Chapter 3 : Marikina Marikina Marikina, Bayang Ginigiliw Nitong Rizal

Marikina is located along the eastern border of Metro Manila, bordered on the west by Quezon City, to the south by Pasig City and Cainta, Rizal, to the north by San Mateo, Rizal, and to the east by Antipolo City, the capital of Rizal Province. 

Archaeologists and historians like F.Landa Jocano of the University  of the Philippines theorized that migration of the ancient Filipinos started from the sea, to the seashore, settlements on bay and then to the rivers and up streams and through the valleys and mountains inward over thousand of years. The natives of Marikina are the Dumagats who were also known as Sinaunang Tagalog, who came from their settlements in Manila Bay and the mouth of the Pasig River. Their growing population and later, the influx of foreign refugees, made them expand inwards through river routes and upwards into the mountains and valleys over thousand years reaching as far as Marikina Valley and further upwards into Antipolo, Montalban and into the deep forest of the Sierra Madre as they leave some prosperous settlements along the way. Today, some descendants of the Sinaunang Tagalogs in Marikina considered themselves natives which they termed as "lehitimo" and they are proud that they do not have any province but Marikina, not even the nearby Province of Rizal. They are proud of their Sinaunang Tagalog ancestry from Manila Bay and the mouth of the Pasig River that settled permanently in Marikina Valley.

In 1560's, the area is part of the Kingdom of Tondo where descendants of Lakan Dula settled. A maginoo (principlaia) family with eight children led a series of diaspora from their Tondo homeland to a fertile land near the river now known as Jesus de la Pena, followed by Augustinians who arrived at the valley in the 1570's, at the spot known as Chorillo in Barangka (one of the oldest Barangay founded in Marikina). The children of that maginoo (principalia) family are named Capangoy, Gatdula, Dumandan, Gatlabayan, Sumulong and three unknown dayangs.  It was around 1630's when the Jesuits arrived and established a mission and built a chapel still known today as 'Jesus de la Pena Chapel', Fray Pedro de Arce, apostolic ruler of the Archbishop of Manila at the time, approved transfer of ecclesiastical control and supervision to the Jesuits, and settled the place as town. In 1665, an intensity 8 earthquake struck the valley and nearby Manila, and it is related to the activity now known as 'Valley Fault System'. Only a Jesuit Church suffered damage resulted to 19 dead. On March 10, 1687, Governor Gabriel Cruz Elasque ordered the transfer of Marikina to the oversight of the Augustinians and merged with the ministry of San Mateo. He instructed Don Juan Pimentel, the Mayor of Tondo, to vacate and demolish the visita of Jesús de la Peña as the Marikina River would flood the site during the rainy season. The visita could not accommodate the growing congregation, forcing the Augustinian friars to transfer operations across the Marikina to higher ground, where the much larger, present structure was built. The church was subsequently made an independent parish in 1690 (Wikipedia OLA). In 1788, the town became known as 'Mariquina' after 'Felix Berenguer de Marquina', who was the Governor-General at the time, and the town was declared a 'pueblo' (Latin root word 'pipulus', a large nucleated village). Marquina was Governor of the Philippines from July 1, 1788 to September 1, 1793 and it was under his governorship when Manila became an open port to all but European products by royal decree (August 15, 1789). He proposed plans for reform of the government. By the 19th century, Hacienda Marquina was owned and administered by the Tuason family and had become the largest in the Philippines. The hacienda was declared 'mayorazgo' (root word 'Majorat', a French term for an arrangement giving a right of succession to a specific parcel of property associated with a little nobility to a single heir, based on male primogeniture) by the Spanish colonial government.

According to Dr. Trinidad Pardo de Tavera, the name Marquina was in recognition of Capt. Berenguer de Marquina who was the Governor General of the Philippines in 1788. Mariquina became the capital of the Province of Manila in 1898, when the Philippine Revolution broke out, a period when Philippine Independence was declared by Emilio Aguinaldo, the first Philippine president (Wikipedia, Marikina). The original Marquina is a place in Spain near Galicia in Spain. In the Philippines however, from Marquina, it was changed to Marikina, as a sign of defiance to Spain.

