BROTHER ANDREW GONZALEZ[1]

(1940 – 2003)

“Rarely does one find a person who combines remarkable intellect and practicality.  Much more extraordinary is when the same person combines these attributes with the gift of visionary leadership.  As if these traits were not enough, a person who has also been endowed by the Almighty with unquestionable integrity and an unfaltering commitment to serve others definitely shines like a gem.”

 –          In reference to Bro. Andrew, Manila Bulletin, 01 February 2006.

Brother Andrew was born in Manila on February 29, 1940, and was given the name Macario at baptism.  He is descended from a family that has been involved in education for three generations.  His grandfather, Joaquin Gonzalez, of Baliuag, Bulacan, was a member of the Malolos Constitutional Assembly and was the founding Rector of the Universidad Literaria de Filipinas under the Aguinaldo Government.  Joaquin’s son, Bienvenido Ma. Gonzalez, was Dean of the Agricultural College at Los Baños when he was named President of the University of the Philippines, from 1939 to 1943, and then from 1945 to 1951. It was under his administration that the University of the Philippines moved to its present Diliman campus.  Gonzalo W. Gonzalez served as Regent of the University of the Philippines and Professorial Lecturer at its College of Law, and Eva Beatriz Gonzalez was Dean of the College of Home Economics; both were children of Bienvenido.  Andrew Gonzalez is the nephew of Bienvenido Ma. Gonzalez, the son of Bienvenido’s older brother, Augusto Gonzalez y Sioco, and Rosario Arnedo, the daughter of Macario Arnedo, the first elected Governor of the Province of Pampanga during the first decade of the American regime, from 1902 to 1911, and in acting capacity, 1919.

Macario Gonzalez entered De La Salle College in Manila in 1946, thus beginning a lifelong association with the De La Salle Brothers.  He was a brilliant pupil and his classmates in grade school remember him being accelerated and collapsing two grades in one year (prep and Grade 1, Grade 2 and 3) and completing elementary and high school in nine years and graduating as salutatorian.

While in high school, he realized that he had a vocation for teaching and that he could make his best contribution as a Christian educator by being a Brother of the Christian Schools.  He did his postulancy and novitiate in Baguio in 1955 and received the Brothers’ habit on November 20, 1955. He made his first vows on November 21, 1956, and entered the scholasticate of the Brothers in Winona, Minnesota, on December 10, 1956.

He attended college at St. Mary’s College in Winona, Minnesota, one of the tertiary institutions run by the La Salle Brothers in the U.S., and obtained his Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, in 1959, when he was only 19 years old. Just one year after obtaining his B.A. he graduated, at age 20, with a Master of Arts in English Literature from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., writing his thesis on D.H. Lawrence’s The Woman Who Rode Away.

 He returned to the Philippines in 1960 to teach English language and literature at the high school department of La Salle College (now University of Saint La Salle) in Bacolod, Negros Occidental.  He served in various mid-level administrative positions at De La Salle College in Manila from 1964 to 1967: Coordinator of the English Language Arts Department in the elementary school, Chair of the Letters Department, Dean of Student Affairs, Director of Admissions.  He made his final vows as a De La Salle Brother on May 30, 1965.

When he was assigned to Manila in 1964, he developed an interest in linguistics as a way of improving the teaching of languages in the Philippines and enrolled for graduate courses in linguistics at the Philippine Normal College as well as the Ateneo de Manila University.  In 1967, he entered the doctoral program in linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley as a Regents’ Fellow in Linguistics and as a Stanley Tasheira Scholar, finishing his degree in 1970.  For his dissertation, he wrote a generative semantic description of Kapampangan (his native language). While waiting to defend his dissertation, he attended a summer seminar on University Management and Organization at the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1970.

Back again in the Philippines, Br. Andrew was Chair of the Humanities Department of De La Salle College, Manila, in 1971, and he then became Academic Vice-President of De La Salle University from 1971 to 1978. In 1978, he garnered first place among 100,000 examinees in the first Philippine Board Examinations for Teachers, scoring 86.12%. He was Acting President of the University in 1978 and President for four terms from 1979 to 1991. In 1980, as a grantee of the Philippine-American Educational Foundation, he attended the Management Development Program for College Administrators jointly organized by the Harvard School of Education and the Harvard School of Business. As part of his renewal as a De La Salle Brother, he attended Special Studies in Spirituality and Education at the Centro International Lasalliano in Rome, Italy, in 1982.

After his first stint as President of De La Salle University, he became President of the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation from 1991 to 1994. He was elected President of De La Salle University once more in 1994 and he held that position until 1998.  He was appointed Secretary of Education, Culture and Sports of the Republic of the Philippines in July 1998 and served in that capacity until January 2001. Returning to De La Salle University, he was appointed Vice-President for Academics and Research (2001-2003) and Presidential Adviser for Academics and Research of the De La Salle University System (2003-2005). He has been serving as President of the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation from October 2001 to the President.

There have been two strands in Br. Andrew’s lifework:  his being a linguist and his being an educational leader.  He has been a very prolific scholar in linguistics from 1970, and his works have been wide-ranging, covering descriptive linguistics, historical linguistics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics (especially language planning), and applied linguistics (especially language education).  Only recently, his work on stylistic shifts in Philippine English as well as his attempts to grapple with the problem of legitimation of local features in new varieties of English in the world and his proposition that the sociolectal varieties of English in the Philippines are very much a function not so much of social class but of extent and quality of education have given rise to seminal ideas in the field, among both local and foreign scholars.

As an educational leader, Br. Andrew aggressively pursued his vision of making De La Salle University not only a center of teaching excellence but also a research university.  He actively recruited first-rate scholars and creative writers, and he obtained local and foreign scholarships and grants for them.  He built a new library and dramatically expanded its holdings.  He instituted the trimestral system primarily to attract and retain faculty by being able to match the salaries of industry.  He doubled the student population to keep pace with the growing population of the country and its need for a bigger base of well-trained engineers, computer scientists, entrepreneurs, scientists, writers, teachers, and researchers.  He promoted graduate education, instituting new master’s and doctoral degree programs and developing consortia arrangements to sustain them.  He built up the endowments of the University. He founded the College of St. Benilde as a center for innovative teaching and acquired a College of Medicine to meet the demand for trained doctors and De La Salle University-Dasmariñas to serve a sector of the rural population.

