In Memoriam: Graciano (Nonong) B. Neri

 He has been gone for three years now.  But the memory lingers.  I was one among many who spoke after the Mass celebrated prior to his interment.

Because of the frenzy and exigencies of the moments, I doubt anybody if any remembers what I said then.  I actually printed out what I read for my part.

Found the note, and will now write it out in a blog entry as permanent testimonial to a life lived in close proximity to mine.

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“Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells toll; it tolls for thee”

This is a quote from poet, John Donne.

Words we have often heard said.  Nice-sounding and inspiring words. But what exactly do they mean to each one of us?

Graciano Nonong Neri, Jr. died a week ago and we are here gathered to help send him off to a life hereafter.

In the following narration, I try my best to put personal touches to those inspiring words above.  To show how Nonong’s passing diminishes me because he was involved in my life.

More than just being first cousins, both our families were unusually close to each other, due to certain special circumstances.  This very intimate closeness made for many shared experiences, of joys and jubilation, of mirth and merriment, of sorrows and hardships.

Both families tended to do things together.  The children practically growing up together, planning and doing things together.  Going to picnics together, taking trips together, going on vacations or out of town trips together.  More like two families fused as one.  Since Nonong’s family was more blessed materially, one could say that in many of those joint activities we were more the beneficiaries rather than the benefactors.

Taking Nonong out of the equation then means simply and outrightly taking away those revered memories from me and making them vanish in mist, since Nonong was an integral part to all of them.

So from the time that I became self-aware as a person, living in the retiring hometown of Cagayan de Oro, it has been difficult for me to imagine events and occasions during my growing-up years without Nonong and his family somehow figuring in them.

During hot summer afternoons, we went riding with horses in and around the Provincial Capitol grounds.  On other occasions, we planned extended trips to Taguanao, again taking horses with us, aside from ample provisions for overnight stays.

During family gatherings, parties, and restaurant sorties, Nonong and his trusty jeep figured in helping family members to and from the different venues they were being held.

During college years in the same school, there were instances when our associations were more than just being cousins.  One time we tried our hands in campus politics, and vied for elective positions together.  And yes, Nonong was with me when I first paid a visit to a local girl we had spotted earlier.  So riding tandem in my motorbike we went together to face the girl’s family who was residing in the poblacion.

And there were even hazardous and dangerous errands we both had to undertake, like taking a boat and flying on an old and rickety plane, hopping from one Visayas island to another, bringing with us cash resources to an aunt who had a critical need for them.

And there were countless other occasions when we partnered together, again sharing memories that cannot be rent asunder without somehow making them disappear from me.

Thus, I say his sudden passing certainly diminishes my life.

And I can only bid him Godspeed till we meet again.  Till then, Nong.

PART SIX: Neri-San Jose of Cagayan de Oro Genealogy

 

 

Having come in possession of sufficient data, it is opportune to define and trace the Neri-San Jose branch of the Neri Genealogy.

At the start of the 1800’s, we begin with Salvador Neri, who married a Coronado.  History notes that Salvador became gobernadorcillo from 1831 to 1832.

We also have information about his known siblings.  They were Lino Neri who followed Salvador as gobernadorcillo from 1832 to 1833, allowing us to presume that he was a younger brother, and another sibling was Leon Neri and from him we have the start of what we may call the Neri-Velez branch of the genealogy.

Salvador produced three known sons, Pedro, Graciano, and Ramon.  Graciano and Ramon married two San Jose sisters, namely Dominga and Emmanuela.

My family comes from the Graciano line (he died in 1907).

We did not know much about his one sibling named Pedro.  But for his other sibling, Ramon, we know a lot.  And one significant detail was that 2 sons of Ramon, namely Vicente and Ramon, Jr. married two Fernandez sisters, namely Vicenta and Josefa.

Graciano and Dominga produced 8 children and they are as follows:

Anastacio Neri, who was married to Marianita Velez, and who died in August 14, 1923, childless.  At one point, he was a mayor of Cagayan de Oro.

Pedro “Edrit” Neri, who married Crescencia Mercado/Rabatido.  Born in 1898, he died on December 24, 1925, childless. He had spent his life in what was then called Tagnipa.  The place is now known as El Salvador.

Filomeno “Minoy” Neri, who was single and childless.

Faustino “Tinoy” Neri, who married Matilde Menciano.

Ramon Neri, who married Cleofe Velez (born in 1875).  Born in 1878, he died in 1932.

