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My Eurasian Family History
by Viktor Emmanuel Medrano
The family name Medrano is from the Basque country, which today overlaps Spain and France. The meaning of the surname is unclear and mysterious. One source claims that it means "place of ferns" ("edi" = fern, "ano" = abundance). Another source claims that it means "narrow plain." Whatever the meaning, it is generally agreed that it is a Basque name. Incidentally, there is an old legendary Circus Medrano (or Cirque Medrano, or Circo Medrano,...) in Europe.
It is unknown whether the name Medrano amongst my Filipino ancestors was inherited from Spanish settlers or was an effect of name adoption by the Clavería edict in the Philippines. The majority of native Filipinos adopted Hispanic names by decree of Governor General Narciso Clavería in 1849. El Catálogo Alfabético de Apellidos or "The Book of Surnames" was created to systematically distribute the names. This was done so that maintaining tax records could be easier since Filipinos initially did not have surnames and many of the early converts of Catholicism adopted names of saints and, in turn, duplication of the same surnames were numerous. This history is about a lineage of Medranos from the Philippines.
In traditional anthropology, I and my siblings would be a multiracial mixture of Mongoloid, Caucasoid, and Australoid races. Mongoloid is from Han Chinese. Caucasoid is from Spanish, Greek, Jew, and Portuguese. We are also partly Malay, the Filipino Native.
Malays are considered Southern Mongoloids. A long time ago, the Southern Mongoloids expanded into South-East Asia; they partly replaced and partly assimilated the native Australoids. My ancestors travelled very far and wide through the eons...
The Jewish part of us remains a mystery. If our Jewish ancestors were Sephardic Jews, then they probably came from the Iberian Peninsula, but if they were Ashkenazi Jews, then they probably came from Eastern Europe. Our Jewish strain most recently came from Greece and there was probably mixing betwixt Jews and native Greeks.
At one time, Spain was a land of three religions: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. So who knows? We may also have had Arab ancestors from the distant past.
Genetics and anthropology are complex subjects. It is probably just easier to say, using traditional anthropological terminology, that we are Caucasoid and Mongoloid with some Australoid admixture. Another word that applies to us, being of mixed European and Asian descent, is Eurasian.
As a reward for his great servitude under the Spanish Empire and Crown, my great-great-grandfather, the Spaniard Captain Ramon Palacios was granted land in the faraway colony of the Philippines, Las Islas Filipinas. Ramon, an aristocrat, embarked from Spain to his new home sometime in the 19th century. He resided in the region of Batangas and married a Filipina, Maria Aguirre. They had a daughter named Concepcion 'Concha' Aguirre Palacios. Concha was small in stature and a gentle señorita. She married Andres Talambiras, a wealthy textile merchant and wholesaler of men’s clothes. He was from Athens, Greece. Andres was from a family of five children. His parents, Dimitri Talambiras and Keratsu Stamelos, lived in Greece. It is said that the hometown was Kimi on the island of Euboeia (now Evia) in Greece.
A picture (below) of Dimitri Talambiras, my great-great-grandfather:
A picture (below) of Andres Talambiras, my great-grandfather:
A picture (below) of my great-grandmother, Concepcion 'Concha' Aguirre Palacios, with her two children, Josefa 'Bebe' Palacios Talambiras and Ramon Palacios Talambiras:
Before the birth of his daughter Josefa Palacios Talambiras, Andres left for New York, USA, never to come back. His wife, Concha, remained in the Philippines. Her domineering older brother, Juan Aguirre Palacios, discouraged her from going. The tickets that Andres had sent for Concha and their two children, Josefa and Ramon, were intercepted by Juan and were never given to them. Most of the letters that Andres had sent Concha never reached her.
Andres remarried in America, to a Jewish woman. It is uncertain what the religion of Andres himself was; hearsay proclaims him of Greek Orthodox faith, but he may have been Jewish. Was he a Greek Jew? Further research on this is required. His religion is yet undetermined.
Meanwhile, in the Philippines, Josefa grew up under her wealthy mother's protective umbrella and became accustomed to the quiescent pace of life. Josefa studied fine arts in Holy Ghost College, a Catholic institution.
A picture (below) of Josefa Palacios Talambiras ("Lola Bebe"), my maternal grandmother:
A letter (below) to Josefa from her father Andres, August 21, 1939:
Josefa married an intelligent and hard-working man, Macario Aguilera Medrano. He was a general practitioner and in his time was one of the top achievers of the medical board examinations. During World War II, he served as a medical officer for the Philippine Commonwealth Army. In later years, he would take up acupuncture and Oriental medicine.
Macario’s father, Pedro Medrano, was a landowner, horse-trainer, and an advisor to the barrio (village) people. Macario’s mother, Florencia Aguilera, was a beautiful and complacent woman. Macario, who did not even know the names and origins of his own grandparents, likely had some Chinese ancestors, aside from Filipino ones, judging from his physical appearance.
