My Family History: From Custodio to Calang

The earliest history of the Calang family ever recorded starts when young Felix Custodio, a resident of Sibunga, Cebu, decided to have an adventure to the seas and landed in a place called Surigao. He married a woman with the family name of Sigre. She bore four children christened as Pedro, Beltran, Lourdes and Apolinaria. Beltran Custodio married Bebiana Cabison and had eight children: Eusebio, Raymundo, Tomas, Nicolas, Estanislao, Maximino, Leona and Irenea. Tomas, a loyal Katipunero of General Emilio Aguinaldo, was at this period of time a wanted person by the Spaniards. Knowing this, the rest of the Custodios decided to change their family name for the fear of also being hunted by the Spaniards. They borrowed an uncommon family name from the Mamanuas: Calang. Hence, Pedro Custodio was called Pedro Calang, as well as Beltran and his sisters. All of Beltran’s children were registered with the family name of Calang, except for Tomas, who remained a Custodio with the presence of his fellow Katipuneros.

Nicolas Calang, Beltran’s fourth child, married Catalina Cabiling and built a family of eleven. Their nine children were Alfonso, Tomas, Pio, Felomina, Paula, Raymundo, Juan, Pedro and Gregoria. Raymundo Calang married Apolonia Rivero and decided to migrate from his homeland to a forestly place by a river which was still unknown to him at that time. Today, that place is called Agusan del Sur, where Agusan River silently flows, and where Raymundo once lived is now called Bayugan, specifically in Brgy. Noli. They had ten children, whom they had given special names such that their names follow an alphabetical order: A for Antonio, B for Bernardino, C for Clementino, D for Damiana, E for Eufemio, F for Felicisimo, G for Gorgonia, H for Hermogina, I for Iluminado and J for Josefina. Eufemio, the fifth child, grew up to be a leader to his own land, became a Barangay Councilor, a Barangay Captain, even a Minicipal Mayor. At his ripened age, he fell in love with an Ilocana named Gavina Ramos who was then a teacher in their barangay’s public elementary school. Gavina was also the fifth child of her family from Bantog, Anao, Tarlac. Her parents were Hospicio and Angela Ramos, and her other siblings were Juan, Santos, Apolonia and Lorenzana. They were the second-degree cousins of Fidel, a resident of Asingan, Pangasinan, who lately became the twelfth president of the Republic of the Philippines.

Having settled in Noli, Gavina gave in for her love of Eufemio and married him. They had a fruitful married life with their seven children as witnesses: Arnold, Eufemio Jr., Elsie, Perfecto, Nolinda, Clarito and Cristita. Arnold, born on February 8, 1958 was like his father in many ways, even in his falling in love with a teacher in their barangay’s public elementary school. The fortunate teacher’s name was Candelaria Baratas, a Boholana who was born on the Festival Day of Virgen de la Candelaria (Candlemas) on February 2, 1959. They got married on May 24, 1986 and had three children by the names of Aian Cris (April 8, 1987), Arnold Jr. (April 8, 1988) and Caryl Vin (February 23, 1989). Their father served as their leader, and their mother their guiding light. The three children are now in Cagayan de Oro, where they study, work and live in order to fulfill the hopes and aspirations of their parents, not for them to become successful, rich persons but for them to live a life of humility, Christ-centeredness and service–a life that their ancestors not only lived for but also passed on to the next generations of the Calang family history.