Parental Roots
My family's story is traced from two distinct clans, the Colinas of Mandaue City, Cebu, and the Ybiernases of Pardo, Cebu City. What follows is my attempt to piece together the lives of my mother, Asuncion Colina, and my father, Artemio Ybiernas Sr., their families, their origins, and the quiet paths that led them to each other, up to the year they were joined in marriage in 1962.
in Mabolo, Cebu City, circa early 1950s.
My mother, Asuncion, affectionately known to family and friends as Asion, was the daughter of Joaquina Clarus Colina and Domingo Colina. Her mother, whom we lovingly called Lola Aqui, was from Talamban, Cebu City, while her father, Domingo, hailed from Subangdaku, Mandaue City. Domingo passed away when my mother was still very young. Many years later, in June 1986, Lola Aqui followed him to the other side, not long after I had graduated from high school.
Mama was one of several children. Her siblings were Demetrio, the eldest, followed by Nilo, Eduardo, Nestor, Rose, and her younger sister Erlinda. Of them, Rose passed away many years ago from breast cancer while living in Manila, a loss that left a quiet but lasting mark on the family.
Before she met my father, Mama lived with her aunt and uncle in Mabolo, Cebu City. Lola Cleta, whose full name was Anacleta Colina, and her husband Anastacio Colina. Both have long since passed, Lola Cleta among those who eventually made their way to the United States before her death.
Pardo, Cebu, early 1950s.
My father, Artemio Reponte Ybiernas Sr., also known as Temyong by those who knew him, was born to Rosa Reponte Ybiernas and Ireneo Ybiernas, both from Inayawan, Pardo, Cebu City. Pardo lies roughly fifteen kilometers from Mabolo, where my mother lived.
To trace the Ybiernas surname in Cebu, one must go back to my great-grandfather, Rufino Ybiernas, fondly remembered as Tatay Pinoy. My father spoke of him with reverence. Family lore held that Tatay Pinoy came from Guimaras Island, or maybe from Iloilo City itself, words just passed through from generations. The full truth of his origins was never really confirmed. Whoever were his relatives, in that part of the country, remained a mystery to us, a missing chapter in an otherwise another story to tell.
Yet the connections never is entirely obscured. Our relatives would recall that visitors bearing the Ybiernas surname from Iloilo and Panay Island would occasionally come to visit, introducing themselves as relatives.
At the center was Tatay Pinoy — Rufino Ybiernas.
Tatay Pinoy settled in Inayawan, Pardo, where he married Matea Gaviola, a local woman from the same community. Together they raised seven sons: Cornelio, Ireneo (my grandfather), Tranquilino, Luis, Sergio, Jose, and Teofilo, the last of whom I still remember well. We called him Papa Filo, a warm figure from childhood memory. My father once mentioned that one or two of his uncles eventually migrated to the United States, though the details of that were never fully passed down to us.
If my memory serves me right, my parents were married sometime in 1962, at St. Joseph Parish Church in Mabolo, Cebu City.
At the time, my mother worked at Sen Hiap Heng, while my father served in the Philippine Constabulary.
These are the roots from where I came from.
✦ to be continued in the next chapter ✦
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