Don Santiago Sauza y De los Rios, a Spanish-Mexican Indian navigator was the 22nd  gobernadorcillo in 1809 and the 7th  alcalde capitan in 1828 of pueblo de Marquina (presently Marikina City), Philippines. He was one of the founders of the first paper mill in the Philippines in 1825. He was one of the good friends of JOSEPH BONAPARTE or KING JOSEPH I of Spain. He married the only daughter of Governor General Felix Berenguer de Marquina and his lover Demetria Lindo Sumulong who owns the Hacienda Berenguer de Marquina.

The descendants of the couple DON SANTIAGO SAUZA Y DE LOS RIOS also known as PAPA TIAGO  or LORD JAMES OF MARIQUINA (23 April 1777, Tequila, Jalisco, Mexico – 25 December 1880 Intramuros, Manila, Philippines) and DOÑA YSABEL BERENGUER DE MARQUINA Y SUMULONG also known as MAMA ABE and LADY ELIZABETH OF MARIQUINA  and LADY DOWAGER OF SAUZA-BERENGUER DE MARQUINA (19 November 1790, Cagsawa,Daraga, Albay, Philippines – 30 January 1900, Banwa, Batan, Capiz, (presently Aklan), Philippines) who lived at Hacienda Sauza-Berenguer de Marquina, Pueblo de Marquina (presently Marikina City), Republic of the Philippines. 

Marikina was once the Hacienda Sauza-Berenguer de Marquina (1809-1870), the land and home was formerly owned by Don Santiago Sauza y De los Rios (1777-1880) and his wife Dona Ysabel Berenguer de Marquina y Sumulong (1790-1900). Moreover, Doña Ysabel Berenguer de Marquina y Sumulong (19 November 1790, Cagsawa, Daraga,  Albay, Philippines - 30 January 1900, Banwa, Batan, Aklan, Philippines) was the only daughter of Doña Demetria Sumulong y Lindo and of Señor Felix Berenguer de Marquina y FitzGerald, the former Governor General of the Philippines and from the Royal House of FitzGerald of Ireland (familiasauza).The surname Sumulong is one of the Lakan Dula descendants who settled in Jesus de la Pena together with Dumandan, Capangoy, Gatdula/Dulay/Dula, and Gatlabayan. Some siblings of the group of families led by Sumulong, Gatdula and Gatlabayan "ay sumulong papuntang bundok ng Antipolo" from Jesus de la Pena using the present Sumulong Highway route, and from then on, that is the name that the Kingdom of Tondo called them. This family who descended from Lakan Dula owned the Hacienda, but as to how it was acquired by the Tuason is still a historical mystery. The Tuasons are also relatives of the Sauzas. There are wild stories that an adopted child of the Sauza sold the hacienda to the Tuasons. There are other stories that the hacienda was slowly squandered in a gambling called “panggingge” to the Tuasons. The most acknowledged version is that the Tuasons got the hacienda by force through political connections with the Spanish government.However, the first gobernadorcillo of Marikina is actually Don Benito Mendoza. An adventurous son of a Sephardic Jew Spanish couple, the young Benito left his brothers and sisters at the Lakanate of Lawan and tried his luck in Tondo. He was in love with a pretty daughter of high ranking maginoo family of the Kingdom of Tondo who decided to settle in Jesus de la Pena in the present Marikina Valley and later to Antipolo to escape the Spanish persecution of the native nobility. The lineage of that maginoo family of today carries the surname of Sumulong and Gatlabayan. Benito is the oldest of six siblings, and he inherited the headship of the native settlement in what is now called Jesus de la Pena in Marikina and was eventually appointed by the Kingdom of Spain as the first gobernadorcillo of Marikina Valley. According to a member of the Mendoza Clan of Marikina UP Professor Jaime Mendoza Caro, the following members of the Mendoza principalia clan has served Marikina in the following capacities:

