Astorga Clan of Barugo (Leyte)

In the beginning there were eight.

We still do not know their father’s name but he was an Astorga. He sired six sons and two daughters. Their names were Ramon, Tomas, Salvacion, Gertrudes, Segundo, Juan, Vicente and Agustin; not necessarily in that order.

They are the known first generation Astorga of Barugo, Leyte.

All we know of Ramon as of yet is that he stayed in Barugo. Of Juan, we do not know anything.

Tomas went to Zumarraga, Samar, and begat three children that we know of: Francisco, Isidro and Benito. Isidro and Benito remained in Zumarraga but Francisco went to Alangalang, Leyte, and became Capitan del Pueblo. He was otherwise known as Capitan Engkoy.

Salvacion stayed in Asog, Calingcaguing, a barangay of Barugo. She is most likely the ancestor of the Astorgas in Barugo who own land in and originated from Asog. Itay Albino (Aruta) told me that the mother of his grandfather (Apoy Poroy) was an Astorga from Asog. Their family has landholdings in Asog, Calingcaguing.

Gertrudes had an illegitimate child named Gregorio. Gregorio had a son, Valentin Astorga. Valentin’s daughter, Ramona Astorga, married Lucas Acuin.

Segundo went to Calbayog, Samar. Only one of his children is known, a certain Dinay who married a De los Reyes.

Vicente married a Decena. We only know so far of some of his grandchildren: Antonio, Vicente Jr., Jose, Julian and Takoy. Antonio is the father of Aning (Tarzan) and Atty. Sabas Astorga. Vicente Jr. was the father of Encarnacion Astorga Espos, mother of Dr. Robert A. Espos Jr. Jose Decena Astorga was most likely the father of Nicomedes Astorga and grandfather of Trinidad Astorga (Jezza Astorga Penaranda’s lolo Trining). Takoy was the grandfather of former Manila vice-mayor Herminio Astorga.

Agustin is my third (great, great, great) grandfather. He also married a Decena, the sister of Vicente’s wife. Agustin had five children: Anunciacion, Prudencio, Adoracion, Eugenio and Josefa. (I come from the Josefa Decena Astorga lineage.)

Nothing is known of Eugenio. Of Adoracion, we only know that she married an Alcober.

Anunciacion married a Ponferrada. They bore four children: Pedro, Cristito, Ambrosio and Maria Astorga Ponferrada.

Pedro Astorga Ponferrada married Joaquina Candaza. They had three children, namely; Emilia who married a Cubilla, Carolina who married an Estil, and Gonzalo.

Cristito Astorga Ponferrada (wife not known) had four children: Engracio, Tomasa, Isidro and Ambrosio Ponferrada.

Another son of Anunciacion, Ambrosio Astorga Ponferrada, married Maria Ariza. They had six children: Domingo, Jose, Matilde, Victorina, Conrada and Antonia Ponferrada. Domingo Ariza Ponferrada is the father of Dr. Virgilio Ponferrada and Judge Rodolfo Ponferrada.

Anunciacion’s daughter, Maria Astorga Ponferrada married Amboy “Calamay” Penaranda and they had four children: Potenciana, Bruno, Rafael and Restituto.

Prudencio married an Avestruz (first name unknown). They bore three children: Josefa Avestruz Astorga, Marta “Mantay” Avestruz Astorga and Eugenio. One of Prudencio’s grandchildren (Josefa’s son) was the late Juan “Anit” Astorga Tiu, in his time one of Barugo’s prominent citizens and businessmen.

Josefa Decena Astorga (my great, great grandmother) married Rufino Astilla Avestruz. They had nine children: Apolonio, Rosalia, Gavina, Justino, Santiago, Jose, Dominga, and priests Mateo and Alejandro. All of Josefa’s children carried the surname Astorga instead of Avestruz. Anecdotal accounts have it that in their time something despicable was associated with the name Avestruz.

One of Josefa Decena Astorga’s grandchildren was a very prominent Barugon-on, Emilio A. Astorga. He was a pioneer educator and philanthropist. He founded or co-founded three private schools - Leyte Colleges (Tacloban City), Samar College (Catbalogan, Samar) and Leyte Institute (Barugo, Leyte). A Street in Barugo is named after him. He was the only child of Justino Avestruz Astorga who married Juana Acuin.

