Traciing Claveria's Genealogy through the Internet

One of the ironies in the genealogical world is the fact that though Narciso Z. Claveria will always be associated with family history research for those with Filipino roots, his own genealogy has not really been explored. In fact, before I realized how far-reaching the Claveria decree has been in terms of Filipino genealogy I wasn't even aware of the name of his parents or if he even had descendants today. For someone whose Renovacion de Apellidos decree made genealogy research easier, not one Filipino researcher has really bothered to trace his family.

So today, on the anniversary of his death, let us get to know the man whose decree will always influence Filipino family history research. Although this has nothing to do with Filipino genealogy I believe that it is about time that we pay our due to the person who systematized our naming culture. This is also another exercise of using the internet in tracing a family tree. Of course, I had about two months to work on this as I wanted to make sure that the information I used were reliable. Although I made use of newspaper articles, too, even these were digital copies and thus still count as a product of the internet.

Early Life

Narciso Claveria y Zaldúa was born in Gerona, Spain on May 2, 1795, the son of Antonio María Nicolas Jose de Claveria y Portu and Maria de Jesus de Zaldúa y Murrieta. His father, Antonio de Claveria, was the Colonel of the Royal Artillery Corps as well as the Political and Military Governor of the city of Huesca, located in Aragon. Probably a tradition in the family, Narciso was officially welcomed into the Army on November 22, 1801 when he was only six years old.

Due to his military upbringing it wasn't surprising that his wife would be from a military family, too. He married Anna de Berroeta y Villar on December 12, 1831. Anna was born in Cartagena de Indias (now Colombia) on April 9, 1808, the daughter of Manuel de Berroeta y Ozaeta and Ana Sanz del Villar. Anna's father was the Captain of the Royal Navy.

He followed in his father's footsteps by entering the Military Academy of Segovia when he was 14 years old.  In 1813 he was assigned to the Andalusian army and participated in military actions during the siege of Pamplona in 1814.

Although he died at the relatively young age of 56, he nevertheless lived a full life.  Throughout his long and distinguished career he held several important positions that included being the Captain General of Navarre's Tenth Military District, the Chief of the General Staff of the Central Army, Captain General of Aragon's Sixth Military District, and later the Governor, Captain General, and President of the Philippine colony.

Governor-General of the Philippines

Clavería, who by this time held the title of Lieutenant General, arrived at the port of Manila on the evening of July 13, 1844, aboard the British ship Margaret and was accompanied by one of his children, an aide, Joseph Roche, and a servant. His wife followed days later. He landed on the next morning at the King's Wharf, given military honors befitting his status, given temporary accommodation, and received the congratulations of all the dignitaries of the city. He was given a banquet that very night and he officially took possession of his position as Chief Executive of Las Islas Filipinas on the 15th.

At the start of his official working day on the 16th Narciso Claveria gave two impassioned speeches. He first addressed the military and told them that their exploits were well known in the Peninsula. He then reminded them to fulfill their duties to the public. After this he addressed the general public and told the colony that compared to other colonies the Philippines appeared to be more prosperous. He finished his speech by expressing the hope that by the end of his term the Philippines would become a rich, flourishing, and tranquil state.

Based on most of the existing documents is becomes very clear that Claveria was a man who was very cultured. hard-working, courteous, and extremely honest. The slightest concerns in the colony caught his attention and it is said that he invited different people from different walks of life to join him at his table so he could get a better feel of the colony. He also believed that in order to understand the diversity of the people and problems facing the colony he needed to see them firsthand, and thus he was perhaps the most travelled Governor-General throughout the 333 years of Spanish occupation of the Philippines.

One of the most pressing issues Claveria faced was the problem of piracy in the south of the colony. While there were many Spanish defeats from pirates during his term he also had many victories. One of these was a military expedition to the Isle of Balanguingui located in Joló, Sulu Achipiélago, Balanguingui was always considered as one of the main pirate havens, and this victory against the pirates set back piracy in that area for the next few years. This victory was also the primary basis of the conferment of the title of Count of Manila to Claveria, which was granted by the Spanish crown on July 29, 1848.

Overall, Claveria's exploits against the pirates were lauded in Spain and even some of the European powers which had possessions in nearby colonies congratulated Claveria for his victories. What was more amazing about Narciso Claveria was that he personally led his troops in these expeditions; unlike many of his predecessors or successor, including modern Philippines's leaders, Claveria was not afraid to lead his troops against the enemies of the colony. Historians agree that this is another trait that made Claveria a very interesting and deserving leader.

