remembrance of things awry

During the British Invasion of Spanish Manila in 1762, Governor General Simon de Anda moved the colonial capital to the town of Bacolor in Pampanga.

Antonio Ma. Tuason was a Sangley ( Chinese ) merchant loyal to the Spanish colonial authorities. He generously placed his resources in the service of the Spanish defenders. After the British Invasion ended in 1764, he was rewarded by the Spanish Crown with a land grant and a noble title ( “mayorazgo” ), thus elevating him and his family to the ranks of the Spanish peerage.

Antonio Ma. Tuason had a younger brother named Gregorio. After the Invasion, Antonio Ma. returned to Manila to resume his commercial activities but his brother elected to remain in Bacolor to engage in agriculture.

Gregorio Tuason married Maria Pamintuan and had two daughters: Escolastica and Maria Juana.

When Escolastica Tuason was six years old, she was kidnaped by Moro pirates who successfully entered the towns of Guagua and Bacolor ( these were periodic occurrences in Pampanga from the late sixteenth to the early nineteenth century; in fact , several old Pampango families, like the Alimurung ( “Ali” “murung” ), trace their lineage to Moslem forebears ). She was held hostage and taken to Mindanao. She was returned, already a young lady ( fourteen years old ), when her father was able to send her captors the considerable ransom money.

She inherited a hacienda in Bacolor, Pampanga from her father which yielded 2,000 piculs of sugar and 1,000 cavans of rice yearly.

Dona Escolastica Tuason married Don Olegario Rodriguez, also from Bacolor. Her sister Dona Maria Juana Tuason married Don Anastacio Hilario, also of the same town.

The Rodriguez family had migrated to Bacolor from Bataan around 1800 [ they are related to the Banzon, another Bataan family; Don Fausto F. Gonzalez y Sioco, a Rodriguez descendant, used to look up a Rodriguez y Nacpil family in Barrio San Antonio, Bacolor while constructing a Rodriguez - Sioco- Gonzalez genealogy, now lost ] Three generations of the Rodriguez have contributed a ” Capitan Natural ” to Bacolor town: Don Francisco Rodriguez ( father of Don Olegario ) in 1830, Don Olegario Rodriguez in 1842 and again in 1853, and Don Felix Rodriguez y Bautista ( son of Don Olegario ) in 1891 to 1892.

Don Olegario Rodriguez was a wealthy man who had inherited properties from his father. He married Dona Escolastica Tuason y Pamintuan when he was overseeing her father’s lands.They had five daughters: Prisca Ines ( born in 1834 ), Matea ( born on February 24, 1835 ), Juana, Marta, and Maria.

After Impung Culasa ( Dona Escolastica Tuason de Rodriguez ) died in 1850, Incung Luga ( Don Olegario Rodriguez ) married Dona Jacoba Bautista. They had ten children: the eldest is not known, then came Macario, Felix, Jose, Maxima, Maria, Francisco, Librada, et. al. The Rodriguez y Bautista children loved fine horses and beautiful dogs, and the men liked good and beautiful women. Some of them married at a mature age, some died as spinsters, and they all preferred to live peacefully at home; not one was a politician, and only Felix came to be Capitan Mayor of the town.

Impung Cobang ( Dona Jacoba Bautista de Rodriguez ) died on January 31, 1874.
The beleaguered Incung Luga ( Don Olegario Rodriguez ) died on June 3 of the same year.

Dona Prisca Ines Rodriguez y Tuason married Don Justo Escaler of Balanga, Bataan. They had three children: Manuel, Eulogia, and Domingo. Their son Manuel Escaler y Rodriguez married his first cousin Sabina Sioco y Rodriguez of Barrio Sulipan, Apalit, Pampanga in 1882. Sabina Sioco y Rodriguez was the second daughter of Impung Ines’ ( Dona Prisca Ines Rodriguez de Escaler ) younger sister Impung Matea ( Dona Matea Rodriguez, viuda de Sioco,viuda de Arnedo-Cruz ) by her first husband Don Josef Sioco who settled in Barrio Sulipan, Apalit, Pampanga in 1840 from Bocaue, Bulacan. ( the Sioco family had settled in the towns of Bocaue and Santa Maria in Bulacan from Bataan. They were originally from Lingayen, Pangasinan: family legend has it that the Siocos are descended from Sho Ko, a Japanese pirate who was the right hand man of Limahong ( Lim Ong Hong ), the dreaded Chinese pirate who attempted to lay siege on Manila in the 1570s. He was repelled, and he retreated to Lingayen, Pangasinan from where he left Filipinas. Some of his men with their families stayed behind in Lingayen, so the story is possible. )

Eulogia Escaler y Rodriguez married Esteban Clemente. Domingo Escaler y Rodriguez died young.