He became President again in 1994, and his mission this time around was to make the De La Salle University System a functioning multiversity that could be a viable model for other university systems in the Philippines.  For De La Salle University Manila, his dream was that it would become a world-class university well known for its teaching and research excellence.  Two modest projects established during his second stint as President have had far-reaching effects.  One is the Summer Institute of Graduate Studies, a program that enables high school and college teachers from all over the country to come to De La Salle University Manila to finish a non-thesis Master’s degree in four summers at highly subsidized rates. The other is the Pre-School established at the College of Education, which provides day care for three to five-year olds from the depressed Leveriza area and exposes them to a rich environment of language and play activities.

Br. Andrew’s stint as Education Secretary was short but crucial to the history of education in the country.  He proposed that the number of subjects in the curriculum be reduced, leading to the revised Basic Education Curriculum now used in all public schools. He instituted a corruption-free procurement process commended even by the World Ban, successfully bringing the prices of textbooks down by 54.5%. He built 22,200 new schoolrooms and ordered schools to hold double, even triple sessions to handle the growing student population.  He started the computerization of schools.  He streamlined the administration of the NEAT and NSAT and ensured that the test results would be used by DECS to improve the delivery of instruction.  He reformed the grievance procedures of the Department. He established a transparent way of choosing DECS officials.  He initiated a massive equivalency program for non-formal education.  He institutionalized pre-school education.  He started an in-service program that allowed numerous teachers to gain graduate degrees.  He started to change the language of instruction to the regional lingua franca for the first three grades.  Many of the programs implemented by later Department Secretaries have come from his imaginative but practical, and always well-informed, mind.

Bo. Andrew has been the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions:  The National Research Council of the Philippines Achievement Award (for outstanding achievement in the field of social sciences and humanities, 1981; Officer de l’Ordre des Palmes Academiques from the Government of France, 1986; Recognition from the Center for the Development of Languages in the Philippines (for supporting the use of Filipino as a national language), 1988; Outstanding Kapampangan Award (in Education) from the Province of Pampanga, 1988; Fortieth Anniversary Fulbright Award (in education) from the Philippine Fulbright Scholars Association, 1988; University Fellow, De La Salle University, 1989; Gawad Panitik award awarded by the Panitik ng Kababaihan with the Municipality of Manila and the National Press Club (for contributions in linguistics, education, and social science), 1990; St. Vincent de Paul Medal of Academic Excellence from Adamson University, 1991; Gawad Gantimpalang Quezon sa Panitikan, 1993; Member, National Academy of Science and Technology and Academician, 1986; Outstanding Manilan Award from the City of Manila, 1996; the Fourth Degree of the Order by the Knight Grand Officer of Rizal, 1998; Saint Bede Award from San Beda College, Manila, 2003; Ex Corde Ecclesiae from the International Federation of Catholic Universities, Paris, 2005. He has received honorary doctorates from Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan (1989); Soka University, Hachioji, Japan (1998); St. Paul University, Ottawa, Canada (1999); and St. Mary’s College of California, Moraga, California (2000).

As if such achievements were not enough, there is another distinction that appears unobtrusively at the end of his curriculum vitae.  His total number of publications in linguistics, education, and religious education currently stands at 2800.

Greatness often does not come from a single book, a single invention, or a single discovery.  Frequently, accomplishment is the result of hard work over a whole lifetime.  In Br. Andrew’s case, it is as if two lifetime achievements have been accomplished in one lifetime – with the achievements done seemingly effortlessly.

In granting him the title of President Emeritus, De La Salle University-Manila reaffirms the gratitude to Br. Andrew. As the title Emeritus implies, Br. Andrew has retired from actively leading the University, but he is not and will never be inactive.  He will always be called upon to share his wisdom with the University.  Truly, Br. Andrew is the man God gave the University, the country, and the world to lead and inspire us at this crucial moment in history.

FAUSTO GONZALEZ Y SIOCO

(1897-1951)

Fausto Gonzalez was certainly the most colorful among the Gonzalez brothers. He was the youngest among the ten brothers. He and Joaquin were the “aduang bunso”—the two youngest ones. Being the youngest gives one an edge over all the others. Normally, the mother is strict with the eldest. She fights tooth and nail to instill in them her values, her dreams.  Then the “middle children” are usually the ones who are rambunctious, noisy, doing mischievous things to get attention.  But after getting worn down with resistance to discipline, a mother normally just gives in to the what the youngest  ones want.  Besides, they are usually the cutest, most lovable of the lot…… In the Gonzalez household, the three eldest ones were the most disciplined.  Fernando and Jesus became  prominent physicians, and Augusto became “the millionaire.” The middle children didn’t do so bad.  Virgilio became a wealthy businessman and doctor in Cebu, and Bienvenido became a president of the State University.  Javier died early, so he didn’t get to reach his potential.

Take a look at the picture of the seven brothers. Who catches your eye among them?  Fausto does, with his unmistakable attention-getting black-and-white shoes.  He has also crossed his legs.  You go higher, and catch the twinkle in his eye.

Joaquin may have married a vivacious, party-loving socialite, but it was Fausto who married an heiress, the daughter of a shipping magnate.  Amparo de la Rama, of the de la Rama shipping lines, no less.  Fausto  was the man of her dreams—charming, witty, debonair, and he swept her off her feet, just like in the movies.

They had a child, Fasuto Jr.,  also known as “Dodong”, the apple of their eye.

Unfortunately, Amparo was afflicted with tuberculosis.  At that time,  there seemed no cure for tuberculosis.  Antibiotics were not known.  Fausto brought Amparo to Switzerland, hoping that the “fresh, clean, air” would bring her back her health. Alas, Amparo passed away in 1929, just three years after their marriage.