Other than military exploits, and as already mentioned in previous articles in this blog, Claveria also managed to correct some cultural and social concerns. This included the correction of the Philippine calendar, which was a day behind the rest of the world, as well as the decree on adopting surnames for all indios. He also empowered the alcade mayores as well as created the first social security system for administration officials. True to his cultured nature his regime also saw the establishment of several newspapers.

Return to Spain and Death

Because of his work load, his unending zeal to spread prosperity in all parts of the colony coupled with his ceaseless travels and the climate of the Philippines, Claveria's health took a disastrous turn. By 1849 Claveria was said to be quite emaciated and very sick, and the Spanish crown allowed him to return to Spain to recuperate.

Amazingly, Claveria first decided to go to the sea and hoped this would cure him. He travelled the various provinces in the Visayas but this only contributed to his deterioration. He declined to return immediately and instead asked that he first be certified by a medical commission to see if his declining health could be cured in the Philippines.

The medical team concluded that he would need the mild climate of the Spanish Peninsula to heal and continued stay in the warm, moist envirnment of the colony would seriously jeopardize his life. Before departing the colony he made sure that there would be a smooth transition of power and he appointed Antonio Ma. Blanco as interim Governor-General.

Claveria, together with his family, left the Philippines on Christmas day of 1849 aboard the steamer Reina del Castile, first stopping by Singapore then on a Suez route to Marseille and finally to Madrid, where he was presented to the Queen.

Although he became a Senator for life, he died on June 26, 1851, barely two years since returning to Spain, having served 49 years in the army. At the time of his death he was also awarded the Knight Grand Cross Order of Isabel of the Catholic, San Fernando & San Hemergildo while his widow Ana was a Dame of the Order of Maria Luisa.

Progeny and the Counts of Manila

The Claveria family tree (Copyright T. Cabrera Lucero)

Many Filipino historians throughout the years have disparaged historical figures who bore titles of nobility, usually writing them as self-styled. Claveria was one of these accused of calling himself Conde de Manila. However, patents of nobility were indeed granted to Narciso Claveria on July 29, 1848, giving him the right to bear the title of Count of Manila, a title that still exists to this very day.

One interesting trait of the Claveria family is their small size as a family. Narciso Claveria, for instance, had just one sister and 2 brothers. Narciso and his wife had three children, 2 girls and a boy. This son, Jose Claveria y Berroeta, succeeded Narciso as Conde de Manila in 1851 upon Narciso's demise.

Jose Claveria, the 2nd Count of Manila, was born on August 31, 1839. He married Basilia Matilde Palacio y Lopez and they had a son, Narciso Claveria. After Basilia's death Jose remarried to Maria Salome Sanchez Molero La Torre and they had one child, Luisa Claveria.

Jose's only son, Narciso, became the 3rd Count of Manila upon the death of Jose Claveria on October 17, 1897. Narciso II became a very famous architect and his most famous work was the Toledo Railway Station, considered as one of the historical architectures if the early 20th century and is now touted as one of the most beautiful stations in Spain. Narciso married Carmen de Babe y Roda de Porras and had four children: Jose, Manuel, Matilde, and Ana Ignacia.

The next two Condes de Manila were the brothers Jose and Manuel de Claveria. It does not appear that they were married or had children. Jose took over the countship in 1935 upon the death of his father and bore the title until his own death in 1969. He was then succeeded by his brother, Manuel, who only received the title in 1972 and held this title until his death in 1998. His nephew, Jose Roda-Claveria, succeeded to the title in 2000.

The Current Conde de Manila

With Manuel's death the direct male lineal descent of the Countship of Manila ended. The title was then passed on to the nearest male relative of Manuel, Don Jose Roda-Claveria y Cassinello, the son of Ana Ignacia de Claveria, Manuel's sister. Ana Ignacia was married to Don Camilo de Roda, an engineer whose family was also of the Spanish nobility. Don Jose still holds the title of Count of Manila today.

View the Claveria family tree here.
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Sources:

1. ABC Madrid, 1916, 1946, and 1988.
2. Miguel Luque Talavan, Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa: Gobernador y Capitán General de las Islas Filipinas (1844-1849), Universidad Complutense Madrid, 1997.
3. http://www.mcnbiografias.com/app-bio/do/show?key=claveria-y-zaldua-narciso
4. http://toledoolvidado.blogspot.com/2011/09/toledo-comienzos-del-siglo-xx.html
5. Blasones Hispanos

Spanish Text of Claveria's Renovacion de Apellidos

Below are scanned copies from the book Renovacion de Apellidos showing the original Spanish text of the Claveria decree.

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.

