MY GENEALOGY

The way I figured it, I'm truly an amalgam of different regional groups from the Philippines with spots of Chinese and Spanish colors thrown in as well. But interestingly, my Philippine roots are all Bisayan. I have one ancestor who was Manila, a Tuason (Tuazon), but he himself was a Chinese mestizo, and he himself abandoned his lovechild in Leyte, so I guess that is where my strong anti-Luzon feelings come from.

Here is a breakdown of my bloodline:

+ Filipino = 91.40625%

Cebuano - 40.02625 %
Leyteño - 18.75 %
Negrense - 17 %
Boholanon - 15.63 %

+ Chinese - 7.03125 %

+ Spanish - 1.5625 %

My family has traveled from many places, and here is a simple chart showing the genealogy of my family origins.

My pedigree chart may be seen here.

US PRESIDENTIAL FAMILY TREES

There is always a resurgence of genealogical interest every election season in the United States. In the past, genealogists believed that the presidential candidate with the most number of royal connections, ergo the "most royal" of all the aspirants, almost always wins the election.

Another angle to look at is the diversity of the family connections of a presidential candidate. This early on, using the references of online genealogical databases, let us examine who among Hilary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain has the political, social, and royal pedigree.

Part I: BARACK OBAMA

Barack Obama, one of the two Democratic contenders for the presidency, is perhaps, among the three candidates, the most genealogically diversed. His bloodline consists of Luo (Kenyan), English, German, Irish, Welsh, and smattering of French and Dutch ancestries. His pedigree shows different groups of people spanning several generations from different places. (Click here to see his pedigree chart).

Obama's Kenyan ancestry is sketchy, and is traced only through the male line. (Click here for a diagram of his Kenyan ancestry.) Much of his known family tree is through his maternal side, and it is here that we find many interesting relations to the senator.

Obama could count at least two royal ancestors: William I "the Lion", King of Scotland, and Henry II of England. He is related to at least six US Presidents: Jimmy Carter (half 7th cousins three times removed), Harry Truman (7th cousins three times removed), the 2 George Bushes (10th cousins once and twice removed, respectively), Woodrow Wilson (husband of Obama's 6th cousin five times removed), and James Madison (3rd cousin nine times removed). He is also a ninth cousin once removed of Vice-President Dick Cheney. He has several relative lawmakers and Supreme Court Justices, as well.

But Obama's ancestry is not limited to political personalities. He is a 7th cousin four times removed of renowned artist Georgia O'Keefe, and his eighth cousin once removed, Elizabeth H. Richardson, was married to novelist Ernest M. Hemingway. Another relative is Gordon B. Hinkley, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Theodore N. Vail, founder of AT&T, is a sixth cousin four times removed, while banker JP Morgan is a 7th cousin four times removed.

Other interesting relations of Senator Obama are actors: Margaux Hemingway, his 9th cousin; Superman Christopher Reeve, a 7th couin twice removed, and Katharine Hepburn, a 7th cousin thrice removed, and Brad Pitt is a 9th cousin. Even Justin Timberlake is Obama's 11th cousin! A truly interesting approach to American politics.

Part II: HILARY RODHAM CLINTON
Interestingly, Senator Clinton's ancestry is also as colorful as Obama's, though not as diverse as his. While Obama's relatives include people from the arts, politics, banking and finance, business, the Mormon church, and even royalty, Clinton's are more concentrated on two areas: politics and the arts. (Click here for Clinton's pedigree chart)

Her political relatives include Prime Ministers Pierre Trudeau and Jean Chretien of Canada. Other than these two popular Canadian politicians, most of Hilary's more popular relatives are from the entertainment industry. Shania Twain is her 9th cousin three times removed, Celine Dion is her 10th cousin once removed, Alanis Morissette is her tenth cousin, while Madonna and Clinton are 10th cousins.

Three very interesting notes on Hilary's genealogy: her royal antecedents are supposed to be the Kings of Navarre, but there are no exact evidences for that; she is also a 10th cousin of Camila Shand, the Duchess of Cornwall and wife of Prince Charles; and, finally, actor Jon Voight is the husband of Marcheline Bertrand, Hilary's 9th cousin once removed.

Part III: JOHN McCAIN

McCain's antecedents are not as glamorous and diverse as Obama's and Clinton's. In fact,John McCain's genealogy (for the time being) has only been traced to reveal two interesting people: one, to King William I "the Lion", King of Scotland, who is McCain's direct ancestor, and Laura Bush, wife of President George W. Bush, who happens to be a sixth cousin of Senator John McCain. (Click here for McCain's pedigree chart).

In a world where political victories and losses are not as easily predicted as surveys are paraded and believed to be, looking at a candidate's ancestry sometimes tells us who among the candidates is the strongest.

It is interesting to note that Obama and McCain share a common descent from King William of Scotland, and that Obama and Clinton are relatives by affinity because Obama's cousin, Brad Pitt, married Angelina Jolie, Hilary's cousin.