Fausto tried to forget his grief by going into many projects.  Foremost among this was his desire to give his son, Dodong, the best – be it in education, or whatever his needs were. So he hired several governesses to tutor him. They were all single, good looking, and experts in their field.

With son Dodong safely in the hands of the governesses, Fausto became a sought-after,  rich, charming bachelor.  He travelled to the US and to Europe to forget his grief.  A Banker [1]met Fausto during one of these travels.  He said that Fausto was the heartthrob of all the girls who attended the party. There were even times when Fausto would wear a sash from his shoulders to his waist, just like what the royalty wore. Then he would dish out his calling card which said:

“Fausto Gonzalez Y Sioco

Count of Apalit”

This poor banker would find himself relegated to a corner while all the girls fawned on Fausto.

In 1938, Fausto even brought home with him one of these girls. She was in all the Family Reunion pictures of that time. All the brothers of Fausto looked at him with envy. The girl was Erna, from an East European country. Another feather in Fausto’s cap.

This “travel abroad as a cure for to forget a heart problem” was one of Fausto’s recommendation to his brother Fernando, when the latter’s son fell in love with a girl they didn’t deem suitable to marry.  There was nothing wrong with the girl, only that she didn’t belong to the list of marriageable girls from Pampanga who had the purses to match the beauty the family had put as a standard for the Gonzalez boys to marry. Fausto recommended that the son be sent to Paris to study art.  Fernando didn’t have the largesse of his brothers pockets, but he decided to give this proposal a try.   When the son was in Paris for three months, the girl showed Fernando a marriage certificate that was contracted before the son’s departure.  Immediately, the son was sent home, and the marriage was accepted.

Fausto also went into politics.  He ran for a seat in the Assembly as a “Anti-Independencia”. [2] He won very easily, with his support from all his sisters-in-law all over Pampanga – the Mercados and Arnedos in Apalit, the Rodriguezes in Bacolor, the Salgados in San Fernando, and the Elizaldes in San Luis–, plus his charisma and wit.

However, the bullet that killed his brother Augusto put a damper into the lives of all the Gonzalez brothers.  It showed that one’s life could be snuffed out in a split second.  Fausto did not run for re-election.  The family went into mourning and possibly a reevaluation of their lives, their priorities and their goals.  Brother  Fernando also died a few months before this incident. Everything changed overnight with that one bullet.

Fausto married for the second time.  Her name was Pastora Cordero, and they had a son Mundy and four daughters—Florencia, Rosalinda, Ernestina, and Divina.  Fausto jokingly said these daughters were named after the women in his life:  Florencia his mother, Ernestina for the East European lass, etc.

JOAQUIN JORGE GONZALEZ Y SIOCO[1]

(1895-1968)

Joaquin J. Gonzalez at 50 years old

Joaquin J. Gonzalez was the 9^th of the ten children of Florencia Sioco and Dr. Joaquin Gonzalez. He was   born on April 23, 1895.

As a child  his grandmother, Impong Matia (Matea Rodriguez Sioco)  often called his mother (Florencia)’s attention on him “Folorencia, Folorencia, lawen me  y Joaquin, lilindayug yang lilindayug”.  What exactly that means is beyond my vocabulary of  the dialect .  It sounded like he was a super- active little boy.

Joaquin  finished  B.S. Agriculture in U.P Los Baños.  His brother,  Bienvenido M. Gonzalez, was already then a faculty member of the school when Joaquin entered college. Bienvenido took care of Joaquin, as his “guardian” and “mentor”.

Joaquin and Julia

Joaquin  married a fair lass, from San Fernando,  Julia Salgado, the heiress of Dña Teodora Salgado with whom he had thirteen live births,  three of which died as infants.

With four brothers who were doctors and one pharmacist,   inclination to medicine must have rubbed into Joaquin.  It is  said that second brother and eminent doctor,  Jesus,   gave  Joaquin his secret formulas.  From these formulas, Joaquin compounded ointments which were very effective for skin diseases which he administered himself (rubbing the ointments into pestering wounds with his bare hands) for free to the poor,  mostly the farmers who farmed his lands in Pampanga.  He was also known to have cured asthma, and the beneficiaries had all but high praises and love for him.  He held free clinic twice a week in his farm in Pundaquaqui, Pampanga,  taking time off from his very colorful social life,  to help the less fortunate .

Parties commonly called “bailes” or balls were held very often  by Joaquin and Julia’s circle of friends. Julia was pretty, vivacious, a match to Joaquin’s charm and social background. They  lived the high life, which was normal to people of their social standing.

Every year, it was de riguer that Joaquin would choose a place in the known world to visit.   Travel was via luxury liners that took months to complete.  Joaquin had an intimate group of two other gentlemen friends who shared his passion for fun, discovery, and the high seas, and they travelled together, calling each other as “The Three Musketeers.”

He didn’t travel with  his wife Julia because he was afraid that if anything happened to both of them, their poor ten children would be orphaned.  It was also unthinkable that the couple would be away together, from the family for long periods of time. But this did not mean that Julia stayed at home.  She had her own group of fun-loving friends, and Julia and this group took turns with Joaquin to travel abroad.

Julia was an unselfish, loving wife. She worried about Joaquin because he was a diabetic, and would need someone to give him tender, loving care in case anything happened to her.

As luck would have it, one of their younger children, Elvira, was taken by Joaquin’s elder brother, Fernando, during one of  the latter’s surprise visits to Joaquin’s house. Fernando and his wife, Clementina, or Tinang, saw Elvira alone in her baby crib. Their own children had long been grown up, and they missed having a child in their home.  So they took Elvira without her parents’ permission, and brought her to San Luis, now a 30-minute ride away from San Fernando, where Joaquin and Julia lived.

When Joaquin and Julia came to fetch their child, they saw that Fernando already bought baby things for Elvira, and she had already become part of their household. So Joaquin decided to acquiesce to his older brother’s desire to allow Elvira to grow up in his brother’s household as their own.  Elvira had a happy childhood in San Luis. Her “Tio Joaquin” and “Tia Julia” would visit her on important occasions, such as “Holy Communion” and other important events.  During family gatherings, she would cling to her “Mama Tinang”’s skirt, and no one made any comment otherwise.

