People do genealogy for various reasons.
Some people trace their family trees to answer common questions
like where their family has been and where they are headed. Some do it hoping
to find possible long-lost inheritance or claims to hidden fortunes. A more
common reason for doing it is the dream of finding a connection to a famous
person, be it a president, a billionaire, or to royalty. In the past, it was a
common practice to trace the descent of royalty from the divine: the Japanese
Imperial family has long held that they are descended from the Shinto Sun
goddess Amaterasu (David Kinsley, 1988); many Roman Emperors and politicians
claimed to be from the families descended from the Greek and Roman pantheon (O.
Hekster, 2005); the British Royal family is said to be from the Norse god Woden
or Odin; or powerful Islamic dynasties would always claim to be the Prophet
Mohammad's descendants.
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| Photo grabbed from SGMA's FB Page |
In modern times, people continue to have such fantastical claims
to lofty pedigrees. For decades, people would scoff when families like the
Macapagals would claim descent from Lakan Dula. Many families, especially those
from Bulacan and Pampanga, have always claimed to be descendants of the Manila
Lakans or the Super-Principalias. The same could be said for some families in Cebu and Bohol that claim
descent from Lapulapu (Mojares, 2018), Humabon (Abellana, 1998), Sikatuna
(Dery, 1992), and others.
These claims of descent from antiquity are common in many cultures.
And while historians are skeptical of these genealogies, many of these family
trees are actually complete with names and details. It may be that some distant
court genealogist felt pressured and fabricated these family trees to further
consolidate the power of their kings. Or, it may also be that these were from
oral histories. Before writing and printing became a common preoccupation of
the human race, certain groups of people in many societies were tasked to
memorize their histories. Author Alex
Haley in his book Roots wrote at the end of his novel about
very old men in Africa called "griots" - men who could recite the
centuries old village histories, of clan and family stories, of all the great
men of their village. Basically, they were what Alex Haley called 'living,
walking archives of oral history' (Haley, 1976). Who, then, can tell if this
skill has not been passed down through the centuries along certain
families in the Philippines?
In truth, many genealogies, no matter how fantastical, have some
basis in reality. Many elements of the Lapulapu and Humabon oral traditions can
be corroborated by documents found in Spanish and Portuguese archives as proved
by historian Danilo Madrid in his book on Ferdinand Magellan.
One such example of oral traditions being backed by archival
documents albeit having some discrepancies is the Veloso of Cebu family tree.
For years, members of the prominent Veloso family (whose members include no
less than the President of the Philippines, Rodrigo R. Duterte, and host of
other senators, legislative representatives, and more) believed that their line
came from a Portuguese merchant who came to Southeast Asia in the 1600s. The
Velosos have a long and documented genealogy. However, in his 2015
scholarly article The Myth of the Portuguese Ancestor: The Veloso
Family of Nineteenth-Century Cebu, historian Michael Cullinane expertly provides
detailed proof that some of the names of earlier generations of the Veloso
family were incorrect. He further provides archival evidence that the Velosos,
at least those in the nineteenth century, were racially classified as mestizos
sangleyes (Chinese mestizos) and not Portuguese. Considering the
practice at that time, racial status was inherited paternally. If the Velosos
were indeed Portuguese, this classification would have been carried over to the
19th century. Nevertheless, while Cullinane's work has disproved some of the
Veloso family's claimed history, this updated story of their family has even
added more details into their genealogy.
At the end of the day, there is nothing wrong in continuing to
believe in oral histories. What is important is that one knows how to delineate
between fact and fiction as well as learn to accept when oral traditions
are proven to be something else.
Establishing the
Macapagal Genealogy
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| The Macapagal-Arroyo Family (Photo from SGMA's FB) |
One of the best examples of a genealogy that has a mixture of oral
and archival documentation is that of the Macapagal genealogy. For decades, the
history of the Macapagals has been the subject of many speculation and debate.
There are a few who claim that the Macapagal family (in particular the line of
President Diosdado) is descended from Lakandula.
Former MTRCB Chair Alejandro Roces in his eulogy during President Macapagal's
necrological service at Malacanang in 1997, stated that “Macapagal was an
impoverished royalty because he was of royal descent...” This was one of the earliest public recognitions of Macapagal's descent from
Lakandula. Seven years earlier, social historian Luciano P.R. Santiago
published the authorative journal article The Houses of Lakandula, Matanda, and
Soliman (1571-1898): Genealogy and Group Identity. While he traced the
descendants of Lakandula and the other superprincipalias
down to the 16- to 1700s, he did not go beyond this. In fact, though he
mentions that Diosdado Macapagal and Jovito Salonga are known Lakandula
descendants, he does not trace how that is so.