Dona Prisca Ines Rodriguez de Escaler died on May 3, 1894 at the age of 60. Her remains are in one wall of the Gospel transept of the Apalit Church.

Dona Matea Rodriguez y Tuason married Don Josef Sioco ( born on January 24, 1786 ) who had settled in Barrio Sulipan, Apalit, Pampanga in 1840 from Bocaue, Bulacan. She was his second wife. ( His first wife was the daughter of a neighbor in Barrio Sulipan, Dona _____ Carlos, with whom he had a daughter: Dona Maria Sioco y Carlos. Dona Maria married Don _____ Tanjutco by whom she had a daughter: Dona Crispina Tanjutco y Sioco. Dona Maria was widowed. She then married her husband’s first cousin the widower Don Joaquin Arnedo-Cruz y Tanjutco, of the Arnedo family long settled in Barrio Sulipan but originally from Hagonoy, Bulacan. ). They had three daughters: Francisca, Sabina, and Florencia. Francisca died young. Their second daughter Sabina Sioco y Rodriguez ( o 1860 – + November 25, 1950 ) married her first cousin Manuel Escaler y Rodriguez who had come from Balanga, Bataan to Barrio Sulipan to manage his uncle’s ( Don Josef Sioco’s ) many parcels of land. Their third daughter Florencia ( o November 7, 1860 – + November 6, 1925 ) married Dr. Joaquin Gonzalez y Lopez of Baliuag, Bulacan, the son of Fray Fausto Lopez, O.S.A. of Valladolid, Espana, and Dona Maria Amparo Gonzalez y de los Angeles of Baliuag.

The story of Dona Matea Rodriguez’ marriage to Don Josef Sioco is very interesting. He was a Chinese mestizo landowner and trader who was very industrious and very frugal. The old people in Apalit called him “Joseng Daga” because he stashed everything away, like a rat. In his house, there was a small corner room stacked with jars filled with gold coins from floor to ceiling. Even in old age, with his eyes failing, he insisted on tilling the land at the back of his house barefoot and with the carabao on a long leash, just so he could find his way to and from it ( Corazon Cacnio, interview, 1990 )! He was in his early 70s when he paid court to Dona Marta Rodriguez y Tuason ( younger sister of Dona Matea ) of Bacolor who was in her early 20s. She was not receptive of his courtship. Matea, an elder sister, less attractive but more intelligent, presented herself to be his bride. And since beauty was hardly an issue for the old man who was almost blind, he readily accepted her. The marriage took place in 1859. He was 73, she was 24. Dona Matea not only upheld the honor of her father Don Olegario Rodriguez, she married a rich hacendero as well.

Incung Jose ( Don Josef Sioco ) died on December 26, 1864 aged 78 years, 11 months, and 2 days. His remains are in one wall of the Gospel transept of Bacolor Church, now under meters of lahar. His gravestone was last seen by a great great grandson in November of 1990.

After the death of Incung Jose ( Don Josef Sioco ), his widow Dona Matea ( Dona Matea Rodriguez, viuda de Sioco ) relinquished some properties to her stepdaughter Dona Maria Sioco y Carlos, de Arnedo ( daughter of Don Josef Sioco by his first wife, surnamed Carlos; a woman Dona Matea’s age ) but withheld a large hacienda in the town of Santa Maria, Bulacan, an old Sioco property which was assigned to Dona Maria even during Don Josef’s lifetime. The withheld Santa Maria hacienda remained in the memory of the Arnedo y Sioco family, who never forgave Dona Matea.

The Santa Maria hacienda was eventually given by Dona Matea to her second daughter Dona Sabina Sioco de Escaler. [ But by then, it was insignificant compared to the other vast landholdings of Dona Sabina, whose properties increased every year because of her astute business sense, assisted by the family's two financial geniuses: her son Jose and her nephew Augusto, the fourth son of her younger sister Dona Florencia Sioco de Gonzalez.]

Dona Matea Rodriguez viuda de Sioco, with three infant daughters but only 29 years old, went on to marry Don Juan Arnedo-Cruz y Tanjutco. He was the equally rich younger brother of Don Capitan Joaquin Arnedo-Cruz y Tanjutco, who had married Dona Maria Sioco y Carlos, viuda de Tanjutco, the daughter of Don Josef Sioco by his first wife, surnamed Carlos. The marriage of Dona Matea and Don Juan had no offspring. After his death in 18__, she inherited all his properties which, many years later, she left to her two surviving daughters from Don Josef Sioco: Dona Sabina Sioco de Escaler and Dona Florencia Sioco de Gonzalez.

