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The Grail of R. Hidalgo by AUGUSTO MARCELINO REYES GONZALEZ III A prized heirloom of the Spanish hacendero Rodriguez– Infante family of Guagua town, Pampanga and their descendants: the Ramon Rodriguez–Infante – Rafaela Lim–Ong–Co family, then the Ricardo Velez y Corrales – Rosario Rodriguez–Infante y Lim–Ong–Co family, both of Guagua town, Pampanga; then the elias Zaragoza y Roxas – Rosario Velez y Rodriguez–Infante family of Calle San Sebastian (later R. Hidalgo street), Manila and later the Vicente Zaragoza Araneta – Paz Velez Zaragoza family, also of R. Hidalgo street Beyond exquisite” is the appropriate description for this Roman Catholic icon “La Nina Dormida” of the sleeping infant Virgin Mary in an ivory bed commissioned for private devotion by the affluent Rodriguez–Infante family of Guagua, Pampanga during the olden times. At first look, it follows the concept of the more prevalent “El Nino Dormido” the sleeping Baby Jesus of solid ivory in a bed (usually of polychromed wood, the rarer ones in worked solid silver), a favorite devotion during the 1600s, 1700s, and even the 1800s. However, this time it is the sleeping infant Virgin Mary honored as “La Nina Dormida,” and it is an unusual departure from the “Dormido” genre. The tiny infant Virgin Mary, rendered in ivory by a Chinese– Filipino or Chinese carver, is elegantly dressed in a baptismal gown with a bonnet of exquisite, embroidered pina textile. She rests in comfort on embroidered pina linens with a pillow and two bolster pillows. All the pina articles were most probably sewn with great Catholic devotion by an early Rodriguez–Infante matriarch, a cherished practice in those pious days. The infant Virgin Mary is suitably honored with an exquisitely carved miniature ivory bed. The bed features a raised sloping canopy of stunning and unbelievable ivory screenwork wherein graceful floral, foliar, and scroll motifs are superimposed on fragile horizontal strands, the whole having been carved simultaneously with great expertise. A considerable finial with interlacing foliar forms surmounts the canopy. Even the canopy rails are carved with small details. The base of the canopy is adorned with crosshatched fringes and tassels (schrooms). The canopy is supported by four testers carved with baluster, squash, and acanthus leaf motifs, as are the feet; the four testers are surmounted by finials in the shape of neoclassical reeded urns. The bed frame is carved with floral details; there are four side guard panels which feature the same exquisite screenwork as the canopy; the base of the bed frame is also embellished with crosshatched fringes and tassels. Architect Ramon Rosello Zaragoza rhapsodically described it thus: “The image of ‘La Nina Dormida’ (Our Blessed Mother as an infant fast asleep), shown above, which combines filigree ivory carving and the finest of Philippine weaves, is possibly the work of a Chinese artisan from the Chinese Parian in Guagua, Pampanga, who took directions for the piece from a Spanish friar with a special devotion to the Blessed Mother. The bed upon which the Baby Mary is fast asleep perfectly replicates a Spanish four poster canopy bed. The ivory craftsmanship is so fine that elements of the ivory canopy above her and in the sideboards that have so thoughtfully been installed to prevent her from rolling over the edge of the bed in her sleep, are as fine as human hair. Commissioned for installation in the family oratory it has been in the possession of the Velez–Zaragoza family for centuries.” “The ivory image of the Infant Mary is five inches long and is dressed in an outfit sewn from ‘nipis’ or pineapple fiber. The pillows all around her are similarly sheathed in ‘nipis’ fabric bordered with fine lace. Her bed stands twelve inches high, is eight inches long, and four inches wide. No wires or nails hold the piece together, only the perfection of perfectly executed interlocking