Sara Duterte: Daughter of Destiny and History

Inday Sara is a product of the East and the West, having German, Spanish, French, Chinese, and Filipino ancestries. Her genealogy is even more interesting. She is an ABELLANA from her mother's side, as Elizabeth Zimmerman's mother was an Abellana from Cebu. A lore in the Abellana family says that they are putative descendants of Hari' Tupas, the son-in-law of Hari' Humabon. This lore is also discussed in Manuel Enriquez de la Calzada's book "Ang Kagubot sa Sugbo 1898" which narrates the invaluable assistance to the Spaniards of several soldiers from San Nicolas, Cebu, which was always believed to be the seat of Hari' Tupas and where his descendants lived. All these soldiers, led by a Captain Celestino Abellana, were descendants of Tupas and were later rewarded by the Spanish authorities with exemption from tribute as well as having their names etched on a pliego de bronce or bronze sheet which was displayed in prominence inside the the church of San Nicolas.

Tupas, who was the son of Humabon's younger brother, married Humabon's eldest daughter. This daughter, later baptized as Katherine, was Humabon's child with his first wife, who was the sister of Lapulapu. Thus, the Abellanas, and this includes Mayor Inday Sara Duterte, are not just the putative descendants of Humabon and Tupas, but also collateral descendants of Lapulapu.

The ABELLANA family name has always been considered a Cebuano family name. In fact, it was awarded as one of the Pinalanggang Sugbuanong Banay or Most Beloved Cebuano Families in 2012 together with 74 other Cebuano families. This distinction was given to families who had members who were successful in their respective field before 1965 and many of them were also very prominent since during the Spanish period (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 2012).

A few of the prominent Abellanas in Philippine history were Martin Abellana, the LUDABI (Lubas sa Dagang Bisaya) and “Ang Dagang Bisaya” editor who was born in San Nicolas, Cebu City in 1904; Andres Abellana, a former capitan of the San Nicolas district of old Cebu who, together with his brothers Fabian and Lucas Abellana, were actively involved during the Philippine revolution against Spain in 1898. The three brothers were arrested by the Spaniards after the historic Tres de Abril battle. Andres Abellana's son, Hilario Abellana, became a governor of the province of Cebu (1941-1943).

Historically, the Abellanas have always been considered a true-blue Cebuano family. Legend has it that they are direct descendants of Hari’ Humabon of Sugbu through his grandson, Hari’ Carlos Tupas. This belief is held by almost all members of the Abellana family and is most likely rooted to the fact that, historically, the Abellanas have always been prominent in what is now San Nicolas in Cebu City, said to be the seat of Hari’ Humabon’s kingdom.

Interestingly, the surname Abellana does appear to be almost exclusively Cebuano. While it is found in many parts of the Philippines, it is only in two cities in the province of Cebu where there is a concentration of people carrying it as a last name: in Cebu City, where there are 2,352 people carrying it as a last name and in Talisay City with 790 people with Abellana as a last name. In Cebu City, Abellana is the 37th most populous surname while it is the 5th most common last name in Talisay City. Geographically, Talisay City is adjacent to Cebu City (Philippine Statistics Authority, 2015).

So when I found out that Inday Sara was an Abellana through her mother, Elizabeth Abellana Zimmerman, I immediately realized just how huge the historical and genealogical significance was had she decided to run for the Presidency. Consider these: the year 2021 is the 500th anniversary of the introduction of Christianity in the Philippines. The primary players 500 years ago were Magellan, a Portuguese in the service of the Spanish crown; Hari’ Humabon, who welcomed the Spaniards; Lapulapu, who fought valiantly against the colonizers. Had Inday Sara decided to run for President, she would have been the convergence of all that happened 500 years ago. Her father, the current President, is actually from a family that has always maintained Portuguese descent on one side and Spanish lineage on another. Inday Sara’s mother is a direct descendant of Hari’ Tupas Kamparang and Hara’ Humamai, whose father was Hari’ Humabon and whose mother was a sister of Datu Lapulapu. Inday Sara’s running for President would not just have been an answer to the clamor of the people; it would have been the sacred fulfillment of a destiny carved into Philippine history half a millennium ago.

Amazing what-ifs of history, indeed!

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.

Philippine Family Tree Series: The Genealogy of Pre-Hispanic Visayan Royalty

As an improvement to the genealogies of Humabon and Lapulapu discussed in previous posts, this new tree explores the connection between Rajah Humabon and Sri Lapulapu. That Humabon was Lapulapu's brother-in-law is actually backed by both archival documents and oral history.

It is true that documentation on the Visayan pre-Hispanic royalty is fewer than that of the Lakans of Luzon. Because of this, we know very little of the royal families of the Visayas. We also do not have proof of where their descendants are today. This is where oral tradition comes in to fill in the void, and where clues left by what little archival document we have complete the story.

One interesting factoid in the family tree of pre-colonial Visayan Royals is that the Abellana family of Cebu claims to be descendants of Tupas, Humabon's nephew and son-in-law and eventual successor. President Duterte's ex-wife's, Elizabeth Zimmerman, mother was Purisima Abellana, born in Tuburan, Cebu. While we have no way yet of proving her Abellana line to be related to those of San Nicolas, Cebu City's, further research just might shed light on the possibility of Duterte's children being descendants of pre-Hispanic royalty. It would be tantalizing to also compare this with PGMA: her father's family was from pre-Hispanic native royalty, and she later became president herself. If Sara Duterte were descended from Tupas, well, then, you make the conclusion.

Naturally, this does not make any claim of authenticity. There was a need to delineate between archival documentation and purely oral history to make sure people understand that the chart simply is an amalgamation of various sources on Humabon and Lapulapu.