One of the larger properties left by Don Juan Arnedo-Cruz y Tanjutco to Dona Matea Rodriguez, viuda de Sioco, viuda de Arnedo-Cruz was an old Arnedo-Cruz property: the fertile Hacienda de Caldera, an entire sitio in Barrio Sulipan in Apalit town comprising __ hundred hectares. It also remained in the memory of the Arnedo-Cruz family, who narrowly thought that it should have reverted back to Arnedo-Cruz ownership because Don Juan had no issue. It was eventually inherited by Dona Matea’s youngest daughter, Dona Florencia Sioco de Gonzalez.

Dona Matea Rodriguez, viuda de Sioco, viuda de Arnedo-Cruz died on January 22, 1918 at the age of 83 years. Her remains are in the Escaler mausoleum at the Cementerio del Norte.

Dona Juana Rodriguez y Tuason married Don Agapito Guanzon of Santa Rita, Pampanga. They had a daughter: Juana Guanzon y Rodriguez, who married Sixto David y
______) .

Dona Marta Rodriguez y Tuason married Don Hilarion Santos. They had two children: Rafaela Santos y Rodriguez who married Vicente Fernandez and Roman Santos y Rodriguez who married Juliana Andres. After the death of Don Hilarion Santos, Dona Marta Rodriguez, viuda de Santos married Don Domingo Carlos.

Roman Santos y Rodriguez was raised as a ward by his first cousin Dona Florencia Sioco de Gonzalez in Barrio Sulipan, Apalit, Pampanga. Her elder sister, Dona Sabina Sioco de Escaler, lent him the initial capital to purchase his first bamboo “casco” ( raft )with which he ferried the dry goods he was buying and selling in various towns.

Don Roman Santos y Rodriguez founded Prudential Bank and a very successful family of businessmen active to this day.

Dona Maria Rodriguez y Tuason was a spinster.

Augusto Marcelino Gonzalez y Reyes and Macario Diosdado Gonzalez y Arnedo [ Brother Andrew Benjamin Gonzalez, F.S.C. ]
26 June 2000 1800 hrs

SOURCES :

The main framework for this text was derived from the notes of Don Augusto Diosdado Gonzalez y Sioco and his younger brother Don Dr. Bienvenido Ma. Gonzalez y Sioco.

1 ] Don Augusto Diosdado Gonzalez y Sioco ( o November 8, 1887 – + July 12, 1939 ): a notebook titled:: ” Genealogia de la Familia Gonzalez y Sioco ” [ handwritten ]
” Bisabuelos por Mama Florencia: Olegario Rodriguez y Escolastica Tuason “..Impung Culasa is identified as Escolastica Tuason; in 1990 this was further confirmed by a great great great grandson who saw a gravestone marked ” Dona Escolastica Tuason y Pamintuan ” on one wall of the Epistle transept of Bacolor Church [ In the same row on its right was the gravestone of Don Jose Leon Santos, and on the adjacent wall, two rows higher, the gravestone of Dona Ramona Joven y Suarez, the 19th century ancestors of the present-day Santos-Joven-Panlilio clan of Bacolor who were painted by the renowned painter Simon Flores y de la Rosa. ] Unfortunately, these gravestones are now under meters of lahar.

2 ] Don Dr. Bienvenido Ma. Gonzalez y Sioco ( o March 22, 1893 – + December 30, 1953 ): notes on the Rodriguez family of Bacolor, Pampanga, courtesy of his daughters Eva B. Gonzalez y Rafols and Lilia C. Gonzalez y Rafols [ It was fitting that Don Bienvenido wrote about his family's Rodriguez ancestry: as a child, together with his younger brothers Joaquin Jorge and Fausto Felix, he spent much time at the Rodriguez ancestral mansion in Bacolor town called " Bale Sim " ( Capampangan: " Bale " means house, " Sim " means iron roof, " Bale Sim " is " the house with an iron roof ". Such a description was a distinction in late 19th century Bacolor. The Rodriguez mansion was the first structure in town to install an expensive roof of corrugated iron sheets, replacing its old roof of heavy tiles. ), which his mother Dona Florencia Sioco de Gonzalez visited every week , and he was the ward of his young and indulgent Rodriguez aunts: Dona Jacoba ( born 1883 ), Dona Josefa ( born 1885 ), and Dona Gorgonia ( born 1886 ). ]

Impung Culasa is erroneously identified as Nicolasa Tuason. Incung Luga, or Olegario Rodriguez is erroneously identified as Leodegario Rodriguez. This is understandable because their diminutives, which the old people used, could have been derived from those formal names. Despite these lapses, Don Bienvenido laid the groundwork for the Rodriguez genealogy.