The Catalogo and Funny Last Names, Part I

I realized that all my posts so far have been very serious, so today I deviate from my usual ramblings on the serious side of genealogy and explore a funny aspect of the Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos. If we recall, the Catalogo was a list of names compiled by Spanish officials which accompanied the Renovacion del Apellido decree of Governor-General Narciso Z. Claveria in 1849. This decree imposed on the native population of the Philippines to adopt a name based on the list provided. Supposedly, the list should have contained only the Spanish surnames they compiled from Spanish directories together with terms from the vegetable and mineral kingdoms, geography, arts, etc. Also included, however, were common Spanish words as well as a sprinkling of native names and terms which undoubtedly tickled the Spanish compilers as they were alphabetizing the final list.

My mom and aunts are always full of stories of classmates with last names like "Malibangco", "Utot", and "Tubol", which are terms that definitely would make any person who speaks Cebuano roll with laughter. I went over the Catalogo in my possession and, lo and behold, these funny last names do exist! So, below are the first batch of randomly selected names listed in the Catalogo which  definitely made the families adopting them at that time the butt of their neighbors' jokes (many of which continue to be a source of people's ridicule today).

• BOGOC, found in the 4th column of page 19 of the catalogue. Bogoc is truly derogatory, which is a sort of superlative for "bogo", which means dumb, stupid, or slow.
• UNG-GOY, 2nd column of page 134. In itself it simply means "monkey". But in Philippine culture being called an "unggoy" is definitely not flattering.
• BOTBOT, 4th column of page 20. It means "lie", but means so much more compared to the tamer term "bakak". 
• CAHOBOAN, 4th column of page 24. It literally means "for undressing" or "can be undressed".
• UNGO, 2nd column of page 134. Meaning "monster".
• AGTA, 2nd column of page 3. Although it might have just referred to the indigenous people of the northern highlands, in Cebuano folklore the agtas were giant, very dark-skinned men who perched on large branches and smoke foul-smelling cigars.
• LIBANG, 3rd column of page 75. Although it means "relaxation" in Tagalog, in Cebuano it means "defecate".
• OTOT, 6th column of page 98. Means "fart".
• TUBUL, 1st column of page 132. "hard stool".
• BABOY, 2nd column of page 10. "Pig".

Imagine having the last name "Ung-goy", and this
is the image that appears in people's minds.

On their own, these surnames are harmless. A person with the last name of Cahoboan would probably go unscathed emotionally if he grew up in Luzon or outside the country. But the cruel fact is many of these names were adopted, or most likely imposed upon Cebuano families in 1849 which definitely made them targets of humiliation and derision. A simple scanning local newspapers would reveal many people with derogatory surnames petitioning the court to allow them to change their last names.  

Claveria & the Importance of 1845 in Philippine Genealogy

When I visited the Sinupang Pambansa or the Philippine National Archives in 2007 I saw and purchased a copy of the Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos, a reproduction of Governor-General Narciso Claveria's surname decree in 1849 with an introduction by Domingo Abella, then head of the PNA. In his write-up Abella enumerated the achievements of Claveria, whose short stint as chief executive of the Philippines proved to have several reforms that changed Philippine historiography for good. 

What many people, especially those interested in Philippine Genealogy, don't know is that Claveria did more than just that famous surname decree of 1849. He had another decree, somewhat forgotten in many history books but whose effects still affect us today. In 1844 he made a decree that corrected the Philippine calendar. When the Spaniards first came to the Philippines they based their calendar on Spain's, not knowing that as they went westward and reached the Philippines this calendar fell a day behind the rest of world. So from the 1500s up until Claveria made a fuss about it in 1844 the people in the Philippines were actually living the wrong day every day! So Claveria, after consulting with the church, decreed that December 31, 1844 would not exist and instead December 30, 1844 would be immediately followed by January 1, 1845. So in one decree and erasure of one single day in the last month of the year the Philippines finally caught up with the rest of the world's calendar.

What does this do to genealogists researching Philippine families? Simple. Every record we've gone through before January 1, 1845 was one day behind. So if we'd put down, for example, Cotober 4, 1843 as the birthday of our ancestor then the ACTUAL birthday was October 5, 1843.

Perhaps it's simply a technical detail in Philippine genealogy, but a single day difference makes a lot of difference. Imagine how many people in our records have been given the wrong birthdays, marriages dates, and even death dates? Narciso Claveria, indeed, has proven to have the most impact in terms of Philippine genealogy.

Claveria and the Myth of the Spanish Ancestors

Ask any Filipino with a Spanish-sounding surname and they will tell you that their great-grandfather or great-grandmother was a Spaniard. Some families tell stories they heard from elders that their family actually came to the Philippines with Ferdinand Magellan or the other conquistadores! This claim is very common, but when you look for these so-called Spanish ancestors in the church records, you will notice that many of these were actually described as indios.

