Silay History Trivia: Graciano Lopez Jaena And His Cousin, Eustaquio

Graciano Lopez Jaena is a national hero. He is also the first cousin of Eustaquio H. Lopez who settled in Silay around the mid 1800's.  Eustaquio is from Jaro, Iloilo. His parents are Fermin Hilaria Lopez and Fernanda Hechanova. Eustaquio is the eldest among a brood of 11 other brothers and sisters. La Solidaridad editor and reformist Graciano Lopez y Jaena is the son of Placido Hilaria Lopez, brother of Fermin.

Graciano Lopez y Jaena

The family of Eustaquio Lopez with his last wife, Ana Ayalin

 

Silay's oral history says that Eustaquio was one of the richest men in Silay during his time with at least 18 haciendas to his name, which included Hda. Dalinson in Kabankalan Norte. In fact according to those living there, you can find remnants of the winding stairs of his house somewhere in the hacienda. Not many people today know that Barangay Estaquio Lopez in Silay City was originally called Kabankalan Norte. During the Spanish colonial rule, Kabankalan Norte was a separate town from Silay. It had its own local government and parish. The successful Cinco de Noviembre revolution that triggered the end of colonial rule in the island of Negros was almost foiled in this town. A woman told the parish priest of Kabankalan Norte, Fr. Tomas Cornago of the impending revolt. He then inquired of his friend, Doroteo Quillama, cabeza of the barrio, seeking to verify the report. The cabeza claimed no knowledge of the revolt, when in fact he was very much involved in the planning.  After the revolution, Kabankalan Norte was already popularly known as E. Lopez probably because almost 99% of the landholdings in the area belonged to Don Eustaquio. On April 2, 1902, provincial governor Leandro Locsin decreed the annexation of E. Lopez to the nearby progressive town of Silay.  E. Lopez ceased to be a town and became a barrio of Silay.  Today, it is officialy known as Barangay E. Lopez.

So what about our national hero? Graciano went to live in Negros to escape the fury of the Spanish authorities in Iloilo after he wrote Fray Botod. It was never officially published, but a copy was widely circulated in the region to the ire of the friars, fortunately for Lopez they could never prove that he wrote it.  However because he was openly defiant against authorities and fought for justice, he got threats to his life. He decided to leave Iloilo and stayed with relatives in Silay and Saravia. With the help of his cousin Estaquio, Graciano Lopez fled to Barcelona Spain after staying in Silay for two years. While in Spain it was said that Eustaquio sent him regular financial support.  Eventually, Graciano feared that his relatives in Negros will be persecuted so, he added 'Jaena' to his surname to separate himself from the them and thereby sparing his family from suspicion. His family through his uncle in Saravia in gratitude for his help, gave Eustaquio a wooden Santo Niño which has since become a family heirloom and has been passed on to my family in 1981. What is ironic is that we only confirmed this as fact more than a hundred years later, when we were able to connect with Graciano Lopez Jaena's descendants - those of his brothers' families.  You see, Eustaquio Lopez is my great-great grandfather. When I was growing up, the story about the Santo Niño ranged from the improbable to the plausible. According to a grand aunt, the Santo Niño was hand carried by Lopez Jaena from Spain which to my young mind was impossible since this was not a small statue. And besides, my grand aunts were never were able to establish our family relationship to the hero. Graciano Lopez y Jaena never married.  He died in Spain, sick with TB and destitute.  But he had lots of nephews and nieces who now live right here in Negros Occidental. It was during an accidental meeting in 1994 with Mr. Rolly Espina, a prominent Ilonggo newsman, that I finally learned the true relationship between Graciano Lopez and my grandfather Eustaquio. He invited me to join them in the planning of a Lopez y Jaena Reunion.  After meeting with long lost relatives during the first Lopez reunion, I was able to get a more believable story about how our family got our Santo Niño.
 

Graciano and Eustaquio were close first cousins...in fact Graciano came to Silay twice, the first time he stayed for 2 years before deciding to move to Spain, and the second time was when together with other nationalists, he came back to the country, but after being sent word that there was a pending arrest order from the Spanish authorities in Manila, he decided to go to Silay instead before escaping to Hongkong.

It's a pity that this part of Graciano Lopez Jaena's history has never been properly documented.

