Using Ilonggo terminology, Laureano describes various scenes with enthusiasm and humor, but he can also be patronizing and dismissive—his biases are evident. Before that, “Filipino” was a term used by the Spanish to refer mainly to colonial subjects of Spanish descent. Laureano identified as Filipino though he may not always have been labeled as such. Born and raised in Antique (Patnongon, Bugasong), one of seven children of a Spanish friar, Manuel Asencio, and a successful businesswoman, Norberta Laureano. Father Poli had formerly been assigned in Iloilo, and wrote the most definitive book on Spanish era Iloilo – Iloilo, the Most Noble City: History and development, 1566-1898 (New Day,2006).