This website is but the continuation of years of hardwork done by family members before me. I am 
thankful for the help being extended to me by family members in updating the 6th, 7th and 8th 
generations. And even correcting some information in the 2nd and 3rd generations. Soon all the 
information contained in this family website will be used to create a new family tree to be 
proudly displayed again in our Ancestral House, we call "Balay Daku", located in the middle of 
Hacienda Constancia, in Barangay Ubay, Municipality of Pulupandan, Province of Negros Occidental. 

This Montilla Family Tree solely records the names of direct descendants of Agustin Montilla's 
three sons Julian, Bonifacio, and Domingo and two daughters Eustaquia and Lina up to the 8th 
Generation. They also make up the five branches. Each branch has been assigned a specific color: Lina married to Hugo Koch(purple)Julian (red), Bonifacio (blue), Eustaquia married to Wilhelm Oppen(yellow), and lastly Domingo (green). Inter-marriage among cousins was/is quite common with the Montillas that some families would carry as many as 3 colors. One family member carries a total of 4 colors.   

Our ancestor Agustin Montilla y Orendain, a Philippine-born Spanish in was the son of Captain Jose Montilla,  Interim Governor of Islas de Las Marianas, (now Guam) from 15 Aug 1822 - 15 May 1823, while still a Spanish Colony. He married Vicenta Yanzon y Locsin-Zarandin, a mestiza from Iloilo and eventually settled in the coastal town of Pulupandan in Negros Island. There he was able to acquire large tracts of land from the Spanish Governor of Cebu, which he developed for food cultivation. It was only later that he got into sugar production. He named it Hacienda Constancia and was the first to produce sugar on a commercial level in the Philippines.Don Agustin Montilla and his wife Vicenta had eight children namely: The eldest Lina, Julian, Bonifacio, Eustaquia, Domingo, Josefa, Petronila, and the youngest Juana.  

From family stories and yes, historical accounts, Agustin Montilla was abducted by the raiding 
Moros, the fierce Tausugs of Sulu and kept captive several years until he was ransommed back by his 
wife Vicenta. Now the question is: Did he willingly stay as a "captive" or was he held against his 
will? This part we will never know as his wife Vicenta discovered a diary he kept and she burned 
it along with all the informations we would have wanted to know. 
Don Agustin built himself a large house amidst the sugarcane fields. From the window of "La 
Oficina" he stood and watched "La Hacienda" as far as the eye could see. Today the house still 
stands and is in fairly good condition. "Balay Daku" meaning Big House as the family calls it, is 
a fine example of 19th Century Philippine architecture known as "Bahay na Bato" or House of Stone. 
It is the oldest house in existence in the whole island of Negros.   
A 2 meter high x 6 meter long family tree once hung on the wall of the left hall of the ground 
floor. This arduous task of getting all the information and completing the family tree 40 years 
ago were done by my late aunt Enriqueta Petronila Soledad "Epse" Montilla-Esteban Suatengco and 
late uncle Herbert Montilla-Mijares Tomkins. Throughout the years the damp atmosphere in the room 
as well as the insects left the family tree partially damaged. 

Before all of these valuable family information could be lost forever, my cousin Magdaleno "Magsie" Montilla Pena, Mayor of Pulupandan at that time, had it taken down and sent to me in Bacolod aboard a ten-wheeler truck, on November 5, 2006. We tried to update the tree as is, but the paper was so brittle, and crumbled each time I wrote on it. That is why I decided to create this website instead. And this is how I got to be the "Keeper of the Tree".