parts.” continued architect Ramon Rosello Zaragoza. The Rodriguez–Infante and Velez families were two of several Spanish hacendero families in Pampanga during the 1800s. Rodriguez–Infante, Velez, Bravo–Gonzalez, Lilles of Guagua. Puig of Bacolor. Arrastia and Reinares of Lubao. Gil– Castellvi of Porac. There were the seven hacendero families of Floridablanca town: de los Santos, Valdes, Toledo, Toda, Ortigas, et al. Pantaleon de Miranda, Nepomuceno–Henson, and Gomez–Masnou in Culiat (Angeles). Reyes–Castor, Viola of Candaba. Reyes, Berenguer, Linares of Arayat. Arnedo and Gonzalez–Lopez in Sulipan, Apalit. There were also the Blanco, Borrero, Fernandez, Herreros, Landaluce, and Lombera families. Of course, there were always marriages and alliances with Chinese merchant fortunes, which greatly added to and sustained their assets. During the Malolos Congress of 1898–99, Jose Rodriguez–Infante of Guagua was one of the two Spanish mestizo representatives of Pampanga province, the other being Dr Joaquin Gonzalez y Lopez of Sulipan, Apalit. More than any other Pampanga town during the 1800s, Guagua (Chinese– Filipino Lan-nang and Old Capampangan “uaua” meaning “mouth of the river banks”) was always the richest because of its strategic location along the Guagua river (with its basin allied to the Rio Grande de Pampanga, emptying through the Labangan channel to Manila Bay) and its inherent mercantile nature, the result of a large Chinese mestizo community, the ancestors of whom fled Manila during the Chinese–targeted massacres of the late 1500s– early 1600s. The Spanish colonialists periodically massacred the Chinese to prevent their rise to financial, social, and political power, which in time proved inevitable. (Starting with the prosperous migrant trader Son Tua or Antonio Maria Tuason in the 1750s, who, during the British Invasion of 1762–64 proved to be an invaluable ally to the Spanish, and was eventually elevated to the Spanish “hidalguia” nobility with a “mayorazgo” noble estate.) On the other hand, the Spanish mestizo community in 1800s Guagua was led by the Rodriguez–Infante, Velez, Bravo– Gonzalez (an 1890s Spanish migrant who quickly changed his surname from Bravo to Gonzalez to sound “Mas Filipino!” during the 1896 Revolution), Carrion, Lilles, Sanz, Valbuena families, et al. (At present, of course, Angeles, San Fernando/Sampernandu, Mexico, Lubao, Porac, San Simon, and Arayat have also become hubs of commercial activities, due to local and foreign investors.) ____________________________________ _____________________________________________________ According to Arch Ramon Rosello Zaragoza, the Zaragoza clan of Manila proudly trace their lineage to the aristocratic Cepeda family of Avila, Spain, who produced Teresa Sanchez de Cepeda y Ahumada better known as Santa Teresa de Avila/Saint Teresa of Avila (o 1515 – + 1582), a woman of profound mystical faith and a great Doctor of the Roman Catholic church. Rafael Zaragoza had a relationship with another lady and they had six children: Juana Zaragoza (o 1840, “a lady of haughty mien” --- Felix Roxas y Fernandez) married the Englishman Edward Douglas Jackson (parents of the famous London– educated, beautiful and cultured socialite Emma Jackson y Zaragoza with the blonde hair and blue eyes [o 1855, Sra de Domingo Vidal, later Mrs Reginald Turner 1892] whom the fifteen year–old Felix Roxas y Fernandez met in 1878); Flavio Zaragoza; Rita Zaragoza; Joaquin Zaragoza. Former Manila Mayor Felix Roxas y Fernandez wrote of how 1870s Manila society was well aware of Rafael Zaragoza y Escalante’s twenty–two children from two marriages (and other partnerships) and how they lived in his house in Paco district. “Mr Jackson was one of those Englishmen of recognized reputation; he established a family by marrying a lady of haughty mien, Dona Juana Zaragoza, daughter of Don Rafael, who left twenty–two children --- product of two marriages --- and whose home was on Paco street