The cabeza de barangay 3

One cannot mistake the hint of boorish-ness, but actually it is so awkward when you hear a person inject the phrase, “like I said”…repeating himself. To repeat oneself means either you think you were not clear the first time (s), or you don’t realize nobody listened at all. When you think about it–extremely embarrassing, either way. Thus, I hate repeating myself.

But since I’m also not one to give in to baser instincts like hate, thus the 2), and now 3) after my titles. Anyway, the idea came late and … might as well.

Here are some photos of Carcar church records that show as example three cabezas, each having authority over  individuals living (or making a living) in different places in Carcar. This somehow demonstrates that Barangay at this time was an organization that was not defined by territory but rather by mere association to the cabeza. The records are all in the year 1850 and the signatures in them belong to Don Doroteo Lasala, coadjutor, with the authority of the cura Don Benito Perez.

[Priests were addressed with the honorific Don, and in fact are still so entitled in Spain today. But in colonial Philippines where nobody ever made the jump to the wee-est grade nobility, that Don title was the Holy Grail itself. So much so that entire families have been dubbed “elite” by the mere evidence of a member having been called a Don in records, not minding the other fact that the rest of his family were not Dons at all. And especially unmindful that every cabeza de barangay throughout the country rated the Don, too]

Back to the records. In this baptism for his son, Don Roman Sarmiento is shown to be a cabeza actual (current) as well as a resident of a place called Latid. He was known as Roman Protacio before the Claveria decree.

There are two candidates for what name Latid is now known as—Guadalupe or the poblacion. I have yet to confirm some information that the street now called Santa Catalina was in the 1870s called calle Real, but in  the late 1880s was calle de Latid. The genealogist and Argao historian Todd Sales had told me the poblacion area of Argao used to be called Latid also. Incidentally, the infant Juan Sarmiento died and was buried Feb. 10, two days later. Anyway, in this next record, Don Roman has patronage also over an Alcover family in Bolinauan.

Here’s another example interesting for the family (and its history) involved. The present Avila family of Cebu City and Carcar started from Don Andres Avelino (pre-Claveria decree name). When the decree was implemented he had the new name Andres Jimena (sometimes spelt Ximena in other records). Around the 1870s, records already show Don Andres and family had a new surname—Avila. Before that, there was a transition when he was named Andres Ximena Avila.

A grandson of Don Andres was Don Jose Avila, who built a cinema house empire and whose Cebu City family still has extensive landholding in the city to this day.

Here, Don Andres is cabeza of a family in Cogon …

… and of another in Tubud.

Meanwhile, the Barcenas family was already prominent even before the arrival of the Cebu City families (3 gobernadorcillos). Here in March 1850, Don Vito Barcenas, still known as Vito Modesto, the former gobernadorcillo, is cabeza of a family in Cogon …

… in Mantalongon…

… and, already with the Barcenas surname, also in Taug.

This may or may not mean anything but did you notice that in February 1850, Roman Sarmiento already had the surname but Vito Barcenas by March was still Vito Modesto? My guess is Cebu City was able to implement the decree ahead of the towns and thus the Sarmientos of Cebu City–where Roman also originated from–got their name ahead of Carcar folks like the Barcenas family.