Dominga never married and there is no evidence that Rev. Fr. Mateo and Alejandro sired any children.

Apolonio Avestruz Astorga married Juana Ayaso Ponferrada. They had three children: Lucia, Rufino and Basiliso Astorga.

Lucia Ponferrada Astorga married Francisco Bunales Cabanacan. They begat six children: Vicente (my father), Natividad, Gloria, Maria, Angeles and Alejandro.

Atty. Rufino Ponferrada Astorga married Manuela Ruiz and they had five children: Josefa, Rufino Jr., Manuela, Rita and Juana.

Basiliso married Prima de Veyra and had two daughters, Milagros and Ma. Jesusa.

Rosalia Avestruz Astorga married Miguel Alcober. Their children were Caridad and Esperanza.  Caridad married Evangelista de Guia and produced four children: Anita, Faustino, Rosalia and Gloria.  Esperanza married Cirilo Escober and had six children: Mateo, Eriberto, Loretta, Estelita, Macario and Elnora. 

Gavina Avestruz Astorga married Pedro Apostol and they had four children: Eduardo (married Otelia/Lucia(?) Veloso), Segundo (married Mercedes Salas), Dr. Silvestre (married Sofia Villasin Penaranda) and Rev. Fr. Gerardo Apostol.  Corazon Apostol Moya is the daughter of Eduardo.  Segundo had four children; Arturo, Segundo Jr., Lourdes and Artemio.  Dr. Silvestre Apostol did not survive the Bataan Death March; he had a daughter (Consuelo Apostol Regino) with Sofia.

Santiago Avestruz Astorga had seven children with Justa Penaranda: Teresa, Asuncion, Santiago Jr., Rev. Fr. Manuel, Pedro, Pablo and Filomeno.  Teresa and Momong Neri had three children: Renato, Estelita and Norma.  Asuncion married Amado Tiu and had two daughters: Elena and Regina.  Santiago Jr. married Sofia Villasin Penaranda, the widow of his cousin Dr. Silvestre Apostol.  They produced two children: Victoria and Eduardo.  Rev. Fr. Manuel Astorga sired a son named Santiago.  Pedro was married to Ma. Lourdes Ponferrada Urmenita.  They were the parents of Alvin and Edwin Astorga.  Edna V. Astorga is the only child of Filomeno and Patrocinio (Villaflor).  Pablo died young and had no child.

Jose Avestruz Astorga was married to Juana Ponferrada and they had a son, Filemon. Jose also had a son (Deogracias) with another woman.  Filemon's children are Lesmes, Elvira, Erlinda, Milagros, Jose, Gemma, Manuel and Febes.  Deogracias had three children: Jose, Rev. Fr. Aresio Astorga and Lydia.

For the sake of brevity, I left out most of the details from the list that I keep. On the Agustin Astorga lineage my list goes all the way to the 8th generation.(1) I belong to the 6th generation.

For the young Astorgas who are not able to trace their lineage to any of the first generation ancestors and feel they are at a dead end, despair not for this is a work in progress. There are a few of our first and second gereration ancestors we know nothing about.  I am sure one of them is yours.  It has taken me several years to get to this point and it is still far from being complete.(2) There are a lot of missing links. Every answer generates more questions. It is hoped that some of you will be able to provide some of the missing links to this living document.

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Notes:
(1) I use a computer software program, RootsMagic, to store all the information I gather from interviews. The program can generate different types of detailed reports. Please email astorgaclan@gmail.com if you want a copy of a detailed narrative report sent to you.  It is about 30 pages long.

(2) Over the course of several years many Astorga clan members have helped me with my family-tree journey. But I would like to give special mention to three individuals whose help was vital. First is my late father, Vicente Astorga Cabanacan, whose pride in his heritage inspired me to search. Second, my aunt, Manuela Astorga Laure, who initially provided me with a lot of names from sheer memory. Last but not least, Manuel ‘Tito Marny’ Astorga, who, unbeknownst to me, for years held the critical list of names of the known first and second generation Astorga of Barugo. Something that was as close to the Holy Grail as there is.