04/09/2018
Del Valle Family Historical Narrative:
Note: I will be relating the story of our family from the point of view as a 4th generation member. Excerpts are taken from the 2014 interview of the 3 siblings (Tita Ces, Mommy Joy and Papa Doc) at the Tiongson home in La Vista, QC; this 2 hour interview was recorded in video and will be posted at a future date. My own personal inferences and comments will be marked by an asterisk (*)
Our recorded family roots take us back to Spanish times, town of San Jose in Batangas Province.
Juan del Valle (my great-great grandfather) was born and raised in San Jose; he married Purificación Gonzales who hails from the town of Tiaong, Quezon Province. Together, they had 2 children: Manuel del Valle (our Mamay Owel) and Honesta del Valle. Mamay Owel is the Grand Patriarch of my family line as seen in the diagram and he is the builder/owner of what is now the Torre del Valle Ancestral Home in Ilaya, Candelaria. They started out not as a landed family but as hardworking ordinary folk.
When Mamay Owel and sister Honesta were still very young, the family relocated to the town of Candelaria (*this was during the late Spanish era) when their father Juan, found work as an “Escribidor”; he was a Record Keeper at the Municipal Office. Apparently, they sold their home in San Jose and purchased a small piece of land at the outskirts of the town proper by the river Masin. (*since they were of meager means, property purchase value was probably much cheaper in this area vs. property in the Poblacion or town proper; this explains why what would eventually become the del Valle Estate by expansion started out as a small parcel of land by the river in an isolated and remote barrio far from the town center).
According to Tita Ces, the family started out living in a small humble shanty-like home (kubo); not yet the mansion with a towering structure that would replace it many years later.
Mamay Owel did not attain a High School or College level of education; he only reached up to Grade 6. According to Papa Doc, he was an avid reader of books and journals (La Juventud) and attained his knowledge thru self-study. He was a self-educated man. At a young age, he ventured into Agri-Business and bit-by-bit, over time, purchased small parcels of land in nearby Barrios (Kalyehon, Malabanban, Kinatihan, Masalukot, etc). By sheer hard work and a lifestyle of extreme frugality, he was able to save enough to expand these properties in size and eventually bought new ones, notably in the town proper itself.
With his growing stature and wealth, the shanty that he grew up in was replaced by a one story home where he lived with his ageing parents and with sister Honesta. He was an upcoming savvy binatilyo businessman of notable stature during his time; however, the interesting thing about him is that he did not live a flashy lifestyle. According to the siblings, he was a quiet and reserved person who did not mingle with the other landed families. He was not a practicing Catholic but ascribed to the concept of a greater God (whom he often referred to as Bathala). His joining the Freemason movement as a young man seems to be at par with his philosophical / religious views.
Mamay Owel went on to marry Julia Recto from the town of Tiaong. Of note, Nanay Juling is a half-sister to noted politician and statesman, Claro M. Recto. They had one son: Lazaro (my Lolo Lalong). According to Tita Cess, they had a 2nd son who died during childbirth.
By this time (this was already during the American Commonwealth era), the one-storey house was expanded into a 2 storey mansion. Mamay Owel raised his family in the first floor of this mansion. His sister, Honesta, went on to marry Manuel de Gala, also from the town of Candelaria. Together, they had 4 children: Feliciano (Lolo Piling), Constancia (Lola Tansing), Clarita (Lola Claring) and Erlando (Lolo Erling). Nanay Honesta’s family lived in the second floor of that mansion.
Mamay Owel was widowed at a young age when Juliana died (cause not known); he never re-married after that. Their son Lazaro was only a child then when his mother died.
In time, the mansion was further expanded with the addition of a 5 floor high tower, what is now known by Candelarians as “ang Torre ng Ilaya”. It was a unique structure, the only one of its kind in the whole Province of Quezon at the time. The 1st floor was part of the entrance to the house, the 2nd floor an azotea to the adjoining living room, the 3rd floor an enclosed room used for storage, the 4th and 5th floors used as observatory decks. The view from the 5th floor is indeed spectacular! On one side, you can see the countryside up to Mt Banahaw; on the other side, the town proper itself up to Tayabas Bay. (*why the tower was built is not clear, but in my research, wealthy families during the Commonwealth era built towers adjacent to their homes or as part of their homes as a status symbol)
Only son Lazaro (our Lolo Lalong) grew up in that mansion and lived an affluent lifestyle. He was a dashing bachelor and studied in Manila at the University of the Philippines. He took up Dentistry but apparently did not finish as he ventured into many businesses that his father, Mamay Owel, bequeathed to him. Lazaro eventually went on to marry Salome Javier (our Inang). Salome (Ume was her nickname) hails from another landed family - the Javiers of Candelaria. Juan Javier, Inang’s father, was a politician extraordinaire and served as Mayor of Candelaria for a term during the Commonwealth era. The story goes: Lazaro met Salome by chance and not by intent. Lazaro was courting another lady who was a friend of Salome and she (Inang) was the messenger/courier of their love letters. That courtship did not blossom and Lazaro eventually fell in love with our Inang. They got married in Candelaria and moved into the del Valle mansion.
