RECUERDOS Y HERENCIA DE FAMILIA MORTOLA

Jaime E. Masagca

#advocatusdiaboli

#chasinglightschasingdreams

 

DON ADOLFO MORTOLA Y CABRERA (

March 13,1877- May 7,1962) Don Adolfo, whose name granddaughter, Tressa Adelfa, was taken, is a Spanish-Italian gentleman who at the age of 15 married Eufemia Dagani (September 16, 1884 - December 12, 1964) then age 14 and one of the daughters of Lorenzo Dagani, whose roots are from Garcia-Hernandez in Bohol.

 

Adolfo has brothers, Gabriel, Jose (Pepe), Federico (Bamba), and sister Amparing, and the former with his brother Gabriel were migrants to Cabdabaran, Agusan del Norte, from Zamboanga City.

                                               Don Adolfo and his brother Gabriel

 

While the family name Mortola is said to be of Italian origin it has a Spanish Coat of Arms as certified by the Chronicler and King of Arms Don Vicente de Cadenas y Vicent, making the family also of Spanish origin.

Mortola Inferiore, often known as La Mortola, is a frazione of the comune of Ventimiglia, in the province of Imperia, in Liguria, Italy, is but one of the places in Italy.

 

Don Adolfo Mortola Y Cabrera
also served as the 5th Mayor (1910-1911) of what is now Cabadbaran City,
Agusan del Norte

Don Adolfo and Eufemia Dagani Mortola

                                 Don Adolfo and his wife, Eufemia

From the Mortola-Dagani union came the siblings Adela, Nestorio, Federico, Ernesto, Cesar, and Luz. 

 

Children of Don Adolfo and Eufemia

A more recent family photo of the Mortolas

Facade of the Mortola 
Ancestral House

The renovated portion of the Mortola
Ancestral House

Interior of the Mortola House

Luz D. Mortola married in the Suico Clan of Cebu City, here with her sister-in-law

Asuncion Cabonce Maraunay, wife of Cesar D. Mortola

Mortola - Atega Wedding. Another Atega 
daughter married a son of Don Adolfo

In 1951, Don Adolfo was a grantee of a Certificate of Public Convenience to operate a truck-bus service along the lines of Cabadbaran-Surigao and Cabadbaran-Butuan, with the use of three (3) units. 

His son, Cesar, served as its Chief Mechanic.  

Later, Cesar and his wife established La Funeraria Mortola, now operated by some from the 2nd and 3rd generations.

Cesar and wife Asuncion, the founders of La

Funeraria Mortola

The original funeral chapel of La Funeraria Mortola

The present La Funeraria Mortola

The siblings Dario (+), Elsa (+), Azucena, Venus (+), Eulene (+), Federico, Georgina, Annabelle, Gabriel, Marissa, Ma. Victoria, and TRESSA ADELFA are the third generation of Mortolas from Don Adolfo Mortola y Cabrera in the line of the latter’s son Cesar, who married Asunción Cabonce Maraunay

2nd daughter and 3rd child of Cesar Mortola, Azucena,  was married to Atty. Jesus Mission, also of Cabadbaran, Agusan del Norte.  The wedding reception was held at the Ancestral House of Don Adolfo C. Mortola.

The children of Cesar Dagani Mortola.
Standing from the left are Dario, Federico, and Gabriel.
The front row is Georgina, Annabelle, and Tressa Adelfa.

Not in the photo are Azucena Mission,
Victoria Melicio, and Marissa Bardelosa.
Dario, the eldest brother died shortly after
this photo was taken.

Cesar D. Mortola house at Asis and Rara St., Caadbaran City

The Dagani Sisters, Eufemia Mortola, Andrea Paduganan, and Crispina Alburo had their family residences built on each of the three corners of A. Mortola and L. Dagani Streets. Another Dagani sibling, Lola Alang (Pascuala Maamo), settled somewhere else.

 

Andrea Dagani-Paduganan Ancestral House

Interior of the Paduganan House. The house may have
deteriorated but still has traces of its old glory
and elegance.

Crispina Dagani-Alburo Ancestral House, now known as
Casa Alburo repurposed as part of a hotel

Interior of Casa Alburo

People swear that in the early days at midnight especially when it's full moon one may hear a piano playing in the Alburo house and usually joined by pianos in the Paduganan and Mortola houses.

Mortola St. at night, where at midnight 
invisible piano players from the 
Mortola and Paduganan houses
are heard.

Dario Mortola (+) narrated that one time he and his friends loudly criticized the “invisible pianist” and clearly the latter banged on the keyboards that sent them scampering. (Dario died a few months after this writing and is survived by his wife Rosini Gregorios of Iloilo City, and their three children.

 

The Mortola ancestral house cannot be alienated from another prominent house, the grand Atega Ancestral House built in 1904 because the families were united by the intermarriage of Don Andres Atega and Don Adolfo Mortola’s children. Pedro Atega married Adela Mortola and Nestorio Mortola married Canuta Atega.

 

The Atega Clan, the clan of intelligent 
and beautiful men and women who made a name in 
politics, public governance, and the arts.
 The bearded man
in the photo is the Atega Patriarch,  Father Pedro Garcia, a Spanish Friar

(The text was compiled from memory and readers are welcome to comment and offer additional info or corrections. Sincere thanks to Ms. Eva Olofernes for the hospitality, Kirk Benedick Mortola Corvera for driving me around, and the Mortola Clan for the info.)

 

POSTSCRIPT :

Soledad Gonzales Roa-Duterte
(Photo downloaded from Google)

Unknown to many, Cabadbaran City, Agusan del Norte, was once the home of the Philippines's 16th President, His Excellency Rodrigo Roa Duterte. His mother, Soledad Gonzales Roa - Duterte hails from Cabadbaran, and has worked there as a Public School Teacher.