Thursday, March 22, 2007

My roots in La Libertad

My parentage is in La Libertad, a sleepy (but lately bloody) town north of Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental.
My paternal great-great grandparents (maternal grandparents of my paternal grandfather) come from this town.
I frequented this town when I was a young kid. My grandfather, the late Atty. Zoilo D. Dejaresco Jr., used to take us with him when he paid homage on special ocassions.
I remember the last time I visited the town was when I went with my aunts and uncles to make a look-see of some pieces of land handed down by their parents.
My grandfather, in his book "Life's poignant memories" wrote about his parentage:

Parentage

"My parents were Zoilo Dejaresco Sr., a businessman-son of Silverio Dejaresco of Dumangas, Iloilo and Faustina Medes of Victorias, Negros Occidental; and Bebina Dionaldo, daughter of Isaac Dionaldo and Tomasa Facturan of La Libertad, Negros Oriental.
"A former town president of Jimalalud, Isaac became the first municipal president of the newly created town of La Libertad. Driven by intense patriotic fervor, this dynamic public official christened the new town to connote "liberty" - a new concept in governance which triggered the advent of nationalism following the enactment of the Jones Law by the Congress of the United States granting autonomous rights to the residents of American colonies like the Philippines.
"My father was a successful businessman. He owned two big sailboats which traded different basic commodities coming from Mindanao and the Visayan Islands including Masbate, Romblon, Palawan, the Bicol provinces and as far as Borneo.
"The two sailboats were so big and were longer than the width of the La Libertad River.
"The vessels were named "Victorias" and "Victorioso". The flagship was christened "Victorias" named after my father's birthplace, a town in Negros Occidental.
"The flagship was skippered by my father himself while the "Victorioso" was piloted by my father's younger brother, Panfilo. They were daring seafarers who were experienced sailors during their younger days.
"When these two vessels would return to the home port after a business trip, the occasion transformed the sleepy fledgling town into a buzzling market of commercial activities among its buinesss-minded inhabitants. Products and merchandise from different islands were unloaded which converted the town into a huge commercial fair. Various merchandise, most of them rarely found in ordinary town markets, were sold or bartered with cereals such as corn, rice, and sugar which were in turn traded to the neighboring islands during the next business trip."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

can someone please give me a contact information or mailing address for Dr. Isaac Dionaldo? I just need to find out who took over his medical practice so I can obtain my medical records...I need my medical history especially after my open heart surgery..thanks and I really appreciate the help.

Albert V. email: bardottnu@aol.com