From Africa's Adam to Argao: The Genetic History of the Lucero Family

Finally, my genetic genealogy report, at least for one of the possible thousands of my ancestral lines, has become available. Thanks to my mother's older brother, my uncle Dario in the US, I am now able to chart the journey of my Lucero ancestry through the male line. Or in the case of genetics, using the Y-chromosome.

I wanted to trace my Lucero genes first because, personally, I have always been more attached to my maternal family. And since my Lucero ancestry is maternal, I had to make use of an uncle to provide the sample for genetic testing as the Y-chromosome, if we remember our basic genetics class in college, is passed through the male line only. Thus, my Lucero grandfather, Jesus Birondo Lucero, passed on his Lucero Y-chromosomes to all my mom's brothers but not to his daughters, which include my mom. Finally, since among all my familial lines it is the Lucero history that I have fully documented so it has become obvious which line I should begin with.

The Lucero history spans several generatiions, and I am in the 9th generation if I count from the oldest historically verifiable ancestor we have, while I am in the 12th generation if I add the three ancestors that are purely based on oral history. US social historian Michael Cullinane, who has read my history of the Luceros, has always insisted that the Lucero Hispanic line is paternal, while I have always subscribed to the family lore that it is maternal. Here is what I know of my Lucero ancestry:

I am the son of Fely D. Lucero, who is the daughter of Jesus Birondo Lucero, whose father was Isidro Ceballos Lucero, whose father was Bonifacio Jose Bayot Lucero, whose father was Jose Francisco Cabrera Lucero, whose father was Justiniano Francisco de Sta. Cruz Lucero, whose father, Hermenegildo Francisco Lucero, was the son of Francisca Yldefonza. The only record that shows the farthest traceable Lucero is the death certificate of Justiniano's sister Mauricia Francisca Lucero vda. de Taguenca-Cabrera where Francisca Yldefonza is listed. No surname is given and the husband is written off as padre de noconocido (father not known).

Family lore has always claimed that Francisca Yldefonza was a Lucero who married an indio principalia and thus passed on her surname to her descendants. Indeed, at least 4 documents show that the Lucero surname has existed in Argao years prior to the Claveria surname decree of 1849, a clear indication that the Lucero name, at least in the town of Argao, is a last name that has been passed down and was not adopted based on the surname decree.

Because of these I have always believed in the family legend, and now that I have the result of our genetic genealogy I can now say with certainty that Francisca Yldefonza's husband was not Spanish at the very least. 

The journey of my genetic heritage, from Africa to China, then later down to the Philippines

Whatever the name of Francisca Yldefonza's husband, he was descended from a long line of males belonging to the Austronesian family. The genetic history of this unnamed husband of my ancestor is traced from the earliest known ancestor, back to a "genetic Y-chromosome Adam" who probably lived in Africa. Although he is given the name "Adam", he was not the only man at that time but this genetic Adam was the only one among the other males whose Y-chromosome has been passed down to all of mankind today. He was also not the first man and in fact geneticists believe that even this Adam had his own ancestors, only that we no longer have any way to trace the genetic lineage beyond this genetic Adam. From this genetic Adam I can trace my ancestry down to the modern times through several Y-chromosome markers.  These are:

M168 > P143 > M89 > L15 > M9 > M214 > M175

A marker, simply put, is a random, naturally occurring, usually harmless mutation in the Y-chromosome, making one branch of a genetic family tree unique from the rest. Because the Y-chromosome remains virtually unchanged through many generations then these markers can be traced easily as they, too, are passed from father to son.

M168, also known as the Eurasian Adam, lived in northeast Africa in the region of the Rift Valley, perhaps in present-day Ethiopia, Kenya, or Tanzania, some 31,000 to 79,000 years ago. It is generally accepted that this first man who gave rise to the M168 marker lived about 50,000 years ago. He is called the Eurasian Adam because all modern males today who are not African descend from him.

Then about 5,000 years later one of Eurasian Adam's male descendants gave rise to the M89 marker, a marker which is present in 90 to 95% of all non-African males. This person lived somewhere in Northern Africa or the Middle East, and aside from stone tools people were already using wooden and ivory tools. 

My next ancestor, a man born around 40,000 years ago in Iran or southern Central Asia, gave rise to the M9 genetic marker which marked a new lineage diverging from the M89 Middle Eastern Clan. His descendants, of which I am one, spent the next 30,000 years populating much of the planet. This was already during the Upper Paleolithic era.

And then, about another 5,000 years after the birth of my M9 ancestor, a descendant gave rise to the M214 marker. This man was born and lived in Eurasia, likely east of the Aral Sea, and was most likely a hunter-gatherer. This man carrying M214 has become the direct patrilineal ancestor of a very large percentage of present-day humans.