3 ] ” Teresa de la Paz and her Two Husbands “, a book about the Tuason, Legarda, Prieto, and Valdes clans.

The book provided the information about Don Antonio Ma. Tuason, founder of the Tuason ” mayorazgo ” ( noble estate ).

4 ] Mrs. Rafaelita Hilario Soriano: interviews in her New Manila residence, 1987, 1988.

Escolastica Tuason was the daughter of Gregorio Tuason and Maria Pamintuan. She had a younger sister named Maria Juana, who married Anastacio Hilario [ Mrs. Soriano's forebear ].

Gregorio Tuason was the younger brother of the founder of the Tuason ” mayorazgo “.

5 ] Dona Beatriz Rodriguez y Tiamson ( born o May 6, 1910; on May 6, 2000 celebrated her 90th birth anniversary ): interviews at ” Bale Sim ” ( the ancestral Rodriguez mansion ), Barrio Santa Ines, Bacolor, Pampanga, 1987 – 1995; interviews at her new residence on B. Mendoza St., San Fernando, Pampanga, 1996 – 2000.

Imang Bets ( Dona Beatriz Rodriguez y Tiamson ) has provided much information about the 19th century life at “Bale Sim,” most likely related to her by her cousin Impung Oniang ( Dona Gorgonia Rodriguez y Yabut, o September 19, 1886 – + November 14, 1960 ), with whom she spent the first half of her life.

6 ] Souvenir Program: 1964 Bacolor Town Fiesta – in honor of Nuestra Senora del Rosario, La Naval de Bacolor

7 ] The gravestone of Dona Prisca Ines Rodriguez y Tuason on one wall of the Gospel transept of the Apalit Church.

” Sra. Dna. Prisca Ines Rodriguez y Tuason, + 3 de Mayo 1894, 60 anos “

Her name was listed only as Ines in previous genealogies.

8 ] Rafaelita Hilario Soriano

Dona Matea Rodriguez y Tuason was born on February 24, 1835.

9 ] Arsenio Manuel, ” Dictionary of Philippine Biography,” 1955. Article on Jose Escaler. Article on Joaquin Gonzalez.

The Escaler article mentions Manuel Escaler as coming from Balanga, Bataan. The Gonzalez article mentions Jose Sioco as coming from Bocaue.

10 ] Old Sioco sisters, household staff of the various branches of the Escaler y Sioco family, perhaps distantly related to the Sioco progenitor ( Don Josef Sioco ) of the Arnedo y Sioco, Escaler y Sioco, and Gonzalez y Sioco families: interviews at the ancestral Sioco property in Sitio Pulung Cauayan, Barrio Sulipan, Apalit, Pampanga ( later the Escaler y Sioco, then the Fernandez y Escaler, then the Padilla-Fernandez, then the Fernandez-Nadal, and finally the Gonzalez-Reyes, also Sioco descendants ), 1998 – 2000.

The sisters mentioned that there were still Sioco relatives in Santa Maria, Bulacan. It lent credence to the ” Philippine Biography ” article on Joaquin Gonzalez that Jose Sioco was from Bocaue. The two towns are next to the other.

11 ] Corazon Cacnio y Mercado and Milagros Cacnio y Mercado: interviews in their residence in Barrio San Juan, Apalit, Pampanga, 1987 – 2000.

The old Cacnio sisters have provided much information. According to them, the Apalit elders remember the Siocos to have come from Bataan.

12 ] Don Fausto Felix Gonzalez y Sioco ( o May 30, 1897 – + October 15, 1951 ): the Gonzalez elders attribute the legend of Sioco the Japanese pirate to him.

Sioco the Japanese pirate also appears in an article on Limahong in the Filipino Heritage book series.

13 ] Dona Elisa Arnedo y Espiritu: interviews at the Arnedo y Espiritu residence ( St. Peter’s Mission House ), Barrio Capalangan, Apalit, Pampanga, 1978 – 1987.

Lola Ising ( Dona Elisa Arnedo y Espiritu ) provided much information.