When Fernando got sick, he had to go to Manila to be confined in the hospital. Elvira was given to Tinang’s sister, Maxima Manankil.  Maxima’s children were also grown up. Her daughters Luz and Charing, were teachers, and they were just too happy to have Elvira into their household.  Joaquin and Julia would now visit Elvira in her new home.  Julia noted the lovely person that Luz was, and she made a mental note that this would be the woman who would replace her, should the need arise. She also divulged this wish to Joaquin, who probably dismissed it as a silly, but loving, thought.

When Fernando died in 1937, Joaquin tried to get Elvira back.  Tinang told him, “I already lost my husband.  Please don’t take away Elvira from me. That would be a double loss.” So Joaquin acquiesced again, but  they agreed Elvira would join the original Joaquin-Julia family after  she finished her elementary days.  However, Elvira had come to prefer the house of Maxima.  She refused to return to the house of Clementina.  Elvira told Tinang, “I like this place better than yours.  I don’t want to return to your house anymore.” So Elvira continued to stay in San Luis, this time with the house of Maxima Manankil.

Then  World War II erupted.  The family of Joaquin moved to San Juan, Metro-Manila, where Julia’s mother had a huge house.  She took in all her nieces and nephews from the Salgado side.  Elvira joined her siblings in that house as a temporary guest. The children had many happy memories in that house. Then Joaquin’s family moved to Sta. Ana, Paco, where they stayed for twenty years.

When World War II ended in 1945, the couple, Joaquin and Julia, resumed their happy life of parties, bailes, fiestas—that which the war interrupted.  During the fiesta of Sta. Cruz, San Luis, Pampanga, Joaquin had a car accident.  His wife Julia died during that accident.

By this time, Elvira already knew that Julia was her mother.  She had long been informed by her “Ati[2]” Nena of her real parentage.  Apparently, Nena studied Psychology and studies showed that it  was deemed better if adopted children were informed of the truth. But Elvira refused to accept Nena’s statement that Joaquin and Julia were her parents.

Elvira said that she found out about Julia’s death when the Priest who was saying the Fiesta Mass, asked within hearing distance, “Who was the one who died?”  Elvira was inconsolable over this incident.  She cried so much, that her Ati Charing, the sister of her Diti  [3]Luz, asked her neighbor to give Elvy a sedative.  Elvy said this exacerbate the pain in her heart, because the sedative didn’t allow her to release her pain.

Joaquin remembered his wife’s Julia’s wish that he marry Luz Manankil.  Elvira was still in the house of Luz, so Joaquin started visiting her.  Elvira hated the thought of “this Widower with ten children” marrying her virginal and beautiful Diti Luz.   She was vehement in her rejection of Joaquin, even if  she knew he was her father.  But then, another suitor appeared on the scene.  He was Pablo Leuterio, one of the scions of the known families in San Luis.  He was good looking, rich, and single. Elvira was now confused.  When faced with the choice, Elvira chose Joaquin over Pablo Leuterio. So the marriage was clinched.

When the marriage took place, Elvira was again inconsolable.  Her older sister Zeny asked her,

“Why are you crying?  He is, after all, your father….”

Luz moved in with the big family in Sta. Ana.  Elvira slowly moved adapted from being the sister of Luz to being her child.  She would often stop herself from calling Luz “Dit—“ and moved on to calling her “Ima”[4].

The marriage of Joaquin and Luz was blessed with three children , Flo, Nina and Freddy.

Luz, Joaquin and Elvira, Nina, Freddie and Mariflo

At the beginning, Joaquin tried to do the same things he did with Julia—the travelling, the parties… But Joaquin was already 52 to Luz’ 39 years.  Moreover, his diabetes was giving Joaquin more problems. Luz and Joaquin had 21 years together.  But Joaquin was already a very old man when he died at  73.  Julia was right in choosing Luz.   Luz cared for Joaquin selflessly until the end.

JAVIER FRANCISCO ELIGIO GONZALEZ Y SIOCO[1]

(1891 – 1929)

Javier and Josefa

Javier Francisco Eligio Gonzalez y Sioco was born on December 1, 1891.  He was the seventh child of Dr. Joaquin Gonzalez and Florencia Sioco.   He was born one year after Virgilio, and formed part of the couple’s middle children,  also known as the “atlung demonius” (three devils).  Javier was an extremely intelligent boy.  He was sent by his father to study Law at Yale University.  When he came back, he married Josefa Mercado y Espiritu, a girl from the same social circle as the Gonzalezes, in Apalit, Pampanga.  She  was related to his brother Dr. Jesus’ wife, Ysidora Espiritu, and to Augusto’s second wife Rosario Arnedo who was also an Espiritu on her mother’s side.   It was a good match approved by the family. They were married on October 18, 1914.  Javier was 22 years old, and Josefa was 20 years old.

They had nine children, one after another—five boys and three girls. The first children were  the four boys were Ardalion, Aristides, Benjamin,  Horacio,  followed by two girls, Javiera, and Josephine, then another boy, Vladimir, and then two other daughters, Florencia and Teresita.

It was a tough time for Josefa, having so many children so close to each other.  She always felt tired and exhausted at the end of each day. This exhaustion also caused her to have a weak health.

Javier and three of their children

Then tragedy struck.  Javier contracted a sickness due to his exposure to anthrax during one of his visit to  his brother Dr. Bienvenido Gonzalez in UP Los Baños. The anthrax was a disease of the cattle, and Dr. Bienvenido was an expert on cattle.  Javier died on June 17, 1929. Josefa died two years later, on April 7, 1931.    There was no one left to take over the running of their house, since the children were still small.