Then finally, about 35,000 years ago my most recent ancestor, the one who gave rise to the the haplogroup O or the genetic marker M175, was born somewhere in Southeast or East Asia. This guy lived during the Ice Age and as I was reading the report by National Geographic's Genographic Project I can distinctly recall my history 1 lesson where a discussion was made about waves of migrants who crossed land bridges to the Philippines but were later unable to return home as these bridges melted or were submerged with water. One of them was my male-line ancestor, whose line continued on until it reached the coastal town of Argao, Cebu, and in the early 1700s one of their descendants married a Hispanic woman, Francisca Yldefonza Lucero, whose son Hermenegildo Jose Lucero married Florencia Visenta de Sta. Cruz and had a son, Justiniano Francisco Lucero, who married Casimira Manuela Hernaez Cabrerz, who were the parents of Jose Francisco Lucero, who married Ambrosia Villarde Bayot and had Bonifacio Jose Lucero, who married Severina Tiburciana Ceballos and who produced Isidro Ceballos Lucero, who married Anacleta Tan Birondo and whose son Jesus Birondo Lucero was the father of Fely Jesus Dolloso Lucero, my mother.

As I delve deeper into my genetic genealogy I can feel the echoes of my distant ancestors cheering that I am taking the time to tell their story. I am in awe of God's obvious hand in the history of my genetic ancestry. And I am further convinced that the wars and conflicts in the world are pointless as we all come from the same line. 

I can't wait to do genetic testing on my other lines soon!