1. Don Benito Mendoza, founding Gobernadorcillo 1787

2. Don Lucas Mendoza, Gobernadorcillo 1803

3. Don Mariano Mendoza, Alkalde 1843

4. Don Rufino Mendoza, Alkalde 1851

5. Don Isabelo Mendoza, Presidente 1910-1911

6. Eugenio Mendoza, Presidente, 1919-23

7. Osmundo De Guzmán (Mendoza), Mayor 1960-86

The 1st Las Familias Unidas happened on 25 December 1850 at Hacienda Sauza-Berenguer de Marquina, Pueblo de Marikina (presently Marikina City), Provincia De Tondo, Las Islas Filipinas and the 91st Las Familias Unidas was held on 25 December 1941 hosted by Demetrio Sauza y Mendoza and wife Cornelia Palmos. Unlike the Mendoza’s where several streets are name today, Marikenyos are curious about where are the Sauzas of Marikina now. There seem to be some intermarriages between the Sauza and the Mendoza. The Sauza are said to be found in the present Barangays Sto. Nino and Sta. Elena in Marikina and in the vicinity of the oldest church of Marikina in Jesus de la Pena where the Lakan Dula descendants first settled but no street has been named after the family so far. The Mendozas on the other hand are found along the present location of Our Lady of the Abandoned Church where the first Church of Marikina in Jesus de la Pena was transferred. Several streets had been named after the family.  Intermarriages among the principalia families in Marikina and in Tondo are very much an old practice among native nobilities. “The Tioco family was a very rich and generous family from Old Tondo. They owned numerous fishing boats in Tondo and Malabon. Siblings Balbino Tioco and Romana Tioco were illustrious citizens and famous Tondo benefactors of the 19th century. Balbino’s son Maximiano was kidnapped in the late 19th century and ransomed for 3 “kaings” of gold. Maximiano was married to a spanish mestiza Marciana Félix (same Félix family as Joji Félix Velarde and Conchita Félix wife of Felipe Calderón of the Malolos Constitution) Maximiano married Teodorica Ylo (The Cabangis family are also descended from the Ylo’s) They bore 5 children, Nemesio, Salvador, “Beot”, Guadalupe (married to Don Eduardo Barretto), Consuelo (married to Dr Rufino Mendoza, son of Don Isabelo Mendoza de Villablanca, a direct descendant of the spaniard Don Benito Mendoza, first gobernadorcillo of Mariquina in 1787. Benito’s (daughter?) Juana Mendoza Cerbito married Ceferino Dulay, a patriarch of the Rajah Lakandula/Dulay clan. Long after the family had left Old Tondo for the plush villages of Makati and other parts of Manila, there remains Calle Romana* in honor of Romana Tioco, and Calle Tioco* in honor of Balbino and Romana, two personages of the same family in gratitude for their inexhaustible generosity to Tondo. (J.Antonio Mendoza y González)".

Doña Ysabel Berenguer de Marquina y Sumulong, a blue-blooded lady from the Royal and Noble House of the FitzGeralds of Ireland, was the only child of DOÑA DEMETRIA SUMULONG Y LINDO (21 June 1772, Antipolo, Philippines – 01 February 1814, Cagsawa, Daraga, Albay, Philippines) also known as Metyang, a Chinese-Japanese-Indian-English-Malay-Dumagat blooded lady whose mother is  from the Jaucian - Li/Lindo - Palanca - Uy clan of Daraga, Albay, where present Mayor Victor Uy Perete belongs. (The Cagsawa Daraga settlement is as old as 12th century); and of SEÑOR FELIX BERENGUER DE MARQUINA Y FITZGERALD (20 November 1736, Alicante, Spain - 10 October 1826, Alicante, Spain) who was married to MARIA ANSOATEGUI Y BARRON in 1758.

