be a thorough as this family. It truly is important to have documentation for every claim we make about our ancestry. Again, while I am very accepting of oral history, they should be differentiated from real history if they cannot be proven or authenticated.

(My gratitude to Mr. Rashad S. Kussad for allowing me to feature their extensive genealogy)

BOOK REVIEW: Beyond Will & Power: A Biography of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte

As an addendum to my short review of Earl G. Parreño's "Beyond Will & Power: A Biography of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte", I am writing this commentary solely focusing on the genealogical aspects of Parreño's work. As I said in my review, this book is quite unique as it is the first writeup on President Duterte that neither adulates nor criticizes the President. In the author's own words during his interview, he wants the readers to reach their own conclusion. 

Due to the hype in traditional and social media, especially focusing on the alleged "Maranao lineage" of the president, and the revelation that the President's maternal grandfather, Eleno Roa, was actually originallly Eleno Fernandez, I was excited to read the book. And while the book as a whole did not disappoint me, the several genealogical inaccuracies did.

On Eleno Roa

In the first part of the book, the author narrates that Eleno Roa was an illegitimate son of a Eugenio Fernandez and an unknown Roa. Based on the birth record of Soledad Roa (President Duterte's mother), it can be calculated that Eleno was born in 1883. The birth register further states that his birthplace was Cebu City. This contradicts the book's narrative stating that Eugenio was from Talisay, which was separate from Cebu then as now. It is also almost improbable for an illegitimate child in the 1880s to bear his father's last name unless a legal declaration is made by the father in court acknowledging the child as his hijo natural. This was called as the reconocimiento de hijos naturales and the Jakosalem family did it to one of its members while Don Pedro Gotiaoco also did this for his daughter Modesta Singson Gaisano. Unfortunately, I could not find any record from the 1880s that would support this. Further research into Eleno's ancestry is needed, and more documentation should be made before believing the Fernandez connection.

On the Debunked Portuguese Claims of the Velosos

As I have already written several times, President Duterte's male line is actually Veloso, not Duterte. The author has a short discussion on the Velosos but the unfortunate thing is, he focused more on the claim of the Velosos to be of Portuguese extraction. Again, this was already debunked by renowned American historian Michael Cullinane in his 2015 journal article "The Myth of the Portuguese Ancestor: The Veloso Family of Nineteenth-Century Cebu". Through archival documentation, he established that as far as records show, the Velosos were not of Portuguese but rather Chinese mestizo stock. While Parreño briefly states in the end notes of Cullinane's research, the perpetuation of the Portuguese myth is a bit sloppy genealogically speaking. Like any serious historical research, one should not continue to claim something, no matter how famous or widespread, if no documentation or proof exists to support it.

Parreño also missed the opportunity to compare and contrast Duterte's Veloso connections to other presidents clan connections. It is undeniable that the Velosos have spread out all over the Philippines. In fact, many of Duterte's political opponents in the early part of his presidency, like Garin, Petilla, and others who were associated with President Aquino were in fact his cousins. The author could have expounded on the wide network of relatives that Duterte had that did not necessarily contribute to his victory, but also some who did help him out like the Ayalas of Davao, who are also Velosos, who supported Duterte throughout his mayoral years.

On the Almendras Family

I am glad that this book is the first to go into details just how much the Almendras family, originally from Danao as well, assisted in the transfer and success of the Dutertes in Davao. Although they had a falling out much later, it is a historical fact that Senator Alejandro Almendras was instrumental to the Duterte's move and later entry to politics in Davao. These were clearly discussed in Parreño's book.

However, the author once again made a genealogical mistake when he wrote on page 40 that "the Dutertes and the Almendrases were not directly related to each other, neither by blood nor by marriage". This is incorrect. The Almendras family has long known that they are related to the Dutertes through the Gonzales line. Paulo Almendras, who married Elisea Durano and who was the father of Senator Alejandro Almendras, was the son of Juan Almendras and Cecilia Gonzales. Cecilia's first cousin, Zoila, married Facundo Duterte. They were Vicente Duterte's parents, making Vicente and Alejandro second cousins once removed or, in Cebuano, pag-umangkon sa pag-agawan. It is also interesting that while Parreño concluded that there was no blood relation between the Dutertes and Almendrases, he cites a Davao newspaper article in page 102 of the book which clearly stated that Almendras and Duterte were cousins.

Because of this error, he was also unable to connect Prospero "Boy" Nograles to Duterte. For most Dabawenyos, the rivalry between Nograles and Duterte is legendary. Although later becoming allies, the book's discussions on the Nograles-Duterte political fights would have been richer had the author realized that Nograles's wife Rhodora was another pag-umangkon sa pag-agawan of President Duterte. That is also why the children of former Speaker Nograles and President Duterte call each other gaw (cousin).

The Carpio Connection

The author mentioned briefly that Sara Duterte, daughter of President Duterte, married Atty. Manases "Mans" Carpio. It would have been good to remind the readers that two of President Duterte's most vocal critics, former Ombudsman Conchita Claudio Carpio-Morales is in fact Sara's aunt-in-law while Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio is a cousin.

