Search fails to find Calungsod’s birthplace

OUR VERY OWN. The wooden sculpture of Pedro Calungsod by Felix “Kid” Baldemor of Paete, Laguna, is superimposed against the seal of the Holy Name of Jesus, which hangs in the room where St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuit Order, worked and guided his Order at the Gesu, in Rome. Calungsod will be canonized Sunday in the Vatican to become the second Filipino saint, after San Lorenzo Ruiz. Photo illustration is by Ricardo G. Velarde. EDWIN BACASMAS

ILOILO CITY—An online family history organization has recorded the baptism of a woman surnamed “Calungsod” in 1748 in Iloilo City, one of the Visayan areas believed to be the birthplace of  Blessed Pedro Calungsod.

Maria Calungsod was baptized in the now Jaro District in Iloilo City on Sept. 7, 1748, according to FamilySearch.org. Her parents were Juan Calungsod and Josefa Beatris (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FNMH-PP1).

This could probably be the earliest recorded baptism of a Calungsod in the country.

In Ginatilan town in Cebu, one of the places claiming to be the birthplace of the second Filipino saint, the earliest baptismal record of a Calungsod was of Victoria Francisca Calungsod in 1850.

FamilySearch is a nonprofit genealogy organization founded in 1894. It is considered to be one of the world’s largest family history organizations and claims to have records of 2.5 billion names from all over the world.

Maria Calungsod’s baptism is among the 334,139 birth certificates and baptisms, including 47,994 in Iloilo, in the collection of records “Philippines Births and Baptisms 1642-1994” of FamilySearch.

While there is no dispute that Pedro Calungsod was born in the Visayas, there have been various claims on his birthplace.

Church records state that Pedro Calungsod was born in 1654 in the Diocese of Cebu, which at that time also covered the whole Visayas and Mindanao, as well as the Pacific island of Guam.

Among those with families claiming to be descendants of Pedro Calungsod are Cebu, Iloilo, Bohol and Leyte.

In Iloilo City, the Calungsod clan in Molo District believes that the saint was born in Barangay San Antonio or the adjacent Compania Street in Molo.

Prayer to Calungsod

On Sunday, church bells in Iloilo and Guimaras will ring around 4 p.m., at the time the canonization rites for Pedro Calungsod and six other saints will be held at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican City in Rome.

Jaro Auxilliary Bishop Gerardo Alminaza also called on the Catholic faithful to pray the “Prayer to San Pedro Calungsod” to spread devotion to the first Visayan saint.

Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, who is among the Church leaders attending the canonization rites in Rome, encouraged the faithful to invoke Pedro Calungsod and San Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Filipino saint canonized in 1987, to pray for peace following the signing of a peace framework between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

“We pray that the framework agreement on the Bangsamoro will bring about the peace everyone is dreaming about. It is a noteworthy step to peace that will be perfected in time. We are happy to hear that ‘peace is within reach’ in Mindanao. God’s blessing will surely accompany every genuine effort for peace, nonviolence and reconciliation,” Lagdameo told the Inquirer.