THE FAMILY
“The Sendico-Nacor Family of Pili, Camarines Sur”
Our family came from
the capital town of Pili, Camarines Sur. Though we grow up here, the history of
surnames related to us is asserting that almost of our ancestor didn’t hail
from our hometown. The history of the town of Pili during the Hispanic era
tells us that our town is the home of “Cimarrones” or “Remontados”. These
people resisted foreign rule centered on “Ciudad de Nueva Caceres” or the
present-day Naga City. Looking at the people of the present-day Pili, almost were the products of the immigrants of the 20th century. Urbanization is
strong especially after the town was declared as the provincial capital
sometime during the 50’s. In the other side, we will see that my father side is Albayano by blood,
as my mother side is CamSurenyo by blood.
MY FATHER SIDE
My father is Nestor Nacor y Balane, born on October 8, 1959 at San Juan, Pili,
Camarines Sur. His father is Cipriano
“Panoy” Nacor y Luar who was born in Camalig, Albay, while his mother is Milagros “Lagring” Balimbing Balane- Nacor
who was born in Sto. Domingo, Albay. Looking for opportunities outside their
respective towns, they both met in Pili, Camarines Sur.
NACOR
“Nacor” is the Spanish name of the eldest brother and
separately for the grandfather of Abraham. Its English translation is “Nachor”.
Previously, I believe that “nacor” is the Spanish term for the English word
“nacre”, meaning “mother of pearl” but I found less evidence to support it.
Above is the genealogy of my father side. Here, we can see the lineage from my unknown ancestor (who we will gave
“A” as name) up to me. My ancestor “A”
Nacor is whom I estimated to be the contemporary of the Claveria decree of
1849. In other words, “A” Nacor with his children are the first one in Bicol to adopt “Nacor” as surname. Thus, all Nacors whom
believes to have a Bicolano blood will trace their ancestry to “A” Nacor. Unfortunately, I don’t know
his name :(
All Filipino who posses this surname can either trace their origin
from Camalig, Albay or Aklan. I still can’t find any connections between the
two clans. The safest assumption is that they separately adopted “Nacor” as surname
according to the Claveria decree. In my case, I am sure that my ancestor hails from
the Camalig town of Albay (the home of the best “pinangat”). My grandfather
Cipriano grew there, with his father Dionisio. “B” Nacor is the grandfather of my grandfather. He is a son of the
ancestor of all “Bicolano Nacors”.
*Note that people who hails from Camalig, Albay is known to have
surnames beginning with the letter “N”.
BALANE & BALIMBING
“Balane” or “Balani” is a Filipino word meaning “magnet”,
while “Balimbing” is a kind of fruit in the Philippines. All who posses these
surnames with a Bicolano blood can trace their ancestry back from Sto. Domingo,
Albay. My grandmother Milagros Balimbing
Balane- Nacor grew there. Every first of May is the town fiesta there. My
Lola always visits her hometown traveling from Pili, Camarines Sur to attend
the fiesta and in the same way to meet again her siblings and relatives there.
My grandmother “Lola Lagring” claims that she has a Spanish
ancestry (thus all of us) mainly from his father (Family Balane). She also told
us that in his mother side (Family Balimbing) they have Indian ancestry. Take
note that these two surnames were created due to the Claveria decree, thus I
believe they changed their surnames as a matter of compliance.
*Anyone who traces their ancestry from Sto. Domingo is known
to have “B” as the beginning of their surname.
LUAR
“Luar” is a Portuguese word meaning “moonlight”. A table
below suggests that Luars came originally from Pilar or Castilla, Sorsogon.
Some of them might migrate to Camalig, thus establishing their surname in the
given town.
MY MOTHER SIDE
My mother is Eden Baylon Sendico- Nacor, born on December 13, 1966 at Tinangis,
Pili, Camarines Sur. Her father is Victoriano
“Itay” Sendico y Remoto, while her mother is Leonor Velarde “Inay” Baylon- Sendico. They were both born and grew in
Pili, Camarines Sur.