Don Joaquin Arnedo married Dona Maria Sioco. It was a widow-widower nuptial. Don Joaquin had a daughter from his first marriage: Juana, who married Felipe Buencamino Sr. Dona Maria also had a daughter from her first marriage to a Tanjutco: Crispina, who remained a spinster.

The Arnedos came to Barrio Sulipan from Hagonoy, Bulacan.

Don Manuel Escaler was working as a ” personero ” ( overseer ) for his uncle, later father-in-law, Don Josef Sioco. ( An overseer was a high-ranking employee. Lola Ising was only repeating the descriptions of the old Arnedos, who had an age-old rift with Impung Matea ( Dona Matea Rodriguez, viuda de Sioco, viuda de Arnedo-Cruz ), who luckily inherited properties the Arnedos claimed were their own.

14 ] Dona Beatriz Rodriguez y Tiamson ( born o May 6, 1910; on May 6, 2000 celebrated her 90th birth anniversary ) : interviews at ” Bale Sim ” ( the ancestral Rodriguez mansion ), Barrio Santa Ines, Bacolor, Pampanga, 1987 – 1995; interviews at her new residence on B. Mendoza St., San Fernando, Pampanga, 1996 – 2000.

Imang Bets ( Dona Beatriz Rodriguez y Tiamson ) has provided much information about the 19th century life at ” Bale Sim,” most likely related to her by her cousin Impung Oniang ( Dona Gorgonia Rodriguez y Yabut: o September 19, 1886 – + November 14, 1960 ), with whom she spent the first half of her life.

Matuang ( Old ) Jose_ Sioco, a very old man from Barrio Sulipan in Apalit, courted Impung Marta ( Marta Rodriguez y Tuason ) first, but she refused.

Impung Matea ( Matea Rodriguez y Tuason ) decided to marry Jose_ Sioco , the very old man.

The very old, very rich Don Jose_ Sioco died conveniently after five years of marriage.

15 ] The gravestone of Don Josef Sioco on one wall of the Gospel transept of Bacolor Church.

” Sr. Dn. Josef Sioco, + 26 de Diciembre 1864, 78 anos, 11 meses, 2 dias “

The information enabled the researcher to establish his birthdate ( by backtracking ) as o January 24, 1786.

Don Josef Sioco built his house ( a bahay-na-bato/ a mansion by the standards of the day ) in Sitio Pulung Cauayan, Barrio Sulipan, Apalit town, Pampanga. The house, already derelict ( since 1964, when it was cannibalized by Escaler grandson Isidro Fernandez y Escaler to build a house for his friend, the actress Shirley Moreno in BF Homes, Paranaque. ) was a favorite haunt of Filipiniana scholars researching the bahay-na-bato, when it was torn down in the first quarter of 1988. According to the scholars, it was in the Geometric Style of the 1850s.

In front of the Apalit Church is an old gravestone in Chinese granite or ” piedra china ” ( a survivor of the previous church which collapsed in 1863 ) of Dona Vicenta Florenti—. It specifically says that she died in the house of Don Josef Sioco in 1842. So the house already existed then.

The old Sioco sisters ( household staff of the various branches of the Escaler y Sioco family ) mentioned that there were words, with the date 1840, carved on the overdoor above the ” escalera principal ” of the mansion.

