• KARL ROMEO SOLAND Y LACSON, Historian and Genealogist, Bacolod City
Deep in the historical records and oral traditions of Iloilo Province lies one of the best-preserved stories of local Principalía heritage: the Matutino family of Barrio Cabutungan (formerly Anilao), now part of the Municipality of Sara.
As a direct legitimate descendant through my great-great-grandmother Doña Leoncia Matutino y Aberde (born circa 1863), I have spent recent years conducting extensive research to preserve and document this lineage. The Matutino family can be traced—supported by surviving tributary lists (Polista records) from 1876 and scattered notarial instruments—back through several generations of Cabeza de Barangay and Gobernadorcillo officeholders during the Spanish colonial period.
A particularly striking piece of evidence is the year 1876: two members of the family held the office of Cabeza de Barangay simultaneously—Don Benito Matutino y Alejandrino in Cabecería No. 23 and Don Agapito Matutino in Cabecería No. 5 (both in Anilao, from which Sara was later separated). This concurrent tenure across different branches is widely regarded as strong historical indication of a broad, multi-branched Principalía family with collateral lines and hereditary leadership responsibility.
Doña Leoncia Matutino y Aberde, daughter of Raymundo Matutino y Alejandrino and Lorenza Aberde, married Don Guillermo Arada y Aranda, who himself served as Cabeza de Barangay in Sara. A Deed of Absolute Sale of riceland dated February 10, 1919, executed in Sara before a Notary Public, explicitly refers to her as “Doña,” providing clear contemporaneous recognition of her Principalía status.
The lineage continued unbroken through Nicolasa Arada y Matutino, Aurora Pamoceno y Arada de Lacson, and my mother Gemma Lacson y Pamoceno vda. de Soland, preserved in consistent oral tradition passed down across generations. To safeguard this heritage against loss, I have recently completed a series of notarial documents in Bacolod City (January 2026), including an Extrajudicial Declaration of Pedigree and Historical Lineage (Matutino Line), a Solemn Declaration of Legitimate Descent from the Principalía of Sara, and several joint affidavits of confirmation. These instruments carefully record the surviving evidence and the family’s unbroken oral transmission.
The story of the Matutino family is far more than a historical footnote. It stands as living proof of the continuity of indigenous leadership structures that were adapted and co-opted under Spanish colonial administration into the Principalía system. In an era when many Filipino families are losing touch with their roots, it is our responsibility to consciously preserve and transmit this legacy—for the present generation and for those yet to come.*