Doña Ysabel  was baptized on 25 December 1790 at a Franciscan church in Cagsawa, Daraga, Albay, the Philippines. Though she was illegitimate by birth, her mother Metyang who was 18 years old by that time never took the plan to abort her because of illegitimacy instead she was born in the vast green fields of Cagsawa, Daraga, Albay, Philippines. Mama Abe had unique and interesting ancestries both paternal and maternal. She was the 23rd great granddaughter of HER ROYAL HIGHNESS NEST FERCH RHYS, the Princess of Deuhebarth now Wales and of GERALD DE WINDSOR. Her family line and descendants are recorded and kept by the Berenguer de Marquina-FitzGerald relatives in Bristol, United Kingdom and from Madrid, Spain.

Nest first spouse was Gerald de Windsor also known as GERALD FITZWALTER, the progenitor of the FitzGerald and De Barry Dynasties of Ireland and the son of WALTER FITZOTHO and GWLADYS FERCH RYALL. Her second spouse was KING HENRY I OF ENGLAND. Gerald de Windsor's father was OTHO, an honorary baron at the court of KING EDWARD THE CONFESSOR and owner of manors in five English counties. Moreover, Mama Abe was a royal blooded lady because of her FitzGerald ancestry, but in her lifetime, she never allowed herself to be treated as a royal, instead as a commoner.

SEÑOR FELIX BERENGUER DE MARQUINA Y FITZGERALD (1736, Alicante, Spain-1826, Alicante, Spain) was the 55th Governor-General of the Philippines (1788-1793) and the Viceroy of New Spain (1800-1803).

Doña Ysabel Berenguer De Marquina y Sumulong and Don Santiago Sauza y Delos Rios got married on 19 November 1809 at San Francisco Church (presently Mapua Institute of Technology) in Intramuros, Manila, Philippines. After their marriage, they moved to Cagsawa, Daraga, Albay, Philippines and lived there for several years from 1810. They had the following children:

1. DOÑA HILARIA MARIA DELA VEGA SAUZA Y BERENGUER DE MARQUINA (16 December 1810, Cagsawa, Daraga, Albay, Bicol, Philippines – 23 August 1913, Angono, Rizal, Philippines), a well-respected beauty queen of her time married DON TEODORO VICENTE LUIS IMPERIAL Y ORMAECHEA. Some of their descendants are the Aquinos, the Ballesteroses, the Canos, the Castils, the Chatos/Chattos, the Cojuangcos, the Diestors, the Fuenteses, the Fernandezes the Grageras, the Gils, the Getigans, the Ilejays, the Imperials, the Limoses, the Madrids, the Oppuses, the Perezes, the Piconeses, the Pueblases, the Puebloses, the Reyeses, the Silvestres, the Taoys, the Tenepereses, the Tiamsons, the Tolentinos, the Torrefancas, the Tungols, the Villamarins and the Vitors.

2. DON DEMETRIO IGNACIO FELIPE SAUZA Y BERENGUER DE MARQUINA (01 December 1811, Cagsawa, Daraga, Albay, Philippines – 12 September 1904, Angono, Rizal, Philippines), a meticulous potter married DOÑA ANUNCIATA PIETRA DI GUIDA, DOÑA MARIA ANGELES TALIP Y REVIL and DOÑA YGNACIA MARGARITA BEATRIZ ORMAECHEA Y ZARASPE. His other partners were SEÑORA MAGDALENA ROSA QUEYONGQUEYONG, SEÑORA MARTINA RELAMPAGOS Y PILAPIL, SEÑORA MARIA LERA Y BORDEOUS and SEÑORA MARIA HONORATA POSAS Y BORDEOUS, some of their descendants are the Apostaderos, the Balanons, the Bohions/Buhions, the Castils, the Chatos/Chattos, the Claretes, the Claudios, the Concepcions, the Diestros, the Grageras, the Gonzagas, the Lipios, the Manhilots, the Matafloridas, the Martoses, the Oppuses, the Pateses, the Talips, the Realistas, the Roceses, the Revils, the Roans and the Uaouaos who eventually became the Walwals.