The Jewish / Holocaust Connection

I have saved this genealogical boo-boo for last. In page 107, Parreño wrote that Elizabeth Zimmerman's father was "one of the Israeli refugees granted asylum by the Philippine government during the Second World War to escape Nazi Germany's bloody campaign against the Jews".

The Zimmerman surname is in fact a Germanic surname that most definitely has Jewish roots. However, Elizabeth's father was Godofredo B. Zimmerman, born on November 18, 1916 in Hilongos, Leyte. If the author had bothered to check on the birth record of Godofredo, he would have seen his error. Godofredo could not have been a Jewish refugee as he was born in the Philippines!

And although he used Zimmerman as a last name all his life, both Godofredo's birth and baptismal records list him under his mother's last name - Baldazo. His birth register in Hilongos, Leyte, while identifying him as illegitimate, does provide the name of his father: Geo. J. Zimmerman. This clue led us to his American father, George John Zimmerman, a Superintendent of Schools in Leyte who came to the Philippines in the early 1900s. It was George John Zimmerman's father, Michael August Zimmermann, who came to the United States from Bavaria, Germany. Also, while it is possible that the Zimmermann's in Germany had Jewish roots, the grandfather of Elizabeth and the rest of his family in America were all congregants of the Lutheran Church.

These observations are necessary to point out. The author did an amazing job in his research for the rest of the book. Sad that the genealogy he utilized for this book was most likely lifted from online sources that also continue to perpetuate these genealogical falsehoods due to sheer laziness. I hope future revisions to this book would seriously overhaul these genealogical errors.

P.S. I will not address the Maranao issue, which seems to be the focus of so many reporters. It is true that President Duterte has on many instances claimed to have Maranao blood. For those who have known President Duterte for a long time, he has the tendency to exaggerate or be hyperbolic in his statements. While the Marano lineage claim does appear to be false, Duterte comes from a generation that likes to claim to be descendants of great people. For instance, older generations of Bol-anons would always claim to be "descendants of Dagohoy" or kadugo ni Sikatuna. Cebuanos like to claim descent from Lapulapu. While majority of these claims are probably symbolic at best, Duterte, speaking for all Mindanaonons, could probably simply be talking in symbolism. Or if not, who knows why. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, "Rodrigo Duterte is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma". 

And if the reporters only bother to read, they would also come to this conclusion.

Cebuano Governors and their Connections

Based on the 2018 financial report of the Commission on Audit (COA) covering all 81 provinces in the Philippines, Cebu has once again been named the richest province in the country, with over PhP35 million worth of total assets. This recent accolade for the province, coupled with the recent research I have done on the Hispanic ancestry of Governor Gwen Garcia, has led me to once more take on the challenge of connecting all Governors of Cebu.

Counting from the time of US colonization, Cebu has already had 27 governors, although two of these, Governor Osmundo Rama and Governor Gwendolyn Fiel Garcia, have served twice, so technically there just have been 25 unique governors in Cebu.

While some local historians have insisted that General Arcadio Maxilom and / or Luis Flores are considered as the first governors of the province, the provincial government itself and most Cebu academics have yet to agree with this. Until such time that we accept this notion, Don Julio A. Llorente remains the official first governor of Cebu.

This write-up bears the same goal as that of RP Politics: Still A Family Affair, where I successfully connected all Philippine Presidents and other political and social personalities. So, like a microcosm of Philippine society, the genealogies of Cebu’s governors reflect the amalgamation of races that is descriptive of the Filipino genetic makeup. Majority of the province’s governors are mainstream Filipinos. That is, they are those whose ancestors are described as indios in Spanish-era records. But there are a few with other racial classification.

Julio Llorente, Buenaventura Rodriguez, Pablo Garcia, and Gwendolyn Garcia have proven peninsulares Spanish antecedents, while Vicente dela Serna is of mestizo Spanish stock. Juan Climaco, Arsenio Climaco, Sergio Osmeña, Sergio Osmeña, Jr., and Emilio Osmeña, Jr. have mestizo Chinese ancestry. All the rest are racially classified as Filipino.

While all governors of the province have at least 3 generations of genealogy available, not all have extensive family histories available for now. Among the more recent governors, Hilario P. Davide III can trace his family tree seven generations up, while Pablo and Gwendolyn Garcia's Spanish lineage goes back 11 and 12 generations, respectively, to Ciudad Real, Spain. Her earliest traceable ancestor, Francisco Garcia, lived sometime in the 1550s. Some, like Hilario Abellana, can be traced only to his parents. 

An interesting aspect of Cebuano politics is the inter-relatedness of several governors. We have the father-daughter tandem of Pablo and Gwendolyn Garcia and the father and son tandem of Mariano Jesus Cuenco and Manuel A. Cuenco. Then we have the uncle-nephew Juan and Arsenio Climaco. There is also the father-son / grandfather - grandson situation of and Sergio Osmeña Sr. and Jr. and Sergio Sr.'s grandson Emilio "Lito" Osmeña, Jr.

