I have always wondered how my surname came to be. There is a political clan of Zubiris in Bukidnon that originally came from Negros. The patriarch ruled as a governor in Bukidnon eventually the son followed the father's footsteps, and the young Zubiri is now a senator.
However, my family line of Zubiri comes from the Lubang Island in southern Luzon, And my ancestors are as normal as you and me, who did not arise from spontaneous generation but surely traveled from a mainland before settling in the small island. I could think of two theories how we got our surname. My genealogy could be traced to an insulares Spanish family, making me a Spanish mestizo, or we are a result of the block delegation of Spanish surnames in the Philippines more than a century ago.
A quick google and wikipedia search of Zubiri yields several popular results: a small town in Esteribar Valley in the region of Navarra in Spain, the philosopher Xavier from Spain, the sexy Filipino actress Diana, the senator Juan Miguel, and finally mine.
I may now be in Western Europe, but I never considered going to Zubiri (the town!) until about two weeks ago. While preparing my itinerary in the east-northeastern part of the Spanish peninsula, I initially thought of going to Bilbao. I found no inexpensive accommodations, and complusively decided to go to Pamplona where I found a contact through hospitality club who was willing to take me in. I advertised myself as someone who is 'tracing my roots' in Spain, and wanted to visit the town of Zubiri.
I arrived in Pamplona early afternoon last Friday. About two hours after setting foot in the Basque country, I found my roots, my home! Not back to the Philippines, but 20 kilometers north of Pamplona, in Zubiri, Esteribar, Spain.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Zubiri in Zubiri
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15 comments:
I'm a Zubiri too! I found your blog when I googled "Zubiri clan." I got 21,800 hits! xD Like you I'm intrigued as to how "Zubiri" came about... My family is from Mindoro. I've never been there. I grew up in Davao. Nice to meet you tho! You think we're related? :)
Hi Ai,
thanks for the comments. My grandfather also comes from Mindoro, in Lubang Island to be exact. Maybe we're relatives?
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Then we are related indeed! My father's family is from Lubang! Wow, nice :)
My grandparents are also from Lubang. My maternal grandfather is Zubiri(Zubiri Bad/Good)and my paternal grandfather is Quijano. I think both surnames is still known in the islands of Lubang and Looc. If it wasn't for the Zubiris Lubang would have been named Quijano :-) I think there are still some court documents about this.
No, you did not come froma block delagations of surnames. I believe both Quijano and Zubiris came from the the Visayan regions. My great grandfather has red hair.
Dear Anonymous,
thanks for this tidbit about Zubiris from Lubang. Although I am still curious as to where the Zubiris from Visayas and Bukidnon come from.
Regards.
Hello cousins, Im Migz. Anyways i stumbled unto your blog and would like to share a little info about our family. First, yes we are all related if your from mindoro occ. since my grand father's brother Lolo Jesus visited the province around 1905 to spread his wild oats so to say. He fathered 2 boys which in turn according to your elders there fathered almost 130 kids between the two of them. Talk about family planning hehe. Lolo Jesus was one of three brothers, Jose..Jesus and Jose Mari which is my grandfather who came directly from Northern Spain particularly from the Navarra region particularly Burlada which is just outside Pamplona. The Town of Zubiri by the way is actually named after the Philosopher Xavier Zubiri is not really our roots. Although its cool to have a town named after us anyways.. Hope you guys keep intouch and if you have facebook add me up on my Miguel Zubiri account. Send me a message and i'll add you. You can see there an old pic of our Elders as well. Thanks!
Hi, I am currently researching for information regarding the Zubiris in the Philippines and found your blog :) My branch of the Zubiri family is the same as Migz Zubiri's. My grandmother, Jovina Zubiri , was an elder sister of his grandpa Jose Maria. Please add me in you Facebook, (Maripaz Oquiñena Sievert) if you want :) i am from Cebu. It would be great to be in touch with our family members . Thanks !
Sorry but I cannot find you on Facebook. can you give me a link to your profile?
Thanks.
Hi! If you are from Mindoro, I have met a Zubiri family who resides in Sampaloc, Manila. Dr. Nicholas Zubiri and his brother Dr. Jesusito Zubiri, the latter resides in Cebu City. I spoke to their mother back in early 80s but they said they could not trace their root. My grandfather was Jesus Zubiri and Ben was my father. Welcome to the Zubiri clan! FB - Eleanor Zubiri
Hello Eleanor,
Thanks for getting in touch. My father and his family lived for a some time in Sampaloc before they moved to Quezon City. But I am not aware if we are related to Drs. Nicholas and Jesusito Zubiri who lived in the same town.
Do you mean Ben Karpo Zubiri of Matud Nila fame?
Regards
Andrew
Hi, I'm a Zubiri too. My family are from Unisan, Quezon but our roots are also from Lubang. My grandfather Felix Zubiri is from Lubang. He's father is Lolo Nano Zubiri, a mayor in lubang in the 1930's. Our great great grand father is Fructuto Zubiri.
excellent picture!
Bakit oras lang walang date stamp mga commentaries natin? Migz, there were 130 plus kids, all Zubiris at one point on Lubang Island? Maybe less(?), because me and my siblings should have known a good number of them (summer vacations). My grandpa Jesus Zubiri's mother was Aguilar, and we used to hang out with a lot of the Aguilars, but where did the numerous Zubiris go? - Valentino Zubiri from Lubang, I have books on Amazon and I make porcelain dolls just google them. Don't bother reading them, I mentioned being a Zubiri many times. Too close for comfort lol.
Hi Migz, I was studying in UP Diliman during the People Power Revolution, so I and a couple of friends went to Batasang Pambansa just to see what's going on. I got in when I showed my Zubiri ID, I saw your dad at work, walking about with the other politicians, discussing something. He looked a lot like my grandpa and his brother and a few other relatives. Then some years ago, I discovered the philosopher Xavier Zubiri, and he also had a resemblance to my grandpa and other relatives. I believe we all came from the same line of Zubiris. We are connected to the philosopher's family tree. My great aunt told us we have Basque blood and the town of Zubiri is in the Basque region. There is most probably a connection. (Val 2022-January 12)
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