20/10/2026
🇵🇭
ROOTS ACROSS SEAS! 🇵🇭🇦🇺
“The Filipinos came here and they had an influence in the place, and in me. I can only be me…”
More than a century after a Filipino pearl diver left Marinduque for Australia, his great-grandson is helping preserve the history of their family and the early Filipino communities of Western Australia.
On October 12, 1889, Thomas Puertollano, from Santa Cruz, Marinduque, arrived in Australia aboard the S.S. Australind from Singapore. He worked as a pearl diver, more than a decade before Australia's six British colonies united to form the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.
Thomas married Agnes Guilwill Bryan, whose mother was Aboriginal and whose father was of European descent. Together, they had six children who grew up in Beagle Bay, Disaster Bay, and Lombadina.
His contributions extended beyond the pearling industry.
He helped build one of Lombadina's earliest churches, donated his house to the Sisters of St. John of God, and built one of the first bakeries in Broome.
Although Thomas sought naturalization, he died without obtaining it.
Generations later, his great-grandson, Kevin Puertollano, became a respected Yawuru Elder in Broome, carrying both his Aboriginal and Filipino heritage.
In October 2016, Kevin traveled with relatives to Marinduque to reconnect with their ancestral family.
During their visit, they met members of the Puertollano clan, examined church records, and shared family traditions, including different versions of the Filipino dish adobo.
Their reunion brought together descendants of a man who had left the Philippines 127 years earlier.
On May 7, 2026, Kevin met Philippine Ambassador to Australia Antonio Morales in Broome during activities commemorating 80 years of Philippines–Australia diplomatic relations.
The meeting highlighted the legacy of the Manilamen, pioneering Filipino seafarers and workers who helped develop Australia's pearling industry and established families with Indigenous Australians.
Kevin continues working to preserve their history, ensuring that future generations understand the Filipino presence in northern Australia long before the two countries established formal diplomatic relations.
Thomas never returned to Marinduque after leaving in 1889. But more than a century later, his descendants made the journey to the place where his story began.
Today, the Puertollano family connects two countries through a shared history that began long before modern diplomatic relations, and continues through the generations that followed.
