The Search for My Own Roots
Let me just go back to Felipe whose baptismal record I found. He had a sister, Teodora. Their parents were Hilario and María Figueroa. Teodora married Pedro Caleón producing five daughters one of whom was Juana. Now in her eighties, Juana was no other than the lady who had given me information on her grand maternal Figueroa relations, instead of the grandfather Vergara relations, that caused me to trek from Anyatam, San Ildefonso, Bulacán through Muños to the hills of Sierra Madre ranges at Caranglán, Nueva Ecija. Anyway the adventure as mentioned above produced good results! O Felix Culpa!
I also found the death record of a certain Pedro Vergara who had been buried on July 15, 1821. He had died possibly as an infant or single since the record listed his parents, Bernardo and Ana de Guzmán. Bernardo could not have been born later than 1790. Was Pedro the brother or father of my great-grand father Alejandro? Was Pedro's father Bernardo my great-great grandfather or great-great-great grandfather? Was he the first one from Balucuc, Apalit, Pampanga to cross the brook separating Pulilan and Apalit to marry a young lass from Inaon, Pulilan, Bulacán? The answer can possibly be found in Plaridel's Parish Church records as Pulilan used to be a part of Quingwa (now called Plaridel) or in Apalit Parish Church records? Will I be able to discover the original Vergaras who had crossed China Sea to settle in the Philippines? The search is not yet finished!
Back to Australia
With a heavy heart, I left my native land for the adopted one. With the help of my son, John, I created a web page for the Vergara Family Tree of the Philippines. Having searched the Net for all Vergaras from the Philippines, I emailed them to publicize the existence of the web page. There was a tremendous amount of interest. A young student of Xavier University in Ozamis City, Lloyd Nicholas Vergara, submitted his ancestral roots who had come from Barili, Cebu. Details about the Vergaras from Cabanatuan City will be published soon, and possibly from Naguillán, La Unión and Sán Mateo, Rizál. Meanwhile I got hold of the death certificate of Mel Waje showing his father to be a Matute, but Mel had decided to use his mother's surname. Requests have been sent to all relations found in the Net for the whereabouts of his mother. A response from a possible distant relation came from as far away as Norway. The search goes on!
The Search Worldwide
Five months after returning to Australia, I have been inundated with request for, and supplied with, information around the world by numerous Vergaras who have expressed great interest in the family trees published. A nephew of the mayor of Cabanatuan City, Julius Vijandre Vergara, emailed me from the United States the family tree he has constructed under the condition that I do not publish it in the web until he verifies some details. From a Filipino genealogy page Magno-Veluz Chronicles, I borrowed information on Ilocano Vergaras. A second cousin of Congressman Bernardo Vergara of Baguio City, Arsenio Vergara, retired USN in Virginia, and Teddy Vergara Jr., working in Saudi Arabia emailed some details of the Vergaras from La Unión. From the web page of the Church of Jesus of the Latter Saints, I obtained the numerous information on the Vergaras of Barili, Cebu. From South Korea, an Augustinian missionary priest, Fr. Arlon Vergara, OSA supplied me the details of the Vergaras of Magallanes, Sorsogon. I have also been honoured to have communication with the world renowned Filipino agricultural scientist, Dr. Benito Vergara Sr., PhD, whose ancestors had come from the Vergaras of Mexico, Pampanga. Since my concern is with the Vergaras from the Philippines only, I had to reply to Spanish queries with the usual response "Sorry, yo hablo español, pero muy poco solo"!
Every time I see any Vergara in the net and have an inkling he or she is from the Philippines, I'd send an email. Since the last update on July 26, interesting information has been sent. One response came from John Paul Vergara, PhD, Chairman of Ateneó de Manila Dept. of Info. Systems and Comp.Science, who said that he was related to the Vergaras from Cabanatuan City. Having carried out some suggested changes, I have finally included on this home page the Cabanatuan Vergaras whose family tree had been sent from the United States by VC Vergara. John Paul and VC are cousins whose uncle is Mayor Jay Vergara of Cabanatuan City.