in that district. It can be said that the numerous families with that name grew out of this genealogical tree, including illustrious names such as the cultured writer known in the publications of his time by the pseudonym of “Mario.” Miguel Zaragoza was equally skillful with the pen and the brush, handling them with the delicacy of art studied in Rome, the artists’ mecca.” It was the serendipitous marriage of Jose Zaragoza y Aranquizna (o 1842 – + 1895) to the well–connected, successful, and rich businesswoman Rosa Roxas y Arce in 1875/1876 that established the Zaragoza family in the Spanish mestizo elite circles of Calle San Sebastian and San Miguel de Tanduay. They had six children: 1) Natividad Zaragoza y Roxas married Demetrio Tuason de la Paz; 2) Carmen Zaragoza y Roxas married Atty Gregorio Araneta y Soriano; 3) Salvador Zaragoza y Roxas married Carolina Tuason y Gil de Sola; 4) Elias Zaragoza y Roxas married Rosario Velez y Rodriguez–Infante; 5) Ramon Zaragoza y Roxas married 1) Trinidad Matute, 2) Juana Marin; 6) Margarita Zaragoza y Roxas married Carlos Preysler y Gonzales. The bon vivant Jose Zaragoza y Aranquizna was the famous publisher of the current affairs magazine “La Ilustracion Filipina,” which ran from 1891–94. It featured articles on world events, local news, developments in the sciences and the arts, as well as Manila society written by the most intelligent and most prominent minds of the day like Julio Llorente, Tomas del Rosario, Jose Paterno, et al. It was also beautifully illustrated by the top artists of that time like Miguel Zaragoza, Juan Luna (who was at constant odds with Jose Zaragoza), Lorenzo Guerrero, et al. The Araneta de R Hidalgo clan began when Felix Araneta y Militante and Paz Soriano y Dytching of Molo, Iloilo sent their exceptionally intelligent and promising eleven year–old son Gregorio Araneta y Soriano (one of eighteen children, five of whom died in infancy) to Manila for his formal education. Gregorio excelled in all his primary and secondary studies at the Ateneo Municipal (with the highest marks comparable to Jose Protacio Rizal y Alonso before him and Claro Recto y Mayo after him) and later his tertiary studies at the Universidad de Santo Tomas and became a successful lawyer, an “abogado de campanilla” at the prestigious law firm of Atty Jose Juan de Ycaza. Although not a rich Spanish mestizo by birth (an unspoken requirement for marriage in “de alta sociedad de Manila”/Manila high society), his intellectual brilliance and professional success allowed him to marry Carmen Zaragoza y Roxas, daughter of Spanish mestizo publisher and bon vivant Jose Zaragoza y Aranquizna and the rich businesswoman and real estate investor Rosa Roxas y Gomez de Arce. Rosa Roxas was a daughter of Mariano Leon Roxas y Arroyo and Carmen Gomez de Arce; Rosa was a granddaughter of Antonio Roxas y Ureta and Lucina Arroyo (brother of Domingo Roxas y Ureta, progenitor of the Roxas–de Ayala–Zobel–Soriano clan); and Rosa Roxas was a second cousin to the Spanish mestiza heiresses Carmen Ayala de Roxas and Trinidad Ayala de Zobel. At that emergent time, Gregorio Araneta was marrying up, and Carmen Zaragoza was marrying great potential (Predictably, her husband was expected to come from another prominent Spanish mestizo Manila family like her eldest sister Natividad [“Naty”], who became the second wife of the extremely affluent Demetrio Tuason de la Paz [“Queso”] --- from the ranks of the Tuason, Legarda, Prieto, Valdes, Roces, Roxas, Roxas de Ayala, Zobel de Ayala, Soriano de Roxas, Genato, Elizalde, et al). However, the time came when Gregorio Araneta as Solicitor General (1900), Director of top private companies Banco Espanol–Filipino (now BPI), Compania Maritima, La Germinal Cigar & Cigarette Factory, Insular Life Assurance Company, Philippine Guaranty Company, Philippine–American Drug Store, Philippine Education, Heacock’s, Philippine Engineering, Brias–Roxas (1903–08), Attorney General of