Part I
THE FAMILY NAME SALES

The family name Sales (pronounced as Sal-es) is a Filipino surname predominantly existing in the Visayan area of the archipelago, with a concentration in the provinces of Cebu, Bohol, and Iloilo.  There are also some branches of the family outside these three provinces, but due to the scarcity of records there is no way to connect these different branches to one another.

     There are known Sales families existing in Moalboal, Cebu; Cordova, Cebu, and Cebu City.  These three families are proven related families.

     The family name is Spanish in origin, specifically Basque, although it has variants and/or counterparts in other languages.  The word sales is a plural form of the Spanish word sal.  The word sal is a noun which has three possible meanings, but its most popular translation and usage is "salt".  The term sal , however, may also be used to refer to charm or wit, but these terms are seldom associated with the word.  Its other usages include echar sal a , which means to salt; la sal de la vida , meaning the spice of life; sal de mesa , or table salt; sales aromáticas, or smelling salts; and sales de baño, or bath salts.

     An etymological study of the term sal would also point to the German term sahl or saal which signifies "a hall or court". Its French transliteration, also having the same meaning, is salle. Indeed, this is where the English surname Sales (pronounced as sails) is derived from.  This particular English family name refers to "servant by the hall".

     The surname may also have a topological origin.  It may have been derived from the river Sale, which is located in France.  Or it may also refer to the Saal River of Bavaria, Germany.  It can also point to a small town in France where St. Francis de Sales hails.

Part II: History of the family name Sales

       The family name Sales itself has had a distinguished history in Spain.  Research has shown that it was already a well known, and, to some extent, a notorious family in the provinces of Catalonia and Majorca in the Spanish peninsula in as early as the fifteenth century.  There is also an indication that the Sales family of Spain belonged to the nobility; as portrayed in its Coat-of-Arms, a particular branch of the Sales family was well loved and favored by the King of Spain.

     Some say that the Sales family is of Geronese origin, but most research has indicated that it has roots in Majorca. 

     Some have also confused the surname Sales with the last name Salas, although etymologically and by definition both surnames are not the same.  The first mention of a Sales in Spanish history is Don Guillermo de Sales, a scion of an already prominent Basque family, who actively participated in the Battle of Puig against the Moorish King Zaen, under the leadership of King Jaime I "The Conqueror".  In that particular battle, history relates how the Conqueror-King was badly wounded in one fight and Don Guillermo de Sales had the distinct privilege of carrying his monarch to safety.  Because of his valor and for saving the King's life, King Jaime rewarded Don Guillermo with wealth and honors, and he established his dynasty in Amposta.  Later, his descendants branched out to Aragon and Majorca and then to Navarre.

     Other prominent Saleses in Spanish history include Don Bartolome de Sales and Don Rodrigo de Sales, who took part in the conquest of Alcoy.

     The family is a registered member of the Sala de Hijosdalgos, an organization in Spain of proven descendants of noble families.  It has several coats-of-arms listed in the heraldic offices of Spain. 

Part III: THE SALESES IN THE PHILIPPINES

(Author's note: Because of the inavailability of records predating 1849, when Governor-General Narciso Claveria y Zaldua required all indios to adopt a Spanish family name, I have been unable to connect the Cebu Sales branch, to which I belong, to the other branches of the family throughout the Philippines.  Thus, I shall only be discussing the Cebu Sales branch.)

     As enticing as it is to connect the Sales family of the Philippines to the noble Sales family of Spain, lack of records hinders modern researchers from doing so.  However, the Sales family of the Philippines still has a relatively long and colorful history.

     The history of the Sales family of Cebu spans eight generations.  Although the family is now scattered all over the Philippines, the Cebu Sales family always looks to Moalboal, Cebu, as its origin and root.

     The Municipality of Moalboal is located on the southern part of Cebu Province, with a distance of 89.3 Kms from Cebu City. To its north is the Municipality of Alcantara; to its south is the Municipality of Badian; to its east is the Municipality of Argao and to its west is the Tanon Strait.

     The word Moalboal may have been derived from the Cebuano term "bocal-bocal", which means "bubbling".  Indeed, this may refer to the fact that a once famous spring, Guiwanon Spring, located at the Poblacion, used to bubble day in and out.  The town of Moalboal was fully established by 1852, when the Governor-General of the Philippines approved the creation of the San Juan Nepomuceno Parish in Moalboal, Cebu.

     The Sales family, though not originally from Moalboal, has lived in this particular town for more than one hundred and fifty years.  But because one of the male ancestors of the Saleses married a Gador, the family is then connected to Moalboal by bloodline, since the Gadors were one of the most prominent families in pre-American Moalboal and was part of the ruling class in pre-Hispanic times.