Two family groups have settled in La Union. From far away Saudi Arabia, Teddy Vergara, Jr. sent some details of the Vergaras of Naguillan, while from Virginia, USA, Arsenio Vergara supplied information on the Vergaras of Tubao, from whom Congressman Bernardo Vergara of Baguio City descended. Another email response was sent by Teofilo Vergara, Director for Technical Services, National Food Authority, Philippines, who sent me the details of his roots from the Vergaras of Mangatarem, Pangasinán. This is the second group of Vergaras from Pangasinán, for some descendants of Vergaras of Umingan have settled down in Sydney, Australia.
At the time of this update, August 14, my wife and I, together with our daughters, sons, grandchildren, present and future in-laws are booked to fly to the Philippines on December for Christmas, annual reunion of the De Jesús family of Malolos on January 1, 2000 and first anniversary of my father's death on January 11, 2000. If everything goes to plan, I will make a great effort to renew acquaintance with the Vergaras I had talked to and to meet as many Vergaras as possible for the first time.
Update August 26, 1999
It is devastating to hear the news last week on the tragic death of a second cousin, Blesilda Maniquíz, the daughter of Até Ludíng, the retired schoolteacher who helped a lot in getting information about the Vergaras in Nueva Ecija. Blesilda, who was always cheery and full of life, died on August 14, 1999, is survived by a daughter. Reqiuescat in pace Domini! The sad note, however, is minimized by a wonderful message from Palmsdale, California sent by Virginia Vergara Escaño. She wrote that a few years ago her brother in Cebú City had shown her a Vergara Family Tree book which displayed such a big family where her branch was found towards the end of the book! The book also related that the family had originated from the seven Vergara who had come from either China or Spain. She also gave the details of her grandfather born in Barás, Catanduanes whose ancestors had come from Pampanga. If this is true, then there is a substance in my theory on who the first Vergaras in the Philippines were and where they came from. It looks like I may have to visit Cebú City before the new millennium if the planned family trip to the Philippines is realized on December, 1999. I immediately sent an email to Virginia's brother in Cebú, Domingo Vergara, to inquire about the possibility of having a copy of this Family Tree book.
Vergara Family Tree Book
Every now and then, whenever important changes or additions are carried out, invitations to visit the web page are made to any Vergara resulting from search made. Consequently, another Vergara branch details were contributed by Sonia Vergara whose roots had come from Virác, Catanduanes. So far there are now three branches of the Bicolano Vergaras. Van Vergara, from Manila, recognized some relations whom I had interviewed in Apalit. In as much as no clear link can be made to them, what information he contributed concerning his family is published under the new option of Apalit where thee are now three branches. From Quezon City, a young guy, Gabriel Vergara, emailed the details of his folks whose origins were from San Antonio, México, Pampanga. Since no clear connection to the other two branches in that town can be established, a new option is added. So far this day (September 22, 1999), the number of Vergara branches has grown from the original nine personally collected during the Philippines trip to the present twenty six branches. Nineteen are made possible through the wonders of the Internet. And there are more coming!
Meanwhile the Family Tree book that is supposed to be in Cebú is actually an ocean away in Los Angeles, in the possession of Lily Vergara Richards, sister of Virginia Vergara Escaño and Domingo Vergara of Cebú City. She emailed the good news that a copy of the Vergara Family Tree Book is on its way from California, USA to Melbourne, Australia. I have been eagerly looking forward to sighting this book which their niece in Cagayán de Oro City, Anna Liza Vergara Yu, described as a "blue book that showed a very large family spread worldwide with a lot of doctors, priests, teachers and even government officials who are Vergaras." In the meantime, the first birthday has just been celebrated by the youngest Vergara of the Lumbác clan, of Pulilan, Bulacán, Angelo Miguél Vergara, in Australia.