The fight between Hilary and Obama will be long and hard, considering that both have strong royal bloodlines and, while Obama have many US Presidential relatives, Clinton's two Canadian Prime Minister cousins Trudeau and Chretien are two of the modern times' most influential. And, between them are a plethora of singers and actors and actresses, each of whom have made an impact to the world.

Whoever wins in the Democratic race will ultimately face McCain who, while not having as many famous relatives as Obama and Clinton, certainly has the right relationship to incumbent George W. Bush, as well as also a royal descent from William of Scotland. It would seem that this November would be a face-off between Obama and McCain, both of whom are related to the Bushes and both sharing a common descent from King William of Scotland.

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This article is based on several online genealogies of the three candidates, the most comprehensive of which is http://www.wargs.com/political.

Speaking for the Dead

"It is human nature to look to the past, to the road we have travelled, to what has so far defined us. But only by leaving our past behind, can we then push onward, into an unknown tomorrow, into the dawn of a new future, into the light of a new beginning..." - Mohinder Suresh, Heroes character

The above quote is a fitting one for people like me. People who find joy in poring over old, crumbling records of long-dead people. People who love to stroll around scary-looking cemeteries to look at tombstones of relatives. Genealogy has always been a way for the living to reconnect with the dead.

Many people have a hard time understanding where they are going because they have yet to penetrate the secrets of the past. While it is true that we should not get stuck in the past, knowing of our past and our family's journey through time gives us a very good perspective of life.

Besides, if we don't seek the dead, who will sing their songs? Who will tell their stories? A colleague of mine told me dismissively once that he finds no use for old Spanish-era church records because they don't tell you anything. I have always used church records as my primary genealogical tool, and I have proven that, contrary to this colleague's pronouncement, I have gleaned a lot of people's stories in these records. Bits and pieces, true, but stories nonetheless. And, as I have already said, if I did not bother to go through these files, who will know about them?

In a death record in Argao, in 1894, a certain Don Jose Saady caught my eyes. It obviously caught my attention because it was the first Arabic-sounding surname I encountered. He was described as a Catholic coming from Monte Libano, and was said to have been Syrian. Monte Libano is actually a mountain range in what is now modern-day Lebanon. He died because of a brawl with Domingo Camajalan. He was also Argao's Justice of the Peace at that time.

Who was this Syrian who became one of Argao, Cebu's last juezes de paz? He was further described as being married to someone, but his wife was not identified. Was she somewhere else? Did Don Jose Saady have kids left with his wife, who might have descendants today? He was buried in Argao's cemetery, so I can only imagine what his family must have felt back in Lebanon, not being able to visit their father's grave. Or perhaps they visisted later? We cannot tell.

The dead awaits our help in speaking for them. They who have gone to a hopefully better place can no longer tell their tales, so why not speak on their behalf?

ARGAO GENEALOGY SERIES: ARGAO POLITICS, A FAMILY AFFAIR

People whose faith is in the monarchial system believe that the right to rule is hereditary. A birthright. In this system, only representatives of one or a few families can morally represent a group of people, or a nation.

Anachronistic and elitist though it may sound, such system, or a semblance thereof, exists in Philippine politics. Since the proclamation of the first republic in 1898 by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, those who followed him were his relatives by blood or marriage, or both. Though not from one ruling family, the Presidents, Vice-Presidents, and other elected officials of the Philippines have, since 1898, been related to each other, others many times over. (For further discussion on this, please read RP Politics: A Family Affair).

A case in point is Argao, a coastal town in southern Cebu, which reveals a similar, if not more pronounced, pattern. Out of approximately 4,000 unique families in the municipality, only about 170 families have ever held both hereditary (Spanish-era cabezas de barangay) and elective positions, or about 4.25% of the total families. Even the town’s church officials in the nineteenth century were from four families only.

Spanish-era politicians of the town were culled from the principalia, or the native aristocracy. Its cabezas de barangay were related by both blood and marriage. For instance, in the Birondo family, Don Salvador Birondo was the nephew of Don Bonifacio Birondo; in the Lucero family, Don Jose Lucero and Don Juan Lucero were brothers who were later followed by the next generation, Dons Leandro and Justiniano Lucero (sons of Don Jose Lucero) and Don Anacleto Lucero, son of Don Juan Lucero, while Don Jose Lucero Villanueva was their first cousin; Don Tiburcio Ceballos, who was also a Fiscal of the San Miguel Church, was married to a Flores, who was a niece of Don Hermoneges Flores; Don Tiburcio Ceballos’s first cousin, Don Vicente Espina, was also the Church Fiscal and a cabeza; Dons Julian and Feliz (Felix) Sabado were brothers, while Don Gutardo Remonde was their nephew.

