Miracle of a Rallos (Part 3)

The son-in-law of Filomeno Rallos (who was sentenced to die by firing squad upon orders of General Adolfo Montero, the last Spanish governor of Cebu who was replaced by his son Mauricio, but miraculously survived the execution after the bullet hitting the edge of the pendant of the Blessed Virgin) was Judge Andres Reynes Borromeo.

Judge Borromeo was assassinated on January 2, 1903 in Manila by the bandit Santiago Ronquilo, alias “Tiagong Akyat.” During the ambush, Judge Borromeo, (aka “The Fighting Judge,” a street in Cebu City is named after him) was able to shoot dead a companion of the assassin, Pastor Cantada. Borromeo died the following day.

The brother of Filomeno Rallos, Don Florentino Rallos became Cebu’s first municipal president and holds the title as the first elected chief executive of Cebu (CEBUpedia wrote an article on him on April 2, 2014). He had three children; Pilar, Carmen, and Concepcion. He married Maria Fadullon. His daughter Carmen married Don Filemon Yap Sotto, who became his vice president (today’s equivalent to the position of vice mayor).

Don Florentino Rallos was suspended on the spot as municipal president of Cebu by Governor Julio Llorente on February 27, 1902. Don Florentino intervened in the fistfight between Don Vicente Sotto and Fidel Moas, a Spaniard. This happened at Teatro Junquera during a show where racial insults were raised. The Spanish consul in Cebu, Guillermo Leyra intervened and sided with the Spaniard and prevented the arrest of Moas. However, Don Florentino, upon arriving, sided with Vicente Sotto and ordered the arrest of Moas. However Governor Llorente (the American-appointed governor of Cebu) sided with the Spaniard and instead suspended Don Florentino.

Don Filemon had a daughter with Remedios Duterte, he named his daughter Pascuala in memory of his mother, Pascuala Yap. Filemon and Remedios later parted ways, Pascuala, nicknamed “Lily,” was brought to the home of Filemon and Carmen and became as the couple’s child.

Don Filemon and his younger brother, Don Vicente, hold the title as the only siblings in the country who both became lawyers, newspapermen, congressmen, delegate of the Constitutional Convention, and senators.

Don Vicente married Maria Ojeda of Dumanjug, Cebu. Coincidentally, a grandson of Filomeno Rallos by the name of Vivencio, son of Juanito, the first-born of Filomeno Rallos and Maxima Bunjok (Bonjoc) also married an Ojeda (Paz Ojeda). Decades ago, the couple, Vivencio and Paz had a popular refreshment store with the name, Ojeda’s Place in front of Colegio de San Carlos (now University of San Carlos) along P. Del Rosario Street.