The Circle of Life

Carmen Zaragoza de Araneta

Just as I hate to be the Lola that no one remembers, I should not forget my own Lola. My father's mother, Maria Carmen Vicenta Petra Zaragoza y Roxas, was born on June 29, 1876. She was remarkable. An accomplished artist, a young, sixteen-year-old Carmen painted Dos Inteligencias (Two Intellectuals) that won her a prize at an exposition marking the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus. Then in 1895, she received a copper medal for two landscape paintings. Lola Carmen was considered as one of the few Filipina artists in a field dominated by men.

In recent years, I was able to listen to a recorded interview of my father. It was my first time hearing my father's voice in decades. Here he gushed that Lola Carmen was so loved and admired by her Roxas cousins; she was always welcomed and included. Thanks to my researcher, I was able to confirm that her godparents were Doña Vicenta Reyes de Rojas and Don Pedro Rojas.

In 1896, Lola Carmen married Gregorio Soriano Araneta whom we fondly called Lolo Goyo. They had a large number of children which was the norm of the day. She did what most other mothers did: mend and darn clothing; do the family accounting; practice frugality and have a profitable sideline-selling sinamay to augment the family coffers.

Lola had a tremendous faith in God. This is what kept her going, through what we all know as thick and thin. She was also like most women of the day who most probably did not go to college. When she became a widow at a young age of 53, she had to become self-reliant. She was well versed in the performance of stocks and always gave her children the right advice. She was capatas of the apartments she built. It is no wonder that this ability was passed down to her daughters. Lola overcame what for others would have been handicaps: being a widow and being blind. She was not a whiner. She was a winner with a good sense of humor. Lola`s courage came from her reliance on her faith in God. She said,

"We should be true in our belief, for that is the thing that gives us faith, and faith is life itself. Had it not been for my faith in God and in an eternal life beyond, I might have been overcome by the sad things with which I had been visited."

There was something a bit different about Lola; she had blue eyes. She was named Carmen for in those days children were given names of saints and angels, grandparents and godparents. She was named after her grandmother Carmen Arce and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Hence this feast was observed with much piety and festivity at her home in 1030 R. Hidalgo. Not having children right away worried Lola Carmen and Lolo Goyo. In the absence of fertility clinics, Lola first tried bathing in the springs in Marikina which was said to have fertility powers. But it was Lola Carmen and Lolo Goyo`s dancing and supplications to San Pascual de Baylon that brought them fourteen children in quick succession. Their children were Baby Carmita, Jose, Salvador, Consuelo, Pacita, Antonio, Rosa, Ramon, Teresa, Vicente, Conchita, Margarita, Luis and Francisco Araneta S.J..

While it was not in Lola Carmen`s plan that Francisco, the prince in the family, would become a priest, it was in God`s plan. He became a Jesuit and was ordained in 1948. His first assignment was teaching at the Ateneo de Naga where he was professor of economics, English and Tagalog. After studying in Fordham from 1947 to 1948, he returned to the Philippines. He became the first Filipino rector of the Ateneo de Manila and the first rector of Ateneo de Cagayan. While the name Ateneo may be magic, still requirements had to be met. It was Fr. Fritz`s task to see to it that they were. During his tenure in office, these two colleges were raised to the status of university. Ateneo de Cagayan was renamed Xavier University. Father Fritz explained that the change of name "merely crystallized an old spirit that always had been the soul of all Ateneo schools, the spirit of learning and service, the spirit of purposeful scholarship."

Lola`s eldest daughter and namesake, Carmen, died when she was nearly three (November 15, 1899 - July 4, 1902). But that was no surprise since infant mortality was high in those days of 1902. It was only the rise in birth rate that kept extinction at bay. Lola had other daughters. Consuelo, who was childless, died of cancer during the war. She and her sister Margarita were the only daughters of Lola who finished college. Margarita`s dream was to be a teacher. She was a good one. She taught her children to grow in faith and the arts and to promote social justice.

One can easily miss Conchita in such a large family tree as that of the Aranetas. Conchita and I have the same birthday, May 20th. Very early in life, Conchita suffered from a traumatic experience that left her insecure. This insecurity grew with the death of her father when she was eighteen. She became more disturbed when her mother became blind. She died of tuberculosis in 1934 at the early age of 23.

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Carmen Z. vda de Araneta with her seven sons
Seated Left to Right - Tony, Pepe, Carmen, Salvador, Monching
Standing Left to Right - Luis, Vicente, Fritz.

Another daughter, Teresa, taught her children not only lessons in frugality, but also in deep spirituality which she inherited from her parents. She was truly democratic. Children from the public school went to her home on Sundays to study religion; after class her children would play with them.

Charity ran in the veins of the Aranetas. Rosita was well known for her charity as well as her love of nature manifested in a beautiful garden in her home. She became a Lady of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, while her brother Salvador was Knight of the Grand Cross and Lieutenant of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre.

