Copyright Quisumbing Family 2007. All rights reserved.
When his grandfather died on December 7, 1976, the author was in Musuan, Bukidnon where he taught English classes at Central Mindanao University. When informed of his death by telegram, the latter decided not to attend the burial because it would be too late for him to reach Cebu City on time. Emilio was buried beside his wife (the author’s grandmother).112
This ends the life story of the author’s paternal grandfather , a member of the first Filipino pensionados sent to the United States to pursue college degrees in 1903. A biography of this kind is so rare to come across nowadays in books, magazines and journals.
Epilogue
Emilio Quisumbing passed his ancestral house and lot to his eldest, Carlos, the author’s father, who in turn transferred the inheritance to his eldest, the author.
Before the death of the author’s father in 1996, his ownership of the land, including the house (now renovated with cemented front of the living room and the kitchen and repainted with dark green color) and the right of way, was transferred to the name of this writer. This is the only remaining property of the grandparents that belongs to a Quisumbing heir.113
Postscript
It probably was a great and unexpected surprise to Emilio A. Quisumbing when he found out that an orchid, Bulbophyllum Emiliorum,114 was named after him, presumably by his brother Eduardo, a famous botanist. The citation reads as follows, “this plant is dedicated to Emilio Quisumbing, the original collector, a civil engineer and elder son (sic) of Dr. Eduardo Quisumbing.”115
Acknowledgments
The author wishes to show his appreciation and express his indebtedness to the following: to his younger sister, Dr. Ma. Socorro Quisumbing-King, the chief genealogist of the Arguelles, Corrales, Mercado, Reynes and Quisumbing clans, for providing the author with the files in writing this article and rare photos of this biographical subject never seen before by the present generation of his descendants; to his mom, Dr. Lourdes R. Quisumbing, the first and only female Department Secretary of Education, Culture and Sports during the Aquino administration (1986-1990), for editing the final version; to the librarians and staff of the Cebuano Studies Center, Filipiniana and Law Libraries, University of San Carlos, for supplying the author source materials related to the subject of this biography; to individuals interviewed by the writer for sharing their insights and memories on this subject; to Ernesto Madrona, his grandfather’s former engineering student, for allowing the author to photocopy his rare 1948 CIT Yearbook containing the pictures and name of his grandfather; to his younger brother, Emilio III, for making available a computer copy of their grandfather’s college diploma from Cornell University; to his younger sister, Ma. Lourdes Q. Baybay for her tireless efforts in securing a certified true copy of Lolo Emilio’s graduation from the College of San Juan de Letran; to the librarian of Mambajao Municipal Library for the use of the 1970 UP Alumni Directory; to Chuchi L. Constantino, his first cousin, for providing the author a photocopied manuscript of Kenneth Munden’s Los Pensionados in the U.S. National Archives; to his first cousins, Chuchi L. Constantino and Bert F. Quisumbing, for sharing information on Francisco and Eduardo A. Quisumbing through the internet; to Jennifer Ulrich, associate archivist of Columbia University, for giving the author information on Francisco and Norberto A. Quisumbing through the same medium and lastly but not the least, to his beloved wife, Godofreda, and daughter, Jocelyn, for the purchase of a computer for communication and assistance in operating it for email, respectively.
List of Exhibits
1 Emilio A. Quisumbing taken by Allan K. Ramsey, Whittier, California, USA (1904)
2 Emilio A. Quisumbing in front of his dormitory’s door at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
3 Members of the Philippine Colony (1906-1907) at the same university and location
4 College Diploma of Emilio A. Quisumbing from Cornell University dated April 22, 1908
5 Invitation to the Inauguration of Honorable William C. Forbes as Governor General of the Philippines on November 24, 1909
6 Invitation of Governor General William C. Forbes to Honorable Carlos Corrales to attend the Inaugural Ball on November 24, 1909
7 A black and white Xeroxed copy of Bulbophyllum Emiliorum, an orchid named in honor of Emilio A. Quisumbing
8 A colored photo of the same orchid with additional information
These exhibits can be obtained from Cora Quisumbing-King.
NOTES
*The author is the grandson of Emilio A. and Maria C. Quisumbing (both deceased) whose eldest child is Carlos, the author’s father (also deceased), who married Lourdes Reynes of Cebu in 1941. He is the eldest of Carlos and Lourdes Quisumbing’s ten children, one of whom was Roberto, the eighth child, who died seven days after his birth on May 1951, due to the loss of blood because of Vitamin K deficiency. Note: The author passed away on June 17, 2007.
1Victor and Felipe Buencamino, Jr. were the first Filipinos to pursue their studies in the United States in 1900. The former is remembered and honored today as the Father