The painful decision had to be done.  The children would have to be divided among the eight living brothers.   Horatio and Vladimir were initially sent to San Luis, Pampanga to be with Dr. Fernando Gonzalez.  When Dr. Fernando died in 1937, the boys were moved to other brothers.  Vladimir went with Bienvenido who already had Benjamin.  Josephine, who was the godchild of  Doña Charing Valdez, wife of Emilio, went with Emilio’s family in Bacolor. Augusto took the four of the children because he had the means to support more of them. They stayed in Apalit.  However,  Augusto died unexpectedly. He was killed by a disgruntled laborer at the Pampanga Sugar Development, which he owned.  Teresita and Florencia went to St. Anthony’s Orphanage in Legarda.  Bienvenido’s wife would bring them out occasionally. Those that went with Dr. Bienvenido grew up in Los Baños. It was a scene straight from the movie, “All Mine To Give.”

Bienvenido became the Guardian of the children after Augusto died.  He managed their finances.  When the children reached eighteen years of age, they decided to get their part of their inheritance from their parents.  The money was not a lot to start with, and their lack of training on how to make the money grow resulted in the money being dissipated quickly.

VIRGILIO RUFINO GONZALEZ Y SIOCO[1]

(1890 – 1929)

Dr. Virgilio Gonzalez and Rosario Chong Veloso Singson

Virgilio Rufino Gonzalez y Sioco was born on July 30, 1890 in Sulipan, Apalit, Pampanga. He was the sixth child of Dr. Joaquin Gonzalez and Florencia Sioco.

As a little boy, Virgilio was classified as one of the “atlung demonius” (three devils) of the family, together with Javier and Bienvenido.  Everybody shied from  them because the three  were very full of mischief. But the bond between these three brothers was  very strong.

Dr. Virgilio had finished studying  Medicine and was working with the Bureau of Health, when he was assigned to Cebu by the government.  There he met his wife, Rosario  Chong-Veloso  Singson who came from a prominent family in Cebu.  The former President Sergio Osmeña’s wife’s grandmother was the sister of Eleuteria
Chong-Veloso, grandmother of  Rosario.

Dr. Virgilio and Rosario had seven children, the eldest, Homero Sindulfo, who died at the age of 6, leading to their naming of their next child, Homero Serapion, then in succession:  Violeta, Nelida Belen (Nelly), Concepcion, Leticia and Florencia (Nena).

Dr. Virgilio practiced medicine, opened a botica (a pharmacy), and dabbled in real estate.  He accumulated a lot of properties all over Cebu, and the family  lived in a very big mansion on top of a hill overlooking the city and the airport.

War came, and that magnificent house was the first one to be shelled by the Japanese.   The family of Dr. Virgilio had to move to another of their properties. Soon, the Japanese soldiers were visiting houses around the area.  So Dr. Virigilio decided to rent a botella  ( a little boat) and bring his family to Manila.  There they stayed with their aunt, Mrs. Genoveva Villalon, who was related to their mother.  After a while, they moved to Baguio, where they stayed until the War ended.

When the War ended, the family returned to Cebu.  Life became normal again, and the children went to local schools.  Nena and her sisters studied at St. Theresa’s College for their high school Then they went to San Carlos University.

When Dr. Virgilio’s  younger brother, Bienvenido, became the UP President, he called Dr. Virgilio and persuaded the latter to send his children to study in UP.  Bienvenido told his brother,

“I’m now the President of the University of the Philippines.  Nakakahiya  naman (it’s embarrassing) if you don’t send your children to my school.”

So Dr. Virgilio acquiesced, and the children went to Manila for their studies, and to UP for their collegiate courses.  At first, Violeta went to St. Scholastica’s College in Manila, then to UP.

One of the tragedies that marred their life was the death of Nelly, the fourth child.  Dr. Virgilio and Rosario had gone to Manila to visit Nena for her birthday. It was Nena’s birthday, and Nelly, in Cebu, was left with sister Letty and their neighbor, a certain Miss Rosal, in the house.  Apparently, Nelly wanted to bake a cake in honor of Nena’s birthday.  The maid forgot to close the oven, so the fire spread all over the house.  Letty smelled smoke, and jumped to her safety from the second story window.    After the fire gutted the house, they found the bodies of Nelly and Miss Rosal, huddled together in the bathtub in the toilet.

The family grieved tremendously over this incident. But life went on.

When Dr. Virgilio reached 60 years old, he started having coronary problems.  The family decided that  he consult with the most famous doctor in Stockholm, Sweden, who was also the doctor of the dictator Stalin. Dr. Virgilio went with his daughter, Violeta, and her husband who was also a doctor, to Stockholm.  Stalin’s doctor assessed Dr. Virgilio’s situation and decided to operate on him.  However, the operation did not go through because Dr. Virgilio passed away prior to the operation.  He was 63 years old.

Dr. Virgilio’s wife,  Rosario, lived a  longer life than her husband.  She became gradually weak after a stroke, and died at the Philippine General Hospital.

Among Dr. Virgilio’s children, only Florencia (Nena) is alive.  Among her siblings, sister Concepcion’s family still has strong connections in Cebu. Concepcion married Agustin Cancio, of the Cancio- Calma furniture and interior designing fame, and their furniture factory is located in Cebu.  Violeta moved to Florida, USA,  where her husband had a medical practice. She died in the Philippines during one of her visits.

Nena married Atty. Enrique Belo, and is well known as the “mother of Vicky Belo”, the top “cosmetic doctor to the Stars”, in the Philippines. She adopted Vicky from her sister Conchita when she didn’t have a child, and Conchita already had nine children. This story has been serialized in many TV shows.

EMILIO COSME GONZALEZ Y SIOCO[1]

(1886 – 1925)

            Emilio Cosme Gonzalez y Sioco was the third among the Gonzalez brothers.  He was born in Apalit on September 27, 1866. His parents were Dr. Joaquin Gonzalez and Florencia Sioco.

Like his brothers, Emilio went abroad  to take further studies.  He went to the foremost university in Japan at that time, to study Pharmacy.  After his studies, he opened a botica,  a pharmacy store, next to his older brother Dr. Jesus Gonzalez’ clinic. Dr. Jesus was a very famous doctor, and had many patients. So, whenever Dr. Jesus prescribed a medicine, it was inevitable that the patient would go next door to the botica of Emilio, to fill up the prescription.  It was a good partnership between brothers.