Aside from these blood relationships, there are also other connections among the governors of Cebu.  There are at least 2 major gateway families in the genealogies of the governors of Cebu; that is, families that allow us to connect various lines to one another. The first is the Chiong-Veloso family, to which many governors can be connected. One of the daughters of Don Nicasio Chiong Veloso, Estefania, married Governor (and later President) Don Sergio Suico Osmeña. Their son was Governor (and later Senator) Sergio Osmeña, Jr. and their grandson was Governor Emilio "Lito" Osmeña, Jr. A sister of Estefania, Tomasa, married Senator Pedro Rodriguez whose nephew was Governor Buenaventura Rodriguez. Another sibling of Estefania was Januario Chiong Veloso. He went on to marry Encarnacion Garcia whose brother, Antonio, is the grandfather and great-grandfather of Governor Pablo Garcia and Governor Gwendolyn F. Garcia, respectively. One other daughter of Nicasio, Hermenegilda, was the mother of Lourdes Velez, wife of Governor Jose Leyson.

The second gateway family is the Veloso family. This was that produced the line of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, the same family whose one member, Don Mariano Veloso, stood as godfather to Don Nicasio Chiong and which turned Nicasio's last name to Chiong Veloso. This same Mariano Veloso's granddaughter, Gliceria, married Valeriano Climaco whose son was Governor Arsenio Climaco. Valeriano's brother was Governor Juan F. Climaco. Gliseria's third cousin, Tarcela Veloso Gandiongco, was the mother of Governor (and later Senator) Rene Espina.  Another descendant of Mariano Veloso, his 2X-great-granddaughter Beatriz Duterte, married Ramon Durano whose sister Elisea married Josefino Almendras whose wife was Rosita Dimataga. Rosita's mother, Leoncia dela Serna, was the sister of Candido dela Serna, the grandfather of Governor Vicente dela Serna. A first cousin of Beatriz Duterte, Ramon Duterte Diores, had a son, Luis, who married Vicenta Cueva Fernan whose first cousin twice removed, Wenceslao Lepiten Fernan, married Margarita Ancajas Briones whose first cousin once removed was Jose L. Briones. Jose Briones's father, Manuel C. Briones, was the second cousin of Governors Sotero and Fructuoso Barte Cabahug. Another great-granddaughter of Mariano Veloso was Milagros Veloso who married Governor Manuel A. Cuenco, son of Governor Mariano Jesus D. Cuenco.

The Osmeña connection with the Climacos opens up the tree to some minor gateway families. Governor Arsenio's marriage to Januaria Cabrera Osmeña gives us our "Argawanon" gateway. A first cousin of Januaria was Pedro Lucero whose great-grandson, Dr. Procopio Lucero, Jr., married Gliseria Gullas, sister of Governor Eduardo Gullas. Another first cousin of Januaria Osmeña was Juana L. Villanueva whose husband, Salvador Aballe, was the brother of Martina Aballe, mother of Cebu's first governor, Julio A. Llorente. A first cousin of Martina was Francisco Aballe whose wife's own first cousin, Juliana Vismanos, was the grandmother of Governor Francisco Famor Remotigue. Still another first cousin of Januaria, Jose Lucero, married Ambrosia Bayot. Ambrosia's sister, Lutgarda Bayot, is the 3X-great-grandmother of Governor Hilario P. Davide III. Ambrosia's own great-grea-granddaughter, Fely Lucero, married Alexander Sales, whose grandmother, Carmen Legaspi, had a child with Julio Jakosalem, a brother of Governor Dionisio Jakosalem. Sergio's father, Don Antonio Sanson, was the son of Jose Maria Sanson whose first cousin, Valeriano Sanson y Rodis, "married" Cenona Rama, the mother of Senator Vicente Rama whose own son was Governor Osmundo Rama.

For now, I have only connected 22 of Cebu's 25 Governors. Perhaps there are researchers who can help expand this tree to include Governors Jose Delgado, Hilario Abellana, and Manuel Roa.

___________________________
Sources:

1. Parish Records of Argao, Cebu
2. Parish Records of Bogo, Cebu 
3. Parish Records of Carmen, Cebu
4. Parish Records of Dumanjug, Cebu
5. Michael Cullinane. "The Myth of the Portuguese Ancestor: The Veloso Family of 19th Century Cebu", PCQS Vol. 43, Number 3-4. Cebu City: USC Press, 2015.
6. Michael Cullinane. "A Chinese Life in Late Spanish Era Cebu City: Nicasio Veloso Chiong Tuico, 1838-1903", PCQS Vol. 43, Number 3-4. Cebu City: USC Press, 2015.
7. Concepcion G. Briones. Life in Old Parian. Cebu City: USC Press, 1983.
8. Victoriano D. Diamonon. "A study of the Philippine government during the Spanish regime." MA (Master of Arts) thesis, State University of Iowa, 1919.
9. The Cabahug Family Tree of Mandaue, Cebu
10. The Dela Serna Family Tree of Opon, Cebu (Private copy)
11. The Fernan-Pedroza Family Tree
12. The Sanson Family Tree courtesy of my prima, Gavin Sanson Bagares.
13. Various Newspaper articles from Sunstar Cebu and The Freeman

Are You a Lakandula Descendant?

