In and around the mid 1850s to 1860s, our forefathers, whom we all descended from may have once dined on this dining table. This table belonged to Mariano Vasquez Montinola, the son of Geronimo Fuentevilla Montinola, who was the son of Capitán Don Juan Montinola. It now resides in the old ancestral house of Rodrigo Araneta Montinola, under the care of Estela Virto Montinola-Jaen in Jaro, Iloilo. The table is around 150 years old and at its current state, is only a third of its length with the rest of the table sections in storage.

Mariano's table is around 150 years old. Picture taken in 1999.

One can also imagine Mariano's brothers and their families visiting him at his house at the corner of the Jaro plaza (now Pa-a Panaderia) and may have also dined on this table with Mariano. The brothers that visited him would have been either Bartolome the oldest, Gabriel, Juan De Dios, Ambrosio, Felix, Benito and Basilio (see brothers here). These men were the forefathers of almost all of the Montinolas alive today. Now if only the table could talk, it would have told us many things about them.