A picture (below) of Macario Aguilera Medrano ("Lolo Mac"), my maternal grandfather:
Josefa and Macario raised four children: Belinda, Bella, Edgardo, and Alberto. Belinda was Miss Luzon of 1958 and was runner-up for Miss Philippines in the same year. She studied Business Administration in the University of the Philippines. She became the first woman bank manager of one of the biggest banks in South-East Asia, the Far East Bank. Upon immigrating to Canada in 1976, she worked for Royal Bank until 1997, when she finally retired.
A picture (below) of my mother, Belinda Talambiras Medrano, Miss Luzon (1958):
In 1898, Spain lost a war with the United States. The Philippines came under American administration. Insurrections followed. During the Filipino-American War, Captain Mariano Medrano fought under General Malvar. Malvar was the last general to surrender to the Americans. Although the general laid down his arms, the valiant Mariano continued to defy the Americans, but mysteriously he disappeared from the scene. His son, Victorino Medrano, strove to find him for years. Fruitless in his search, he decided to settle down and marry.
On April 2, 1913, the young couple, Victorino Medrano and Margarita Achico Aguirre, was blessed with their first child, a son, named Francisco Aguirre Medrano. Victorino was a busy man at the time, working as a civil engineer for the Batangas Provincial Government in the Philippines. Margarita was only 15. It was mainly Francisco's maternal grandparents, Fernanda Venturina Achico and Alejandro Aguirre, who raised him. Alejandro's mother, Lim Dy Co, was of Chinese descent. Fernanda's father had a surname, Achico, which was probably also of Chinese origin. This surname was originally "Chico," but was later prefixed with an "A" because a "chico" was coincidentally a kind of fruit in the Filipino vernacular language.
Francisco grew to be a very active, industrious boy. In school, he excelled both academically and athletically. He cherished the classic proverb, Mens sana in corpore sano (a sound mind in a sound body). Alongside being a great orator, debater, and journalist, he was also a judo master, fencing master, marksman, amateur boxing champion, exceptional swimmer, tennis player, and even a superb painter and dancer. He also was a master of arnis de mano (brokil), a Filipino martial art. He graduated as one of the most highly acclaimed students from San Beda College of Manila.
A picture (below) of Francisco Aguirre Medrano ("Daddy Pito"), my paternal grandfather:
Francisco went on to study law in the University of the Philippines in Manila. There, he fell in love with Lydia Ramos Rillo, who was studying to be a teacher. On September 24, 1934, the lovers eloped and married at the Manila Justice and Peace. The affair was without the consent of the bride's wealthy parents, Salvador Benigno Apacible Rillo and Nazaria Cudiamat Ramos. Incidentally, Tiangco and Inciong are Chinese surnames that appear in Lydia's lineage. One of her ancestors from the 18th century, Pedro Bohai, was from Portugal.
A picture (below) of my great-grandparents, Nazaria Ramos and Salvador Rillo (1924):
Salvador was a collector of the Bureau of Government Internal Revenue and a heavy investor of mining stocks. He was well-educated and spoke Spanish, English, and Tagalog with equal fluency. Lydia's mother, Nazaria, was an industrious, strong-willed woman. She was known for being an avid card game player. Salvador's father, Santiago Rillo, was a soldier. During the late 19th century, he fought amongst the revolutionary forces known as the Kataastaasang Kagalanggalangang Katipunan (KKK) against the corrupt Spanish rulers. Chivalry runs in the family. Santiago also was one of the signers of the Malolos Constitution, promulgated on January 21, 1899. That constitution laid the foundation of President Emilio Aguinaldo's short-lived independent republic betwixt Spanish rulers and the new American invaders.
A picture (below) of Lydia Ramos Rillo ("Mommy Lydia"), my paternal grandmother (1964):
After marriage, Lydia graduated and because of her extraordinary command of the English language, she soon became the proud head of the English Department of the highly reputed Batangas High School. Meanwhile, the husband Francisco worked as a public servant in Manila. He graduated and earned a law degree in 1941. Ill-fated, he would be unable to take his bar examinations as that same year was the dawning of World War II.
The Japanese forces ransacked and occupied the Islands. The American and Filipino forces were beaten at Bataan. Francisco aborted all his plans. To protect his family, he had them move about in the secluded jungles. Patriotism shot through the veins of Francisco. Gallantly, he formed an underground "guerrilla" movement with himself ranked as colonel. The Japanese declared him a wanted man.
Coincidentally, Francisco's father-in-law, Salvador, was also involved in another resistance movement in which he also ranked as colonel. Unfortunately, the Japanese captured him. He was brutally tortured and beaten with a metal pipe. It resulted in a partial indentation of his skull. He would be held as prisoner in Fort Santiago until American Liberation.