It has become a badge of pride for Cebuano and Bol-anon families to claim descent from Lapu-Lapu, Tupas, or any of the other Visayan rulers who fought the Spaniards. The same is true for those in Luzon whose pride it is to be known to be descendants of the pre-Hispanic noble and royal families of Central Luzon.

Because his descendants outnumber any other prominent pre-Hispanic family in Luzon and many of the names in his tree have become distinguished men and women in history (with some become infamous), descent from the pre-Hispanic royal families of Central Luzon has become almost synonymous to being a Lakandula descendant. Even the record keeping of the Spaniards lumped all royally-descended families into a file called Descendientes de Don Carlos Lacandola and when there was a need to put them all into one barangay in pueblos where descendants of pre-Hispanic royal families were found, this barangay was called the Gremio de Lacandolas. 

It thus stands to reason that in many documents, a "Lakandula descendant" is not necessarily a direct descendant of the famous ruler of Tondo, but rather an indication of descent from the other royal personalities like Rajahs Matanda and Soliman or any of the names mentioned in the Rulers of Central Luzon family tree. In the same manner, while the title of this article is "Are You A Lakandula Descendant", the Lakandula descendant here will mean all other pre-Hispanic royalty descendants.

This article is simply an introduction to the 4 main qualifications for being a Lakandula descendant. Separate future articles will be released for each qualification.

First Qualification: The Surname

Many families today claim a tenuous link to pre-Hispanic royalty just because of the surname they carry. This is the easiest way to claim descent from Lakandula, just because their surname is the same as one of the acknowledged "royal" or "noble" surnames.

So which surnames are these? First, we look at the most obvious list of surnames: the Claveria decree of 1849. The decree mentioned 4 very specific last names that should not be adopted by people without any business using these surnames: Lacandola, Mojica, Tupas, and Rajah Matanda. The reason given for the special protection for these surnames is, as the decree stated, to "avoid confusion which might result to the prejudice of those who with their surnames inherited from His Majesty certain benefits".

The portion in the Catalogo listing Lacandola etc.

Lacandola and Rajah Matanda of course refer to our kings of Tondo and Manila. Mojica, on the other hand, refers to the "patrician house of Don Pedro de Mojica (also spelled Moxica) of Silang, Cavite. In 1677, Don Pedro and "his wife, children and descendants" were exempted by the Spanish crown from "tributes, forced labor (polo) and personal services of the general and particular kind.” To be sure, besides the descendants of Lakan Dula, the Mojicas of Cavite were the only indio clan which was able to maintain and preserve its special prerogatives till the end of the Spanish era. In fact, its vested rights surpassed those of the Lakandulas for they applied to both the male and female lines of descent whereas those of the Lakandulas were limited to the male line. Not even the proud progenies of Rajahs Matanda, Soliman, and Tupas were able to keep up a similar entitlement (Santiago, 1992).”

It is thus a safe assumption that people who carry the surname Lacandola, Raja Matanda (or simply Matanda), and let us add Soliman, are most likely descendants of the Lacandolas. Most likely, but it cannot be definitive for several reasons, chief among these is the fact that while these were "protected surnames" the compilers of the catalogo alfabetico de apellidos or the alphabetical catalog of last names still included these supposed protected surnames. The surnames Lacandola, Mojica, and Tupas are found on pages 71, 87, and 132 of the Catalogo, respectively, while Matanda appears to be not found in the catalog.

The next list of Lacandola surnames comes from the disputed will of Fernando Malang Balagtas. These are: GATBONTON, MONMON, GATCHALIAN, GATMAITAN, MACARALAGA, GATMAITIM, MANDIC, GATDULA, and DUMANDAN. Kapampangan historian Mariano Henson further said that “Kapampangans and Tagalogs with the surnames MUSNGI, DUMANDAN, LUMANLAN, MADLANGBAYAN, SALALILA, GATBONTON, GATMAITAN, GATDULA, CAPULONG, SOLIMAN, LAKANDULA, and MACAPAGAL  are descendants of Pansonum, who was christened Francisco Malang Balagtas and a direct descendant of the Madjapahit rulers of Luzon (Henson, 1955).

Two other surnames, TALANGPAZ and PAMINTUAN, are also considered ancient and most enduring Tagalog surnames and are believed to be descendants of pre-Hispanic Central Luzon roaylty (Santiago, 1989). 

It is the belief of many that these names or portions of these names in modern Filipino surnames are true indication of descent from ancient Filipino blue-bloods. Unfortunately, just like Lacandola, Soliman, Tupas, and Matanda, carrying any one of these names isn't an immediate proof of being a descendant of Filipino nobility. The Claveria catalogo shows that these surnames were also found in the list: Macapagal (page 79), Magat (page 80), Salamat and Salonga (page 115), Dula (page 41), and the "Gat" names all found in page 54 of the Catalogo. As such, having Dula or Gatdula or Macapagal as a last name does not mean these people's ancestors did not simply pluck these names from the Catalogo. Mere stories of descent cannot prove validity of the claim.