the Philippines (1906), concurrent Secretary of Finance and Justice (1908) became the most successful, most prominent, and most formidable of the Zaragoza–Roxas in–laws. When Gregorio Araneta passed away on 10 March 1930, each of his thirteen surviving children received an inheritance worth more than one million pesos each, a very considerable amount at the time. That meant that his estate was probably worth twice the thirteen million bequeathed to his children, an unimaginable sum in 1930s Philippines. To show what a million pesos could buy in 1930, the Edificio Roxas on the Escolta was sold by Ayala y Compania to Pampanga sugar baron Jose de Leon y Hizon (Sr) (“Don Pitong”) that year for one million pesos, in tranches of one hundred thousand pesos monthly for ten months. Jose de Leon Sr changed the name of the edifice to Regina building in honor of his first wife, the Pampanga heiress Regina Joven y Gutierrez (he later purchased the nearby Gaches building and renamed it Natividad building in honor of his second wife, the Pampanga heiress Natividad Joven y Gutierrez, younger sister of his first wife). Joseph Raphael McMicking was tasked by his FIL father–in–law Enrique Zobel de Ayala to personally collect the payments from Jose de Leon Sr. On the tenth and final month, de Leon, ever the astute businessman, wanted to make a bet with McMicking: “Let’s flip a coin, Joe. If it’s heads, I pay you the balance of one hundred thousand. If it’s tails, you give me a discount of one hundred thousand.” A worried McMicking replied: “I’m sorry, I can’t do that on behalf of the family. We are collecting funds for projects. We will be happy to receive the final payment.” And so, the sale of the Edificio Roxas by the Zobel de Ayalas to the de Leons was concluded. Calle San Sebastian, later R Hidalgo street, was famous from the 1830s to the 1930s as the street where the Manila aristocracy lived. Its fame lay with its affluent residents in their elegant “rus in urbe” villas and gardens which were the first in Manila after crowded Intramuros and the bustling “arrabales” districts of Tondo, Binondo, and Santa Cruz. At one point in the 1870s, Manila’s richest families all lived there --- Tuason, Legarda, Paterno, Zamora, Roxas, Padilla, de los Reyes, Genato, Zaragoza, et al. The personal reminiscences of industrialist Atty Salvador Zaragoza Araneta (o 1902 – + 1982) teemed with childhood memories of “Pindong (Tuason), Tony (Prieto), Ben (Legarda), Ramon (Roces), Andong (Roces), Andresito (Andres Soriano y Roxas Sr), Andresito Soriano’s two sisters Carmen and Margarita (Soriano y Roxas), Jesus (Cacho), Pepe (Cacho), Lola Chata (Rosa Roxas de Zaragoza), Don Mariano (Tuason), Tio Salvador (Zaragoza), Tia Carolina (Tuason de Zaragoza), Tio Elias (Zaragoza), Tia Rosario (Velez de Zaragoza), Captain Salvador (Roxas y Elio), Don Demetrio (Tuason), Tia Naty (Zaragoza de Tuason), Tio Monching (Zaragoza), Mike (Elizalde), Juan (Elizalde), Manolo (Elizalde), Jacobo (Zobel), Alfonso (Zobel), Don Antonio (Roxas de Ayala), Don Alejandro (Roces), Don Leopoldo (Kahn), Dona Maria (Elio de Roxas), et al (the Tuason, Legarda, Prieto, Valdes, Roces, Roxas, Roxas de Ayala, Zobel de Ayala, Soriano, Zaragoza, Genato, Paterno, Zamora, Elizalde, Araneta, Preysler, Brias–Roxas --- the “de alta sociedad” high society of the day) in R Hidalgo street and in Baguio. A curious social convention in those days was that although R Hidalgo street was in Quiapo district, Quiapo was never mentioned by its residents (“Never the Q word.” as a rich and sophisticated Araneta granddaughter said), as R Hidalgo street was, at least financially and socially, more associated with the affluent San Miguel de Tanduay district (the area of Malacanang Palace) and its elegant General Solano and Aviles streets rather than bustling, noisy Quiapo. As top contemporary historian Ambeth Ocampo wittily observed: “Most of the Malolos Congress delegates just came from one street in Quiapo!”