Paz “Inday” Neri, who married Nicolas Pelaez of Tailisayan

Conchita Neri, who married Juan Borja.  Born on January 3, 1883, she died on January 25, 1945, childless.

Felisa “Feling” Neri, who married Casimiro Tamparong, Sr.

Our direct line started with Ramon Neri-San Jose who married Cleofe Velez.

The attached chart outlines the rest of the branch up to the current generation

1.       Pedro Edrit Roa 2. Lucia Neri (Marbella) 3. Felisa Neri-Tamparong 4.Crescencia Mercado-Neri 5. Conchita Neri-Borja 6. Faustino Neri 7. Manuel Rabago 8. Laura (Laureta) Rabago 9. Chito Rabago 10. Paz Neri-Pelaez Picture taken circa 1907-1908

In the photo the siblings are Pedro, Felisa, Conchita, Faustino, and Paz. Thus, the other siblings not in the picture are Anastacio, Filomeno, and our grandfather, Ramon, to complete the eight offspring of Graciano Coronado Neri and Dominga San Jose. In the above photo, the only person not included in that generation is Lucia Neri, an elder sister of my father.

 

Our paternal grandfather,  Ramon Neri-San Jose.

Remembrances of my Late Father

                                                          Amadeo R. Neri

 

To preclude people from misunderstanding  my attitudes toward my father, let me say I am truly grateful for both of my parents.  After all, without both of them, I would not be around.  Albeit my life could still be judged simply as a whiff of smoke for its triteness and lack of importance.

So on my own behalf, and on the heavy behalf of all my other siblings numbering over a dozen, I push tentative hands to write about what I remember about my father.  For the benefit of all and sundry, and just maybe for the benefit of siblings and their issues confused about the realities of their own father and/or grandfather.

My father was a lawyer by profession and a scion of a very prominent local family who even to this day can count on many close relatives who are considered important and of consequence in the city.  He practically lived his life based on his own rules and perceptions, unfettered by the many social standards and conventions that defined his own generation.  Conventions that would definitely be considered very constricting compared with current standards.  Whether rightly or wrongly, they indeed were limiting to a man desiring to give rein to his free spirit.

But giving free rein to his free spirit he did, in most things he did in his short life of 56 years.

How he started life as a young kid is still sketchy to those of us who knew him.  He was practically an absentee father to all of us children of Milagros Velez Neri.  And on the scant occasions we were together as family, he barely spoke and was a great disciple of the old truism that kids were to be seen but not spoken to or heard.  But from notes and books he left behind, one could weave a tale of whole cloth about his life and the things that were important to him.   If anything he was an inveterate note-taker, leaving behind copious notes about a lot of things.

For one and to illustrate, he had an avid liking for cars and gadgets in general.  He kept records of all vehicles that went through him, keeping manuals of instructions, pictures, and writing notes on their margins.  He even left behind a list of all vehicles of his family, starting with his own father, giving details of the vehicles, the years purchased or owned and dates disposed. 

On a side note, over time, I was beneficiary of several vehicles coming from him – two motorbikes that I converted for the motorela business, a VW buggy, and even a small Toyota sports car that I eventually passed on  to an older brother who was leaving for the US.

He was quite unconventional in many of his ways.  Which included even his perception of what family life was all about.

This veering away from custom and culture manifested in many other ways.  Coming from a very patriarchal family, his father we gathered wanted him to be a doctor.  So this he followed finishing pre-med, probably from some exclusive school in Manila like the Ateneo de Manila where he spent college years before the last war.   This was something not to be taken special notice of since he came from a family with very great financial resources and could well afford to indulge their children with the best their milieu could offer.

Then we learned he shifted to Law which got sidetracked when war broke out.  And in the meantime, his own family had grown.  So after the war he resumed his law studies and reviewed for the bar in a then unlikely place, in Cebu at the University of San Carlos which just started its law department.  Instead of losing himself in Manila where he would have benefited greatly because his family had many acquaintances and relatives steeped in the law profession.  At the very least, he could have gotten critical pointers or “leaks” that would have helped his ratings in his bar exams.  But he decided otherwise, and instead buried himself in the serenity of faraway Cebu, the land of my mother.

He still placed 4^th in the bar exams, garnering a grade of over 91%, which to this day is the highest rating any local topnotcher has gotten, including those who topped the bar.  No doubt he was a very intelligent person, his academic records and people around him were quite unanimous on this.  And I add this native gift may have been greatly enhanced by dogged diligence and dedication that knew no bounds.

