In one of my visits at the Center for Kapampangan Studies, I read “The Story of my Life” written by the Late Supreme Court Associate Justice Jose Gutierrez David (unpublished). In one of his entries there, he mentioned the reason how Don Balbino Ventura died. He said that maybe because of indiscretion of Don Balbino’s two older daughters- Nunilon and Belen who were boarding students (colegialas) in a Catholic school in Manila, the friars came to learn that Don Balbino Ventura was a Mason. Masons at that time were then being prosecuted as enemies of the Church. Don Balbino was brought by the Guardia Civil to San Fernando, Pampanga, about six kilometers from Bacolor, on foot with his hands tied at the back, in broad daylight and in view of everyone.
After sometime, he was released and returned to Bacolor. But he could neither forget nor overcome the humiliation and indignities to which he had been subjected. One morning, he was found dead in his bedroom. He had taken an overdose of a certain sleeping medicine called “bromuro” during the night. That tragic event shocked and saddened the whole town.
I also asked the former fashion designer Gang Gomez now Dom Martin de Jesus, a Benedictine monk. He said,
“Sorry, no photos of Bale king Bunduc. All I know is little information from my Mom Eloisa Paras Hizon (now vda. De Gomez). She used to say that when my Lola Dona Maria Paras Hizon went to visit or attend socials there, Dona Africa would be so well-dressed. A guard at the gate near the highway would announce the arrival of guests so that Dona Africa could get ready.”
On July 1, 2008, I decided to visit Mrs. Lilian Lising Borromeo. Wow! I saw the house. It was an ancestral house built by Dona Maura Lorenzo. Don Monico Mercado was the brother of Don Francisco Mercado! Yes, he’s the father of our national hero Jose Protacio Rizal. The history books say that the difference in surname was because when Jose Rizal was born, Don Francisco dropped the surname Mercado and used Rizal instead.
As I was saying, Mrs. Lilian Borromeo was a fantastic woman. She’s a Pampanga Culinary expert. I learned that her ancestors were the very first to make Pampangan Ensaymada and the famous San Nicholas Biscuits. I bought a box of it and really, the taste and the texture is very different from the others that I buy in the market. She’s oftentimes asked by the media to conduct a cooking demonstration. She’s an antique dealer also. She showed me the place where she conducts her cooking.
I introduced myself to her. I told her that I was interested in the genealogy of Dona Africa and Don Teodoro Santos, Jr. She told me that she is related to Don Teodoro Santos, Jr. because of the Hizons. Here are her stories:
1. Don Carlos David married Dona Lucia de Ocampo. They had a son named Don Juan Custodio David who married Dona Rosa Liwanag. The couple had a daughter named Dona Paula David who married Don Vicente Hizon and the next generations followed.
2. Don Teodoro Santos, Sr. was an extremely wealthy man. Tita Lilian said that whenever he transfers his moneys (coins at that time) from one town to another, half of the wooden tires of the garetas (carabao-drawn carriages) would get stuck in the soil. There were no cars yet at that time in the Philippines. That was how heavy his moneys were which speaks of his wealth.
He married Dona Inocencia H. Lorenzo. Don Teodoro was fond of women. He had a lot of mistresses. Dona Inocencia was a conservative woman who loved to cook and bake. She was the first to bake the Pampanga Ensaymadas. She prepares every ingredient. Before, there were no instant ingredients. Don Teodoro would ask Dona Inocencia whether she made ensaymadas. Dona Inocencia would say yes and hand them to him. However, Don Teodoro would then give them to one of his mistresses. This made Dona Inocencia cry a lot.
As if the sisters of Dona Inocencia had learned their lessons from this, they never entertained wealthy suitors. The problem was only the rich men paid court to them. They wanted to marry men who were not as wealthy as they were. Hence, the long line of spinsters in their family.
Mrs. Borromeo told me that the sister of Dona Inocencia, Dona Maura was a beautiful woman with beautiful legs. She handled their family businesses so well that she became immensely rich. The children of her sister would borrow money from her because they believed that her moneys were very lucky.
3. The hill in Mabalacat was man-made. That is the one where Dona Africa built her house.
However, my Lola refuted this and she told me that it was tinapyas. It was really a hill that is why it was known as Bale king Bunduc. Its being tinapyas is what would categorize it into man-made. I also asked Mr. Robbie Tantingco about this and he told me that he thought it was not man-made.
4. Dona Africa was a frequent visitor of the ancestral house of Tita Lilian. She had this superstitious belief that the moneys of Dona Maura were lucky. So even if she was very wealthy, she did not use her own money, instead she used the money of Dona Maura in putting up her businesses. She would then pay her loan after the business earned its profits. She would shower Dona Maura with many gifts like hand-embroidered tablecloths or queso de bolas. I saw the tablecloth and I took a picture of it!
5. Whenever Dona Africa would visit their ancestral house, Dona Maura would tell the house helpers to clean the house and they would use banana leaves to make the wooden floors smooth and shiny. When she would arrive, her chauffeur would then open the door of the car for her. She’s very well-dressed.
6. Afriquita, their only daughter was not very happy with her life. Being the daughter of an extremely wealthy family, she had so many maids ready to serve her at her beck and call. However, she wanted freedom to do things commonly done by other women. There were women who came from wealthy families also and they were allowed to go wherever they would wish to go. In her case, she’s followed by many guards. She could not even wear the dress of her own choice. It must first be approved by Dona Africa. When she was ill already, she told her mother how she wanted to live her life- how she craved for her freedom. This made Dona Africa cry. Those who witnessed this scene were also in tears.
