Santiago Lucero y Estrella

"Tatay" written by his daughter Simona Lucero Mayuga:

I hardly have memories of my late father Santiago Estrella Lucero because he died as a Senator way back in 1925 when I was just 5 years old. I remember Nanay & my siblings crying but I don't remember having any emotion. A special train transported his remains to Cabanatuan for his burial.

What has stayed in my mind is how he sat me on his knee one day & asked me what toy I wanted and I requested a gun! He went for walks around the Luneta for exercise on afternoons & I walked with him. Some days he would go to the Savoy Theater somewhere in Quiapo to watch vaudeville shows. When he does not take me with him, I cried a lot.

Tatay was a very kind man, extra generous and so mild tempered. He was well loved & had a "cochero" to take him around during his days as an "abogado de campanilla" & early days as a politician. When he was Senator, this same "cochero" named Taka became his driver with a low-numbered car (#15) & was even more arrogant than Tatay. My elder sister told me that he became rather abusive but Tatay tolerated him.

Tatay died with big debts because, unlike our corrupt politicians now, he gave help to his constituents instead of taking advantage of them. I remember among his closest friends were Sen. Juan Sumulong (his compadre) and Epifanio de los Santos (after whom EDSA was named).

The Cojuangcos (family of former Pres. Cory Cojuangco Aquino) were close to Tatay because their grandmothers (Estrella) were cousins. He was their lawyer for their vast properties in Tarlac & Nueva Ecija.