The handsome Gonzalez brothers were well-sought after in Pampanga’s  important social gatherings. They interacted  with all the buena familias  and who invariably were blood relatives with them. So it was no surprise to everyone that Emilio proposed marriage to Rosario “Charing” Valdez   y Liongson, another member of the rich families in Apalit. They got married on October 8, 1916 when Emilio was already 30 years old and Charing was a young 23 year old.

Emilio and Rosario

They had six children in succession, four boys and two girls. They were Joaquin “Jake” Thomas de Aquinas ( o 1918, and +1952), Romeo (o 1919 and +1988), Erlinda (o 1921), Rodolfo (o 1922 and +1952),  Raquel (o 1924 and + 2013) and Emilio Jr. (o 1926 and +2012), three of whom are alive to this date. [2]

Emilio died in 1925 due to complications arising from diabetes. He was 39 years old.

His young widow, 31- year old Doña Charing Valdez Gonzalez, became sad and depressed after this death.  Their  youngest son, Emilio, was born 7 months after the death of his father.   So, Augusto bought the house of Emilio in Sulipan, Apalit, and moved the widow and her children to Barrio Sta. Lucia,  San Fernando, ( capital of Pampanga)  where there were more people and activities to distract her. They just rented a house while they were there.

Doña Charing was only three years in San Fernando when her aunt, Florentina Valdez inherited a house in Baculud (now known as Bacolor) from Don Jose Talag. Florentina convinced Doña Charing to also buy a house in Baculud. This is where the children lived until they grew up. When they were living in Sta. Lucia, the children would just walk to school. When they moved to Baculud, they had to become interns “interna” and go home only during weekends.

JOAQUIN THOMAS DE AQUINAS GONZALEZ

Joaquin “Jake” Thomas de Aquinas Gonzalez was the eldest of the children of Emilio and Rosario Valdez.  He had a good career, married a girl from the affluent dela Rama family in Iloilo, and was socially active. He became the National President of the JAYCEE, a social group. He was on his way to Baguio for the National Convention to get reelected, when death overtook him.  His plane crashed in the mountains of Baguio and ended his life.

Jake and his wife had difficulty in  having children.  But at the time of the accident, his wife, Lourdes, had become pregnant with their first child.  So they decided that Jake take the trip to Baguio alone.  They were really looking forward to having the child and raising it. The child, Anne Marie, was born three months after Jake’s death.

Jake was 34 years old when he died in 1952.

ERLINDA GONZALEZ-RODRIGUEZ

(Erlinda was the third child of Emilio and Doña Charing.  She is the one who is narrating this story, so we continue with the story…..)

It was in Baculud (Bacolor) that Erlinda, or “Erly” as she was called, met her husband.  Her husband is  Jose Rodriguez, whose mother Victoria, comes from the wealthy  Hizon-Singian family from San Fernando. He had three aunts who were spinsters living in Baculud who were daughters of Godofredo Rodriguez, related to the mother of Florencia Sioco y Rodriguez, Matea Rodriguez.   In their family, the boys took care of the old people, so Jose took care  of his mother, Victoria Hizon, until her death.

When Erly’s mother died in 1976, she gave Erly the house. The house was a very classical antique house, and someone fell in love with it.  Erly sold the house before 1991, before the Mt. Pinatubo lava explosion buried all the houses in Bacolor.  The buyer hired a Jewish expert who dismantled the house piece by piece and brought it to Cavite where it now stands.

Erly and Pepe live in Quezon City. They have three sons and daughters who are all grown up and have families of their own.

BIENVENIDO MARIA GONZALEZ Y SIOCO[1]

Bienvenido Maria Gonzalez y Sioco was born on March 22, 1893.  He was the eighth of the brood of ten boys born to Dr. Joaquin Gonzalez and Florencia Sioco.  He grew up in Sulipan, Apalit, Pampanga.

Bienvenido and Conchita Rafols, marriage picture

CHILDHOOD RECOLLECTIONS

One of the things Bienvenido relished during his childhood was his visits to the house of the Rodriguezes in Bacolor, Pampanga.  There he was the center of attention – what with his Tia Sepa (Josefa Rodriguez) and Tia Onyang (Gorgonia Rodriguez) pampering him with the attention he couldn’t get at home, what with so many brothers around!  His cousin Beatriz Rodriguez remembers that these two aunts would have him taken for a ride on a cart around the Plaza, just so he would eat his lunch.  Because of these fond memories, Bindo, as he was called for short, would visit these two aunts even after he reached adulthood.  Beatriz reported that, when Bindo became UP President, he went to the house of his aunts to inform them of his new appointment.  He even slept overnight in their house and left the next day.  Tia Sepa was later chosen to be Eva’s godmother at baptism.

GUARDIAN FOR THE YOUNGER BROTHERS

Bindo’s daughter, Eva, does not remember hearing her father relate many experiences with his mother and brothers.  But Bindo did tell her that his mother was quite strict, most probably to maintain order in their large family.  His mother, Florencia, asked the older brothers to help take care of the younger ones.  When Bindo went to Los Baños to study, Florencia designated Augusto, the fourth brother whom everyone called Titong, to be his guardian.  This relationship between Bindo and Titong lasted till the latter’s death in 1939.  Eva remembers her father’s making a special trip to Apalit to seek her Tio Titong’s counsel, before accepting the presidency of the University of the Philippines. He would have continued asking for his counsel, had Titong not lost his life to the Timbol brothers.

When his second-to-the-youngest brother, Joaquin, decided to take up agriculture, Bienvenido was made his guardian. This way, Bindo repeated the relationship he had with Titong, but this time, he was the guardian.

Dada Gonzalez Aragon, the daughter of Bindo’s older brother Dr. Jesus Gonzalez, to this day tells the story that, during her graduation ceremony from UP, her Tio Bindo stood up to kiss her to show recognition that she was related to him.  She felt elated over this experience.

