Lea Salonga, a renowned singer and actor from the Philippines, heard surprising news about her heritage in an episode of “Finding Your Roots” that aired Jan. 7.
While appearing on the PBS show, the 53-year-old traced her family tree back several generations. With the help of host Henry Louis Gates Jr., she learned about her maternal great-great-grandfather Pedro Malhabor.
Gates noted that Malhabor’s last name was not Filipino in origin. Salonga said, according to family lore, Malhabor was a physics professor from Germany.
The show did a bit of research, and it turns out Malhabor was more likely a naturalist than a physicist. He most likely arrived in the Philippines in the early 1870s when European naturalists visited the island on an exploratory mission. The show posited that Malhabor was among them.
Gates’ team found a baptism record for Malhabor’s son that revealed Malhabor was from Prussia, a territory that included parts of Germany, Poland and Russia. More specifically, Malhabor likely came from modern day Germany. His wife, meanwhile, came Manila, the capital of the Philippines.
“I mean, the only connection that I knew with regards to the Malhabor (name) was that it was German. But beyond that, we didn’t know anything about anything like this,” Salonga said while reacting to the news that one of her ancestors was Prussian.
Using the baptism record, the “Finding Your Roots” team was able to find additional ancestors of German descent. Salonga said it was “wild” to learn she has ancestors in Germany.
“I’m definitely sharing all of this with my daughter when I get home. She’s going to flip cause she’s the most Asian looking person. She really is,” she said.
Gates asked Salonga to reflect on what her her ancestors would have thought of her career.
“I honestly don’t know what they would’ve thought. Maybe the scientists would’ve been disappointed that I ended up in the arts,” she said.
“Everybody would’ve been happy you won that Tony (award),” Gates playfully pointed out.
“I think so. I think at that point, everybody would’ve been quiet,” she agreed.
The episode also explored her father’s side of the family tree. Her paternal grandfather, Feliciano P. Salonga, was born in the Philippines in 1894.
After enlisting in the U.S. Navy, he worked in the boiler room of a ship.
“He didn’t see it as drudge work. He saw it as a way to better his own life,” Salonga explained.
The actor’s grandfather was 47 years old when World War II broke out and had just been transferred back to Manila. Japanese forces had taken control of his homeland and massacres were common at the time. He was in particular danger since he was associated with the U.S. military.
Salonga’s grandfather went missing for some time at this point. Gates asked the star how she thought this may have impacted her own father, who was 12 at the time.
“It might be a contributing factor as to why he wasn’t an emotional person,” she said.
While reflecting on the discoveries Gates and his team had made, Salonga admitted that she was quite impressed with their research into her family tree.