In his practice of law, he took on the hardest and most complicated cases and he rarely considered the remuneration he could derive from them.  His legal interests trumped any other considerations, whether in monetary kind, or for social approbation.   He was just passionate about law, spending many days and nights laboring and preparing for his cases.  He lost himself in this pursuit that he probably neglected other equally important responsibilities – like his family.  And coming from such a financially secure background, his knowledge about income and expense was at best rudimentary.  No, let me take that back, his knowledge, about almost any subject of current interest then was very keen and extensive, the notes and books he left behind tell us that.  But his practice of  these things did not typically match his knowledge of them  And his very consequential inheritance from his own parents may have spoiled him even more, since he could always rely on them to extricate him from any problems of a monetary nature.  Until the well ran dry. 

And for all these sacrifices and show of altruism, he became quite a darling of the local legal profession, earning a very laudable and enviable legal track record that could have been easily parlayed into politics.  Many still claim that at his peak, he had not lost a single legal case.

He did dabble a bit in politics, but with dismal results in all his tries.  He himself from some of his past actions and words had declared that he was not good at politics.  And thus, may not even have liked it.

Of no surprise then, he died in public in the local amphitheatre, during a speech he was giving in his bid to become vice-mayor of the city.  He just collapsed and my cousin, a doctor who attended to him afterwards, said he was dead before he reached the stage floor due to massive thrombosis.

Thus ended at 56 years of age the short life of a person who wanted to give free rein to his  spirit.

PART SIX: Neri Genealogy: New Findings

I quote from the message exchanges I had with Dr. Antonio J. Montalvan II, PhD, regarding my question on the origins of the Neris here in Misamis:

“It was Rizal's Jesuit friend Fr. Juan Bautista Heras (later pastor of Jasaan) who was on a boat trip one day with Misamis Governor Leopoldo Roldan. While they were along the coast of Lanao, they noticed some signals, some commotion on the shore. They proceeded to alight. There they met the Rajamoda Sampurna who asked for their help. He said he was escaping Lanao because of some internal warfare there that endangered his life (appparently a rido). He said he was willing to go with them. And so they brought him to Cagayan. Perhaps the peril he was in must have been so jeopardizing to his safety that in Cagayan he decided to renounce Islam. A solemn ceremony was then prepared by the priests of Cagayan where a native ritual, the "tampuda," was performed in public. It was there that he adopted the surname Neri.

This happened in the last quarter of the 1800s, very recent indeed. I will get back to you on the exact date. I am personally aghast that many Neris claim him as their ancestor. In fact, there were already Neris present in Cagayan before the entry of the Rajamoda. My suspicion is that the reason why he chose "Neri" may have been the fact that the baptismal godfather was a Neri, in the same way Chinese converts to Catholicism do so.

This account can be found in the Jesuit Letters annotated by another Rizal friend, Fr. Pablo Pastells, since then translated by the present day historian Fr. Jose Arcilla SJ.”

Fr. Arcilla was with us at Ateneo de Cagayan during high school as a scholastic and again years later as a priest. He is now stationed at ADM University, engaged in his field of expertise which is history.

As can easily be gleaned, this account sheds some light on the beginnings of the name of Neri here in Misamis. Given that the sources are confirmed historical figures, one is inclined to believe that the data furnished are incontrovertible.

But what does it say about the claimed origins of many Neri families here? Let us see what we can deduce by examining both accounts.

First, we can say outrightly that if we take the quoted account as factual, Neris did not originate from only one source because Neri families already were in existence prior to the conversion related above which was already in the last quarter of the 1800s, meaning from 1875 to 1900. I can show historical Neri figures who were born in the first quarter of the 1800s. Juan Neri, from whose beginnings we have the families today of Wendy Ramos, Mrs. Edilth F. Pelaez, etc. was born in 1807 and died 1857. Two Neri brothers, Salvador and Lino were governadorcillos of Misamis, in 1832 and 1833 respectively, inferring therefore that these two were born in the very early 1800s while assuming further they got their government posts when they were in their late 20’s or early 30’s. Our family came from the line of Salvador Neri.