The thing is, the Spaniards never fully intermarried with the natives in the Philippines as they did in Mexico, Venezuela, and their other former colonies. And according to verifiable archival documents, more than 90% of each town's population were described as indio (or native Filipino) in most church records. During the Spanish period one could be described as a peninsulares or a Europeo Espanol, an insulares or a Filipino Espanol, sangley, a mestizo (usually mestizo Espanol or mestizo sangley), infieles, or the most common of all: an indio.

If one was a peninsulares, that meant he or she was a Spaniard born in Spain. An insulares was a Spaniard born in the Philippines. A sangley was a Chinese. A mestizo was a half-breed; a mestizo Espanol means he was half Spaniard and Filipino, while a mestizo Sangley meant he was half Chinese and Filipino. Those described as infieles were the Moslems who were usually taken into homes as servants or slaves. Finally, an indio was a native inhabitant of the Philippines.

Other families may have had Spanish ancestors, but records in the church say otherwise. Of course it also very possible that a Spanish ancestor did exist in some cases, but after some time the descendants of the said Spaniard were considered local-bred and thus were identified as indio. This is highly likely, though we have no more records to prove it.

The thing every Filipino has to understand upon starting a genealogical quest is this: the Claveria Decree of 1849 has many repercussions when it comes to Filipino culture in general, and in Filipino genealogy, in particular. Domingo Abella, former head of the National Archives, stated in his introduction that only time will tell if the decree has been bane or boon to Filipinos.

On the one hand, because of this decree, Filipinos began to use surnames legally. Some historians would argue that Filipinos already had surnames prior to the decree, but based on my study of old records, only the Spanish, mestizo (part indigenous Filipino, part Spanish or Chinese), and Chinese families had surnames. Even half-breeds with surnames sometimes forgot they had surnames already. Moreover, the principalia (the ruling native families) were no different. Though many of them mimicked their Spanish overlords and had surnames, most of these were religious or very popular Hispanic surnames. I believe that Governor Claveria is to be appreciated for this decree simply because he made sure that the use of surnames is standardized and legalized. Forget the actual reason behind it (taxation, census, monitoring for the forced labor, etc.). What I am thankful for is the simple fact that had it not been for the decree, I believe I would have been called today as Todd Alexander, and my father before me would have been named Alexander Adriano, and his father would have been Adriano Wenceslao, and so on. The pre-1849 Filipino pattern of naming was predictive: if Jose’s father’s name is Pedro, then the boy would be known as Jose Pedro.

Another conclusion made by Domingo Abella in the publication of the Catalogo is this: that genealogical study has been made more difficult because of the decree, especially once one goes beyond 1849. However, in my experience, I have not been able to encounter this difficulty. In fact, the surname decree has made my research beyond 1849 relatively easy. My great-great-grandfather, Bonifacio Lucero, was born prior to 1849, and was originally named Bonifacio Jose, the second name after his father Jose Lucero. If not for the surname decree, I would have had a hard time connecting him farther since Jose Lucero was sometimes known as Jose Luciano or Jose Francisco in different records. This, plus the fact that many records have been either lost or destroyed, would have made it more difficult to trace beyond 1849.

One repercussion of this decree, however, remains painfully clear: many people in the Philippines whose surnames are the same should not automatically conclude that they are related. Whenever people would ask me about the possibility of relatedness between two people sharing the same name, I would always ask them if they know the origin of their family. If they tell me that the two same surnames come from the same town, I would confidently claim 95-99% probability of being related. If they are from different towns but from the same part of the province, there is a lesser probability of relatedness. One only has to remember that some provincial heads in 1849 distributed the same pages in the decree to two or three towns, thus there would always have been the high chance of duplication of surnames in these areas. And when one family name is found in two distant cities, towns, or provinces in the country, then the chances of being relatives are almost slim to none.

In the end, it would be up to the patience of every Filipino wishing to unearth his roots to try hard to verify if his surname came only due to the 1849 decree, or if they’ve always had it in their family. Whatever its effects on Filipino historiography, the Claveria Decree is just another reminder of how colorful Philippine history is.

Many families would later discover that, perhaps, the old stories told to them by their elders are, unfortunately, not accurate, such as being descendants of foreigners, having foreign blood, coming to the Philippines with Magellan, and so on. In the long run, one’s bloodline matters little. What is important is the tracing, preservation, and transmission of these histories so future Filipinos and their descendants will have an idea as to where they have been, and where they are headed.

(C) Todd Lucero Sales, 2012.