Second Qualification: Empadronado in the Gremio de Lacandolas

The second list of names who are most likely descended from the Lacandolas are those whose names appear in the Gremio or Barangay de Lacandolas. The so-called gremio de Lacandolas was an administrative grouping of proven Lakandula descendants to simplify the administration of the Spaniards of the privileges received by the Lakandulas. This was established after 1758 when the Audiencia declared that only the descendants of Maestre de Campo Don Juan Macapagal and his brothers were to enjoy the benefits of the privilege given to their ancestors.

Very few pueblos had a large number of Lacandolas, so most of the names are those found in San Simon, Arayat, Apalit, San Luis, and Candaba. These surnames were SIMBULAN, PAGUIO, CAPULONG, PUNZALAN, ALFARO, MASIBAC, LALU, PUYAT, MACAPAGAL, UMALI, AGUIRRE, MATIC, TABORA, QUINTO, BUCIS, TIGLAO, CANLAS, GUEVARRA, PANGAN, TAYAG, SALONGA, and LUBAO. 

Third Qualification: Listed in the Reservados por Privelegio de Lacandolas

Other than the gremio or barangay de Lacandolas, we can also find other sources of Lakandula's descendants through the various lists of reservados in towns in Central Luzon. The Reservados was an accounting of individuals in every pueblo who were exempted from doing polo y servicio and from paying tribute. In most towns these were normally three: reservados por edad (exempted due to old age), reservados por enfermedad (exempted due to infirmity), and reservados por privilegio (exempted due to privilege, usually because the individual was a local functionary and their wife). In other towns, there were also exemptions given to primogenito or the eldest sons of cabezas de barangay; to mestizos espanioles; to church workers like cantors, sacristanes, and porteros; and soldiers, retired soldiers, and their spouses. But for a few towns in Central Luzon, they also an additional reservado called reservados por Lacandolas or reservados por merced de Lacandolas. On a rough estimate using existing records on these exempted individuals, it can be seen from the chart on the left that a bulk of the descendants of Lakandula could be found in the pueblos of Apalit and San Simon, both in Pampanga. There were also a few found in Macabebe and Mexico and a smattering few in other towns, most in Pampanga but also in others outside the province of Pampanga like Tarlac, Calumpit, and Cabanatuan. Many of the names found here like BUNDOC, TIGLAO, PUYAT, VERGARA, PAGUIO, DANGCA, PANIMOG, GALCINA, CAPULONG, YUMUL, YUMBA, LACANDOLA, BINUYA, BAYANI, MANALO, NOCOM, MANANGQUIL, BACANI, PINILI, LAPIRA, ANINAGAN, PAYQUITAN, DE QUIROS, BALAGTAS, DE LEON, LOZANO, DE TORRES, PANGAN, MACAPAGAL, MALDONADO, MANGUNAY, TUMOL, GUEVARRA,MUTYA, BATAC, CORTES, LOBO, CUYUGAN, SOLITAN, PUNSALANG, and RUEDA.

A sampling of Reservados por Lacandolas

Fourth Qualification: Other Archival Documents

The last way to find out if one's family is a Lacandola descendant is through consultation of other archival document other than those mentioned above. One very sure way is going through the Descendientes de Don Carlos Lacandola which is a treasure-trove of Lakandula descendants.

Other samples of relevant documents that can be found in the Archivo General de Indias include the documents entitled Carta de José Joaquín Merino, Carta de Pedro Calderón Enríquez, Petición de Juan Macapagal para que se le conceda encomienda, and Pleito promovido contra los Herederos de Lakandola.

The last document, which translates as Record of Case Filed Against the Heirs of Lacandola, show a sprinkling of names of Lacandolas from various towns in Bulacan:

Summing Up Everything

It is not enough that one finds one's last name listed among those mentioned above. For all you know, your Salonga or Lacandula surname was adopted only in 1849 in accordance with Claveria's decree. So the first thing one must do is to establish the origin of one's "Lakandula" family name. Roots to Pampanga, Bulacan, and nearby Central Luzon towns would give someone an 80-90% chances of being a Lakandula descendant.

But the most important step to take is to stitch everything together by making sure that one's possible Lakandula descent can be traced to any of the names mentioned in the gremio de Lacandolas or reservados por Lacandolas list. Only when one can trace one's family to these individuals using church and state records can one truly say that one is a Lakandula descendant.

The journey to discovering if one is a Lakandula descendant will be long and difficult, but it would be a great feeling when one is able to do so. 