Now, on to the names Raja Sampurna and Rajamoda Sampurna. I tried to uncover though only cursorily all I could possibly learn about the names. The word raja or rajah though a title which has origins in Sanskrit is a generic name which generally means king or prince. And the word Sampurna we know to be a name of a clan, which today is still extant in the areas around Lake Lanao. Thus, Rajah Sampurna, could be the title of any or all kings or princes of the Sampurna clan at any time during its long history. But would Rajamoda Sampurna be more specific as to denote a particular person at a particular time in history? In Sanskrit, the word moda would mean joy, happiness, or rejoicing.

Now, back to the Christian Neris. Given the above we cannot now claim that all the Neris started with the christening of “a” Sampurna rajah and his family in 1779, officiated by a parish priest of Cagayan de Misamis, named Pedro de Santa Barbara. Though there appears sufficient evidence to show that indeed that named priest served the parish beginning 1775, and that such a specific christening took place (though I myself will have to be shown hard evidence to this effect.), The quoted conversion above refutes this claim successfully.

The second conversion as related by Dr. Montalvan above could nevertheless have another plausible explanation aside from the one he has advanced. In the second instance, one can surmise that Rajamoda Sampurna followed the example of a previous Muslim ancestor and assumed the same name. After all, both presumably came from the same clan. And on its own this could stand a looser plausibility test.

So, which extant Neri families came from the first or the second conversion? I suppose those who cannot show ancestors dating back to the early 1800s could form part of the second conversion. And my graph does show a couple of lines that do not yet date that far back. And these are those of Merced Neri who married a Gabor, and Genaro Neri who married Silvestra Emata.

Back to the first conversion. As I had previously intimated I have plotted out ancestors of Neri families that go all the way to 21 years before the 1779 christening. But I yet have to hear any heirs of these families provide any oral or documentary evidence that point to their ancestors’ part in the christening – whether those ancestors were participants in the christening or their parents were .

These questions and doubts will have to remain standing, until such time that they can be refuted or verified and confirmed.

UPDATE: from Dr. Montalvan:

I now have the data. The year was July 1879. This is the background: The Spanish Jesuit historian Pablo Pastells, who was once assigned to Jasaan, related that on July 1879, Spanish governor Leopoldo Roldan of Misamis was travelling along the Panguil Bay with the Spanish Jesuit and Rizal friend Juan Bautista Heras who visited the missions in northern Mindanao. Passing along the Agus River in the vicinity of Iligan, they saw the Spanish flag being waved on shore. Disembarking, the two met the Datu Sampurna and his companions who presented themselves that they were at war with their people. Days later, the Datu was in Cagayan to formalize his admission to the Spanish crown.

That is my own summary from the Cartas de Mindanao of Pastells. By the way, I have forgotten that the translation I used is that of Peter Schreurs ("Mission to Mindanao," Claretian Publications 1998). The Arcilla translation is another work.

Now let me quote verbatim from the Schreurs translation:

"During the public ceremony, they were assembled under a beautiful kiosk, where a picture of His Majesty Alfonso XII was placed under a richly-adorned canopy. Before the authorities and a bog crowd of people, they cut a fathom length of rattan in one stroke, threw an egg on the ground, and extinguished a burning candle in one blow, by which manifestations they wished to indicate how they deserved to be treated if they were to break their promises. Then the act was signed by both parties, and some cannons were discharged, after which Moros and Christians marched through the streets of Cagayan.

By the way "rajamoda" or the variant "radiamoda" means "heir presumptive." Somewhat akin to a crown prince."

PART TWO: Genealogy: The Neri Family of Mindanao

UPDATE: From Rogelio Roa Neri re Neri-Estavas line:

From Rogelio Roa Neri re Estavas-Neri Line

Regarding attached FB Post,Subj:NERI GENEALOGY,I have additional details to its paragraph 4 as regards the Neri-Estavas Clan.
Yes,my brother Ramon Roa Neri III and I belong to the Neri-Estavas Clan of Ozamiz City and Oroquieta City,Misamis Occidental. We have another brother,Renato Roa Neri. Our father,Agustin Estavas Neri,married to Adela Daaca Roa of Cagayan de Oro,has two brothers,namely:

1.Narciso Sr-married to Socorro Centino
Sons:a.Narciso,Jr
b.Fortunato II
2.Nemesio Sr-married to Herminigilda Acot
Sons:a.Fortunato III
b.Joseph
c.Antonio
d.Nemesio,Jr
e.Mario
f.Benjamin

Narciso Sr,Agustin,and Nemesio Sr are all sons of Fortunato Sarigumba Neri who was married to Praxedes Lumacang Estavas. Thus,the Neri-Estavas Clan.

