Gravestone of a Chamorro in Sumay Cemetery
In Spanish
Starting from the very top, to the right of the angel, it reads :
Rogad por él.
Sus desconsolados
esposa e hijos
dedican este recuerdo!
(Pray for him.
His inconsolable
wife and children
dedicate this memorial!)
Then the abbreviation : E.P.D. which stands for :
En Paz Descanse
(Rest in Peace)
At the bottom :
Aquí yacen los restos mortales de
D. Pedro Borja Pangelinan
+25 Abril 1929
a la edad de 45 años
(Here lie the mortal remains of
Don Pedro Borja Pangelinan
Died 25 April 1929
at the age of 45 years.)
NOTES
- Spanish was still in vogue with some people even in 1929, 30 years after American colonization began. Spanish was still prestigious, and associated with church matters, with all the priests being Spanish at the time
- In 1920, the American Governor obliged the Chamorros to follow the American order when using surnames; the maternal in the middle and the paternal last. Prior to that, Chamorros followed the Spanish system which was the reverse. Under Spain, the deceased would have been Don Pedro Pangelinan Borja. Everyone would have known that Pangelinan was his last name.
- Because he had "Don" added to his name, Pedro was some kind of municipal leader at some point in his life.
- This man is an ancestor of the Kotla clan of Pangelinans.
- The lápida is pretty high-grade. Made in Manila?
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