Intermarriage among the principalia and their children was also very common. For example: Don Claudio Albarracin’s son, Rafael, married Veronica Camello, who was the niece of Don Eufracio Camello, whose own daughter Manuela Camello married Don Esteban Mendes (Mendez). Don Lucas Albotra’s daughter, Bonifacia, married Vicente Rubia, who was the son of Don Julian Rubia. And, of course, there are several intermarriages between the Lucero and Quintanar (Kintanar) families.

Aside from the Parish Priests, who were assigned from other towns and provinces and were usually Castellan, there were several lay people who were working for the church in Argao. The first group were the Fiscals of the Church and between 1866 to the late 1880’s first cousins Don Tiburcio Zamora Ceballos and Don Vicente Villafuerte Espina alternated every other month as Fiscals of the Church. Later on, they were replaced by Don Melecio Gonzaga and Don Jose Villamor, the former replacing Don Vicente Espina upon his death in 1880 while the latter was replaced by Don Juan Villamor. It is interesting to note that these Fiscals of the Church were also, at the same time, serving as cabezas de barangay, and thus were members of the town’s principalia.

Like the position of Fiscal, the position of Sacristan Mayor or chief sexton of the Church seemed also a life-long appointment, and only ended when the Sacristan Mayor was already bedridden or dead. Between 1863 up to the early 1900’s, when their names were mentioned, the Sacristan Mayores of the San Miguel Arcangel Parish were Don Felipe Cabrera Lucero, who alternated with Don Filomeno Albarracin every other month. Upon Don Felipe’s death, his nephew, Don Mariano Lucero, the Church’s trusted gatekeeper, or described as portero, temporarily filled in his post in the early 1880’s but was later filled full-time by Don Felipe’s only son, Don Numeriano Dias Lucero, and then Buenaventura Lucero, who was one of the last Sacristan Mayores listed in the records of the Church. Just like the Fiscals, the Sacristan Mayor position seemed to have been a monopoly of two members of the hereditary principalia, the Lucero and Albarracin families.

Don Manuel Ceballos, the nephew of Don Tiburcio Ceballos and Don Vicente Espina, was the organista of the Church. He also later became Argao’s second Municipal President.

With the turn of the 20th century, and the coming of the Americans, Argao’s ruling class simply changed titles, but the same families held elective posts. Many of the former cabezas de barangay stood for local elections and became municipal presidents, vice-presidents, and councilors. Some families even managed to extend their political dominance elsewhere. Don Alejandro Ruiz, the first American period chief executive of the town, had a brother, Don Antonio Ruiz, who was also Sibonga’s president. A Lucero descendant went to Ronda and promptly became its first municipal president and later on followed by two sons and a granddaughter.

As already mentioned above, the former church organist and nephew of two former fiscals and cabezas de barangay, Don Manuel Ceballos, became president of Argao after Alejandro Ruiz.

Of the total 34 Presidents, Mayors, and Vice-Presidents/Mayors of Argao, 24 belong to the five main political dynasties of the town. These big dynasties are Kintanar, Lucero, Miñoza, Albarracin, and Ceballos-Espina, which have produced an average of five members who have held (or still hold) chief executive positions.

The Kintanar family has produced two Vice-Presidents, one Mayor, and the caretaker official after the 1986 People Power Revolt. It shares wartime Mayor Jose Lucero Kintanar, and his brother Jesus Lucero Kintanar, with the Lucero family, itself producing two Vice-Presidents and one Vice-Mayor. Another Mayor, Antonio A. Almirante, Jr., was a Lucero descendant, as was Vice-Mayor Anacleto K. Bajenting, married to a Lucero first cousin of Mayor Jesus and Jose Lucero Kintanar.

Incidentally, the head of the guerilla forces of southern Cebu during the Second World War, Hilario P. Davide, was married to a second cousin twice removed of the Japanese-sanctioned government of Jose Lucero Kintanar. The Albarracin family produced two brothers, Lorenzo and Jacinto, who became Presidents (one of whom was a former Vice-President of the other), while their sister, Vicenta, became Argao’s first female Vice-Mayor. The Miñoza family has produced two Presidents (one of whom married a Lucero), one Mayor, and one Vice-Mayor, Azucena Miñoza Sesaldo, who, apart from being the daughter of a former Mayor, is married to another past Mayor, Daniel Sesaldo. The Ceballos-Espina family has produced two Presidents, one Vice-President, and the current Mayor, Edsel A. Galeos. Needless to say, all these belonged to families who formed the hereditary and elected principalia of Spanish-era Argao, and were related to each other in complicated and many ways.

Truly an amazing display of the resilience and continuity of political families in the town of Argao, Cebu. Some people call political dynasties evil and corrupt. Believers in the theory of divine right to rule say that people will choose those whose blood has been tried and tested through time.

Whether this is true or not, this illustration on Argao’s political families is another reminder of how interesting Philippine politics is.

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Text (C) 2008 Todd Lucero Sales, Genealogist and Project Officer, Argao 400 Genealogy Project.