Family ancestors (Catiben and Yap) by Zai

 

I have always been interested about the past. I enjoy knowing history because our past and the people before us have shaped who we are today. It is interesting to know the personalities who may have contributed to who we have become.  The people, the places and and experiences are like patches in the patchwork of our lives, each little piece is important. Hence, it may help to know a little bit of our past to understand ourselves. Although it is difficult to trace all of my ancestors, I have some information about a few of my forefathers.

From my father’s side, I grew up with stories about my great grandfather Lolo Catiben Moro. We were told that he came from Mecca on a flying frying pan or it could have been a saucer.  It was a fantastical story. Who was he? Why could he fly on a frying pan? Was he an alien or something else?

Luis Matthew's interpretation of Lolo Catiben Moro

Nobody knows what he did in Mecca. But he was not a Muslim. He was a Bagobo/Calagan, which is a native of Davao region. During those times, the Bagobos and Muslims were not at peace. They said that the Muslims wanted to grab my great grand father’s land.

Another interesting story about Lolo Catiben Moro was that he did not have a bridge on his nose. This would have been so strange. How he looked like, I could only imagine. In my mind, he would have looked like Voldemort from the Harry Potter movies. Regardless of what he looked like, he managed to capture the heart of Sofia Obeda also known as Lola Ina. Our great grandmother was known to be a beauty. She had 3 husbands or partners: Lolo Catiben Moro; another gent from Monterverde and  they had a daughter Lola Aring; then  Iko Yap, and they had a daughter who was Lola Juling.

Lolo Catiben Moro seemed to have supernatural powers, he was able to clean Dumlan with the help of his ‘Abians’ or supernatural helpers.  His land in Dumlan used to be 13 hectares and apparently, he could do “guna’ or weed in one day. He would start in the evening and finish in the morning.  How he got his Abian friends, we also don't know. But is is amazing for someone to be able to finish this work in one day. But if he indeed had help, then it is truly remarkable. Lolo Catiben Moro and Lola Ina had two sons :Osmena, who was my grandfather ; and Pedro also known as Lolo Bugaan. Lolo Bugaan had one son and several daughters (5). 

Lolo Osmena helped with increasing the land in Tipas. The land was under Lola Ina's name. There was 20 hectares in Tipas and 18 hectares in Daneco. 

Margarita Panilagao Adana (Delumbar), also known as Mamie was the wife of Osmena Catiben. Mamie had half siblings with the Delumbar. She had inherited a lot of land from her parents but all were lost. From the stories that we heard, she probably had more than 40 hectares. Part of her inheritance was loaned to Mayor Baluyo. Mamie was not able to repay her loan, so her land got forfeited. Lolo Osmena and Mamie had two sons, Romeo Catiben who is my father and Arturo Catiben.

From my mother’s side, I was told that our great grandfather Yap-Saya came from China (Lolo Crisanto’s father). He had a   queue for his hairstyle.  He also was a merchant and during those times, they sold Opium. I am not sure which part of China he came from.  He was married to Ascion Garcia who was also half Chinese. Lolo Yap-Saya was Lola Sayong’s godfather.  Lolo Yap-saya and Lola Ascion had two sons, Lolo Crisanto who was my grandfather and Lolo Ponso. My Lolo Crisanto used to work as a toll booth collector, treasurer, and a police officer.

 

Representation of how Lolo Yap-Saya would have looked like

Lola Rosario was also known as Lola Sayong. Her  father was Lolo Juan Bermejo, he was half Spanish.  He was married to Lola Leoncia (whom mama called Nanay Leoncia), she was also half Chinese. Lola Rosario and her siblings looked Spanish. Some were fair but all were good looking. Lolo Crisanto and Lola Sayong had 9 children but one child passed away when she was little: Uncle Norberto (Toto), Uncle Rodulfo (Nonoy), Aunty Merlinda (Neneng), Milagros (passed young), Margiolina (mama), Uncle Wilfredo (Boy), Crisanto Jr (Jun), Uncle Ernesto (Amay), Aunty Medeline (Nene).

 

Lola Crisanto, Lola Sayong and their children

In the 1940s, after WW2, they was a movement for people from Luzon and Visayas to either go to Hawaii or Mindanao. Lolo Crisanto was asked to choose where he wanted to go. He decided to go to Mindanao. I have always wished that he had chosen to go to Hawaii, then I would have been Hawaiian. But then again, mama and papa would not have met. And that would have been a different story altogether.

So he took his young family and settled in Davao City. They stayed mostly in Magallanes. Lola Sayong was a business woman. She was also skilled. She had a sari-sari store. When we were young, she would visit us or we would go to Magallanes. When we were staying in Tagum and Lola Sayong would visit, I remember that she used to feel cold. We would cover her with blankets, pillows and slept on top of her. She was very strict and very religious. I remember one Holy Friday, there were a group of boys playing basketball and one of them got hurt. I remember her saying that the wound will not heal because they were playing when the Lord was not there (Holy Friday).

Some people can trace their ancestors for more than 3 generations. Unfortunately, I could not go further than that. We only have this information today, but I am lucky that I know a little bit of my ancestors. Someone in the next generation may be like me, interested in the past and they will read this account of mine. I hope they find it helpful or at least they will get an appreciation of the account.