The researcher is very much interested in Filipiniana and in the architecture of the bahay-na-bato. He was able to see the derelict house a few times and was fortunate enough to have visited it with several authorities on the bahay-na-bato once in early 1987 ( Mr. Martin I. Tinio, Arch. Luis J. Mata, and Miss Sandra Castro of the Intramuros Administration, along with Mr. Jose M. R. Panlilio and Mr. Frederick Agbayani, young Filipiniana researchers ). The group admired the architecture, the scale and proportion, the broken black and white marble squares and ornate azulejo tiles in the landing ( ” descanso ” ), the vestibule ( ” caida ” ) with its few remaining carved molave panels ( ” Definitely around 1850.” proclaimed Mr. Tinio. ), the salon ( ” sala ” ), the chapel ( ” capilla ” ) without its altar and floor planks, the dining room ( ” comedor ” ) without its floor and ceiling, and the bedrooms ( ” cuartos ” ) also without their doors, floors, and ceilings. It was very difficult to know what they were admiring, with “oohs” and “aahs”, and they must have had very good imaginations, because the place was a complete wreck. The azotea still had its monumental gateway, its collapsing stairs, its terra cotta balusters, its molave planking, clay tiles, and bricks.
There was a large, two-storey storehouse ( ” camarin ” ) to the left of the house, entirely of ” adobe ” ( a volcanic tuff stone quarried in Bulacan; on the other hand, Mexican adobe, real adobe, are blocks of mud and straw baked under the sun ). Beside the azotea was a great tamarind ( ” sampaloc ” ) tree, a fixture of every provincial bahay-na-bato, and this one was certainly over a hundred years old. At the back of the property were ruins of other storehouses, and in the rear’s center, a row of ten stoves, all in ” adobe,” used for fiesta cooking, as Mr. Tinio pointed out, although this researcher disagreed, because given their frugal natures the Siocos and the Escalers would not have been predisposed to fiesta cooking, unlike their relatives, the gallant and extravagant Arnedos who lived nearby. Mr. Tinio clarified that, while they were used for fiesta cooking, these outdoor stoves were used to cook the simple but hearty food served to the many tenant families who would converge at the master’s house ( Don Josef Sioco’s ) to assist in the cooking and the housecleaning, and certainly to partake of the plentiful food, during the fiesta. The exquisite ” Spanish criollo ” food was cooked in the main kitchen upstairs and served only to the affluent guests. Such were the feudalistic practices of yore which, in adjusted form, survive to this day.

The old Sioco sisters ( household staff of the various branches of the Escaler y Sioco family ) maintain that the original roof of the house was a gentle slope of heavy tiles, and that the kitchen was roofed with thatch. All of that was replaced by a steep roof of GI sheets before the Second World War.

There is enough evidence that the mansion was already constructed by 1840, so we can say that Don Josef Sioco had transferred from Bocaue, Bulacan to Barrio Sulipan, Apalit, Pampanga by that time.

There is an oil portrait of Don Josef Sioco, circa 1830s, that has survived to this day ( 2000 ). It shows him, a handsome Chinese mestizo, in the formal dress of the ” principalia ” ( wealthy class ): a European-style black jacket with tails over a pineapple fiber shirt ( a pina barong tagalog ) with ” suksok ” ( _______ ) embroidery. [ It was inherited by his youngest daughter Dona Florencia Sioco de Gonzalez. On her death in 1925, it was inherited by her youngest son Don Fausto F. Gonzalez y Sioco. When he died in 1951, it was passed on to his second wife Dona Pastora Cordero de Gonzalez. On her passing in 1998, it was inherited by her daughter Ernestina Gonzalez y Cordero, Mrs. Bibiano Lesaca y Padilla. ]

16 ] Dona Elisa Arnedo y Espiritu: interviews at the Arnedo y Espiritu residence ( St. Peter’s Mission House ), Barrio Capalangan, Apalit, Pampanga, 1978 – 1987.
and
Corazon Cacnio y Mercado and Milagros Cacnio y Mercado: interviews in their residence in Barrio San Juan, Apalit, Pampanga, 1987 – 2000.

They related the story of the Sioco hacienda in Santa Maria, Bulacan. It must have caused an uproar in 1864 ( the year of Don Josef Sioco’s death ), for people to still talk about it more than 120 years later.

17 ] Dona Elisa Arnedo y Espiritu: interviews at the Arnedo y Espiritu residence ( St. Peter’s Mission House ), Barrio Capalangan, Apalit, Pampanga, 1978 – 1987.
and
Bro. Andrew Gonzalez, F.S.C. ( Macario Diosdado Gonzalez y Arnedo ): conversations ( relaying information acquired from Arnedo elders, notably his mother Dona Rosario Arnedo y Espiritu, de Gonzalez ) at the Gonzalez y Arnedo residence in Quezon City.

The Hacienda de Caldera in Apalit is fertile, and thus productive, land. It was thus called because it is shaped like a ” caldo ” ( pot ). It is an entire sitio in Barrio Sulipan. In this day ( the year 2000 ), one can view it from the MacArthur Highway on the way to the main town of Apalit. On the road coming from Calumpit, Bulacan, after one has crossed the Apalit Bridge ( locally called the ” Control ” ), the wide, descending land on the left is the ” Caldera “.

The generation of Dona Rosario and Dona Elisa were told by their elders ( parents, uncles, aunts, and cousins ) that it was old Arnedo property unfortunately transferred to Gonzalez ownership by the marriage of Don Juan Arnedo-Cruz y Tanjutco to Dona Matea Rodriguez, viuda de Sioco after 1864. They had no children together but she inherited all his property. Upon her death in 19__, these were given to her two surviving daughters from her first marriage to Don Josef Sioco: Dona Sabina Sioco de Escaler and Dona Florencia Sioco de Gonzalez.