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Sources:

1. National Archives of the Philippines. Tributos (Bulacan), 1849-1874.
2. National Archives of the Philippines. Tributos (Pampanga), 1792-1873.
3. Indiferente General (1667, February 6). Meritos: Juan Macapagal. INDIFERENTE (121,N.81). Archivo General de Indias, Spain.
4. Audiencia de Filipinas (1667, March 7). Petición de Juan Macapagal para que se le conceda encomienda. Filipinas (43,N.27). Archivo General de Indias, Spain.
5. Audiencia de Filipinas (1751, August 30). Orden sobre reservas de los régulos Lacandola y Rajasolimán. Filipinas (335,L.16,F.176R-178V). Archivo General de Indias, Spain.
6. Ministerio de Ultramar (1185 / 1892). P. Mallari pide heredar privilegios del régulo C. Lacandola. ULTRAMAR (5282, Exp.9). Archivo Histórico Nacional, Spain.
7. Mariano A. Henson. "Genealogy of the Rulers of Central Luzon as Related in the Will of Fernando Malang Balagtas." The Province of Pampanga and Its Towns (A.D. 1300-1955), 163-168. Manila: Villanueva Book Store, 1955.
8. Luciano P.R. Santiago. "The Houses of Lakandula, Matanda, and Soliman (1571-1898): Genealogy and Group Identity." Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, Volume 18, No. 1, 39-73. Cebu City: USC Press, 1990.
9. Luciano P.R. Santiago. "The Lineage of Mojica : the Super-Principalia of Cavite, 1677-1898." Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, Volume 20, No. 2. Cebu City: USC Press, 1992.
10. Luciano P.R. Santiago. "Talangpaz: The Foundresses of the Beaterio De San Sebastian De Calumpang (Now the Congregation of the Augustinian Recollect Sisters) 1691-1732." Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, Volume 17, No. 3. Cebu City: USC Press, 1989.
11. Domingo Abella. Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos. Manila: Government Printing Office, 1973.
12. Historical Conservation Society. The Christianization of the Philippines. Manila: M. Sanchez, 1965.

BOOK REVIEW: In the Blood: Tracing the Kapampangan Lineage of Andres Bonifacio

The book cover

In the Blood: Tracing the Kapampangan Lineage of Andres Bonifacio by Joel S. Regala is perhaps the first book that has attempted to trace the genealogy of Katipunan founder Andres Bonifacio. While Bonifacio is considered as one of the greatest Filipino heroes and many biographies have been written about him, his genealogy remains very much unexplored.

To be fair, it would seem that Bonifacio's genealogy has been designed by fate to be extremely hard to establish. Tondo, Bonifacio's birthplace, was heavily bombarded by the Americans during WWII, thus destroying many of the older edifices including the archives of the  Santo Niño de Tondo Church. Even the supposed root of the Bonifacio's of Tondo - Masantol, Pampanga and then much earlier to Macabebe, Pampanga - as hypothesized by Regala, also do not have church records earlier than the 1890s. Regala's 100-page book on the "lineage" of Andres Bonifacio is founded on his theory that because there wan an abnormally high number of residents in Masantol with the last name Bonifacio and there was one Bonifacio family in Masantol that has a long-time oral tradition of claiming relationship to Andres Bonifacio, Andres Bonifacio was most likely from Masantol or thereabouts. 

Mr. Regala is to be commended for his dogged pursuit of his theory of the possibility that the Bonifacios of Tondo were most likely not from Tondo but were from Pampanga. Again, the strongest "proofs" for this assumption are a) Masantol (in December 2008) had around 1,009 registered voters under the last name of Bonifacio as compared to the measly 102 Bonifacios found in Tondo, and b) the Narciso Bonifacio family of Masantol has long held the belief that they were related to the Supremo. Because the Narciso Bonifacio descendants , through several generations, were consistent in their claims of relatedness with Andres Bonifacio, Regala surmises that Andres or at least his father, Santiago, was from Masantol. 

The basic conclusion with which he arrives at is that due to the destruction of the records of Andres Bonifacio's birth place, Tondo, or possible birth place, Masantol, we cannot go beyond the names of Bonifacio's parents, who were Santiago Bonifacio and Catalina de Castro. But perhaps, the consistency of the claims of a Bonifacio family in Masantol is the key to unlocking the lineage of Andres Bonifacio.

The Available Facts on Andres Bonifacio's Lineage

In the Blood came out in 2014. The author's research on Bonifacio took four years but it is puzzling that he only had the names of Andres Bonifacio's parents. This is indeed unusual because the names of Andres Bonifacio's grandparents on both paternal and maternal sides have been known to historians for decades now.

The eminent American historian Austin Craig, who wrote a definitive biography of Rizal and did a very extensive study of Rizal's genealogy, was the first to write about the names of Santiago's and Catalina's parents in the Sunday Tribune Magazine on November 23, 1929. Citing the marriage records of Tondo, Craig cited the record as such:

That Santiago Bonifacio, the son of Vicente Bonifacio and Alejandra Rosales, married on the 24th of January 1863 Catalina de Castro, the daughter of Martin de Castro and Antonia Gregorio...in the presence of Don Severino Ampil and Doña Patricia Trinidad as witnesses and sponsors...

