Valentín Arrastia

Valentín Arrastia joined the army at the age of 15. He traveled to Manila as an infantry man aboard the ship "Valencia" on 01 November 1883, two days before his 19th birthday.

Arrastia acquired land in Pampanga and became one of the wealthiest landowners of his day. He is a footnote in Philippine history as the man who provided for school materials for an impoverished Lubao boy, Diosdado Macapagal, who would grow up to become the fifth President of the Third Republic of the Philippines. More here: http://bit.ly/H8RurL.

Sources:

• "Arrastia Family Tree". Ancestry.com. http://bit.ly/KK4h0e. Date posted: 13 Nov 2004. Date accessed: 30 June 2012.
• Cabanilla, J.Q. et., al. "World Literature". Manila: Katha Publishing, 2000.
• Valentín Arrastia and Francisca Salgado's Marriage Information: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSMN-WSNL