The Sibal Family History

Highlights of the First and Second Generations
of the Casimiro Sibal Family

In the nineteenth century, in the southern tip of Tarlac province in Luzon, Philippines, a dozen siblings came from the province of Pampanga and founded the town of Bamban.The siblings were surnamed Sibal and consisted of eleven brothers and one sister who married a Maristela man. The Sibal brothers called this place Bamban because of the smooth, thornless bamboo that grew in large clumps and the name of this bamboo is “bamban.” The place was very fertile for fields of rice and sugar cane and all kinds of fruit trees. It was very near the foothills of the large chain of Sierra madre mountains where abound hardwood trees of narra, lauan, wild animals such as deer, wild boars and all kinds of flora and fauna. The mountains were on the western side of Bamban, while on the southern side ran a river that teemed with fish. On the banks of this river called Parua, there were stones and sparkling sand brought by the current. The bank of the river was a forest full of pine trees (Pinus insularis) and the wind whistled its song through their boughs. At that time, Bamban was a veritable paradise.

One of the eleven Sibal brothers who settled there with their sister was Casimiro Sibal (1820- 1863). He was a husky man, quite tall for a Filipino, self- motivated and hard- working. His wife was Bruna Dizon (1822- 1886) from Bacolor, Pampanga. She was also tall for a Filipina, intelligent, a well- disciplined and able woman. In the course of their marriage, Casimiro and Bruna, through frugality and wise management of their resources, were able to accumulate large tracts of farmland planted mostly to rice, sugar cane, root crops camotes, peanuts, and fruit trees. They also owned large herds of cattle, carabaos and horses for working the land, goats, hogs and poultry. They had tenants who farmed the land for them. In society, they mingled with their peers and the Spanish friar who was in charge of the town church was one of their close friends. After Mass on Sundays, the friar would invite some of the most prominent of his parishioners to his convent quarters for a round of hot chocolate, “ensaimadas” and other sweetmeats, and the friendly exchange of small talk. Casimiro and Bruna were always included in the priest’s highly esteemed invitations.

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