THE CHINESE HERITAGE IN ILOILO
The Crazy Rich Ilonggos
Kung Hei Fat Choi! A tribute to our Filipino Chinese community in Iloilo in celebration of the Chinese New Year today.
GUESS WHEN.
Did you know the second oldest Chinese school in the Philippines & the first outside Manila was built in Iloilo City? Which school is this? Which year?
EARLY SETTLEMENTS AND CHINESE COMMERCE
When the Spanish settlements came to Iloilo so did the Chinese for which the Spaniards gave them commerce. Iloilo city commercial hub in “Calle Real”—known as the Royal Street- of Iloilo City at the turn of the century, was mushroomed with Chinese businesses.
As such from panaderia, panciteria, farmacia to zapateria, the Chinese took Spanish words into their enterprises, well until the British and the Americans settled in Iloilo and when the Spaniards left the country from Iloilo, making Iloilo the last bastion of the Spanish empire in Asia.
When the Spaniards left Iloilo in 1898, it commenced the "Americanization" of Iloilo, for example, creating the first ever mall- type department store in the country called Hoskyn's, named after the American owner Henry Hoskyn with partners including Gregorio Manuel Loring, the first American vice consul in Iloilo. Yet the Chinese merchants stayed on side by side with the Americans.
RESTRICTION TO AMALGAMATION
In the 1850’s the Spanish government restricted the enterprises of the Chinese except perhaps in Manila, Cebu and Iloilo –the three most important economic centers in the country at the time, which remains so these days.
My mother shared stories with me that during the Japanese attack on Iloilo some Ilonggo Chinese went to Palawan, a nearby island. Her siblings relayed to her that even with those very far distant places there were Chinese merchants you will see them everywhere, never mind how remote.
THE CHINESE SPANISH BRITISH AND AMERICANS IN ILOILO
The Spanish Catholic church restricted the Chinese immigration to the Philippines, or their movement in the archipelago, because the church believed the Chinese will interfere with their mission. Eventually, the Roman Catholic converted the Chinese migrants called Chinese Catholic mestizos which, thus, allowed them to travel freely.
In Manila, Cebu and Iloilo the Chinese developed a highly successful mestizo elite who were loyal Catholics and supporters of Spanish rule becoming also major contributors to the church.
When the Americans conquered Iloilo they came bringing along Protestantism, many Chinese also became members of the church and today connected with Filipino-Chinese migration to the United States through Christianity as well as American schools in Iloilo established by the Americans themselves.
Through the Spanish colonization, the Chinese in Iloilo, including those in all parts of the country, had to acquire Spanish first and family names.
The wealthy and prominent López family of Iloilo descended from Basílio López (c. 1800–c. 1875), a Chinese mestizo who adopted the surname of his Spanish master, López, upon the latter's death. He married a Jalandoni, from another wealthy family in Jaro. Fernando Lopez, married to a Javellana of Jaro, served as Vice President of the Philippines under Presidents Elpidio Quirino and Ferdinand Marcos, an accomplishment for an Ilonggo. Don Eugenio Hofileña López Sr. was a leading figure in the Philippines & founder of the Lopez Group of Companies which includes ABS CBN, Sky able, Meralco, Negros Navigation, among others.
EARLY CHINESE ILONGGO FAMILIES
Most Chinese migration from China in Iloilo were men and settled in Molo , known as Pari-an at that time. They married native Ilonggas, most of them extremely good looking, educated and highly refined women in society and from "buena familia"--the Ilonggo aristocrats. Some of these women had either parents born in Spain, for example, the first ever beauty queen of the Philippines, Pura Garcia Villanueva of Arevalo ( competed in a pageant at the Carnival Queen circa 1900), whose mother was from Palencia, Spain.
Sooner many of these Ilonggo Chinese men became taipans in the Philippines with descendants named Consing, Ditching, Conlu, Chuseuy, Tan, Ganzon, Guanzon, Jocson, Lacson, Locsin, Layson, Sianson, Yulo, Lopez and Yasay. The maternal family of Jose Mari Chan, Nikki Guanco Coseteng and John Gokongwei is of the Marquez Lim Iloilo genealogy. In the later years, wealthy clans of the Que, Ong, Dingcong, Chu, Ang, Ng, Po, So , Te , Woo, Yap, Sison,Uygonco families and Spanish metizo names such as Bautista, Conducta, Jardeleza, Juaneza, Madrigal, Magalona, Drilon and Santos build formidable influences and industries in Iloilo.
More listings include family surnames Biazon, Espina,Cojuangco, Ganzon, Goson, Guason,Gamboa, Lacson, Layson, Limsiaco, Limjuco, Martinez, Ongpauco, Espinosa, Pechangco, Quimpo, Samson, Tancingco, Uygongco and Yapco.
In the process, they were called the Chinese mestizos, assuming the Spanish names. I remember my mother, as a public health nurse, stood to so many Chinese as sponsor for their Filipino naturalization, attesting to their residency and allegiance and contribution to the community in Iloilo.
