Narciso Claveria was more than just About Surnames

This week in 1849 on November 21: Narciso Claveria y Zaldua enacted the 1849 surname decree, directing people to officially adopt a family name. The decree states: “each cabeza shall be present with the individuals of his cabeceria, and the father or the oldest person of each family shall choose or be assigned one of the surnames in the list which he shall then adopt, together with his direct descendants.” This decree has always been associated with Claveria and many think this was simply what he did.

In an informal survey made, less than 40% of people asked did not know or had not heard of Claveria. Those who’ve heard of him only associate him with the surname decree. It continues to create the illusion today that many Filipinos have Hispanic ancestors due to their surname when they simply inherited an adopted family name. The decree is the reason for Jose Rizal’s family adopting Rizal to replace Mercado, for President Bongbong Marcos’s family adopting Tabuebue to replace Marcos, though they shifted back to Marcos later, or for former VP Leni Robredo’s ancestor replacing Espiritu with Gerona. Though many historians do not see Claveria as significant in Philippine history, he did more than just the surname decree.

Claveria was born in Gerona, Spain, on May 2, 1795, the son of Antonio María Nicolas Jose de Claveria y Portu and Maria de Jesus de Zaldúa y Murrieta. His father was a colonel of the Royal Artillery Corps and governor of Huesca. Following family tradition, Narciso joined the army when he was young. He married Anna de Berroeta y Villar in 1831 whose father was a captain of the Royal Navy. Throughout his distinguished career, Claveria held several important positions that included captain general of Navarre's Tenth Military District, chief of the General Staff of the Central Army, captain general of Aragon's Sixth Military District, and governor-general of the Philippine colony.

On his first day as governor-general in 1844, he reminded everyone to fulfill their duties and expressed the hope that by the end of his term the Philippines would become a rich, flourishing, and tranquil state. Claveria was known to be very cultured, hard-working, courteous, and honest. The slightest concerns in the colony caught his attention and he invited people from different walks of life to join him at his table so he could get a better feel of the colony.

He believed that to understand the people and the problems facing the colony, he needed to see them first-hand, and thus he was perhaps the most traveled governor-general. Claveria personally led his troops in military expeditions and was awarded the Cross of San Fernando and made the Conde de Manila by Queen Isabella II of Spain due to his victory in Balanguingui.

Claveria also corrected the Philippine calendar in 1844. When the Spaniards sailed they based their calendar on Spain's, not knowing that as they went westward and reached the Philippines this calendar fell a day behind the rest of the world. He then decreed that December 30, 1844, would be immediately followed by January 1, 1845 instead of the 31st to fix this. He also empowered the alcade mayores, created the first social security system for administration officials, and oversaw the establishment of several newspapers.

Claveria saw first-hand the situation in the colony, listened to ordinary people, consolidated rule in Mindanao, corrected an out-of-sync calendar, and systematized the use of surnames. So yes, Narciso Claveria was an extremely efficient administrator despite serving just a few years. A leader may not be able to do a lot in a short time, but he can choose to do things that will truly benefit his people.