PinoyBuilt — Stories of Filipino America

Honolulu, HI • February 1981. Found on FamilySearch: My Lolo Marciano's Paper Trail — Ligao, Albay to Honolulu to Vallejo. marciano perseveranda, juan perseveranda, valeriana presenta, ligao albay, honolulu immigration 1981, vallejo california, manuel perseveranda us navy, familysearch philippines, filipino genealogy, alien case file. GENEALOGY • HONOLULU, HI • FEBRUARY 1981 Found on FamilySearch: My Lolo Marciano's Paper Trail — Ligao, Albay to Honolulu to Vallejo Three U.S. government records place my grandfather in Ligao, Albay in 1909, arriving in Honolulu in 1981, and gone in Vallejo by 1992 — independently confirming the same parents his younger brother Emiliano's 1912 baptismal record already named. Thanksgiving, Vallejo, California — November 28, 1985. Left to right: Melvin, J.F. (home on break from his freshman year at UC Davis), Marciano, Joy (a Hogan High senior that year), and Kristine. I...

Oas, Albay • September 2026. Found on FamilySearch: My Great-Grandparents' 1910 Wedding — Marciano Camposano and Saturnina Manlangit. marciano camposano, saturnina manlangit, oas albay marriage record 1910, rafael manlangit, petrona recuenco, jose camposano, eusebia gumba, ligao albay, familysearch philippines, filipino genealogy. Oas, Albay • May 1910 Found on FamilySearch: My Great-Grandparents' 1910 Wedding — Marciano Camposano and Saturnina Manlangit A parish marriage register from Oas, Albay puts my great-grandparents at the altar on May 8, 1910 — and reopens the question of exactly when Saturnina Manlangit was born. The actual 1910 Oas, Albay parish register entry, cleaned for legibility. Source: FamilySearch, Catholic Church records, Oas, Albay, Philippines. Two days ago it was Saturnina Manlangit's household, age 4, in an 1895 tribute census. Today it's her wedding day. The record I found is a Catholic parish marriage regis...

Oas, Albay • September 2026. Found on FamilySearch: My Great-Grandmother Saturnina Manlangit's Household in the 1895 Oas, Albay Census. saturnina manlangit, rafael manlangit, petrona recuenco, oas albay census 1895, manlangit family genealogy, filipino genealogy familysearch, cabeceria oas albay, rosa camposano mother. GENEALOGY • OAS, ALBAY • SEPT 2026 Found on FamilySearch: My Great-Grandmother Saturnina Manlangit's Household in the 1895 Oas, Albay Census An 1895–96 tribute ledger, an 1881 census, and the AI-assisted read of two 19th-century Spanish records that named my great-great-grandparents — and seven siblings I didn't know existed. PinoyBuilt illustration. The actual 1895–96 Oas, Albay padrón page — the primary source for this article — is reproduced in the body below. I've spent months chasing my great-grandmother's name through other people's paperwork. Saturnina Manlangit surfaces in exactly one place I...

Oas, Albay, Philippines • June 2026. Rosa Manlangit Camposano: The Full Name Behind Lola Rosita. genealogy, familysearch, oas albay, manlangit, recuenco, camposano, perseveranda, filipino family history, spanish colonial records, padron de almas, baptismal record, fil-am. GENEALOGY • OAS, ALBAY • JUNE 2026 Rosa Manlangit Camposano: The Full Name Behind Lola Rosita My dad and my Tita Gigi already knew the names. A 1914 parish record from Oas, Albay confirmed almost all of it — and quietly corrected one detail that had slipped from living memory. PinoyBuilt illustration, built from my Lola Rosita's own 1930s-era studio portrait, reworked into our house zine style over the Oas, Albay parish records that confirm her Manlangit-Recuenco roots. Manlangit. Recuenco. I knew both surnames before I ever opened a genealogy website — my dad said them, Tita Gigi said them, the way elders repeat a name they intend to outlive them. ...

Finding Family: Connecting With My 2nd Cousin Once Removed Through the Manlangit Line By J.F.R. Perseveranda for Pinoybuilt.com Genealogy has a way of connecting hearts as much as it connects DNA. Recently, I discovered a close match on Ancestry: braverifles43 . According to the platform, we share 119 centimorgans across 9 segments , making him my 2nd cousin once removed (2C1R) — or possibly a half 2nd cousin. This is my 2nd closest DNA match, and it opens a window into our shared Manlangit heritage from Oas, Albay . My First Connection When I saw braverifles43 in my DNA matches, I sent a simple message, introducing myself and asking about our ancestral ties: “Hi! I recently received my DNA results and it looks like we’re distantly related. You’re actually my closest match on one side of my family tree. I was wondering if any of your ancestors might have come from the Bicol region of the Philippines. I’m based in Northern California and have roots there myself. Hope...

When DNA Finds You: A 49 cM Filipino Match, an Adoption, and the Manong Generation By J.F.R. Perseveranda for Pinoybuilt.com When I uploaded my DNA to Ancestry, I expected numbers, percentages, and maybe a few distant cousins. I did not expect a message that would quietly open one of the deepest and most emotional doors in Filipino American history. Her name here will be “BK” . That is not her real name. She is a real person, an adoptee, and someone still searching for where she truly comes from. This story is not about exposing anyone. It is about honoring how DNA reconnects Filipino families that history tried to erase. Reaching Out Across DNA When I saw BK’s name appear as my closest DNA match on one side of my family tree, I did something simple but brave — I sent a message into the unknown. “Hi! I recently received my DNA results and it looks like we’re distantly related. You’re actually the closest match I have on one side of my family tree. I was wondering if ...