As the war continued, the Japanese appointed a Filipino president, José P. Laurel, Sr., who entrusted Francisco as presidential aide. Tragically, the Japanese intelligence, the Kempitai, identified Francisco one day through an informant. He was arrested. He was pegged to the ground to roast under the tropical sun amongst other captives. The President reasoned with the Japanese and they fortunately spared Francisco’s life.
When the Americans came for the Liberation, fearless Francisco rejoined his brave soldiers to help annihilate the invaders. All this time, his wife and family lost contact with him and thought he was already dead. After a long search by Lydia, it was proven otherwise.
After the hostilities, Francisco's political life persevered. He ran for governor of Batangas. He became Provincial Secretary. In 1946, he helped an old friend, Manuel Roxas, campaign for and win presidency. The new President appointed him General Manager of the National Development Company. Francisco organized the Civilian Guards to keep peace and order. Then triumphantly in 1948, he fought against the communist-led peasant uprising of the Hukbalahap, a guerrilla movement.
In 1949 after the fatal heart attack of President Roxas, an election was in order. Francisco became chief security officer for Former President José P. Laurel, who was campaigning for presidency against the incumbent Elpidio Quirino.
Quirino succeeded in winning presidency. Francisco was angered and remobilized his guerrilla forces for an armed revolution. He stated a manifesto to the government and the Filipino people:
"I appeal to all freedom and liberty loving people to unite and fight for the very things our forebears fought to be free from Spanish domination and for the sake of the memory of those unknown soldiers who had died in the battlefields of Bataan and Corregidor to conserve our democratic institutions for our posterity."
General Medrano's forces soon pressed from all sides and his family pursued by enemies through swamp and jungle, the situation became critical. After 45 days of fighting, General Medrano, whose followers' spirits had waned and grown weary, accepted amnesty on his own terms and a truce was made. Thus the frustrated Francisco came to the resplendent Malacañang Palace and met President Quirino personally.
After the truce, General Medrano was re-appointed chief of the administrative department of the National Development Company. Years later, Francisco would successfully campaign for President Garcia's presidency. He also became Chief of Import Central Commission, General Manager of the Manila Port Service, and Vice President of the International Ports Managers Association. After many years of political service and sacrifice for his country, he would retire peacefully in 1963 to engage in private business which included traditional handicrafts for export. He and Lydia moved to California, USA, in the 1980's. He died on February 21, 1987.
Francisco and Lydia had four children: Virginia, Mila, Frank, and Viveca. Due to the ill health of Frank's mother, his great-grandparents, Fernanda Venturina Achico and Alejandro Aguirre, nurtured Frank for the first three years whilst in Batangas. Frank's education was constantly disrupted due to wars and his father's involvement in risky politics. His mother and his sisters taught him the three R's whilst hiding in the jungles. At a tender age, he led an adventurous life and experienced the tragedies of war. He went to high school in Manila at a Catholic private school, San Beda. Frank's real ambition was to be a pilot, but under his father's guidance, he took up preparatory law. Truly, his real talents lay in music and singing. He gradually neglected his studies as he decided to go to work. Soon enough, he was engulfed in the world of business, occupying high positions in various companies involved in light steel, textiles, and agriculture. He was an assistant manager of the American-owned California Manufacturing, Inc., and later its marketing arm, California Sales Corporation, which he started up. He also started up Monterey Farms, Inc., the multi-billion-peso agribusiness industry later owned by San Miguel Brewery. He was an assistant to the vice-president on finance of Synthetic Textile Manufactures, Inc., and was also the assistant general manager of Filipinas Electro-Industrial Corporation.
A picture (below) of my parents, Belinda Medrano and Frank Medrano (1958):
Frank married Belinda Medrano on September 7, 1958, in an elaborate ceremony in Saint Augustine Church in Manila. In 1968, he obtained a Bachelor's degree in Commerce with Management as a major. With Belinda, he raised three children: Fernando Gerardo Medrano, Viktor Emmanuel Medrano, and Paolo Franco Medrano. The whole family immigrated to Canada in 1976. A few years after their arrival, Frank and Belinda converted from the Roman Catholic faith to a Protestant faith under the guidance of Baptist Filipino expatriates.
In his earlier years in Canada, Frank would involve himself with businesses dealing with imported handicrafts and various foodstuffs. He was U.S. sales manager for an American-owned food manufacturing company based in British Columbia. His territory was the entire West Coast of the United States and Hawaii. In his later years in Canada, preparing for his retirement, Frank would take up computer applications and supervise a lab for students who study English as a second language.
Frank and Belinda's son, Fernando, married Lucinda Atwood, of English ancestry, in a secular ceremony in their home on May 4, 1997. Since then, Fernando and Lucinda produced two daughters, Tria Josefa Lucinda Jill Atwood Medrano, and Calla Belinda Lydia May Atwood Medrano.
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