The Myth of the Portuguese Ancestor: The Veloso Family of Nineteenth-Century Cebu

This essay attempts to reconstruct the life of one of Cebu City’s most prominent Chinese residents, Nicasio Veloso Chiong Tuico (1838-1903), who lived during the last four decades of the 19th century. The emphasis of the study is on his many commercial activities and on the critical role his large family played in the final years of Spanish rule and in the beginning of the 20th century. Among other things, the essay hopes to serve as a model of a well-documented biographical account of a significant figure in the city’s history, while at the same time highlighting the urban area’s considerable transformation during this period.