Iloilo became a boom town beginning 1855, in which foreign ships docked at its finest harbour, while it was only Manila that enjoyed it. The Chinese mestizos in Iloilo focused their entrepreneurial adeptness, mostly from Molo and Jaro, first in textile manufacturing then on to planting sugar cane and buying sugar plantations in Negros and became extremely wealthy—the modern word refered to as “ the crazy rich Ilonggos.”
One of these prominent Ilonggo Chinese mestizos was Aniceto Lacson y Ledesma from Molo, married to a Filipina Rosario Araneta, who governed Negros as leader of the Negros Republic in 1857. He was a schoolmate in Manila and a revolutionary colleque of Jose Rizal, a Chinese mestizo, who visited Molo, perhaps we now see the connection why Rizal visited Molo.
Consequently, because of good business, many prominent Ilonggo Chinese mestizo sugarcane planters like the Ledesma, Lacson, Lopez, Lizares, Hilado, Cosculluela, Perez, Alvarez, Sotamayor and Escanilla families moved to Negros.
At the turn of the century, with so much wealth, Iloilo along Calle Eugenio Lopez created the first millionaires row in the country lined with magnificent mansions many are as fabulous than Malacanang Palace in scale.
BY GONE ERA
It is written in Ilonggo history that it was only the Chinese who were allowed by the Iloilo government in 1890’s to operate opium dens in the city. Opium was authorized by the Spanish authorities, like the British did in China, as a source of revenue for its government. It was barred by the Americans when they settled in Iloilo.
TRACING THE ROOTS
How early did the Chinese set foot in Iloilo? Did they settle in before the Spanish period? Perhaps it is hard to tell. But the archaeologists and historians suggest that it started as early as 10th to 11th centuries because Panay Island had already a well established trade with the Chinese at that time, given the archaeological proof. It was 200 years before the coming of the ten Borean datus in Panay.
That brings us back to the contact of the Ilonggos with the Chinese traders in Sung Dynasty which begun 960 A.D. until about 1280 trading through Molo which was the commercial port of Iloilo at that time. They bartered silk, porcelain, damasks textiles in exchange for bountiful sea, farm and forest products of Iloilo.
CHINESE INFLUENCES IN ILOILO CULTURE TODAY
1. SUGAR, FOOD AND SWEETS. The Chinese introduced sugar in Iloilo with as variety called “sakara” which was from India, others said from Saudi Arabia, by which the Chinese taught the natives how to extract sugar juice into granules and prepared an Ilonggo delicacy from hardened sugar called “pinarak.”
Aside from the “Pinarak”, the Chinese Ilonggos gave Iloilo batchoy, bihon, lumpia, pancit molo, siomai, hototai and siopao. The Chinese also introduced fermented food to Ilonggos such as patis, tuyo and even “fish ginamos” which really originated from ancient China.
The famous family Uy of Jaro founded one of the oldest stone oven bakeries in Jaro Iloilo-- Panaderia ni Paa-- in 1898 and is still much well in business today.
2. CAMISA CHINO. Obviously referring to the Chinese mandarin collar in our Barong Tagalog.
3. MAHJONG. The recreational game which binds family members together and their neighbours which is also an exercise on sharping one's cognitive thinking.
4. FENG SHUI, the art of beliefs and practices on wellness although many modern Chinese don’t follow them as much as in the past.
5. FIRECRACKERS. Of course, to drive away bad luck and ill-spirits.
6. SCHOOLS. Great quality schools. I remember it was said, if a Chinese Cebuano is not toughened in Chinese schools in Cebu, they are moved to Chinese schools in Iloilo.
7. CHINESE WORDS. “ biombo” folding screen, “canton”, charola ( English charoll) for shiny surface, soja for soya and bonso referring to youngest kin, originally refered to as monks. My nephew from my uncle who is a Chinese Locsin from Molo was fondly called by our family in his Chinese name “Bonso”.
Iloilo was founded in 1566 when the Spaniards established a settlement area between the towns of Oton and the city's present district of La Villa Rica de Arevalo (Villa de Arevalo).
Iloilo City became one of the Royal Spanish Cities in the Philippines in the Spanish Asia along with Naga and Manila.
An honorific royal title, "La Muy Leal y Noble Ciudad" ("The Most Loyal and Noble City") was given by Queen Regent of Spain, Maria Christina, through the city's loyalty to the Spanish crown during the Philippine revolution, the second city to have such byname in the country after the City of Manila in the Spanish colonial era Philippines.
Part of building Iloilo was the role of the Chinese community which until today continues, be it in economic, social and philathrophic activities.
With the rich history of Chinese mestizos in Iloilo, including the current ancestries who embrace and promote our local Ilonggo produce, culture, arts and crafts—the new generation of Chinese Mestizo Ilonggo, many raised to be highly educated, gracious and good looking, certainly will pass on their legacies to the succeeding generations of Chinese Ilonggo mestizos.
As written by
PJ Aranador
February 12 2020
#iloilo #filipinochinese #pjaranador
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