SENDICO
Finding for the meaning of my middle name is tough. It takes
almost a decade for me to really know its origin. Previously, I believe that it
is purely Hispanic and I think “sendico” is something like a corruption of the
English word “sender” just translated to Spanish.
I just discovered that “Sendico” is a Chinese surname just
“hispanized” to conform for the Claveria decree. “Sendico” is listed at the
site www.bibingka.com/names as one of
the surnames with Chinese origin. I
think it came from my Chinese ancestor with a name of “Xin Di”, a contemporary
of the Claveria decree of 1849. He was believed to be a Chinese immigrant
during the 19th century in Bicol. He is addressed as “Xin Di Co” as
a sign of respect for an elderly, where the suffix –co is used as an honorific.
His name is translated into something sound like Spanish and later used by his
descendants as their surname. Common pattern for surnames with three-syllables
affixing with –co can also be seen from surnames like Cojuangco, Limchauco,
Tantingco, Quintico, Dychinco, etc.
All Filipino who possess this surname can either trace their origin
from Bicol region, or Western Visayas. A friend from Western Visayas told me
that he knows someone with “Sendico” as surname on their province. My mother
believed that a relative of them (a Bicolano) married someone from the Visayas.
This might be the link of believing that the two clans might be related, and
the surname only originates from the Bicol region. My estimates tell that an
unknown ancestor who we will name “X” with his siblings are the first to use
“Sendico” as surname in Bicol.
BAYLON
“Baylon” is related to the Spanish word “Bayle” meaning “to
dance”. “Bayle” is also the word which Bicolanos adopt to use for “dance”,
contrary to Tagalog “sayaw” and Hiligaynon “saot” which preserved their native
word.
According to my mother, Baylons came from Nabua (Bua),
Camarines Sur. The town of Nabua is believed to be the first settlement of the
Rinconada people, which later conquered the present-day Fifth Congressional
District of Camarines Sur. My grandmother “Inay” grew up in Pili, Camarines
Sur, but her father came from the Rinconada district.
Nabua has no known single letter of the alphabet which
natives’ surname begins. But its neighboring town of Baao is popular for people
having surnames beginning with “B”. My assumption is that Baylons might came
from Baao originally not Nabua. Migration might be the real cause why my
great-grandfather said to hail from Nabua.
VELARDE & REMOTO
“Remoto” is the
Spanish word for “remote”. My mother believes that “Remoto” came from the
Partido district (Fourth Congressional District) of Camarines Sur.
My mother claims
that “Velarde” is really a native of Pili, Camarines Sur. Her basis for that is
because there are two Velardes who became the municipal mayor of Pili, Camarines
Sur, namely: Jose Velarde and Braulio Velarde. I’m not sure if they are
immigrants or really a native during the Spanish era. But my mother claims that
we have a “Cimarrones” ancestry through her grandmother “Matilde”.
THE CLAVERIA
DECREE OF 1849
The Claveria decree
of 1849 had been strictly implemented in the Bicol region. The book contains
Spanish and native names to be used as surnames. Also, Hispanic surname doesn’t
necessarily mean Spanish ancestry.
Common first letter of the surnames of native
Bicolanos
|
|
First Letter
|
Area of Origin
|
A
|
Legazpi City
|
B
|
Baao, Rinconada Area
|
B-C
B
C
|
Eastern
coast of Albay
Sto. Domingo, Tabaco City
Tiwi, Malinao
|
D
|
Manito and
Bacon
|
E-L
J
L
|
Sorsogon
coast
Sorsogon City
Pilar, Castilla
|
I
|
Masbate
|
M-S
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
|
Miraya
speakers
Daraga
Camalig
Guinobatan
Ligao City
Jovellar
Oas
Polangui, Libon
|
P
|
Partido Area
|
T-Z
|
Catanduanes
|
Random
|
Rest of
Ambos Camarines
|
“The letter means the
natives adopts surnames beginning with it according to the 1849 decree.”
Are we related? Kindly tell us of the missing link. Thank You :)
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