Segunda Solis Katigbak is remembered affectionately as the grand matriarch of the Katigbaks of Lipa, Batangas.

Segunda was born in 1863 (date unknown) to Don Norberto Kalaw Katigbak (gobernadorcillo 1862-1863) and Doa Justa Metra Solis. She was the second child in a family of sevenMariano (Capitan Municipal 1896-1897), Norberto Jr., Carmina, Ysabel, Ynes and Jose. Younger sister Ynes became an Augustinan Nun. With the second marriage of her father to Macaria Mendoza, Segunda had other siblings-- Josefina, Leon, Justa, Bartolome, Guillermo, Nanoy, Margarita and Sinforosa. The Catigbacs (later spelled with a K) were a prominent family in Lipa and had an abundance of wealth especially from 1886 to 1888 when Lipa became the world's sole supplier of coffee. In fact, Lipa had an annual income of 4 million pesos from the coffee industry alone. This led the elated Queen Regent Maria Cristina of Spain to elevate the town to the rank of a city and gave it the grand name Villa de Lipa. Prominent families had houses which occupied an entire block, with fruit bearing trees behind them. Aristocratic women, among them Segunda, wore sapatillas that had diamonds. Children of these families were sent to Manila for school and eventually to great cities in Europe for higher degrees.

The young Segunda Katigbak

At a young age, Segunda was sent by her parents to Manila's best school for girls, the Colegio de la Concordia in Paco where she became an interna to the nuns. Going to

Manila from Lipa meant taking the carromata to Calamba, and the boat to Manila via Laguna de Bay and Pasig River. Elder brother Mariano was sent to the Ateneo de Municipal in Intramuros where he became a good friend to Jose Mercado (Rizal). She on the other hand, became close to Pepe's sister Olimpia who was her classmate and good friend at the colegio. Segunda first met Rizal in a party of a relative of Rizal in Manila. Pepe's frequent visits to Olimpia led him to befriend Segunda. For about seven months, he became infatuated with her that he showered her with much attention, writing romantic poems and catching her beauty in his sketches. Pepe immortalizes Segunda's beauty with his words, "(She was) short, with expressive eyes, ardent at times and drooping at other times, pinkish, a smile so bewitching and provocative that revealed some very beautiful teeth; with an aura of sylph, I don't know what alluring something was all over her being..." His regular visits to Segunda at the Concordia were often marked with silence. In 1882, Rizal wrote his Memorias de Un Estudiante where he narrates his infatuation for her, sketching her beautifully, and in exchange Segunda giving him a white paper flower which again, was very symbolic. He wrote again, "Her looks were glorious in their sweetness and expressiveness; her voice was melodious and I thought an enchantment accompanied every movement. Langour penetrated my heart, and I had feelings I had never known before..."

Photos of the children and descendants of Manuel and Segunda

This childish infatuation did not blossom into romance as she was engaged to a tall man also from Lipa, Manuel Luz. Manuel was more acceptable to her family since the predominant practice at that time was for maidens to marry men within the same social circle in the locality. Resigning to fate, Rizal wrote of his first love: Ended at an early

hour, my first love! My virgin heart will always mourn the reckless step it took on the flower-decked abyss. My ilusions return, yes, but indifferent, uncertain, ready for the first betrayal on the path of love. Manuel Luz was the son of Jose de San Miguel Luz and Gertrudes Metra (eventually named Mitra). Almost a six footer, he came from an affluent family as his family owned vast tracks of land and coffee plantations in Balete, Lipa. Manuel had eight siblings-Alejandra, Celestino, Simeon and Maria (from his father's marriage to his mother), Conchita and Gertrudes (from the second marriage of his father) and Filomena and Rosario (from the third marriage of his father). Manuel's elder brother Simeon was an intelligent man, having instructed the young Claro M. Recto the English language. It was also Simeon who became the first governor of the province of Batangas. Simeon married four times on account of the deaths of each wife during childbirth. Manuel's youngest sister Rosario married Mariano, Segunda's elder brother.

Segunda Solis Katigbak together with her husband Don Manuel Metra Luz

Segunda married Manuel at the tender age of 14, and their marriage produced nine children-- Cristeta (married to Guillermo Africa Katigbak), Manuel Jr. (bachelor), Flora (married to Edelberto Mendoza), Arsenio (married to Amparo Katigbak), Paz (married to Pablo Dimayuga), Julio (married to Carmen Genato), Justa (married to Isabelo Katigbak), Valeriano (married to Rosario Dimayuga) and Fernando (married to Luz Cabal). One notices that in the family tree, it is usual to find a Katigbak-Katigbak marriage as it was again, an accepted arrangement at that time.

Accounts say that Manuel forbade the mention of Pepe's name in the house. Anything that had to do with Rizal-- money, magazine, even matchsticks--was forbidden in the Luz household. This was made on account of the growing cult on Rizal which the American colonial government initiated at the turn of the century. One can perhaps surmise the great jealousy Manuel had for Rizal. But in a supposed chess game where Luz beat Rizal, the young Rizal was said to have exclaimed that he (Luz) not only beat him in the game but in his heart as well! Ironically, the very street where they lived was renamed Calle Rizal! Manuel nonetheless supported the revolucionarios by providing them with financial and material resources. He hid suspected revolucionarios in his vast properties and used his influence with the Spanish authorities to help those in trouble.

Manuel and Segunda built their dream house in the heart of the city. It is a typical bahay-na-bato which follows a Spanish architecture yet is essentially a tropical house. It is known for its dramatic arrangement of space and its unique sense of grandeur and solidity. Here, their children and grandchildren were trained in music as it was common for them to play the piano and sing songs after dinner. In their old age, Manuel was fondly called Lolo Uwel and Segunda was called Lola Unday. Manuel passed away on June 27, 1942 at the age of 84. Segunda spent her last days with her nine children in the big house. Lola Unday eventually grew weak, suffering from a stroke and passed away on June 16, 1943, eleven days short of one year that her beloved husband passed away. In 1996, the house that Manuel and Segunda built and which over a thousand descendants call home was renamed Casa Segunda and was declared a heritage house by the National Historical Commission.