7. The family was classified as one of the very few aristocrats of the Philippines. Even so, they financed the studies of many deserving students. The sister of Dona Africa, Dona Belen was very rich but she died poor according to the rich peoples’ standards because she donated a lot to the church. The same goes for Don Honorio. No comment about Dona Nunilon.
8. Don Monico Mercado was the godfather of President Manuel Quezon in confirmation when he was still studying in San Juan de Letran.
9. During Christmas, Don Teodoro Santos, Jr. and his wife would open a room filled with gold coins. They would instruct the members of their families, relatives and guests to get two handfuls of coins. The greedy would get so much that in between their fingers the coins would slip until so little remained. If one would get the coins in that manner, he would get a rod and pat your hands and scold you. The wise would cup together their two hands in getting coins so that none would spill. This is the proper way in getting the coins.
The lesson which Don Teodoro intended to teach them was in putting up a business, one should enter only that which he could handle. If one would enter into many businesses, he would then spread himself thinly in managing them until he would lose his focus. On the other hand, if he would enter only those he could handle, he could maintain his focus on them and make them prosper.
10. Dona Africa just like any rich people then disinfects their moneys. To them, moneys are dirty. What do they do? They instruct the maids to iron her paper bills. After counting their moneys, they apply alcohol for disinfection.
11. Whenever they eat their meal, they wear their nice dress. They really dress up for their meals.
12. She died on September 23, ____. Tita Lilian could not remember the year anymore.
During one of my visits at the CKS, the very kind, Director Tantingco lend me this book, “Down Memory Lane” by Inez Cuyugan Quizon-David.
Inez’s father was also the palsonero or overseer (like my great grandfather) for the first two barrios enumerated below in the Ventura-Santos hacienda. I asked my Apo about Miss Inez and she told me that Inez’s older sister, Violy was her friend. Dona Africa’s hacienda spread out from Mabalacat, Pampanga to Bamban, Tarlac. They are:
1. Barrios Mamatitang;
2. Cacutud;
3. Iba;
4. Bunduc;
5. Tabun; and
6. Irung ( my Ingkong’s turf)
She said that, “he arrival of Dona Africa was a great event in the barrio- house cleaning and preparation of food, and us children being headed to an adjacent house so that we would not be on the way. As soon as she came, we would all be presented to her and we would politely kiss her hands (mano), dutifully getting out of the way while they were at work and ever so quietly and unobtrusively getting in through the kitchen door if we needed anything or had to be fed.”
‘I recall some political big wigs- Sergio Osmena, Manuel Roxas, and others who came to Mabalacat with Don Honorio Ventura- then Interior Secretary. I believe Osmena was President of the Senate. They had a top level meeting regarding the future of Philippine Independence at Dona Africa’s mountain mansion in Bunduc. On their way back to Manila, they dropped by our house in Cacutud. After the group had resumed their trip to Manila, Don Africa noticed that they had left behind a briefcase of critical papers. Dona Africa was frantic…”
“Don Honorio and Dona Africa had an endearing habit. Whenever Dona Africa was in Mabalacat, Don Honorio would call her daily. They would speak very lovingly in Spanish or in French, especially if the things they were discussing needed secrecy.”
“Don Honorio was one in a million kind of politician. He sent to college the poor but deserving students of Pampanga. Among them were:
- President Diosdado Macapagal
- Congressman Emilio Cortez
- Director of Private Schools Manuel Carreon”
“Even the common people of the Santos-Ventura Hacienda benefited from Don Honorio’s largess. Whenever he came to Mabalacat, he would start throwing coins from Mamatitang boundary in town all the way to hilltop mansion in Bunduc. Adults and children alike would rush to the road to retrieve coins. At that time 50 centavos was equivalent to a day’s pay for laborers.”
“The first book I ever owned also came from this family, from Don Teodoro Santos, Jr. I was in the intermediate grades when he gave me two books- Wizard of Oz and Land of Oz. They were very much treasured possessions.”
“During the World War II, one of the Filipino captives was Don Ernesto V. Santos, Dona Africa’s youngest son. He served I the war as aide-de-camp to Gen. Vicente Lim. Dona Africa immediately rented a house in Capas, close to the camp to be near her son. She asked me to join her in Capas to be near her son. Meantime, her other son, Teodoro III, befriended the Japanese Catholic priest who said mass daily at the camp. The friendship earned him the privilege of acting as the altar boy. This enabled Dona Africa to smuggle short notes and food to Ernesto.”
“The irony of life was while Dona Africa was happily accompanying her son back to Pasay, her daughter, Afriquita, was lying in state at Funeraria Nacional, a victim of tetanus infection.”
“After the war, President Osmena appointed Ernesto V. Santos as Presidential Aide at Malacanan Palace.”
By the way, the father of Inez was killed by the Hukbalahap members. At that time the members of this leftist group were asking a certain portion of the harvest of the hacienda. His loyalty to his employer caused his death. In the case of my Ingkong Guillermo, he left the hacienda after the World War II. One of the reasons my Apo gave me was that it was very difficult to be a palsonero at that time. There was a clash between the hacienderos and the peasant farmers who were mostly members of the Hukbalahap. The latter were very suspicious of the palsoneros whom they thought worked to their disadvantage. My Ingkong resigned because of this. Apo told me that during the afternoons whenever there was a scheduled meeting of the Hukbos, a horn made of carabao’s horn is blown and you could hear it all over the hacienda. The sound sends shivers to the other group.
A New Lawyer Walks to the Courtroom 
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