To go further,my grandfather's father was Lucas Dumanjug Neri of Ozamiz City who was married to Pastora Sarigumba. My great grandfather had five other sons aside from my grandfather,Fortunato,namely:

1.Hospicio
2.Eleuterio
3.Susano
4.Pantaleon
5.Francisco

I think accounts on my lineage will not be complete if I do not mention as well who my great grandfather Lucas' siblings are and their father's(my great great grandfather)name too. Well,my great grandfather has three other brothers,namely:

1.Tomas
2.Eusebio
3.Sixto

In our clan,considered as our patriarch or progenitor was Juan Neri,father of my great grandfather Lucas,who in turn as discussed earlier was the father of my grandfather,Fortunato. He was said to be from Cagayan de Oro.
As chronicled,Juan lived for some time in Lanao having married the daughter of a royalty and bore her three sons named Datu Samporna,Datu Buaya,and Datu Barandaya. Not long after his wife died,he went to Ozamiz to help the inhabitants there fight marauding pirates from the deep South. It was there that he met a lady(her name skips my mind) surnamed Dumanjug. They soon got married and thereafter Lucas and his three brothers were born.
Our grandfather Fortunato used to regale his older grandchildren with stories about the intrepidity of our great great grandfather Juan as a warrior that saw action in the Lanao Provinces. Well,this is a subject of another story.

Postscript: The details herein are culled from the personal files of our older cousin,late Daylinda Centino Neri-Saren. It appeared that she religiously chronicled all the stories told to us by our grandfather Fortunato during his leisure time then. I hope my other cousins can share their own stories of our genealogy too.

Latest update in August 15, 2018, originally posted on Facebook:

NERI GENEALOGY

After having posted the initial blog entry so many years ago, followed by several related entries, it is time to take a review of what has transpired and what unfinished business needs to be attended to
Serendipitously got the free time, so I went through not only all the entries made, but importantly reviewed all the comments entered, which in toto numbered over 400.

So as informal review these are the points I came up which in my personal belief were not only highlights but issues that could assist the completion of the overall genealogy charting and tracing.

1. This first point is more of a spotlight on the following Neri descendants who because of the blogs were able to find resolution and maybe closure to the issues of their parentage, or maybe simply for allowing them a medium to express their sentiments:
Maria Angelica Neri – daughter of Ramon M. Neri
Maria Christina Neri – daughter of Ramon M. Neri
Denver Estopil Neri – son of Luis Neri
Michele Andrea Neri – daughter of Felino M. Neri, Jr.

2. This came from Teddy Delfin. Esperanza Nery y Neri who descended from Mariano and Ambrosia Fortich Neri, was the mother of former Camiguin Gov. Joselito “Joseling” Neri. Esperanza had a brother named Eustaquio, while Joseling had a sister named Ying Neri y Navarro. It looks like these data will have to be matched and verified with what we already had written and established.

3. Ande Nagac gave us the name of Casiano Neri, who is related to the Neri-San Jose. He had a brother named Crisanto Neri. What we can establish is that Casiano Neri is listed as one of the heroes of the Battle of Cagayan.

4. Luke Neri introduced us to the Estabas Neri line.
His grandfather was Narciso Estabas Neri, whose son was Eros Narciso Neri. Narciso’s siblings were: Agustin Neri, whose sons were Ramon Roa Neri and Rogelio Roa Neri; Loloy Estabas Neri; and Genoveva Neri Pambuena (Iligan).

5. A descendant gave us the name of Isaac Neri Chaves, Sr. who was born June 3, 1905, and he came from Camiguin and Cagayan de Oro.

6. Beltran Neri gave us the name of his father which was Angel Neri and his grandfather, Marcelino Neri

7. Lastly, Mary of Australia who is writing her own version of her genealogy gave us the following:

 Her grandfather was born in 1877, and his wife was Desideria Balboa Neri. We are in the dark as to whether it was the grandfather or the grandmother who was a Neri.
Those reading through and finding names familiar may leave comments, whether for clarification, correction, or whatever. Any input will be appreciated.

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Just realized that adding more comments to the original blog entry has become problematic, so decided to introduce a new blog entry with the same title for purposes of future updates and for new comments.

Those visiting this original blog entry please add your comments here please.

Let’s keep them coming.