Lazaro and Salome had 3 children: Cecilia (Tita Cess born 1928), Ligaya (Mommy Joy born 1930) and Manuel (Nonong born 1932). Together, they raised their young family at the 2nd floor of the mansion. Papa Doc and Mommy Joy recall their early childhood years as one of an affluent lifestyle. They frequented Manila riding in a limousine whenever Inang would go shopping in the Escolta District (*the Makati of that time). They dressed up as rich children did at that time. As Mommy Joy says: “Those were the days! Life of the rich and famous!”
Lolo Lalong died at a very young age from an aggressive oral cancer; Papa Doc was only 3 years old then when he passed away. The family continued to live for a while in the mansion with Inang raising the 3 siblings by herself as a single mother. Mamay Owel, her father-in-law, supported their family and eventually gave Inang a piece of commercial property in the town proper where a bakery was built. Inang ran the business and in time, eventually re-married to her Chief Baker, Pedro Javillo (we called him Tió). Together, Inang and Tió ran the bakery business and expanded the structure into a 3 floor home (*we called it "ang malaking bahay ni Inang"); they had one son, Conrado (my Tito Dado).
When Inang moved out of the del Valle mansion to her new home, her father-in-law, Mamay Owel requested that the 3 siblings be left to his care. Their agreement was that the children were to visit their mother during the weekends. From that time on, Mamay Owel took it upon himself to personally raise and support his 3 grandchildren until the day he died. As Mommy Joy would then say: “That was the end of our glory days as the rich and famous!”. Here’s why:
Mamay Owel was a strict disciplinarian. Although he was a wealthy man, he was very frugal in his ways. He was a principled person who lived a simple and austere life. He taught his grandchildren the value of hard work and of living a simple, non-extravagant lifestyle. Although he could have well afforded to send them to private schools, the 3 siblings attended Grade School at the Candelaria Elementary Public School. They were forbidden to dress up as rich children do, insisting that they wear simple clothes and slippers (sipit tsinelas) on school days. His intent was to inculcate in his grandchildren the value of simplicity and of blending with the common folk (pakikisama). One time, Mommy Joy (the naughty one) was caught going to school wearing her dressy shoes. Mamay Owel reprimanded her and made her attend school wearing wooden clogs (bakya). According to Tita Ces and Papa Doc, he would give them 50 centavos allowance (baon) each day expecting them to save a few centavos each time they would come home from school. If they were able to save even a few centavos, he would reward them and increase their baon the next day by the same amount that they saved. At age 7, Papa Doc was ordered to harvest fruits in the garden of their mansion and then sell them at the railroad station at the town proper (*imagine a 7 year old kid who lives in a mansion carrying a bayong full of fresh fruits and selling them at the railroad station). Mamay Owell did not let him keep the wholesale earnings for the day but only the profit part of it; call him stingy, but that’s the way he taught them the value of money. While Papa Doc went to town to sell the fruit harvest, Mommy Joy did the same but at the front of their home. Tita Ces, being the eldest one, was trained to be his personal secretary for his Agri-Business empire. She was proficient in using the typewriter and at keeping records… at 10 years old! So, at a very young age, despite their affluent background, the 3 siblings were raised in a very rigid and demanding household and learned to appreciate the value of money, of practicing hard work and patience, of living within meager means.
Mamay Owel was strict and his way of disciplining them was never physical (palo); his was by isolation and lecturing. Whenever any of them disobeyed or did a naughty deed, he would isolate them in the dark storage room of the basement of the house (bodega) for 30mins to 1 hour. Afterwards, he would call them to his room or on the azotea where he hung out and asked them why they think they were being punished. He would then explain to them, as if talking to an adult, what they did wrong and why it was wrong and what their punishment would be if they did it again. Of the 3 siblings, it was Mommy Joy who was reprimanded the most, followed by Papa Doc. Tita Ces was always the most behaved one and was his favorite.
