Fiestas, family reunions, and The Freeman

On September 28 this year, people from all over the Philippines, either carrying Lucero as a last name or have at least one Lucero ancestor, gathered in Argao, Cebu, for a grand reunion. The term "grand" was apt because it has been a long time since the family has had a reunion, the last one happening in 1998, while the first was in 1994. The family held it in the town of their ancestors –Argao-- to renew their blood bond as descendants of Doña Francisca Yldefonza Lucero, the earliest proven ascendant of the family.

Reunions are often big affairs. I gave a brief presentation about the history of the family, which is what I am usually tasked to do in all reunions I go to. And in planning one, you must determine which branch or branches are included. A family becomes a collection of families until these smaller families grow bigger and bigger until they take on a separate identity. As the various family lines branch out, they become a clan, a concept always been used in many cultures. The traditional definition of when a family becomes a clan is that it is at least five generations removed from the original or root family and there are more than hundreds of family members. In the Philippines, the term is "angkan" in Tagalog and "kagupa" in Cebuano. In the case of the Luceros of Argao, there are now eight distinct lines coming from Francisca Yldefonza Lucero, with five continuing with descendants still bearing the last name, and thus forming a clan. Descendants include artists Maila Gumila, Jon Santos, and model Amanda Griffin, architect Paulo Alcazaren, and even the accused killer of actress Nida Blanca, Philip Lucero Medel, plus a plethora of Cebuano politicians.

Our family reunion was scheduled to coincide with the fiesta of Argao so that those no longer living in Argao or who were not from Argao could enjoy the fiesta, as fiestas are popular for families to get together. One old writeup of Argao's fiesta from 1932 mentions that aside from the merriment, Argao stood out that year because it had an Eskrima exhibition.

This year's fiesta was also a bit illuminating for me, historically speaking. During a lunch at the Matarlo compound (they are also Luceros through their mother, the Modesta Lucero Miñoza), Brother Elias Matarlo showed me an old photo of the original San Miguel figurine. I already had my suspicions years ago that what's displayed outside the church, encased in that elaborate glass case, wasn't the original statue since I compared it to an old magazine with a photo of the statue and they looked quite different. So the photo that Brother Elias showed me further confirmed this.

The original San Miguel statuette is now supposedly in the Locsin Museum. Based on whispers among the older Argawanons, sometime in the ‘70s armed men stormed the church in Argao, went to the altar, and took the antique and original San Miguel. Though nothing was ever written about it, and very few remember this, the theft was supposedly perpetuated by the most powerful woman in the Philippines at the time as she was growing her extensive collection of antiques. The San Miguel statuette was extremely rare as it was supposedly carved from an old Sali-argaw tree (where the town's name derives) in 1733. One guess who this powerful woman was in the ‘70s. I interviewed some of the descendants of the parish priest's assistant who witnessed the theft, who all swear to this event. So perhaps there is some truth to this story.

Thirty years ago, the history columnist of The Freeman, Prof. Samson A. Lucero, wrote briefly about the first Lucero family reunion. Today, 30 years later, I, as the paper's History columnist and also a Lucero, am now writing about another Lucero family reunion.