The Hacienda de Caldera was divided but a large portion was inherited by Dona Florencia’s fourth son Don Augusto Gonzalez y Sioco, the family’s financial genius. After his tragic death in 1939, it passed to the children of his first marriage to his first cousin Dona Marina Escaler y Sioco ( the eldest daughter of Dona Sabina Sioco y Rodriguez and Don Manuel Escaler y Rodriguez ). It remained in the family until 1972, when Ferdinand Marcos implemented Agrarian Reform with ” Operation Land Transfer ” ( OLT ). It was passed on forcibly to the tenants: the family of the ” personero ” ( overseer ) Julian Gonzales ( the tenants were wont to take the surname of the landowners ). But it did not take long before they sold their assigned parcels to a prosperous Chinese trader in 1973.

18 ] Rafaelita Hilario Soriano

Dona Matea Rodriguez y Tuason, viuda de Sioco, viuda de Arnedo-Cruz died on January 22, 1918 at the age of 83 years.

19 ] Dona Beatriz Rodriguez y Tiamson ( born o May 6, 1910; on May 6, 2000 celebrated her 90th birth anniversary ): interviews at ” Bale Sim ” ( the Rodriguez ancestral mansion ), Barrio Santa Ines, Bacolor, Pampanga, 1987 – 1995; interviews at her new residence on B. Mendoza St., San Fernando, Pampanga, 1996 – 2000.
and
Eglantine Gonzalez y Elizalde ( Mrs. Luis B. Franco ): interviews in her residence at 65 Scout Fuentebella St., Quezon City, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1988, 1989, 1990; conversations during Doble Zeta Reunion meetings at the Gonzalez y Arnedo residence in Quezon City, 1988 – 2000.
and
Blanquita Santos y Luna ( Mrs. Renato P. Gonzalez ): conversations during Gonzalez y Palanca ( the children of Rogerio Gonzalez y Escaler and Lourdes Palanca y David ) family gatherings: a pre-Christmas party at the Gonzalez-Santos residence at 55 Cambridge Circle, Forbes Park North in 1989; parties at the Dizon-Gonzalez ( Manuel Martinez Dizon and Regina Palanca Gonzalez ) residence at 5 Molave Road, Forbes Park South in 1990, 1997, and 1998.

Imang Bets ( Dona Beatriz Rodriguez y Tiamson ) has provided much information about the Rodriguez family of Bacolor, Pampanga.
Incung Duman ( Don Roman Santos ), the founder of Prudential Bank, was a Rodriguez. He was the son of Impung Marta ( Dona Marta Rodriguez y Tuason ) who married Don Hilarion Santos. When Don Hilarion died, Dona Marta married Don Domingo Carlos.
Dona Marta died young. Her orphaned son, the young Roman was taken in as a ward by his older first cousin Dona Florencia Sioco de Gonzalez ( daughter of Impung Matea, elder sister of Impung Marta ) and he went to live at the Gonzalez y Sioco mansion in Barrio Sulipan, Apalit, Pampanga.
The young Roman spent some years in Barrio Sulipan and was like an elder brother to his ten Gonzalez y Sioco nephews: Fernando, Jesus, Emilio, Augusto, Octavio, Virgilio, Javier, Bienvenido, Joaquin, and Fausto.
There was a big ” studio ” picture of him with them ( taken around 1896 ) hung at ” Bale Sim ” in one small room filled with aparadores, before the Great Flood of October 1, 1995, which inundated the mansion with lahar from Mount Pinatubo ( which erupted four years before in 1991 ).

Tita Nena ( Eglantine Gonzalez y Elizalde ) has provided much information about the Gonzalez y Sioco family of Barrio Sulipan, Apalit, Pampanga. She is a daughter of Don Fernando Gonzalez y Sioco and Dona Clementina Elizalde y Cacnio and is the third oldest of the +- 115 grandchildren of Don Dr. Joaquin Gonzalez y Lopez and Dona Florencia Sioco y Rodriguez.
Incung Duman ( Don Roman Santos y Rodriguez ) was a first cousin of Impung Florencia ( Dona Florencia Sioco y Rodriguez, de Gonzalez ) and Impung Sabina ( Dona Sabina Sioco y Rodriguez, de Escaler ). He grew up as a ward in the Gonzalez mansion in Barrio Sulipan.
Impung Sabina lent Incung Duman the capital to purchase a ” casco ” ( bamboo raft ) for his first business venture: the trading of dry goods in the towns along the Rio Grande de Pampanga ( the Pampanga River ).
Incung Duman used to visit the Gonzalezes in Sulipan until before the War ( in 194_, the house was bombed from the air by the Americans who saw Japanese trucks parked beside it ). The Gonzalez brothers deferred to him as ” Tio Duman “.