* The now defunct AIDSISA Sugar Central is located in Barangay E. Lopez.

Reference: The History of Brgy. E. Lopez

                Lopez Descendants of Silay

The Families Of The "Paris of Negros"

I love genealogy and for the past few years, I have been dabbling in it, trying to make my family tree.  My attempt is amateurish and relies more on data gathered from relatives rather than actual authentication from church or government archives.  Maybe when I have the time and resources, I could get into it more seriously.  My cousin to the nth degree, Ramon Conlu Severino is someone who has decided to make it his life's work.  He published in 2009, the first edition of the Ledesma Genealogy Book and it continues to be a work in progress as more and more descendants are interested in knowing their ancestral history. I learned from Ramon's research (source: Francisco Varona "Negros--Its History And People") that most of the families of Old Silay came from Jaro and Molo, the 2 most important towns then in the Province of Iloilo.  Among the first were Simeon Ledesma and Juan Hidalgo who arrived in Silay in 1860 and established haciendas at Bagacay.  Aside from the Ledesmas, there were the De La Ramas, Jalandonis, Hilados, Severinos, Jaymes, Locsins and in the later years other families followed like the Lopezes, Gamboas, Jisons, Hofileñas.  Each of these families who came to Silay carried their own revered genealogical tree and brought with them the culture of Molo and Jaro in terms of fiestas, balls, food, music and literature. It is no wonder therefore that this very social lifestyle earned for Silay the monicker "Paris of Negros". Intermarriages, was common among these families. It was not surprising to see a Ledesma marry another Ledesma for example, or a union to happen between cousins, of course not to an incestuous degree (although there were uncles to niece and vice versa but these were not common). I think the reason for this besides the obvious one (keeping money within the family) is the fact that taking into consideration the dynamics of society at that time, most families move only within their social class and their sons and daughters mingled only among themselves so that there was little chance to meet, much less know other people outside their circle. So who do they marry but someone in their own social class and most probably a relative either up or down the line. Also according to Ramon, the Jaro natives, the Jareños (Ledesma, Lopez, Gamboa, Golez, Jalandoni, Javellana, Javelona, Jayme, Severino, Hilado, Benedicto, Hechanova, Hofileña, Jereza, Montinola) marry their fellow Jareños while the Molo natives, the Moleños (Locsin, Lacson, Araneta, de la Rama, Yulo, Yusay, Unson, Consing, Maravilla, Montelibano, Regalado, Conlu, Tionko, Tinsay) marry their fellow Moleños. There is only a small percentage wherein a Jaro native marry a Molo native. When they migrated to Silay, a "merger" of families happened.  This is probably how my great-grandmother who was a Locsin-Araneta from Molo happened to marry my great-grandfather, a Del Rosario-Ledesma from Jaro.  Most if not all of the heritage and ancestral houses of the city are still owned by these families but many are no longer occupied by them. A lot of their descendants except for those of us who stayed, either opted to build houses in Bacolod or Metro Manila.  Recently however, I have noticed that a few are returning to live in Silay either to take care of the family farm, retire or just to lead a more laid back lifestyle.

By the mid-80's, the rise of the middle class as well as the many OFW's and Expats married to Filipinas have also brought about new families to Silay society.  People from other places in the country have also settled in Silay, perhaps attracted by the old world feel, country-like living (but with urban amenities) that is forever lost in big cities like Manila and Cebu. Silay demographics is surely changing, but the old families of Silay and their ancestral houses will forever be part of its past and the present glory.

The "Oro, Plata, Mata" House in Silay

I am sure many people are familiar with Oro Plata Mata, Peque Gallaga's 1982 multi-awarded film but few seem to know that the opening and early scenes in this movie was filmed on location in Silay City. This is the scene where Cherie Gil and Sandy Andolong were talking by one of the windows of "their house"...that window belongs to the Jose B. Gamboa Ancestral House, one of the more beautiful heritage homes in the city.

 

Here is the movie trailer, where you can see the interior of the house.  The house looks exactly how I remembered it as a child attending children's parties there.  I don't think anything much has changed...except for the fact that the owner is now one of the grandsons who to his credit has preserved his family's ancestral home really well.

PS. The rest of the scenes in the movie was shot on location further down north in the town of Manapla, using the Jose Gaston Ancestral House in Hda. Rosalia.