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The Alviar Family-the Philippine Roots
By Pastor Ruber Alviar

April 25, 2010

 

It was during the expedition of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi to the Philippines that the Alviar root was established. The expedition took Legazpi and his men to the shores of Pozzorubio, Pangasinan during the 18^th century.  

 

Severo Valdez de Alviar, one of the lieutenants and close aid of Legazpi married a native Filipina and they produced five sons.  Severo was the Spanish ancestor of the Alviar clan.

 

During the siblings’ grown up years, a rebellion against the Spanish rule began under the leadership of Andres Malong.  The five siblings were suspected by the Spaniards of being active participants in that uprising.   To elude arrest, they scattered to different provinces.  One of them went to Ilocos and another went to Laguna.  One of them remained in Pangasinan and hid himself away from the local Spanish authorities.  Two of them, however, went down south – one to Zamboanga and the other to Iloilo.

 

According to information passed down to us and from reliable sources, the son of Severo Valdez de Alviar who became our ancestor from Iloilo was a certain Señor Tiburcio de Alviar.  He became wealthy because of his successful buy and sell businesses.

 

Tiburcio was our direct ancestor.  He got married in Iloilo and had children, one of whom was our father, Placido Alemani Alviar Sr. (born circa 1888).

 

My quest in gathering additional information will continue to find more proof about this claim.  Any information, documents, or even a stories about the origin of the clan is much welcome, and you can rest assured that it will be dealt with meticulous and cautious research to avoid any mistake.  Your understanding, cooperation and moral support will enable us to reach our goal.  Thank you very much.

 

You family in Luzon,

Ruben O. Alviar

Born on May 29, 1943

 

Tiburcio

 

Tiburcio de Alviar was a successful businessman involved in the buy and sell of various products imported from Hongkong.  He also imported coffee from as far as Burma.   He owned lands in Iloilo.  

 

Placido

 

Nakapag-aral siya.  He was known as a “Tenedor de Libro.”  He became a classmate of Sergio Osmeña in Cebu, who later became President of the Philippines.  He studied in Cebu. 

 

He joined the Filipino “sacadas” who worked the sugar plantations in Hawaii.  At that time, senior people found it easy to travel abroad.  Later, he went to live in Seattle, Washington, USA and stayed there for a long time.  It was there that he encountered the Lord and had a personal relationship with Him.  He became a Methodist.  Later, he returned to the Philippines as the only Methodist in the Alviar family.  He became a Pastor of a Methodist Church.

 

He was itinakwil by the Alviar family of Iloilo because of his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and was denied his inheritance rights.  He was not given his share of the land by his brothers and father.  He did not pursue his inheritance rights because he had little interest in land at that time.   His interest was to serve the Lord and spread the Word of God.

 

When I returned to Iloilo, many tried to do sulsol to me for me to fight for my inheritance rights as a direct descendant of Tiburcio.  But I did not want to disturb the situation because my goal is to unite the Alviar family, not break it apart.  God gave us lands in Luzon.

 

Placido was a good friend of the business tycoon Jose Yulo of Canlubang, Laguna.  He persuaded Placido to become the “Encargado” (In-charge) of the Yulo hacienda in Florida, Pampanga.  He managed the Yulo horse stables and cattle, together with my older brothers until the time of the Japanese occupation.  Placido and his family were fully trusted by Mr. Yulo. 

 

When the Word War Two broke out, the treasures of Yulo were fully entrusted to Placido and his son Stimson, and they buried them in the hacienda land.   After the war, they uncovered baul-baul na alahas and returned them without any loss to the Yulos.  Placido recalled that when the sun shone on the abundant treasure, the gold was nakasisilaw like the sun.  Because of this loyalty and trustworthiness, Placido and Stimson became very close to the Yulos.  Stimson became a personal bodyguard of Mr. Luis (Tito) Yulo.  The latter ran for President of the Philippines but lost.  Stimson was his constant companion.

 

My older brother Stimson became the bantamweight boxing champion of the whole Southern Tagalog region.  He was an excellent boxer.  If he had the appropriate trainer he would have been a world-class boxer like Manny Pacquiao. 

 

Stimson was assigned by Mr. Yulo to take care of his personal race horses which were brought to the Sta. Ana race track to compete.  Stimson was good in riding horses.

 

When I became a teenager, Tito Yulo wanted to send me to Palawan to be the Manager of his horse stables there.  But God did not permit it, and besides, my mother did not agree that I be away from her.  I was just 18-20 years old then.

 

My mother Consorcia was just a plain housewife because Tatay and Kuya Stimson did not like her to work outside the home.  In the early 1950s, life was not that difficult as it is today; mother did not have to work.  Tatay earned enough then.  She died in 1983. 

 

Stimson eventually left the employment of Mr. Yulo and became a Pastor.  He was fully committed to serve God in the ministry.  He stopped doing boxing. 

 

Later, my family transferred residence to Mindoro because Pastor Esteban Cruz of Bongabong persuaded Tatay to help in the ministry there.  They started a ministry there and we met the missionaries of the Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF).  Through that ministry, I was trained to do mission to tribal people – the Mangyans.  I later used this skill in my ministry with the Dumagat tribe in Tanay, Rizal.

 

When Tatay grew old and needed an assistant, Ptr. Tianco came and persuaded him to go to Mabitac, Laguna.  There, Tatay and Stimson built an orphanage called “Gethsemane Children’s Home” on top of a mountain.  The building faced the cemetery of Mabitac.  It was Tatay and my brother Stimson who established that ministry. That’s where my father died.  His grave faced the gate of the Orphanage, which was just across the road from the cemetery. Tatay died at the age of 80 yrs old.

 

Descendants of Placido and Consorcia

 

1. Henry (Died) married Rosita (Died)

Children: Arthur (Died)

 

2. Pastor Cornelio (Died) married Corazon (Died)

Children:

1. Pastor Efraim: Pastor in the Lucena Baptist Church
2. Marilyn (in US): Business woman
3. Zenaida (in US): Business woman
4. Evelyn (in the Philippines): Full-time Housewife
5. Arlene (in the RP): Business woman
6. Jean (in US): Her business is an agency that provides passports

 

3. Pastor Stimson (Died) married Rosalla (Died)

Children:

1. Pastor Joel: Pastor and Director of Jireh Children’s Home
2. Michaela
3. Engr. Noel (Died)
4. Engr. Ariel: Owner of a mechanical shop
5. Engr. Pastor Lemuel: Contractor of buildings, supervised pipe installation, lay pastor in their church

 

4. Placido Jr. : (Died); single bachelor

 

5. Esther married Arcadio

Children:

1. Loida: working in Joel’s Orphanage
2. Miriam: Housewife in Pangasinan

 

6. Benjamin (had a stroke, now comatose) married Erlinda

Children: James (He works in one of Manny Pangilinan’s companies) married to Susan.  They have five children.

 

7. Pastor Ruben married Rosal.  They have no children

 

Rosal

 

I met my wife Rosal in Mandaluyong.  She was a missionary worker of Pastor Antonio Ormeo of the Association of Baptist Churches in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao (ABCLVM). I was then a single Pastor in Tanay in 1968.  The missionary workers of ABCLVM went up to Tanay.  I wanted to continue my bible studies there.  At first, I could not expand the ministry because it was the mission territory of ABCLVM.  Then Pastor Ormeo offered me to join their mission and I accepted it so as not to limit my movements.  At that time, I already had a homestead awarded by the government.  I composed poems.  I dedicated one of my poems to Rosal during her birthday.  I caught her heart and we got married.   

 

(The End)