Of course, naturally, this record no longer existed after the Second World War. The same is true for Bonifacio's baptismal record, which was firth cited in Manuel Artigas y Cuerva's Andres Bonifacio y El ‘Katipunan’ in 1911, which states:

“On December 2, 1863, on my authority as Parish Priest, Padre Don Saturnino Buntan, presbyter cleric, baptized according to the rites of our Holy Mother Church, and applied the Holy Oils to, Andres Bonifacio, indio three days born, legitimate son of Santiago Bonifacio and Catalina de Castro, of the barangay of Don Patricio Infante, with Vicente Molina as sponsor at the font....Fr. Gregorio Prieto.”

Andres Bonifacio family tree shown in the book

The marriage record is also mentioned in Ambeth R. Ocampo's Bones of Contention: The Bonifacio Lectures in 2001. Both citations were also made in the 3-part article Andres Bonifacio: Biographical Notes by Jim Richardson, an independent scholar whose research focuses on Philippine nationalism and radicalism in the 19th and 20th centuries and whose publications include Roots of Dependency: Political and Economic Revolution in 19th Century Philippines (co-authored with Jonathan Fast); The Philippines (World Bibliographical Series); Komunista: The Genesis of the Philippine Communist Party, 1902-1935; and The Light of Liberty: Documents and Studies on the Katipunan, 1892-1897. 

So it is a little strange that Mr. Regala missed out on something that I was able to google in just within an hour. Aside from this missed information on the parents of Santiago Bonifacio, Regala's assumption of Andres Bonifacio's Masantol roots is further weakened by both these records. 

Narciso Bonifacio family tree shown in the book

It is a little strange that nothing is mentioned of the town origins of the Bonifacios in both the wedding of Vicente and Alejandra and the baptism of Andres. Only Catalina's town of origin - Zambales - is mentioned. In most cases, a person during the Spanish period was either from that particular town, original de este pueblo, or from another town, original de pueblo de (so and so). It is most probably safe to assume that since nothing is mentioned of the town of origin of the Bonifacios, it is possible that a) they are old timers of Tondo, or b) they came from somewhere else but a few generations ago.

What is clear about the book of Regala is the strong dependence he has on the descendants of Narciso Bonifacio as his source for most of the book. I do not discount the inter-generational insistence of the Narciso Bonifacio family that they are related to Andres. What I do wish to be made clear is that we cannot say for certain the validity of their claims. Pending DNA tests between the descendants of Narciso Bonifacio and those of the siblings of Andres Bonifacio (and this was mentioned in the book), we simply cannot say for sure how true this supposed connection is.

Of course, the fact that very few Bonifacios could be found in Tondo at the time of Andres Bonifacio's birth could bolster the claim of Mr. Regala that his roots were from Masantol. Obviously, more research is needed for a definitive conclusion to the roots of Andres Bonifacio.

In the end, this was an easy, short read. The techniques he used were exact and laudable but ultimately, it was was really more about the Narciso Bonifacio family and not so much of Andres Bonifacio. It was more of an attempt at tracing rather than actual tracing the lineage of Andres Bonifacio.

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In the Blood: Tracing the Kapampangan Lineage of Andres Bonifacio can be purchased through the Center for Kapampangan Studies - Holy Angel University at Angeles, Pampanga.

Was Jose Rizal a Descendant of Lakandula?

Once every few years the question "Was Rizal descended from Lakandula?" pops up. There are just a few scholarly works in recent years that claim this and so far none have been able to prove this claim.

Taken from Austin Craig's book

In more recent references to Rizal's claimed descent from the great Tondo ruler, there is always a consistency that this descent was through his mother, Teodora Alonso. The book Jose Rizal's Immortal Legacy states that "Teodora Alonzo Rizal, was a descendant of the last Malayan king, Lakandula" (Rivera, 1997) while another book, Sa Ningas ng Apoy: Si Rizal ang Dakilang Manunubos ng Kalayaan Henyo, Makabayan, Bayani at Martir (1861-1896), states that . . ."the heroism of Dr. Jose Rizal is inherited from his family and that his strength and courage is from his ancestor Lakandula" (Ramos, 2001). An older reference to this claimed ancestry can be found in The Maranao, which said "Way back in 1571 A.D., the Manila Bay area, the banks of the Pasig, the shores of Batangas were predominantly the site of Muslim communities. A confederation of barangays in Manila area was once ruled by Muslims - Rajah Soliman and Rajah Lakandula from whome Dr. Jose Rizal, the Great Malayan Filipino, is said to have been descended" (Saber and Madale, 1975).

Obviously, these references to Lakandula simply make a passing reference to the alleged connection between Rizal and the great king. It is interesting to note that Jose Rizal, while interested in genealogy at an early age, never mentioned his supposed descent from Lakandula. He was, however, interested in the ancient Tagalog nobles, as attested through his unfinished novel or story, The Ancient Tagalog Nobility and Sinagtala and Maria Maligaya. The latter story tells the story of twins Sinagtala and Maligaya whose mother, Isabel, was the granddaughter of Lakandula (Ocampo, 2008). 

