The Deveras Clan - HAMORAON
The oldest Deveras I know about was my Lolo Pulo, Apolonio Deveras, married to my Lola Biyay whose real first name I can't recall now. Was it Genoveva or Pelagia? Ah, my memory fails me, I have to ask my Kuya or Ate or some of the older cousins in Camarines Sur. Or wait until a sudden flash of light dazzles my mind into remembering.
Lolo Pulo must have been an adventurer. In the early 1900s he took his family to a remote hilly and coastal stretch of land which bordered a part of Ragay Gulf and claimed a big part of it as their own. It was all virgin forest. And with blood, sweat and maybe some tears they cleared the trees and wild vegetation with sharp sundangs (bolos) and their bare hands by cutting and burning (kaingin). Once cleared the land was ready for planting. The level part was planted with rice while upland and other areas including what were called homesteads (awarded by the government) were reserved for coconuts and abaca. They built their homes by the sea.
All these he accomplished with his grown sons Felipe (Tio Ipe) and Epifanio (Tio Panio) and maybe the younger ones Roman (my father) and Leon (Tio Eon). Leon was an anak-sa-labas or born of another mother. He and Roman were almost the same age. There was also one female, the eldest, Tecla by name, our Tiya Lilay, my Ninang, my godmother. Then there were the loyal sidekicks - Tikyo (Eutiquio Berenia), an aeta (aborigine), and Mariano Salinas. Aetas look like blacks, with dark complexions and kinky hair but shorter in stature. Mariano was a handsome man but blind in one eye, my Lolo Pulo accidentally hooked it while they were fishing when Mang Mariano was still young. Up to now their descendants look up to the family.
It is not possible to relate the story of the Deveras family without relating side by side the nostalgia that is Hamoraon. The land cleared was part of the town of Minalabac and known as Hamuraon or Hamoraon or Hamurawon, from the hamurawon trees that abound in the area, also known as Molave in tagalog, the national tree of the country. Apolonio divided the claimed land from mountain to sea in five parcels, for Leon in the rightmost when facing the sea, then Felipe's, Epifanio's, Roman's and Apolonio's. The leftmost which was bordered by the punta or the point was given to Tecla.
(to be continued)
Lolo Pulo must have been an adventurer. In the early 1900s he took his family to a remote hilly and coastal stretch of land which bordered a part of Ragay Gulf and claimed a big part of it as their own. It was all virgin forest. And with blood, sweat and maybe some tears they cleared the trees and wild vegetation with sharp sundangs (bolos) and their bare hands by cutting and burning (kaingin). Once cleared the land was ready for planting. The level part was planted with rice while upland and other areas including what were called homesteads (awarded by the government) were reserved for coconuts and abaca. They built their homes by the sea.
All these he accomplished with his grown sons Felipe (Tio Ipe) and Epifanio (Tio Panio) and maybe the younger ones Roman (my father) and Leon (Tio Eon). Leon was an anak-sa-labas or born of another mother. He and Roman were almost the same age. There was also one female, the eldest, Tecla by name, our Tiya Lilay, my Ninang, my godmother. Then there were the loyal sidekicks - Tikyo (Eutiquio Berenia), an aeta (aborigine), and Mariano Salinas. Aetas look like blacks, with dark complexions and kinky hair but shorter in stature. Mariano was a handsome man but blind in one eye, my Lolo Pulo accidentally hooked it while they were fishing when Mang Mariano was still young. Up to now their descendants look up to the family.
It is not possible to relate the story of the Deveras family without relating side by side the nostalgia that is Hamoraon. The land cleared was part of the town of Minalabac and known as Hamuraon or Hamoraon or Hamurawon, from the hamurawon trees that abound in the area, also known as Molave in tagalog, the national tree of the country. Apolonio divided the claimed land from mountain to sea in five parcels, for Leon in the rightmost when facing the sea, then Felipe's, Epifanio's, Roman's and Apolonio's. The leftmost which was bordered by the punta or the point was given to Tecla.
(to be continued)
posted by E. Deveras | 11:01 PM
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