Whenever weekends came, it was like a vacation adventure for the 3 siblings. They were so excited when Friday would come as the weekend would now be spent with their mother, Inang. But before he allowed them to visit their mother, Mamay Owel would ask them what time they would be back home. Usually, it was 5pm of the coming Sunday. He would then look at his watch and tell them – “I will expect you to be back here by 5pm sharp”.
Weekends at Inang’s home at the town proper were a real treat for the 3 siblings, as you can imagine. After living a strict and rigid lifestyle at the mansion, they were now reunited with their mother. It was a more open and relaxed atmosphere in that home and there they would play with their step-brother, Tito Dado. Then, when Sunday came, there was an aura of sadness as they headed back to the mansion… and they were there at exactly 5pm as they had promised their Mamay Owel… not a minute late!
During the Japanese occupation, Papa Doc clearly remembers that the mansion was garrisoned by Japanese soldiers as they used the Torre as a look-out tower. A machine gun was placed at the top floor. He distinctly remembers that whenever the soldiers would enter the house in full gear, Mamay Owel would hide them in the basement room for their safety. When the American Liberation forces came towards the end of the War, the 3 siblings and other family members who lived in that mansion were evacuated and went into hiding, first in Barrio Kinatihan and later to join their Javier kin at Laiya, Batangas. Mamay Owel stayed alone in the house during this evacuation period but when the American forces invaded the town and drove the Japanese out he went into hiding for a brief time at Barrio Kinatihan to stay with his katiwala (assigned property overseer). It’s a miracle the mansion was not burned to the ground or damaged during the armed conflict between the American and Japanese forces!
After the War, when Tita Ces and Mommy Joy graduated grade school, they were sent to Manila to attend high school up to college at the Philippine Women’s University. Papa Doc went on to do his high school to college at San Beda. At first, the 2 sisters lived in a dormitory nearby but by the time Papa Doc joined them in Manila, they lived in a rented house in Quezon City that they shared with their Javier cousins.
Mamay Owell passed on in 1949 at age 70 from complications after a bout with pneumonia. At that time, the 2 sisters were already in college and Papa Doc was in high school. As recalled by Papa Doc, Mamay Owel died peacefully in his bedroom surrounded by all the family members. That was how he wanted to go.
His Living Will was to have the mansion demolished after his death. It was executed a few years later as attended to by his nephew lawyer, Feliciano del Valle-de Gala (Lolo Piling). What is left standing today is the tower that you now see as well as the foundation of the former house since these were of concrete. The property itself was given to the 3 siblings; the part of the property beside the river where the house used to be was inherited by Mommy Joy. Papa Doc says that it was to Mamay Owel’s instructions to have the house demolished as it was mostly a wooden structure built of Narra wood and he did not want any future occupants exposed to the dangers of a collapsing structure.
At a very young age, the 3 siblings were inheritors to a vast empire of property holdings. Tita Cess went on to marry a businessman from Malolos, Bulacan (Tito Lando, RIP 2016), Mommy Joy went on to marry a half-Japanese businessman from Rosario, Cavite (Daddy Tony, RIP 1992) while Papa Doc finished Medical School in UST, married his hometown childhood sweetheart, who happens to be his 3rd degree cousin (Mama Baby, whose maiden surname is Gonzales) and practiced General Surgery until his retirement in 2010.
I have 6 cousins from the Tiongson family: Ma. Virginia (Ate Gin), Rolando (Kuya Boy), Ma. Dativa (Ate Bing), Raul (Kuya Raul... my best friend-cuzzin, RIP 2008), Ma. Regina (Nini) and Ma. Jesusa Cecilia (Chilet); 1 cousin from the Imamura family: Anna Liza (Liza), while we are 3 siblings who carry the family surname: Francisco Isidore (me), Ferdinand Gervase (Dino) & Cristina Rosabel (Ting). My grandmother (Inang) who remarried to Pedro Javillo after Lolo Lazaro's death had one son, Conrado RIP 2013 (my favorite uncle, Tito Dadz who married his hometown sweetheart, Nelia Lirio) and I have 5 cousins from that side: AnnaMarie (Anna), Miguel (Catcho, RIP 2015), Ma. Theresa (Maya), Jun Pedro (Jojo) and Conrado Jr (Jong).
All 3 siblings are in good health; Mommy Joy, in particular, is very eager to see the project restoration of the ancestral home become a reality within her lifetime (she owns the property where the Torre now stands). With God's help and with guidance from our Mamay Owell, Lolo Lalong & Inang (their father and mother respectively) and all dearly departed del Valle-de Gala family members who once lived in this beautiful home... hopefully this will happen within our lifetime!
