Don Manuel Javellana and Dona Gertrudis Lopez were my Great, Great Grand Parents

The David Jamili K(Catague) Family, Barotac Viejo, Iloilo, 1955

I have enjoyed tracing my roots down to my great, great Grand Parents, Don Manuel Javellana and Dona Gertrudis Lopez. Most of the information of my ancestral roots I have read from the blog, www.javellana.wordpress.com. Most of the information in the blog regarding my ancestry were confirmed by several living relatives in the Philippines about two years ago. Other detailed information about my roots were verbally communicated to me by my father during my childhood years in Barotac Viejo, Iloilo, Philippines.

I am so proud that in my veins are the blood and genes of the Javellanas and Lopezes from Jaro, Iloilo, Philippines. In this post, I am also discussing the origin of the Javellana and Lopez surnames.

Hello Readers: My name is David Balleza K(C)atague, Jr. I was born in Jaro, Iloilo, Philippines on December 20, 1934. My Father was David Jamili K(Catague) and my mother was Paz Barrido Balleza.

My Father's father ( my grand father) was Roberto Catague( married to Consolacion Golez Jamili). Roberto was the oldest son of Marcelina Javellana who was married to Victoriano Catague. Roberto died when my father was still young. His mother remarried Ruperto, the younger brother of Roberto. Consolacion and Ruperto had eleven other children.

My father had two other brothers, Guillermo and Julio. The three brothers changed the spelling of their last name from Catague to Katague when my father was still in elementary school. My father was raised and sent to dental school by his rich aunt from Leganes, Iloilo. His reason was that he wanted his surname to be in the middle of the alphabet, because he does not want to be called early in class by a demanding teacher, who asked questions by alphabetical order. Strange reason but I believe this was true.

Marcelina Lopez Javellana was the youngest daughter of Don Manuel Javellana and Dona Gertrudis Lopez. Marcelina was also the youngest sister of Don Cristino Javellana, known as Capitan Tinong who was very active in the political and religious life and activities during his time( 1890's) in Jaro, Iloilo, Philippines ( www.javellana.wordpress.com)

Cristino Javellana was the sixth of the nine children of Don Manuel Javellana and Doña Gertrudis Lopez. His other siblings besides Marcelina were Escolastica (married to Geronimo Jiz de Ortega), Petra (married to Sixto Golez), Quintana (born 1840), Narcisa (born 1842, married to Simon Grecia), Inocencia (born 1849, married to Juancho Jamora), Mariano (born 1851, married to Crispina Gamboa), Florentina, Cristeta, and Carmen (married to Miguel Jayme y Lopez).

The origin of the surname Javellana according to Wikipedia is:

Javellana is a family surname from the Philippines(1850s) who originated from Jaro, Iloilo City in the Visayas. The original name of the Family was "Kim Byong" and is of Chinese descent. Due to a mandate by the Spanish Government, ordered by Spanish Governor General D. Narciso Claveria (November 21, 1849) for the natives of the Philippines to adapt the Spanish naming system, they and a number of Chinese and Filipino families were forced to adapt new names.

The name they chose was derived from Avellana, the Common Hazel (Corylus avellana), which was further derived from the town of Avelino in Italy. The appended letter "J" to the name was in deference to their hometown, Jaro.


Corylus avellana, commonly called European filbert, European hazel or cobnut, is a deciduous, thicket-forming, multi-trunked, suckering shrub that typically grows to 12-20’ tall. It is native to Europe, western Asia and northern Africa where it is typically found growing in rich thickets, woodland borders, wooded slopes, hedgerows, clearings and along streams.
Javellana Coat of Arms
On the other hand, the name Lopez is indeed a surname of Spanish origin.
Lopez Coat of Arms
The Lopez surname was originally a patronymic, meaning "Son of Lope", Lope itself being a Spanish given name deriving from Latin lupus, meaning "wolf". The surname is first attested in Old Castile in the heart of Spain, where the name originated in Visigothic times; however, the name is not of Germanic origin. Its Portuguese equivalent is Lopes, its Italian equivalent is Lupo, its French equivalent is Loup (or Leu), its Romanian equivalent is Lupu or Lupescu and its Valencian equivalent is Llopis. López is the most common Spanish surname in the United Kingdom as well as in the Philippines.

The most well known Lopez in the Philippines was Fernando. He married another Javellana ( Mariquit). I remember my father mentioned when I was a teenager that both Fernando and his wife Mariquit were our relatives. For those of you who have not heard of Fernando Lopez ( I was a recipient of the Fernando Lopez scholarship during my sophomore year at University of the Philippines Iloilo in 1952-1953), here's his short biography from Wikipedia.

Fernando Hofileña Lopez, Sr.,a Filipino statesman was born on April 13, 1904 and died on May 26, 1993. He was a member of the influential Lopez Family of Iloilo. Fernando Lopez served as Vice President of the Philippines for three terms – under Elpidio Quirino (1949–1953) for the Liberals and Ferdinand Marcos (1965–1969 and 1969–1972) for the Nacionalistas and also the chairman of ABS-CBN Corporation from 1986 to his death 1993.

Lopez was born in Iloilo City, Iloilo. His parents were Benito Lopez and Presentacion Hofileña. He was the younger brother of Eugenio Lopez, Sr. The Lopez family was very influential and the richest family in the province.

Lopez studied high school at San Juan de Letran College, finishing in 1921. He then studied law in the University of Santo Tomas, earning his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1925. After passing the bar examinations, he did not go into private practice, but helped his older brother manage the family business.

In 1945, with no prior political experience, Lopez was picked by President Sergio Osmeña to be mayor of Iloilo City. In 1947, he ran for Senator and won the election.

Lopez was one of the founders of University of Iloilo and the FEATI University in Manila. He is a descendant of Graciano Lopez-Jaena of Iloilo. And who is Graciano Lopez-Jaena? Here's some information from Wikipedia.

Graciano López Jaena was born on December 18, 1856 and died on January 20, 1896. He was a journalist, orator, revolutionary, and national hero from Iloilo, Philippines, who is well known for his newspaper, La Solidaridad.

Philippine historians regard López Jaena, along with Marcelo H. del Pilar and José Rizal, as the triumvirate of Filipino propagandists. Of these three illustrados, López Jaena was the first to arrive in Spain and may have begun the Propaganda Movement, which was a movement based in Spain that advocated the reform of the then-Spanish colony of the Philippines and which eventually led to the armed Philippine Revolution that begun in Manila in 1896. The Propaganda Movement was a key step towards a Philippine national identity.

Note: I am dedicating this article to my six grand children: Ian Katague King, Elaine Katague King, Philip Winchester Katague, Alix Katague, Marina Katague and Carenna Katague Thompson. Remember the saying that if you know your past you will have a clear direction to see your future.