     Records from San Juan Nepomuceno indicate that the first Sales in Moalboal, Cebu was Santiago G. Sales, and who was listed as originales de Cordova, Cebu, indicating that he was originally from Cordova, Cebu.  There are also some Saleses today whose roots are from Cordova, thus it can safely assumed, although with no empirical backing, that the Saleses of Moalboal and Cordova come from the same line.

     The earliest recorded Sales in Cebu was Mariano Sales, the father of Santiago.  Mariano Sales is presumed to have been born in Cordova.  Although his wife, Felipa Galan, was listed as an indio or native Filipino, no such description followed Mariano's name.  It is therefore genealogically safe to assume that he may have been of mixed race, and could have been part Spanish, Chinese, and Filipino.  It is not known when or where Mariano Sales or wife Felipa Galan died.

     Their son, Santiago G. Sales, was probably an adventure-seeker who left his hometown Cordova is search for greener pasture.  He later went to Moalboal, Cebu, and there he settled down permanently when he met his future wife, Doña Eulogia del Carmen y Gador, the daughter of Don Pio Quinto del Carmen and Doña Petrana Gador.

     The Gadors were and are still pure Moalboalanons.  The del Carmens were not.  The del Carmen family, according to records, originally came from Dumaguete, as the name of Don Pio Quinto del Carmen was at one point listed as "Don Pio Quinto del Carmen de Dumaguete". It can be best presumed that he came to Moalboal in his early years and settled there when he married Petrana Gador, the daughter of a Cabeza de Barangay, Don Placido Gador.

     The ruling class of pre-Hispanic Philippines were given the positions of Gobernadorcillo and Cabeza de Barangay when the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines.  The Gadors, together with some other prominent families in Moalboal, headed the different barangays in the town during the Spanish era.  Thus, the marriage of Santiago L. Sales to Eulogia del Carmen y Gador gave the Sales family the connection to the people and town of Moalboal.

     The marriage of Don Pio Quinto del Carmen and Doña Petrana Gador resulted to at least three children, although further research might show more.  These three children were Doñas Eulogia and Benedicta del Carmen, and the only boy in the family, Don Bartolome del Carmen.  At an early age the boy Bartolome spent most of his time in the church, serving in his free time as sacristan.  He later nurtured this devotion to the church when he proceeded to study at a seminary, and he later became a priest by the 1870's.  His first and last assignment was as an assistant priest in Argao, Cebu.  There he became involved with a scion of one of the most prominent families of the town, Doña Basilia B. Lucero, who later gave birth to their daughter Teopista.  Father Bartolome later succeeded as parish rector in 1897, and became one of the most loved priests in the history of the town.  He reorganized the church choir and improved the town fiesta.  He remained on friendly terms with Basilia Lucero and was said to have frequented her house even in their old age.  He died in 1914, and his remains are buried in Argao.  His descendants through her daughter Teopista are the Campaners of Argao, Cebu.

     Meanwhile, the elder of the del Carmen daughters married Santiago Sales in the early 1870's.  They had the following children: Fabreciana, Juana, Sufronio, Maria, Eufemia, Aniceta, twins Wenceslao and Sofia, Gorgonio, and Sancho.

     Fabreciana, Juana, Sufronio, and Maria all died at infancy.  Eufemia married Juan Jainar and had one child:

a. Natalia Sales Jainar

     Aniceta married Servando Tabanao and had the following children:

a. Cerbando Tabanao
b. Bartolome Tabanao
c. Rosario Tabanao
d. Celestino Tabanao
e. Zosimo Tabanao

     Wenceslao, prior to his marriage,  had the following children out of wedlock:

a. Gerardo Rabuya
b. Maximina Lababat

     He had the following children from his marriage to Ma. Del Carmen Legaspi:

c. Teodora Sales
d. Salud Sales
e. Bienvenido Sales
f. Honorata Sales
g. Florencio Sales
h. Restituta Sales
i. Atty. Mariano Sales
j. Adriano Sales

     Sofia, Wenceslao's twin, married Santiago Vaño Uy and had one child:

a. Francisco Vaño Uy

     Gorgonio had three wives.  He had the following children with his first wife, Esperanza Tarungoy:

a. Celedonia Inez Sales
b. Prudencio Sales
c. Madrona Sales
d. Gaudencio Sales
e. Nicholas Sales

With Vicenta Cabaron he had one child:

a. Lily Sales

With Bebin Jimeno he had three children:

a. Dumitilia Sales
b. Josefina Sales
c. Emilia Sales

     Sancho married Baldomera Cabaron and had the following children:

a. Bernardino Sales
b. Relinda Sales
c. Pedro Sales
d. Marcos Sales

     From these children, the Sales family grew and scattered throughout the Philippines and beyond.