Ambiguity about the Family's
Surname
By: the WebMaster
I was close to my first
cousin, the late Honorata Quintos-Gloria, long since we were both staying with
the family of her half-brother, Apolinar Orbeta, on San Andres Street. She was
then taking her Teacher's Course in the Philipine Normal School, and I was in
my Radio Operator's Course in the Philippine School of Arts and Trades. In one of our casual
conversations, Honoring, as we fondly call her, stated that her mother, Irenea Orbeta-Quintos
revealed that their family’s paternal surname was Paras and not Orbeta, and that her father,
Francisco Paras Orbeta was a Spanish-Filipino or a Basque-Filipino mestizo.
Sometime later, when I brought out the subject to
my other first cousin, the late Nieves Orbeta-Martinez, she sort of
confirmed it, and propounded that her father, Luciano Orbeta, was known to his contemporaries in Makati, by
his alias "Cianong
Paras"
Jean Gloria-Malig of Los Angeles,
CA, in respond to my inquiry, stated in her e-mail of January 2004, that her
late mother, Honorata Quintos-Gloria
had mentioned about Paras being the family’s real surname and that she (Jean) even told her
mother that they were probably related to her former classmate in the elementary, Corazon
Paras, who eventually got married to a close relation, Avelino Olitan Orbeta.
Likewise, Lina Orbeta-Shylo of Winnipeg, Canada, stated in her e-mail,
that : " I was close to Lolo Melanio (Orbeta,)
and I think he mentioned to me the last name Paras and Alcantara. I think his mother was an
Alcantara but I can't remember what the Paras was."
Based on the testimonies of our close relatives, it appears that Paras is the paternal surname of Francisco Paras Orbeta, and Orbeta is the surname of his mother. But if it was so, why did all his children adopt the maternal surname Orbeta, instead of Paras?
The clue in the
answer to that question, was the information that I received from Amiel Orbeta of NYC,
on 14 January 2005: He stated, by way of tracing his root, that: " If my
info is correct, Luciano Orbeta worked for the Zobels and Ayalas as a surveyor when
they were starting out. As a result, he received substantial land rewards which was located behind
the Makati municipal building. That has all to be divided up among the
heirs. If you can find Luciano's history, maybe you can find his brothers
or better his lineage."
If the information from Amiel Orbeta, was correct, I
believe that there was another Luciano Orbeta, a surveyor, other than the
Luciano Alcantara Orbeta, who, according to his daughter, the late Nieves Orbeta-Martinez,
spent his early manhood in manning, via the Pasig River, the big river boat of his father, Francisco in
their "buy and sell" business around the coastal towns of Laguna de Bay. And it was in the town of Pililla,
where Luciano met his 1st wife, Cecilia Paz; settled there and raised his family.
After the death of Cecilia, he married the widow Aguida Olitan, by whom he had 3
children when he and his family migrated to Makati, and worked as an "escribiente" for the Zobels and Ayalas.
The surveyor Luciano could be the brother
or the father of Francisco's mother (an Orbeta), and was likely short of
heirs, so it was probably arranged for the children of Francisco Paras, to adopt the
surname Orbeta, so they could be entitled to the "substantial land
rewards" to be divided among Luciano's scant heirs.
Francisco's 4 older children,
his brother-in-law Rosauro Alcantara, and some close relatives were known to have lands of their own, close to each
other, in that area behind the Makati municipal building, which they
probably inherited from the surveyor Luciano Orbeta.
I have not come across an odd event in the family's history, for Francisco's children to sweep
under the carpet, and adopt
another surname, other than for them to be counted as heirs of surveyor Luciano, and
be entitled to his estate.
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Last revised: 02
November 2005
Created and maintained by Gregorio Orbeta y Sanchez