The migrant from Leyte who settled in Plaridel and became the governor of Misamis Province from 1917 to 1919. This is about his descendants, one hundred fifty years later. Family trees are constructed for each child, together with pictures, where available. From the children to the great, great great granchildren, these descendants would be in the hundreds.

This is a work in progress, and will be updated from time to time.

The bill filed by Congressman "Nonoy" Ty, House Bill No. 08148, renaming the Lobog Bridge to ALFONSO BURLAT APDUJAN BRIDGE was approved by the House of Representatives on January 20, 2021. It was transmitted to and received by the Senate on January 25, 2021.

It has been pending with the Senate up to the time of this writing.

He was one young, adventurous "GI'" (Genuine Ilocano), fresh from college with a degree in Elementary Education, assigned by the Ministry of Public Instruction (today's DepEd) to Misamis Occidental. He was a pioneer in establishing and improving the public school system of the province.

He married a fellow school teacher and raised his family where his assignments took him. He eventually settled in Plaridel.

A young man from Maasin, Leyte was sent by his parents to Cebu to study, in preparation for priesthood. He was to be sent later to Rome to become a Jesuit priest. He was an intelligent, smart, good-looking Spanish-Chinese mestizo. Aside from academics, he also studied and excelled in judo and jujitsu.

After years of studying, he decided that priesthood was not for him. He set aside his parents' wishes, left school and went to Mindanao.

He was a full-blooded Spanish gentleman, who was born in Barcelona, Spain in 1900. His family migrated to the Philippines in 1905 and settled in Pasay City. This was at a time when the Spanish colonial reign has already ended and the Americans have established their own colonial government.

He studied and obtained his Physician's degree at the Universidad de Santo Tomas (UST), Manila, in 1925. UST, the oldest medical school in the country, was run by the Dominican Spanish friars.

His cousin wrote him regularly, inspiring him that "We are all praying and hoping that the first doctor of Plaridel would come from our family". Our family referred to the Rillas-Apdujan-Lumasag clan, a big, prominent and the oldest clan of the town.

Alfonso Apdujan was the son of the couple, Clemente Apdujan and Epifania Rillas. He was born and raised in Plaridel. Their ancestral house was just across the street beside the municipio.

Growing up as a young teen in the 1950's, I recall one particular day of the year when everybody seemed to go the beach for a swim and a picnic. Even those from the barrios and the neighboring non-seaside towns flock to the beaches of Plaridel. To them, it's the time "na maka ligo'g dagat!" That event was simply called called San Juan.

It was only later that I learned the significance of the event. The feast of St. John the Baptist on June 24, commemorates the baptism of Jesus Christ by John at the Jordan River some 1,200 years ago.