The earliest reference by a renowned scholar with regard to Rizal being a Lakandula descendant was made by American author Austin Craig. In his book Lineage, Life, and Labors of Jose Rizal, Filipino Patriot, he wrote that all branches of Teodora Alonso's family tree were richer than that of her husband's and several names of these related families belong among the descendants of Lakandola, as traced by Mr. Luther Parker in his study of the Pampangan migration...(Craig, 1914).  He later elaborates on this connection in a 1928 article in the Philippine Education Magazine where he wrote that the Castro connection of the Alonsos, though no longer verifiable, ran back to the old Bisayan rajahs of Manila, the family of Rajah Matanda, Soliman, and Lakandula (Craig, 1928). Unfortunately for Austin Craig, he also does not have any irrefutable proof of how Rizal descended from Lakandula. 

Austin Craig's 1928 article on Rizal's lineage

In recent times, it would seem that scholars and historians have accepted that without further proof, one cannot continue this claim. However, there is a need to point out that in the online commercial genealogy and social networking website Geni, the master profile of Jose Rizal can be traced back to Lakandula definitively (see illustration below as taken from Geni):

Fake Descent of Rizal from Lakandula

While Geni is an interesting and a helpful site to many genealogists whether amateurs or experts, the illustration above of Rizal's descent from Lakandula is one of the website's downsides. The relationship as shown above is clearly not just erroneous, but very illogical and impossible.

First error: assuming that the Alonso line of Rizal is related to Lakandula simply because Maria Poloin, Lakandula's only daughter, married a man named Alonso Talabos. Obviously, those who connected Maria Poloin to the Alonso family did so using the flimsiest connection between the last name Alonso (for the family of Rizal's mother) and the first name Alonso for Lakandula's son-in-law. 

The second error in this tree is the alleged son of Maria Poloin, Jose Alonso. Where did this person come from? Austin Craig's painstaking tracing of Jose Rizal's family tree showed that the earliest traceable Alonso was Don Gregorio Alonso who died in 1794. He was Rizal's great-great-grandfather. The family tree of Lakandula as reconstructed by the late Luciano P.R. Santiago clearly does not show a Jose Alonso as one of Maria Poloin's children. In fact, she and her husband Alonso Talabos only had daughters, who were Juana Malay and Monica Bina. So, this Jose Alonso is very clearly an anomaly.

The final and most obvious error in this online connection is the generational anomaly. Simple math and a whole lot of logic would show us that there is no way that Rizal was separated by only 7 generations from Lakandula. As seen in the generation chart below, even when Lakandula had married and had children when we was 40 years of age, the timeline would still not allow for Rizal to be just 7 generations away from Lakandula. So it would mean, and it would also completely invalidate the above family tree, that Lakandula would have to have been in his 60s when he married if we want to force the 7-generation gap between Lakandula and Rizal. So very obviously, the connection of Rizal to Lakandula in Geni is not only wrong, it is misleading to many people who believe in the website. The connection was made using flimsy and illogical connections and is bereft of concrete evidence.

So, once again, we ask the question. Was Rizal a descendant of Lakandula?

It is unfortunate that the complete set of archival documentation on Lakandula's, Matanda's, and Soliman's descendants in the archives have been lost or cannot be retrieved for now. But what we have for the moment does not show the Alonsos in any of the branches of the Lakandula family tree. 

So, the answer to above's question is simple. No one can really tell. And until evidence is found, no, Rizal WAS NOT Lakandula's descendant.

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References:

1. Filomena V. Rivera. Jose Rizal's Immortal Legacy. Manila: National Book Store, 1997.
2. Victor C. Ramos. Sa Ningas ng Apoy: Si Rizal ang Dakilang Manunubos ng Kalayaan Henyo, Makabayan, Bayani at Martir (1861-1896). Manila: Rex Bookstore, Inc., 2001.
3. Mamitua Saber and Abdullah T. Madale. The Maranao. Manila: Solidaridad Pub. House, 1975.
4. Ambeth R. Ocampo. "The Ancient Tagalog Nobility" and "Sinagtala and Maria Maligaya". Makamisa. Manila: Anvil Publishing, 1992.
5. Austin Craig. Lineage, Life, and Labors of Jose Rizal: Filipino Patriot. Manila: Philippine Education Company, 1913.
6. Austin Craig. "Rizal's Lineage Typically Filipino", The Philippine Magazine (formerly Philippine Education Magazine). Manila: Philippine Education Company, Inc., 1928, pp. 11, 67-68.
7. "José Protacio Alonso Realonda Mercado Rizal (1861-1896)" <https://www.geni.com/people/Dr-Jose-Rizal/6000000003219874928>. Geni. (August 1, 2008). Retrieved July 12, 2019.
8. "Bunao Dula (1503 - 1575)" <https://www.geni.com/people/Lakan-Dula/6000000010556125071>. Geni. (December 29, 2009). Retrieved July 12, 2019.