Another former government official, National Commission on Culture and the
Arts (NCCA) chairman Jaime C. Laya, stated in 2001 that Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo, daughter of Diosdado Macapagal, was the "great, great, great granddaughter
15 times of Don Jose Macapagal" (Vanzi, 2001). Don Jose was the son of Don
Juan Macapagal, a proven great (3X) - grandson of Lakandula. He backtracks in
his book, Letras y Figuras, when he said that GMA was likely a
descendant of Don Jose Macapagal, a great (10X or so)-granddaughter of said
Jose Macapagal (Laya, 2001). Laya's backtracking is quite logical. When he said
President Arroyo was the great (15X)-granddaughter of Don Jose Macapagal,
this was quite problematic. Using the standard 25 - 35 years for every
generation, Laya's claim would put President Arroyo as having been born
between 2075 and 2215, way in the future!
Truth of the matter is, there has never been a
concrete illustration of the descent from Lakandula to President Macapagal
despite everyone claiming it as such. Even the biography of Diosdado
Macapagal by Cecilia P. Serrano simply rehashes the old general claims of
Macapagal’s descent from Lakandula but makes no detailed illustration of this.
Interestingly,
Macapagal did descend from Lakandula but, unlike the claims of Laya and
Serrano, not through the aforementioned Jose (or Joseph) Macapagal. President
Diosdado Macapagal was the great (11X) – grandson of Lakandula, making
President Gloria M. Arroyo the 12X great-granddaughter of Lakandula. There is clear and valid archival provenance for
former President Gloria M.
Arroyo’s family tree up to her great-great-grandfather Quirino Macapagal. The
baptismal record of Arroyo’s father, former President Diosdado Macapagal, still
exists and shows the name of PGMA’s grandparents and great-grandparents (Lubao
baptismal register, 1910).
The baptismal record of
Gloria’s grandfather, Urbano Macapagal, also exists and shows the name of Don
Quirino Macapagal (Lubao baptismal register, 1877). Thus, in these 2 baptismal
records alone, we can see the proof of descent of the Macapagals in 5
generations. It is the first key to connecting the line of PGMA to Lakandula.
Urbano’s grandfather as listed in his baptismal record was Don Qurino Macapagal
who was, though not mentioned in the record, not from Lubao but from San Simon,
Pampanga. Don Quirino Macapagal’s own baptismal record is the next and most
important key in the Macapagals’ Lakandula descent, an indisputable proof of
PGMA’s descent from Lakandula. Clearly stated in the record is the inclusion of
Quirino’s parents in the “barangay de Lacandola”. The barangay de Lacandola, or
more formally the gremio de Lacandola,
was the administrative grouping of proven descendants of the three great rulers
of Manila. The Spanish authorities decided to put this up in order to keep
track of who exactly were the descendants of the Super-principalias as well as safeguard these families as they were
prone to various abuses and exploitation by local Spanish and indio functionaries alike.
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Portion of Quirino Macapagal's baptismal record showing his parents to be
part of the barangay de Lacandola |
The last provenance in PGMA’s
tree is the marriage record of Pedro Macapagal and Ma. Gracia Paguio, which
gives us the names of both their parents. Once again, they are both listed as being members
of the Lacandola barangay, Pedro from the gremio
de Lacandola in San Luis, Pampanga, while Ma. Gracia from San Simon.
So whatever other families who claim that a) the line of Diosdado Macapagal is a “bogus”
Macapagal line, b) that the Macapagals are just servants of the Gatbontons, the
“real” descendants of the royal Lakans of Manila, or c) that the Macapagals of
Lubao are not related to the Macapagals descended from Lakandula, all these are
irrelevant. The fact is very few families can provide detailed archival proof
like PGMA’s family. Even if one cannot connect her directly to Lakandula (which
we can), the fact that several records show that Gloria’s direct ancestors were
registered in the gremio or barangay
de Lacandolas is enough proof of her descent from the famed Lakandula of Tondo.
Proving the Macapagal Descent from Lakandula
Thanks to the efforts of the
late Luciano P.R. Santiago as well as those of Luis C. Dery, it is now easier
to extend PGMA’s family tree further using their scholarly works. Don Quirino
Macapagal, his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather all appear in
Santiago’s research. Using this and other research materials, we can further
extend Don Quirino Macapagal’s line to Don Eugenio Lapira Macapagal and his
wife Doña Cathalina Sinacumanglugod. Don Eugenio L. Macapagal was the father of
the aforementioned Don Juan Macapagal, the father of Jose or Joseph Macapagal
from which PGMA has been erroneously said to be descended. In fact, it is from
another son of Don Eugenio, Don Miguel Lapira Macapagal,
where President Arroyo’s line is from.
Don Eugenio Macapagal was the
great-great-grandson of Lakandula. His line going up to Lakandula, Matanda, and
Soliman and several of his descendants may be traced using the secondary
sources Descendientes de Don Carlos Lacandola, the only existing cache
of documents in the Philippine National Archives that specifically trace the
family trees of the Lakandulas, Matandas, and Solimanes.
PGMA’s
Descent from Royalty
From PGMA, we count 6
generations up to Don Jose Macapagal whose name is the last name we see in
primary sources. Using secondary sources as well as the previously researched
genealogies by various scholars, we can further connect Don Jose Macapagal 8
generations further up to Don Carlos Lacandola. In other words, former
President and outgoing Speaker of the House Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is a 14th
generation descendant of Lakandula.