Bienvenido was the first president of the UP Phi Kappa Phi international Honor Society in 1933.  When Nena Franco, the daughter of Dr. Fernando Gonzalez, the eldest of the Gonzalez boys, also became a member in 1935, her Tio Bindo went to congratulate her and said,

“So now you are my ‘sister.’”

Nena went home to her father to tell him that she, too, was now a sister of her father’s brother. Nena always looked for her Phi Kappa Phi pin to retell this story to her children, even before she died in 2009.

FAMILY LIFE

Bienvenido married Concepcion Rafols, who, at that time, was an academic supervisor in the City Schools of Manila.  They had five children, three boys and two girls.

Bienvenido’s family grew up in College, Laguna, where he spent 33 years—i.e., four years as a student, and the rest as a member of the faculty starting from instructor and ending as dean and professor.

To Eva, her Dad will always be remembered as a father who instilled discipline with humor.  He would make a joke of their misdemeanor, referring to it in such a manner that they’d vow to themselves, never to do it again.

One distinct story of Eva was when she used to enjoy sharpening her brand new Mongol pencil with the sharpener at school.  One day, she came home showing how small it had become.  Bienvenido didn’t say anything that first time, so she didn’t think she did anything wrong.  She did it again.  Before Bindo handed her a new pencil, he asked Eva to put out her hand and spanked it.  Eva doesn’t remember what he said as he did it.  He didn’t look angry.  But for many times on different occasions, he would humorously allude to his experiences so that Eva resolved never to do it again.

Bienvenido was strict, but he hardly inflicted physical punishment except for that one time when he did.  But he used his belt on his son Gonzalo, his nephews Vladimir and Benjamin, when they came home with report cards showing a grade of “E” for bad conduct at the Maquiling Elementary School. It was his wife Conching who used her leather slipper on the kids. Gonzalo and Eva were the most frequent recipients.  She would make them “sila” – which means, to sit at opposite corners of the room and only release them after they had promised to behave.

Like most Filipino households, it was often Conching who laid out the rules – with Bindo’s consent, of course.  The boys could not go out to play with friends on Saturdays until they mowed the lawn or cleaned the cars.  The all had to say, “Mom, I’m home” upon entering the house, and of course, ask permission if they wanted to go out to play. That was part of their discipline.  Such training served them well as they grew up, even if they didn’t enjoy it at that time.

PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Bienvenido studied at San Juan de Letran in Manila, and then he took up agriculture at the U.P. College of Agriculture, College, Laguna, acquiring a bachelor’s degree in 1913. He then studied at the University of Wisconsin, and received a Master of Science Degree in 1916.  Later, he obtained a Doctor of Science Degree at the Johns Hopkins University, U.S.A in 1924.

On April 21, 1939, The UP Board of Regents elected Bienvenido M. Gonzalez to the UP Presidency.  At the time of his election, Bienvenido was dean of the College of Agriculture at Los Baños.  At the age of 46, he was the first UP alumnus to head his Alma Mater.

Dr. Gonzalez was inaugurated on October 19, 1939 to coincide with the founding of Universidad Cientifico-Literaria de Filipinas of the first Philippine Republic in Malolos.  The UP remembered that Bienvenido’s father, Dr. Joaquin Gonzalez, was the first Rector of the Universidad Cientifico Literaria de Filipinas, to which the University of the Philippines may trace its origin.[2]

Fifty-eight years after his death, Bienvenido is remembered for many things.  Bienvenido became the sixth President of the University of the Philippines before the War broke out.  The most significant thing he did during his tenure as UP President was to relocate the University of the Philippines from congested Manila to Diliman, Quezon City.

The second thing for which Bienvenido is remembered for was his moral fiber.  President Manuel L. Quezon was quoted to say during his Bienvenido’s inauguration, “… he possesses that moral fiber with which educational leaders should be endowed.  Here is a living example which the constituency of the University may well emulate.  It teaches the secondary importance of material wealth and the priceless value of service.”

It was the same moral fiber that caused Bienvenido to be ousted.  Bienvenido refused the recommendation of President Quirino to grant an honorary degree to Indonesian President Sukarno during the latter’s visit to the Philippines.  Bindo classified President Sukarno as a “rebel” and not worthy of an honorary degree at the State University.  Instead, Bindo invited the then ex–Justice Claro M. Recto as the guest speaker at the UP commencement exercise on April 23, 1951.

This act of the replacement of Bienvenido as UP President resulted in the first demonstration of students from the Diliman campus.  The 1951 Philippinensian reported,

“But the University spirit was already full grown and could no longer be cowed by power.  It was this spirit which inspired the UP youth to march to Malacañang to protest to act of Elpidio Quirino and his men in the Board of Regents, in virtually forcing the retirement of President Bienvenido M. Gonzalez. And to this end, the students were willing and ready to defy the heat of the noon-day sun, hunger and even the law itself.

In their manifest, the students declared:  “We stand for the principle that the state university should be free from political interference.  No official in the government, however high or might, should trample upon the independence of this institution”[3]

Even before Bienvenido became UP President, he was already known internationally for developing the Philamin cattle, Benkjale pig, Cantonese chicken and the famous Santa Gertrudes cattle.  As Dean of the College of Agriculture in Los Baños, the College became the acknowledged leader in the scientific field in the Country.  Children of rich families were sent to the College for their education.  Dr. Gonzalez followed his oft-repeated remark to the letter,

“I want every product of this College, whether it be a student, a plant, a domestic animal, or a scientific paper, to bear a mark similar to that of ‘sterling’ on silver.”[4]

Bienvenido was president from April 21, 1939 to October 1943, and from June 28, 1945 to September 23, 1951.  He died on December 30, 1953.  He was conferred posthumously in 1957 by his Alma Mater, the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa.

AUGUSTO DIOSDADO GONZALEZ Y SIOCO

Augusto Gonzalez was the millionaire among the ten brothers.  He was the one with the aptitude for making money.  In contrast, his  oldest brother Fernando was more interested in  stamp and coin collection, as well as in  astronomy. Fernando  spent his money on a big telescope to map out the constellations. Augusto’s  second brother, Jesus, was a distinguished doctor.