3.    DON FRANCISCO ANTONIO SALVADOR SAUZA Y BERENGUER DE MARQUINA (14 October 1812, Cagsawa, Daraga, Albay, Bicol, Philippines – 25 June 1910, Angono, Rizal, Philippines), an experienced blacksmith and knight and a knowledgeable fencing enthusiast married DOÑA MARIA ROSALIA EULALIA ESCUDERO Y GUANZON. Some of their descendants are the Becos/Bicos/Vicos, the Godoys, the Macatangays and the Marasigans of Lobo, Batangas, Philippines and the Posadases.

4.    DOÑA RESTITUTA MARIA DEL CARMEN SAUZA Y BERENGUER DE MARQUINA (01 February 1814, Legazpi, Albay, Philippines – 12 January 1916, Bacolor, Pampanga, Philippines), an expert embroiderer married DON JUAN NOBLEJAS (1st Husband) of Taal, Batangas, Philippines, DON FRANCISCO BANGOY the Elder (2nd Husband) of Baclayon, Bohol, Philippines DON ENRIQUE QUIAMBAO (3rd Husband) of Tarlac, Philippines and DON JUAN JOSE DEL BUENVIAJE DE LA ESTRADA (4th Husband) of Guanajato, Mexico and DON VICTOR PASCUAL Y DE VERA (5th Husband) of Pangasinan, The Philippines. Some of their descendants are the Eugenios, the Lontocs also spelled as Lontok, the Noblejases and the Dioknos of Taal, Batangas, Philippines, the Quiambaos of Tarlac and Pampanga, Philippines, the Bangoys of Davao City, Philippines, the Ylagans and the Ylagas of Lobo, Batangas the Silayans of Binangonan, Rizal, Philippines and the Centeneras and the Garchitorenas of Bicol, Philippines.

5. PADRE LORENZO EDUARDO TEOFILO SAUZA Y BERENGUER DE MARQUINA (10 August 1815, Marinduque, Philippines – 31 March 1912, San Jose, Antique, Philippines) (Exhumed 12 December 1939. Reburied at San Francisco Church (presently Mapua), Intramuros, Manila, Philippines), an intelligent speaker who had relationship to the SEÑORA MARIA SALVIEJO Y EVANGELISTA of Badoc, Ilocos Norte, The Philippines, SEÑORA TORIBIA DARAL of Baclayon, Bohol, The Philippines, SEÑORA SIMPLICIA CARTAGENAS of Loon, Bohol, The Philippines, SEÑORA ELENA BALAT of Itbayat, Batanes, The Philippines, the sisters SEÑORA ANA MAGBANUA and SEÑORA SIMPLICIA MAGBANUA of Antique, Philippines, SEÑORA SOLEDAD NER of Angono, Binangonan, The Philippines, SEÑORA CATALINA JALANDONI of Iloilo, Philippines and SEÑORA MARIA PORTICOS of Loon, Bohol, The Philippines. Some of their descendants are the Africas, the Agabins, the Bataras, the Buhions, the Cabuleras, the Cartagenas, the Jalandonis, the Magbanuas, the Miraflors, the Moscosos, the Ners, the Pagdilaos, the Pateses, the Porticoses, the Realistas, the Revils, the Salviejos and the Tuazons.

6.    DON XYSTUS AMADEO CELESTINO SAUZA Y BERENGUER DE MARQUINA (14 February 1816, Casa Santos, Sta. Elena, Pueblo de Mariquina, (presently Marikina City), Philippines – 26 July 1898, Binangonan, Distrito de Morong, Philippines), an adventurous navigator and a rich businessman married SEÑORA PILAR PAMINTUAN Y BONDOC and after being a widower, he married DOÑA DELFINA YNARES Y ANTAZO. Some of their descendants are the Aparentes, the Apostaderos, the Antazos, the Aragoncillos, the Bernardos, the Ceremoniasm, the Delos Angeleses, the Riveras, the Silayans and the Ynareses.