Culling from the writings of
Isabelo de los Reyes, H. Otley Beyer, Luther Parker, and Mariano Henson, it has
been generally accepted that Lakan Dula, Ladia Matanda, and Rajah Soliman II
were brothers, and that the younger Soliman, Soliman III, was Lakan Dula’s and
Matanda’s nephew. They were descendants of the Sultans of Brunei and Sulu and
in fact there were several intermarriages among the royal houses of Manila and
Tondo, Sulu, and Brunei, and Matanda, Lakandula, and Soliman were descendants
of Sultan Bolkiah of Brunei and Sultan Sharif al-Hashim of Sulu.
These connections to the
genealogy of Brunei and Sulu thus stretches the family tree of PGMA further. Lakandula
was the grandson of Sultan Bolkiah of Brunei and Princess Leila Menchanai (or
Menjanai) of Sulu, in turn the granddaughter of the founder of the Sultanate of
Sulu, Sultan Sharif al-Hashim, said to be the son of Shariff Ali Zainal Abidin
from Yemen. Shariff Abidin is further said to be the father of Shariff Muhammad
Kabungsuan, the founder of the Sultanate of Maguindanao. The tarsila
of the Sultans of Maguindanao further shows the descent of Shariff Abidin, the
father of their founder Shariff Muhammad Kabungsuan, from the Prophet Muhammad.
Thus, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is at the 34th generation from the
Prophet Muhammad.
Many Moslem historians believe
that the genealogy of Muhammad can be traced to Ismail, one of the the sons of
Abraham. Between Ismail and Muhammad are seventy generations. However, there
seems to be some debate on Muhammad's ancestry. Some scholars believe that the
lineage of Prophet Muhammad actually has three versions: the first was
authenticated by biographers and genealogists and states that Prophet
Muhammad's genealogy has been traced to Adnan. The second is subject to
controversies as to which son of Ismael the Prophet really descends from. It
traces his lineage beyond Adnan back to prophet Ibrahim (Abraham). The third
version, traces his lineage beyond Ibrahim back to Aadam (Adam). Genealogists
differ from which son of Isma'il عليه السلام the line of descent came as well
as in the names on the line of descent. So, while the exact descent of the
Prophet Muhammad cannot be established for now, it is nevertheless interesting
to note that PGMA can further connect herself to another royal line due to her
descent from Muhammad.
Fatima’s son, Shariff Al-Ḥusayn
ibn ʿAlī ibn Abi Talib, married Shahrbānū, who was a Sassanid princess and the
daughter of Yazdegerd III, the last Emperor of the Sassanid dynasty of Persia
(now Iran). The Sasanian dynasty was named after Sasan, the ancestor of the
dynasty. It was founded by Ardashir I in 224, who defeated the last Parthian
king Artabanus IV and ended when the last Sasanian monarch, Yazdegerd III
(632–651), lost a 19-year struggle to drive out the early Arab Caliphate, which
was the first of the Islamic empires.
Because the Macapagals are
descended from Don Quirino Macapagal, himself a descendant of Don Eugenio
Lapira Macapagal, who was the great-great-grandson of Lakandula, himself a
grandson of Princess Laila Menjanai of Sulu who was a direct descendant of the Prophet
Muhammad, they can count as their blood relatives the royal families of Sulu,
Maguindanao, Brunei, Jordan, the United Kingdom (although Queen Elizabeth’s
descent from Mohammad is debated), and a host of other families that have been
traced to Muhammad.
This
genealogical writeup is just a simple thank you to former President and outgoing
House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for her service to the Filipino people. Her
full genealogy with generation per generation illustration of descent from all
abovementioned families will be featured in the author’s upcoming books UNANG PAMILYA: Brief Genealogies of Philippine
Presidential Families and Descendants
of the Super-Principalias.
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Sources:
Primary sources:
- Church records of Saint Augustine in Lubao, Pampanga, Philippines.
- Church records of of Saint Simon San Simon, Pampanga, Philippines.
- Church records of of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, San Luis, Pampanga, Philippines.
Other References:
- H. Otley Beyer. Philippine History Quarterly, 1919.
- Luther Parker. "The Gats and the Lakans." Philippine Magazine, 504-505. Manila, Philippine Magazine, January 1931.
- Luther Parker. "The Lakandolas." Philippine Magazine, 572-573. Manila, Philippine Magazine, February 1931.
- Luther Parker. "The Last of the Lakans." Philippine Magazine, 628-629. Manila, Philippine Magazine, March 1931.
- 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.
- 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.
- Jaime C. Laya. "The Lacandola Papers in the National Archives." Letras Y Figuras: Business in Culture, Culture in Business, 54-55. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2001.
- Luis C. Dery. "Isang-Dugo: Kinship and the Origin of the Filipino People." A History of the Inarticulate: Local History, Prostitution, and Other Views from the Bottom, 1-20. Quezon City, New Day Publishers, 2001.
- Cecilla P. Serrano. "Ancestors." Beating the Odds: The Life, the Times, and the Politics of Diosdado P. Macapagal, 1-5. Quezon City, New Day Publishers, 2005.
