APELLIDOS IN PASUQUIN
by Rev. Fr. Ericson M. Josue
Posted in TPHS by Deevon Matiga Cariaga
Transcribed by Nel Balmores
Apellidos are very helpful to identify a person, especially with regard to his parentage. When I was browsing the 18th Century (1700’s) Libros de Bautismos (Books of Baptisms) of the Visita de Pasuquin (peripheral mission of Pasuquin for it was not yet erected as parish then), I came to encounter the apellidos of the 18th century natives, and they really sounded very native. I would like to share some of the findings. Maybe you can trace here your original apellidos for they were only changed into Spanish surnames in a later time during the Spanish colonial regime. It was only formalized by Gov. Gen. Narciso Claveria in a decree dated Nov. 11, 1849.
Here are some of the apellidos: 1702 – 1715.
Caogued, Quinaoran, Cumraas, Jubet, Canapa, Siban, Maquimit, Songcal, Root, Baduya, Aganud, Magtabas, Culbet, Sagudai, Dugga, Gaoed, Gobgoban, Bassit, Longboy and the famous Dalag. Although some apellidos which are still heard today had been in use since this century. These are Daguio, de Luna, Aguinaldo, Daquigan, Manaian (Manayan), Viernes, Manzano, Josue, Lagasca, Vila, Baclagan and among others..
Trivia:
When I was talking to a Spanish professor, he explained that the apellidos like Rodriguez, Fernandez etc. mean “children of…”
Example:
Rodrigues – Children of Rodrigo
Fernandes – Children of Fernando
Enriques – Children of Enrique
Hernandes – Children of Hernando
Perhaps, it goes like the way we term the family of Apo Ferdinand Marcos today: Marcoses.
And those with “de” (from) would also mean, referring to the place where the person originated like:
de Leon – from the City Leon, Spain
de Peralta – from the City of Peralta
de Jerez – from the City of Jerez
de Sevilla – from the City of Sevilla.
Now my question is, how about the “de Lunas” (moon), where did they come from?
The Pasuquin (Parroquia de Apostol Santiago de Pasuquin) baptismal registers covering 1702 to 1731 show that during this period, parents did not pass on their family names to their children. Starting 1732 onwards, fathers were already giving their surnames to their children.
In the mid-19th Century, Governor General Narciso Clavería officially decreed that the natives should adopt surnames which could distinguish them as families and fathers must pass on their surnames to their children. Prior to his decree, there were numerous confusions with regard to personal identity for the natives “… arbitrarily adopt the names of saints, and this results in the existence of thousands of individuals having the same surname…the resultant confusion with regard to the administration of justice, government, finance, and public order, and the far-reaching moral, civil and religious consequences to which this might lead, because the family names are not transmitted from the parents to their children, so that it is sometimes impossible to prove the degrees of consanguinity for purposes of marriage, rendering useless the parochial books which in Catholic countries are used for all kinds of transactions.” (excerpt from the 1849 Claveria Decree).
For this, on November 21, 1849, Governor General Narciso Clavería issued a decree and prepared the Catálogo Alfabético de Apellidos from which those who were advised to change their names shall choose a new surname peculiarly identified with their family and town of origin. The “Padron de Almas” and the list of “apellidos” of Pasuquin which the Clavería Decree stipulated are no longer extant in the parish archives. However, in the canonical books, it was found out that in the years after 1849, some apellidos have indications of change.
Below is a list of some apellidos changed to another apellido taken from the canonical registers of Pasuquin Parish between 1849 to 1860 (the decade after the issuance of the Claveria Decree):
Alfonso to Caliso, Lucas to Garucat, Bartolomé to Aguba,
Alonso to Salvado, Mateo to Laguatan, Salvador to Palacay and Saliva
Bruno to Calidayan, Sahagún to Calija, Daniel to Salud
Cosme to Palalay, José to Lagaong, Jacinto to Caalim
Crisóstomo to Ranjo, Pablo to Lagac, Guillermo to Aguillo
Damaso to Lagoc, Hilario to Agudelo, Matías to Eduria
de la Cruz to Balatico, de los Reyes to Questin, Felipe to Calape
de Villanueva to Oba, Javier to Dalida, Simón to Ibali and Garaña
Martín to Lagarico,Benigno to Agtina, Corpus to Calulot
(some more in the list)
These surnames are names of saints. In accordance to the Clavería Decree, names of saints are to be changed if the natives cannot prove that their clan had been keeping the surname for four generations. Also, old surnames are to be changed if they create confusion due to numerous natives using the same name of saints in many towns. These choosing and changing of apellidos according to the Clavería Decree were subject to the approval of the reverend parish priest.
Kappia ti adda kadakayo, apo!
Footnotes (Questions from Readers with Fr. Josue’s Response):
Q: What happened to the Pasuquin surnames (1702-1715) like Caogued, Quinaoran, Cumraas, Jubet, Canapa, etc? .They really do sound like precolonial names. Deevon Matiga Cariaga.
A: My hypothesis, they were the ones who took the names of saints as surnames, then changed them again in 1849 as mandated by the Clavería Decree. Ericson Josue
The complete list which are fragile, starting from 1702, are available in microfilm at the UST archives. The microfilm forms of all Spanish era parish archives of the Diocese of Laoag are there. All Spanish era church documents are centralized for they are not safe if they remain in the convents. Ericson Josue
- Truly those baptismal records are treasures of our history and heritage. thank you for saving them. Can we visit the Palacio to look at the documents after this pandemic po? Deevon Matiga Cariaga.
- You have to make an appointment with the Diocesan Archivist, . Richmond Balicoco. He has to approve it first, depending on the condition of the manuscripts. Ericson Josue.