From Ciudad Real to the Ciudad Reina del Sur: The Family of Don Pablo Garcia

Running together with this article is a tribute to outgoing House Speaker and former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. A descendant of the subject of this piece, Governor Gwendolyn Fiel Garcia, is returning as the governor of one of the most progressive provinces in the country. 

While a certain percentage of the Filipino population have Spanish blood, not all can trace their Spanish line up to the first Hispanic ancestor to set foot in the Philippines. And, even fewer can trace their Spanish ancestry beyond the Philippines and up to the Spanish peninsula.

One of the few families who can prove a Spanish heritage, pinpoint exactly their first Spanish ancestor in the country, and go up the family tree a few generations further in Spain is the Garcia family of Cebu. Or rather, the Garcia family who first settled in Sibonga and then Dumanjug, both in Cebu province. This Garcia family is different from the other Garcias in Cebu or even in the Philippines. Thanks to Claveria's 1849 surname decree, thousands of people all over the Philippines carry similar family names without the slightest bit of blood relation. As of 2015, the surname Garcia was ranked as the second most common last name in the Philippines, just a few hundred thousand carriers below the number 1 surname - DE LA CRUZ. 

The Garcia family in this article descends from one immigrant from Ciudad Real, Spain. He was Pablo Garcia Fernandez and his story has been pretty well researched by American historian Michael Cullinane. Cullinane's research has shown that Pablo Garcia was born in 1839 in Spain to Ramon Garcia, said to have been from Ciudad Real, and Isabel Fernandez. The parents most likely never set foot in the Philippines and it was the son, Pablo, who first came to the country most likely towards the end of the 1860s. He was listed as a resident of Cebu between 1869 to 1870 but by the 1870s he was already living in Sibonga, Cebu and was recorded to have made a living out of metal collection, marble cutting, drilling, and carpentry. By 1885 he was a Juez de Paz of Sibonga and by the late 1800s he was already known as an agricultor and by 1910 was honored as the "oldest Spaniard in Cebu". He married an insulares, Nieves Fortich y Gonzales, who was of the Cebu Fortiches.

Church records in Sibonga, Cebu show that by the time Pablo Garcia settled there, he was already considered a respectable Spanish migrant as proven by the constant use of the ennobling title of "Don" to his name. His eldest son and second child, Antonio Garcia, was born on March 21, 1876 and his baptismal record indicates that Pablo and his wife, Nieves Fortich, were classified as comerciantes, which meant they were involved in business. 

Antonio Garcia's Baptismal Record (Sibonga Parish archives)

Pablo Garcia in his son Antonio's baptismal record is listed as Español Europeo which meant that he was a pure Spaniard born in Spain and not in the Philippines. His hometown is given as Ciudad Real, literally meaning Royal City. One member of the Garcia family asked this author what I thought was the reason why Pablo Garcia left his hometown. By studying the milieu of Don Pablo Garcia, especially at the time of his birth, one can then answer that question.

The Garcias of Ciudad Real

Ciudad Real is actually the name of both a city and the province the city is located in. This city is a part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. From its founding in 1255 up until the 15th century, Ciudad Real experienced a period of growth. The increase in its population and production activities, such as wool, leather and wine, led the Catholic Monarchs to look favourably on the city, choosing it as the home for extremely important government institutions. In 1833, the province of Ciudad Real was finally created, with the city of Ciudad Real as its capital. The Spanish War of Independence reached Ciudad Real with the defeat of Spanish troops by Napoleon’s forces at the Guadiana Bridges, with these forces occupying the city up until 1813. 

Three parishes were established in Ciudad Real: Santiago, San Pedro, and Nuestra Señora del Prado. The oldest of the three, was established in the thirteenth century and located in the northeast portion of the city. San Pedro and the next parish, Santiago, which was located in the southeast of the city, shared parts of the aljama or the old Jewish quarter. The third and last parish, the Nuestra Señora del Prado, was established in 1531 and was located in the western and northwestern part. The church patron was also the city's main patroness and its church was more elegant than San Pedro's. Initially, the leading citizens of the city lived closer to San Pedro but later they moved to the parish of del Prado.

During the first half of the 19th century, Ciudad Real went through a period of stagnation marked by a decrease in population, poor interconnection, low levels of investment, and an excessive dependency on agriculture. This was the condition of the city when Pablo Antonio Garcia was born on January 16, 1839 at around 8 in the morning. He was baptized immediately a day after. His parents were Ramon Garcia Melgar and Ysabel Fernandez. His paternal grandparents were Manuel Garcia and Antonia Donayre (Donaire) while his maternal grandparents were Francisco Fernandez and Juana Arias. His entire family lived in the parish of Nuestra Señora del Prado.

It is unclear what standing Pablo Garcia's family was, socially, in their hometown. There were several Garcia families in Ciudad Real at the time of Pablo's birth and there were certain branches of the Garcia family that were listed with the title of "Don" in official records, clearly an indication of some important social stature in the community. As stated above, most of the city's prominent families lived in the parish of Nuestra Señora del Prado and thus there is a chance that Pablo's family once enjoyed some sort of eminence in their community.

The Nuestra Senora del Prado de Ciudad Real as depicted in one of the parish's books

As already stated earlier, by the time Pablo Garcia was born, Ciudad Real was going through a decline. Almost everyone was engaged in farming and few were in business or working as professionals. 

Pablo's grandfather, Manuel Garcia Melgar, was married twice: first to Maria Corrales, who predeceased Manuel leading him to remarry to Antonia Donayre. This second marriage resulted to Josefa Antonia Jacinta Garcia, born in 1786, Manuel Jacinta Garcia (Antonia's twin), Manuel Benito Josef Antonio Garcia, born in 1788, and Ramon Garcia Melgar, born around 1790.