Argao Families: Lucero Lines and Legacy

The Lucero family of Argao, Cebu, Philippines is one of the three Lucero branches in the country, the other two from the Luzon (Bulacan-Ilocos) branch and the Samar branch. While all three families claim relatedness, the dearth of records makes it impossible to trace just how related these three families are.
The history of the family begins with the Lugo fanily of Spain, which claims descent from Aurora, the goddess of the dawn in Greek mythology. This is an interesting because the Lucero surname, which is a later branch of the Lugo family, is a Hispanic version of the Latin word LUCIFEROUS, itself transliterated from the Greek name HESPEROS, who was the Greek god of the evening star, and in turn the son of Aurora, the dawn goddess.
The farthest known Lucero is history is Don Diego Diaz Lucero, an infamous Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition during the reign of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabela of Spain in the fifteenth century. The farthest traceable direct lineal ancestor of the Luceros of Argao, Cebu, is Don Vicente Ignacio Lopez de Lucero, who came to the Philippines in 1597, roughly thirty years after the colonization of the Philippines by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. He and his wife, Doña Maria Catarina de Aragon, had just one child, Don Juan Lopez Lucero, who in the 1630’s to the 40’s led a successful campaign against Moro forts in the southern part of the archipelago.
A child of Juan Lopez Lucero, Francisca Alfonsa Lucero, found herself in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, sometime in the mid-1600’s, and it is there that she met and had an affair with Fr. Matias Villanueva. She gave birth to fraternal twins Francisca Yldefonza and Mariano Francisco Lucero. According to unverifiable oral history, Francisca Alfonsa later abandoned her children and apparently left for the United States. What became of her, no one knows.
Her son, Mariano Francisco Lucero, was left in Vigan, Ilocos Sur and is the forebear of Senator Santiago E. Lucero, a Philippine senator during the 1920’s. One of Senator Santiago’s great-grandchildren is Carmen Mercedes Beatriz Lucero-Lhuillier, popularly known as Bea Lucero.
Meanwhile, Francisca Yldefonza Lucero found her way to Argao, Cebu. There is a little problem in the establishment of the date of arrival of the Luceros in Argao. A poem by Francisco S. Geverola, which he claims has been handed down from generation to generation in his family, says that the first gobernadorcillo of Argao was Don Felipe Lucero, who allegedly came to Argao in 1608, during the town’s founding (the author is currently in the process of getting a copy of the records of Argao’s founding as a town from the National Archives in order to ascertain this claim).
Oral history in the Lucero family states that Francisca Yldefonza Lucero was the first Lucero in Argao, who came to the town around the early 1700’s. She married Don Agustin Francisco, a member of Argao’s principalia, or native nobility. This allowed her family and descendants to hold the positions of gobernadorcillo, cabeza de barangay, and even church positions.
Like his father before him, Don Hermenegildo became a cabeza de barangay. His children, in order of birth, were Don Justiniano Francisco, born in 1779; Don Tomas, born in 1786; Don Eustaquio, born in 1787; Don Juan, born in 1791; Doña Mauricia, born in 1795; Doña Micaela Francisca, born in 1797; and Doña Leoncia, born in 1807.
In the early 1800’s, Don Justiniano Francisco Lucero married Doña Casimira Manuela Cabrera, the daughter of Miguel Manuel Hernaez and Escolastica Francisca Cabrera. Don Justiniano and his wife Casimira had sixteen children who all grew to ripe ages, an astounding feat considering the high infant mortality rate of those times. Don Eustaquio Lucero married Doña Eustaquia Albrando and had two daughters: Maria Lucero, who married Jose Ordaneta (who also later became a cabeza), the son of cabeza de barangay Don Juan Ordaneta, and Juliana Lucero, who married Casimiro Panerio. Don Juan had two daughters; Carmelina, who died very young, and Maria, who never married.
Don Tomas Lucero, who was next to Don Justiniano, had one son, Don Jose Lucero. His branch of the family later became known as Lucero-Villanueva, a matter which shall be explained in the next chapter. His descendants include Gaudencio de la Peña, a former provincial board member of Cebu as well as the puppet mayor of Argao during the Japanese occupation, Edsel A. Galeos, another modern mayor of Argao, and Azucena Minoza Sesaldo, a 3-term Vice-Mayor of Argao.
The eldest daughter of Don Hermenegildo, Doña Mauricia, married a half-Spaniard from Cebu City by the name of Don Geronimo Luis Hernaez Taguenca. They had four children: Don Filomeno Taguenca, Doña Simeona, and a set of twins by the names of Doña Maria and Doña Enrica.
The eldest son, Jose, was a cabeza de barangay and is the ancestor of two town Mayors, Jose and Jesus Lucero Kintanar. Another descendant of Jose Lucero is the late Monsignor Sincero Lucero, who was Bishop of Borongan, Samar.
The next son, Felipe Lucero, held the position of Sacristan Mayor of the church until his death. His only son, Numeriano, also held the same position. A great-granddaughter, Vicenta Saniel, became a nun in Manila; another descendant, the most Reverend Monsignor Agripino Gregorio Elias M. Matarlo, was named a Bishop of Cebu and head of the Pope John Seminary in Cebu City. His Kintanar descendant, Simeon Lucero Kintanar, was a representative of the second district of Cebu to Congress. Simeon’s brothers, Roman and Quintin, served as heads of PAG-ASA and BFAD, respectively.
The third son was Lucas Lucero. One granddaughter, Concepcion Lucero, was one of the very few of her generation to retain the title of Doña. She later married Don Vicente Lozada, a member of a prominent landholding family in Dumanjug, Cebu. Another grandchild was Arsen Calledo Lucero, who was a Vice-Mayor of Dumanjug. Another descendant is Professor Samson A. Lucero, a history professor at the University of San Carlos and a renowned historian and columnist in Cebu City. And another is Jezrael Lucero, a visually-impaired child who has won the Perlas Award and has traveled around the country enthralling audiences with his haunting voice and his magical piano performances.
The fourth son, Pedro, has several prominent descendants. He has several descendants serving the Church like Father Filomeno Lucero, Father Paul Arnel L. Lucero, Sister Dolores, Sister Pilar, and Sister Rose Mary L. Lucero. The last, Sis. Rose Mary, founded the Sisters of the Blessed Trinity Congregation. Father Filomeno Lucero opened the Colegio de la Medalla Milagrosa in Jagna, Bohol. Sis. Pilar Lucero became Mother Superior and later Superior-General of Sta. Rita, Manila. A great-grandson, Don Aquilino Lucero, became the first Municipal President or Mayor of Ronda, Cebu. Three of his sons Felicisimo, Fermin, and Santiago succeeded him as Mayor in Ronda. A granddaughter, Socorro Gabuya Gabriel, also became mayor. Santiago later became Representative of Cebu’s second district while Felicisimo’s son, Doctor Felino Lucero, was a Mayor of Badian, Cebu. Another descendant was Ramon Lucero delos Cientos who was the former Mayor of Bansalan, Pagadian and later Governor of Davao del Sur. A granddaughter of Mayor Socorro Gabriel is Amanda Griffin, an international celebrity.
The fifth son to leave descendants is Antonio Lucero, who migrated to Sibonga in the middle of the 1800’s. A descendant is Casimiro Madarang Jr., who was a former Councilor of Cebu City and a former COMELEC (Commission on Elections) Commissioner. Another, Vicente Madarang, served two terms as a barangay captain of Pahina Central in Cebu City. A son of Casimiro Jr., Casimiro Madarang III, is the current Bureau of Immigration Alien Control Officer of Cebu City’.
The sixth and last son with descendants today was Juan Lucero. Comedian/Impersonator Jon Santos, Monsignor Rommel Kintanar, a Bishop in Cebu, and Maila Gumila, an actress and TV host in the 90’s, are three of Don Juan’s descendants.

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References

1. Todd Lucero Sales. The Luceros: A Portrait of a Filipino Family, 2010.

2. Church records of Saint Michael the Archangel church.

3. Various archival documents from the Philippine National Archives.