My Salamat Ancestry

HOW DID THE SALAMAT ANCESTORS ARRIVE IN PAOMBONG, BULACAN? The book Los Hijos de Señor Magat Salamat was written by Datu Magat Salamat's grandson Antonio Federico Salamat y Sy (1610– 1711) in 1628 as a student then of Colegio de Niños Huerfanos de San Juan de Letran in Intramuros, Manila, The Philippines. It stated in the book after the death of Datu Magat Salamat, his widow Maningning and his children were taken good care and were given refuge by the pious Roman Catholic women of Tondo before sailing north for safety where they first settled at the coast of the present barangay of Sta. Cruz, Paombong, Bulacan.

She and her remaining children were eventually converted and baptized into Roman Catholic by Fray Domingo de Salazar, OP, a Dominican priest and the first Archbishop of Manila in 1591. Their baptism to the Roman Catholic Church was not forced, but of free will by Maningning. One of her sons was Enrique Ygnacio Salamat, the seventh and youngest son of Datu Magat Salamat. Maninging’s Roman Catholic Christian name was Maria Potenciana who was a weaver. Her eldest child was known only as Putri who was married to a Moslem man in Sulu known as Datu Faizal. The second child was known only as Ibrahim Salamat who sailed to Sulu with his male kin where he eventually lived and married. Ibrahim Salamat was believed as the proto-ancestor of the Salamat clan in Moslem Mindanao.

They eventually went back to Manila as Roman Catholics. Because of their residence in Tondo, Maria Potenciana, her daughter Maria Soledad (3rd child) and her sons Martin Luis (4th son), Rafael Andres Salamat (5th son), Protacio Miguel Salamat (6th son) and Enrique Ygnacio Salamat served as sacristans of the Sto. Niño Church of Tondo. These Salamat brothers together with the young male children of Tondo were eventually educated by the Augustinian priests because of the request of Fray Martin Lacandula, an Augustinian priest brother of Datu Magat Salamat.

Maria Potenciana eventually had a customer of mats from Paombong, Bulacan, The Philippines. His customer was Catalino Sebastian Bagtas who eventually married her. They became the proto-ancestors of the Bagtas clan of Paombong.

Enrique Ygnacio Salamat became a good writer knowledgeable in Spanish, Tagalog, Capampangan, Chinese and Sulu dialects. Many of his books Los Yndios de Paombong y Malolos, La Bulaqueña Cristiana and Las Casas de las Augustinos were kept by his Paombong-born descendants who were also teachers, writers, poets, priests, cantors, politicians and businesspersons. In 1619, he was the first escritor of St. James the Apostle Parish in Paombong, Bulacan, The Philippines where he eventually settled a family with his Han Chinese wife Sy Zhe also known as Yeuji Chuntian of Amoy, China. Sy Zhe was baptized as Maria Regina.

The place of foundation of the house of Enrique Ygnacio Salamat and his wife Maria Regina and their children was in Malumot, Paombong, Bulacan, The Philippines.

In 1621, Enrique Ygnacio Salamat together with the Augustinian Friars left for Ilocos. He did not come back to his family in Paombong with the Augustinian priests because he was captured by the mountain natives in Bangued. The news came that he was beheaded. Maria Regina grieved for years and left Paombong for Tondo.

In Tondo, Maria Regina honestly raised her seven children as a noodle maker and peddler in the town of Binondo. She did not accept marriage proposals even from Enrique Ygnacio's widower brother Protacio Miguel.

In 1622, the news came in town about the enrollment of orphan children to the Colegio de Niños

Our Salamat Family Tree

Huerfanos de San Juan de Letran in Intramuros. Don Juan Geromino Guerrero, the school founder helped her male children Antonio Federico (1st child) , Anastacio Facundo (2nd child), Aquilino Faustino (3rd child) to get enrolled. Soon after the youngest Amado Felipe (7th child) followed his brothers in 1631. The daughters Maria Potenciana (4th child), Maria Zosima (5th child) and Maria Regina (6th child) were educated about embroidery in the Church of Binondo by the Spanish mestiza philanthropist Doña Maria Soledad del Carmen de Macarena.

Antonio Federico loved music, arts and writing. In 1629, the Augustinians of Bulacan requested him to teach music in Paombong. He eagerly granted the requests. He became the cantor oficial of St. James the Apostle Parish in Paombong, Bulacan, The Philippines. In 1630, he was brought by the Augustinians to Betis, Pampanga to teach music and arts. In Betis, he caught the attention of Maria Adela Pagtalunan y Nuqui, a Bulaqueña-Capampangan from San Miguel, Bulacan and Betis, Pampanga, The Philippines. Maria Adela was the brother of Ysidro Nicolas Pagtalunan y Nuqui, one of the sculpture students in Betis. Maria Adela before marriage lived at Arayat, Pampanga with her family.

Antonio Federico and Maria Adela got married in Paombong, Bulacan where they eventually had their home at Tabing Sapa (the present site of the Municipal Gym of Paombong, Bulacan, The Philippines).

In 1637, the whole town of Paombong were in celebration upon the return of Enrique Ygnacio who was alive. He was about to be beheaded by the natives, but upon seeing his bag with the image of the Holy Child Jesus Christ inside shining in great radiance the natives were in awe and ceased the the beheading. Enrique Ygnacio took out from his bag the Holy Child Jesus Christ. The natives believed their anitos told them to cease the beheading. He was brought to the chieftain of the natives of Bangued in Abra. The chieftain told him not to go down to the lowland from the mountains or else his life would end. Out of prayers and faith in God, Enrique Ygnacio was welcomed to the tribal community and became accustomed to the Tingguian cultures and traditions. When the Augustinians arrived in Bangued for the baptism of the Tingguian natives, he introduced himself and asked these Augustinians to bring him home to Paombong. Enrique Ygnacio did not marry or even had a wife in Bangued because he stood firm for his fidelity to his wife Maria Regina.

(Thanks to Sr. Paula Pahati Salamat, DC for the additional information way back in 2000.)