Salvador, together with brothers Ramon and Vicente, established the original Araneta Institute of Agriculture in Bulacan. The school then passed on to Salvador and his wife Victoria. Today it is De La Salle Araneta University. These three brothers were soul mates as shown in their love of the soil, water and trees which Salvador often invoked as the tripod of civilization. Ramon was a realtor-farmer. He was a pioneer in soil conservation. He taught his neighbors the art of organic farming. His own orchard was an example of healthy soil. He taught his children the value of work because he learned from Lola that one has the same chance of having wealth as losing it.

Vicente introduced the white leghorn chickens which stopped the importation of eggs from China. He also brought in the landrace breed of pigs into the country as well as Holstein and Jersey cows for his Grassland Farms in Bulacan and later for his cattle ranch in Bukidnon. One can say that Vicente was not only the father of cattle ranching but of the Animal Industry in the country. Among his other achievements was his Man-A-Mar Feeds that used seaweed supplements to correct vitamin deficiency in animal feeds. Vicente was referred to as the Eli Whitney of the Philippines by Popular Mechanics of 1958 for the Ara wheel which made possible the tillage of flooded rice fields with large agricultural tractors. No surprise that he was chosen as Filipino inventor of 1965 by the National Science and Technology Board.

Salvador`s dream was to be a chemist. However his brother Jose, the eldest in the family, did not want to become a lawyer like their father. Salvador then felt that he should abandon his dream of being a chemist and follow the footsteps of his father. Because of Salvador`s training in law, he learned how to observe the goings on in the country and he became an advocate of sound economic policies and constitutional reforms. Together with his brother J. Antonio, who also became a lawyer, he annotated four volumes of the Administrative Code. Incidentally, the Administrative Code, released in 1927, was authored by Don Gregorio Araneta with his sons Salvador and J. Antonio assisting him in annotating it. That same year, when Salvador was 25 years old, Salvador co-authored a book with his father, the "Insolvency Law". After the war, Salvador gave up his law practice while his brother J. Antonio not only became a very prominent lawyer but a very successful businessman.

Jose was an entrepreneur who was mesmerized, so they say, about cinema which was an all cash enterprise. To his credit goes the construction of Times Theater which was designed by his brother Luis who was almost at the bottom of the line in the family tree. In his lifetime, Luis amassed an impressive collection of art. Anyone can view the PAGREL Collection, named after his children Patty, Greggy and Elvira, at the museum of the San Agustin Church in Intramuros. From my recollection, Tito Luis saved many art pieces by removing them from their frames and rolling up the canvasses. What he could not carry, he dug a hole where he hid them in the hopes they would be safe. Thankfully, at least one of Lola Carmen's paintings survived the war.

I wish it had been a happier story for Pacita–a tall, slender and regal lady who married a Spaniard, Tony Obieta. Her husband was described by his sister-in-law Margarita as a "very eccentric person." In no time, Tony became "neurotic, resentful and domineering." After the war he snatched Pacita away from her family, took her to the farthest point in the world he could find (Argentina) and forbade her to communicate with her family much less see them again. Pacita, seeking the road to peace, obeyed him.

Lola Carmen's passing was on the date of her birth in 1943. I find it remarkable that she entered this world and left this earthly life on the same date. It's as if everything comes full circle. Her story doesn't really end; it goes on through her children who faced their share of uncertainties and challenges. I was too young to get to know Lola Carmen. There are no letters, no correspondence and no diaries that I have of hers. These anecdotes, passed on to me by my father, aunts and uncles and cousins, are very precious as they give us a glimpse of the woman we know as our beloved Lola Carmen. May we all be inspired not to forget her. 🍁

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My mom wrote about the Roxas clan with a historical pamphlet entitled "Deeply Rooted in Philippine Soul and Soil". Within this pamphlet is a rare portrait of Lola Carmen.

Doña Carmen Zaragoza de Araneta

* She spoke in Spanish to her children. So Lola Rosa spoke Spanish to most of her grandchildren (shared by Caro Alcuaz).

* There are grand daughters named after her:
Carminia Araneta Segovia
Carmen de los Reyes
Carmen Alcuaz Reyes
Carmen Albert Afable
Carmir Araneta Singh

Important life lesson from
Ramon Z. Araneta

From Lola Carmen, he learned the value of work because one has the same chance of having wealth as losing it.

Marites Climent was so fond of Lola Carmen

She would associate visiting R. Hidalgo with love. Even if Lola Carmen had lost her sight, she could still recognize the footsteps of Marites as she would try to quietly enter her room. She would tell her:

"Marites - yo se que estas alli. Conozco tus pasos."

This was shared by Angela del Rosario. She emphasized that Marites felt very much loved in R. Hidalgo. It wasn't just Lola Carmen but the titas who gave her much attention and affection.

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The Circle of Life

Doña Carmen Zaragoza de Araneta

Important life lesson fromRamon Z. Araneta

Marites Climent was so fond of Lola Carmen

GREEN MONITORSpecial Edition, May 2026

Important life lesson from
Ramon Z. Araneta

GREEN MONITOR
Special Edition, May 2026