Ate Ate’ ( Blanquita Santos y Luna – Mrs. Renato P. Gonzalez ), granddaughter of Don Roman Santos and Dona Juliana Andres, spoke about her grandfather.
Lolo Roman ( Don Roman Santos y Rodriguez ) spoke about his Rodriguez relatives in Bacolor, Pampanga.
Lolo Roman grew up with his Gonzalez cousins. He was then a poor relation.
Lolo Roman was a modest man. He was frugal and cautious in his business transactions. He became a successful businessman.

Gilda Cordero Fernando ( Gilda Cordero y Luna ), writer, arts patron and connoisseur – a relative of the Santos family on the Luna side, told the funny story of how, during the War, they were all hiding in the Santos house in Malabon when the ceiling collapsed with the weight of the rice, beans, and other supplies Lolo Roman had stored! He had hidden enough food to last for years!

According to the notes of Don Dr. Bienvenido Ma. Gonzalez y Sioco, Dona Marta Rodriguez and Don Hilarion Santos had two children: Rafaela and Roman. Rafaela married Vicente Fernandez.
This researcher saw the gravestone of Dona Rafaela Santos y Rodriguez on one wall of the Epistle transept of the Apalit Church: ” Dona Rafaela Santos y Rodriguez, + 25 de Junio, 1900 “.
It was only in the conversations with old relatives that the researcher uncovered that Dona Rafaela Santos de Fernandez was the mother of the controversial Rafael Fernandez. He married Josefa Escaler y Sioco ( who turned out to be his second-degree cousin: Dona Sabina Sioco y Rodriguez, de Escaler and Dona Rafaela Santos y Rodriguez, de Fernandez were first cousins ).
Tita Nena ( Eglantine Gonzalez y Elizalde ) mentioned that Tio Jose Escaler, despite his impeccable social connections, wanted his sisters married to relatives to preserve the family wealth. His sister Tia Marina was married to their first cousin Tio Augusto Gonzalez and another sister Josefa married to Rafael Fernandez, [ who, therefore, was probably a distant relative; it is difficult to admit a relation to the controversial Rafael Fernandez ].
It was Ate Ate’ ( Blanquita Santos y Luna – Mrs. Renato P. Gonzalez ) who confirmed the relation between the completely opposite personalities Don Roman Santos y Rodriguez and Rafael Fernandez y Santos: they were uncle and nephew.

FAMILIA RODRIGUEZ
DE
BARRIO SANTA INES, BACOLOR, PAMPANGA

1 ] Sr. Dn. Olegario Rodriguez + 3 de Junio 1874

2 ] Sra. Dna. Jacoba Bautista de Rodriguez + 31 de Enero 1874

3 ] Sr. Dn. Felix Rodriguez y Bautista o 8 de Enero 1853
+ 8 de Enero 1914

4 ] Sr. Dn. Jose Rodriguez y Bautista + 6 de Julio 1887 ( o 1853 )
33 anos, 7 meses

5 ] Sr. Dn. Francisco Rodriguez y Bautista + 12 de Noviembre 1887 ( o 1863 )
24 anos, 8 meses

6 ] Sra. Dna. Maxima Rodriguez y Bautista, + 30 de Octubre 1888 ( o 1857 )
de De los Reyes 31 anos

7 ] Sra. Dna. Librada Rodriguez y Bautista o 20 de Julio 1865
+ 14 de Febrero 1923

8 ] Sra. Dna. Maria Rodriguez y Bautista + 23 de Julio 1915

9 ] Sra. Dna. Jacoba Rodriguez y Yabut o 14 de Julio 1883
+ 10 de Enero 1922

10 ] Sra. Dna. Josefa Rodriguez y Yabut o 18 de Marso 1885
+ 29 de Junio 1936

11 ] Sra. Dna. Gorgonia Rodriguez y Yabut o 19 de Septiembre 1886
+ 14 de Noviembre 1960

These names and dates were taken by the researcher from the gravestones in the Rodriguez burial ground at the Bacolor Catholic Cemetery, November __, 1988, Sunday, 1600 hrs, Fiesta de Nuestra Senora del Santisimo Rosario, La Naval de Bacolor.