BUSINESS ACUMEN

Even as a child of 10, Augusto  helped his parents in administering  their farmlands. As a teen, aside from helping his widowed mother run their business affairs, he also helped his aunt Sabina Sioco de Escaler run her agricultural properties. As a young adult, he helped his aunt Sabina and cousin Jose (Pepe) acquire more and more agricultural and commercial properties in Pampanga and Manila. He helped make the Escalers very rich. As his business acumen became known, Pampanga’s richest families like the de Leon-Joven, Lazatin-Singian, Hizon-Singian approached Augusto to join them in their various businesses to ensure their management and profitability. He also helped make the de Leons of Bacolor very rich.

FIRST MARRIAGE

Augusto had two marriages.  His first marriage was to his first cousin Marina “Maring” Escaler, whose mother, Sabina, was the sister of Augusto’s mother Florencia. Maring had a big crush on him. They were both water signs: she was a home-loving Cancerian and he was a sexy Scorpio. Maring insisted on the marriage. [1]

Augusto and Marina Escaler

So they married in 1909, at 4:00 a.m. in the Apalit Church.  It was an unexpectedly very happy marriage and he genuinely mourned her passing in 1928.

They had eight children, but only three of them lived to adulthood: Rogerio, Elsa and Cristeto.

When their mother Florencia died in 1925, Augusto saw that the lands to be inherited among him and his brothers were a pittance. He worried about his brothers, and wanted them to have more so they could support themselves with their inheritance. So he held off distributing the land until Augusto was able to augment the landholdings. When he saw that each of the brothers had at least a value of P8, 000.00 including shares of Pasudeco Stocks, for each of them, he went through with the distribution of the assets of the estate. [2]

MILESTONES IN HIS LIFE

Every time Augusto made money, he marked each milestone with a contribution to the Apalit community.  His first contribution was to redo the Apalit Church which was needed repairs.  He painted the dome a startling black color.  However, after this was done, several family members died—Marina (1928), Virgilio , Javier, and Amparo dela Rama, wife of Fausto (– all 1929),  the color was changed into silver.  That stopped the deaths from continuing.

Inauguration of the Florencia Sioco Municipal Hall

Augusto will be most remembered for putting up the Florencia Sioco Gonzalez Memorial Hall, the Municipal Hall of Apalit.  After he made his next million, he put aside P35, 000 for the construction of this hall.  He inaugurated the Municipal hall on May 21, 1938. His guests included all the VIPs around Pampanga and Bulacan and Manila.

REMARRIAGE

When Maring died of asthma complications in 1928, Augusto, or “Bosto” as he was fondly called, was only 41 years old and still a virile man. He went into “quick affairs” with common women in San Fernando.  His Rodriguez aunt Gorgonia found out and insisted that he marry again. He courted his first cousin Jose Escaler’s widow Aurea “Auring” Ocampo (viuda) de Escaler against the advice of his Jesuit confessor that: “children yours, hers, and yours, together a miserable life will make.” His widowed sister-in-law, Rosario “Charing” Valdes-Gonzalez, also let it be known that she would not mind marrying him. But he also simultaneously courted his niece Rosario “Charing” Espiritu Arnedo, daughter of his first cousin, former Pampanga Governor Macario “Ariong” Sioco Arnedo. The former governor owed his first cousin Augusto Sioco Gonzalez more than Php 50,000 cash plus interest spent on politics. Charing had a boyfriend of modest means whom her parents didn’t approve of.  Sp when the superrich Augusto came sailing along with gold and diamond rings, earrings, and  bracelets from “La Estrella del Norte” on Escolta for all the ladies of the Arnedo family, Ariong and his wife Maria “Maruja” forced their daughter to accept her uncle’s marriage proposal. Amid many recriminations, Charing accepted out of obedience to her parents. She learned to love him eventually because he was very good to her.

The very next day after Rosario had accepted Augusto’s proposal, Aurea Ocampo (viuda) de Escaler sent word that she was accepting Augusto’s marriage proposal, but it was too late.

Augusto and Rosario Arnedo

It was during his marriage to Doña Charing that Augusto hit his professional peak and productivity, amassing agricultural properties all over Pampanga, Nueva Ecija and Bulacan, and commercial properties in Manila at an impressive rate. Despite all his money, the family lived simply, no frills. Augusto constantly reminded Doña Charing:

“We have to live simply because we are accumulating capital for our children.”

When Augusto’s eldest brother Fernando lay dying in Augusto’s house in Tennessee, Malate, Manila, Augusto also told his brothers Fernando and Fausto,

“I will work very hard because I want my children with Charing to be as rich as mine are with Maring.”

Augusto, Rosario and all the children from both wives

He also took this opportunity to berate his youngest brother Fausto, for being so ostentatious.  He commented that he, Augusto, despite his wealth,  only got by with two “de hilo” suits and four long-sleeved shirts (camisas dentros”), while Fausto always wore the latest fashions matched with the most expensive shoes.  He told Fausto,

“Those excess clothing could be better invested wisely”.

The marriage of Doña Rosario with Augusto  produced seven children, two of which died in infancy. Brother Andrew Gonzalez, president emeritus of De La Salle University, Manila, was the youngest of their children.All in all, I think it would be good if the only things mentioned about our side of the family is that Lola Charing was an Arnedo, of the old & prominent Sulipan, Apalit family; the enumeration of their children: Marina Arsenia, Augusto Beda, Ermelo Efren, Hector Argeo, + Heraclio Julio [infant, fatally injured when the young Hector hit his mother’s stomach with a baseball bat], + Macario Domingo [infant, like Cristeto & Marina], & Macario Diosdado; and the fact that Macario Diosdado Arnedo Gonzalez a.k.a. Brother Andrew Benjamin Gonzalez F.S.C., o 1940- + 2006, was one of the most accomplished & important Gonzalezes who ever lived. I know he would like that description because that was the driving force of his entire life and that was how he wanted to be remembered in the family. 🙂