7.   DON MIGUEL JUAN SANTIAGO SAUZA Y BERENGUER DE MARQUINA (29 September 1818, Sto. Niño, Pueblo de Mariquina (presently Marikina City), Philippines – 01 March 1925, Angono, Rizal, Philippines), a brilliant writer and a professional jeweller married DOÑA MATILDE TUAZON Y DELA PEÑA. SEÑORA MARIA GREGORIA TUAZON Y YUPANGCO was his partner Some of their descendants are the Andreses, the Blancos, the Carvajals, the Celestinos, the Cruzes, the De Guzmans, the Dela Cruzes, the Dizons, the Esperos, the Ledesmas, the Mallillins, the Martagons, the Miraflors, the Peñarandas, the Posadases, the Sagandoys, the Salgados, the Salamats, the Sausas, the Tolentinos, the Tunguls, the Unidads, the Sekews, the Ycays, the Varons, the Villanuevas, the Zaratans, the Zamucos, the Zausas, the Zubiagas.

8. DON JOSE ALBERTO FILEMON SAUZA Y BERENGUER DE MARQUINA (18 September 1819, Cagsawa, Daraga, Albay, Bicol, Philippines – 23 November 1922, Angono, Rizal, Philippines), an industrious farmer married DOÑA ESCOLASTICA GONZALES Y DEL PRADO (10 February 1823, Intramuros, Manila, Philippines – 12 April 1925, Angono, Rizal, Philippines). Some of their descendants are the Abanillas, the Villanuevas of Lobo, Batangas and the Belarminos of Zamboanga, Philippines.

9. SEÑORA BRIGIDA MARIA DEL CIELO SAUZA Y BERENGUER DE MARQUINA (08 October 1821, Antipolo, Philipines – 31 October 1830, Angono, Rizal, Philippines), a spinster. In the Sauza – Berenguer de Marquina family record, though they were never been lovers, her first love was Fr. Jose Apolonio Burgos y Garcia (1837-1872), one of the Bagumbayan Martyrs. Her recorded boyfriend was Don Francisco Guido of Angono whom she boxed on face because of “lie over wealth”.

10. DOÑA REFUGIO MARIA DEL ROSARIO SAUZA Y BERENGUER DE MARQUINA (23 May 1835 Tequila, Jalisco, Mexico – 25 August 1932, Angono, Rizal, Philippines), a coloratura soprano married DON TEODORO GUIDOTE Y ENRILE Y ALCEDO. Some of their ancestors are the Magtibays and Dioknos of Batangas, the Fiels in the Visayas and Mindanao and the Guidotes of Bulacan, Philippines.

11. DON ANSELMO BENEDICTO ONOFRE SAUZA Y BERENGUER DE MARQUINA (21 April 1838, Villa Fernandina, Ilocos Norte, Philippines-19 July 1940, Angono, Rizal, Philippines), a skilled fisherman and champion swimmer, an artistic painter and an angelic tenor married DOÑA AUREA DE VILLA Y SALUD (1837-1855) (1st Wife) of San Juan De Bolboc, Batangas, Philippines, DOÑA MARIA VILLAVICENCIO Y MACATANGAY (1841-1873) (2nd Wife) of Taal Batangas, Batangas, Philippines and DOÑA TEODORA FIEL Y SITJAR (1850-1919) (3rd Wife) of Jimenez, Misamis Occidental, Philippines. Some of their descendants are the Diestros, the Jubans, the Lozos, the Layocs, the Mag-atas, the Merceds, the Saguinsins, the Sorianos, the Tamayos and the Tiamsons (fsbmc).