Meanwhile, Manuel Garcia Melgar was born around the mid-1700s to Sebastian Garcia and Antonia Dominguez while his wife, Antonia Donayre, was the daughter of Antonio Donaire and Antonia Herrera.

There was probably very little opportunity in Ciudad Real for Pablo Garcia as he was growing up. We know for a fact that when his eldest son, Antonio Garcia, was born in 1876 in Sibonga, Cebu, that Pablo's parents were already deceased. If he had arrived sometime in the late 1860s or early 1870s, it is very likely that Ramon Garcia and Ysabel Fernandez were already both dead and their deaths provided Pablo Garcia the impetus to leave for the Philippines.

Pablo Garcia was 71 years of age in 1910 when the city government recognized him as the "oldest Spaniard in Cebu". By then, he was a gentleman of means who owned tracts of land that he cultivated for agricultural purposes. By the time he died on January 15, 1925 - just a day shy of his 86th birthday - he was already residing in Cebu City. His death certificate listed his profession as a merchant, his address as El Filibusterismo Street which is somewhere in downtown Cebu, his cause of death as "senility" which most likely just meant he died of old age, and he was buried at the San Nicolas Catholic cemetery.

Fleeing his homeland to seek for a better life, Pablo Garcia indeed found a much better life in Cebu. He rose in prominence quickly, and within just 3 generations one of his great-grandchildren and a namesake, Pablo Paras Garcia, became a Governor of the province he chose to be his new home. Pablo Garcia would later become Deputy Speaker of the House before retiring from public service. Pablo's daughter, Gwen F. Garcia, served 3 consecutive terms as Cebu governor then went on to serve 2 terms as a member of the house of representatives. In 2019, she ran and won another fresh term as Cebu Governor. Her brother, Pablo John F. Garcia, replaces her as 3rd district representative while another brother, Marlon F. Garcia, serves as mayor of Barili, Cebu. Her own daughter, Christina Codilla -Frasco, serves as mayor of Liloan, Cebu while Christina's husband, Vincent Franco Frasco, is the 5th district representative.

Other descendants, like the first Garcia in the Philippines, are engaged in business. 

A 1/8 Filipina (In a historical, not genetic, sense) is now Spanish Queen

The newly crowned 1/8 Filipina Queen, Letizia

On June 19, 2014, His Royal Highness Felipe, Prince of Asturias, succeeded his father, His Majesty Juan Carlos, as King of Spain. Prince Felipe thus became King Felipe VI. For the history and genealogy buff like myself this was a very auspicious moment in terms of Spanish and Filipino relations.

For one thing, Felipe reminds us of the origin of the name of the Philippines, derived from the name of the crown prince of Spain at that time. More than 400 years after Spanish colonization our country still carries the name of that former crown prince, which has once again come to life as the name of the new Spanish king.

But the most interesting thing that can be seen from the ascension of King Felipe VI is the fact that his wife, the former TV newscaster Letizia Ortiz, now became Queen Letizia and with that fact also became the first woman with roots to the Philippines to be queen.

True enough, bloggers from all parts of the Philippines have been trumpeting the fact that a 1/8 Filipina has become Queen. For many years since the commoner Letizia won the heart of Felipe and married him the blogging community has been proclaiming Letizia as another pride of the Filipino people.

While I am all proud with the ascension of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, and I can be proud of the possibility of a part-Filipina becoming a Queen, I once more caution people from jumping to the wrong conclusion with regard to the new Spanish queen consort's roots.

First off, as much as I hate to debunk the happy beliefs of many Filipinos, Queen Letizia is not a Filipina, per se. Her grandmother, the late Enriqueta Rodriguez de Rocasolano, has been erroneously described in Letizia's wikipedia writeup as "a half-Filipino" which is a little misleading.

While it is true that the Rodriguez side of Queen Letizia's family tree has some roots to the Philippines, their relation to the country is more residential than genetic. Letizia's great-great-grandparents went to the Philippine colony in the mid-19th century because they were part of the growing republican movement during the reign of Queen Isabella II. According to Mariló Suárez, author of the book Los Ortiz, Enrique Rodriguez, Queen Letizia's great-grandfather, was born in the Philippines to a Spanish couple. The Rodriguez family later returned to the Spanish peninsula and Enrique later married Maria Paloma Figueredo, who sold fish in the market in Oviedo, Asturias, Spain. Their daughter, Enriqueta Rodriguez Figueredo, later married Francisco Rocasolano Camacho and they had a daughter, Maria de la Paloma Rocasolano Rodriguez, who in turn married Jesús José Ortiz Álvarez. Paloma and Jesus Ortiz are the parents of the new

Historically, Queen Letizia's great-grandfather Enrique Rodriguez was indeed Filipino, in the sense that Spaniards born in the Philippine colony in those times were called Filipino or Insulares, as opposed to those born in Spain, who were called Peninsulares. The native inhabitants were called indios.

So, by some historical twist we can say that a 1/8 Filipina now sits as Queen Consort of Spain, and in the future a 1/16 Filipina will be crowned Queen Leonor (eldest daughter and heiress presumptive of the Spanish crown). While not Filipino by blood, the coronation of Letizia as queen consort is another reminder of how interesting genealogy is. So maybe today we have a part-Filipino by virtue of historical racial classification become Queen. In the future, with so many Filipinos marrying into other nationalities, we would have a Filipino ascend to a throne somewhere in the world.

But for the meantime,

Long live the new King of Spain, Felipe VI!
Long live the new Queen of Spain, Letizia!

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