From Agtawagon Hill to Hollywood: Three Generations of the Morales Family
A story of sacrifice, survival, and spectacular success spanning from wartime Philippines to the stages of international fashion
The Journey at a Glance
Three generations: 1900-Present | From Numancia, Aklan to Los Angeles, California | Notary Public → Lawyer → Celebrity Makeup Artist | Distance traveled: From Agtawagon Hill to Paris Fashion Week
The Photograph
There's a photograph from 1968 that captures a moment of pure joy: a young couple at their wedding reception at the Aristocrat in Cubao, cutting their cake, surrounded by the warmth of family and the promise of a bright future. The groom, Mamerto Miguel Gonzalez Morales, age 33, stands in a sharp suit beside his bride, Eva Diosela Gonzales Morales, a dietician and Centro Escolar University graduate. The Manila newspapers covered their wedding at Lourdes Church—governors and fiscals served as principal sponsors.
Mamerto Miguel and Eva Diosela at their wedding reception, Aristocrat Mural Room, Cubao, May 2, 1968
But what the photograph doesn't show is the weight this young lawyer carried—the memory of a father who disappeared on a mountainside 26 years earlier, the law degree that would soon become unusable when he crossed the Pacific, and the political dreams he would abandon to build a different kind of future in America.
This is the story of three generations of the Morales family: a story that begins with a man carrying rice up a mountain during the Japanese occupation and ends with his granddaughter doing makeup for Rihanna at Paris Fashion Week.
Generation One: The Notary Public Who Became a Hero (1900-1942)
Mamerto Morales Sr. was exactly the kind of man the Japanese occupiers hunted during World War II. Born around 1900 in Kalibo, Aklan, he had built a respectable career as a notary public in the 1930s, helping neighbors with their most important transactions—selling family farms, mortgaging rice fields, transferring coconut plantations. The Morales name carried such weight in the region that an entire barangay bore their family name, established in 1917 and named after Capitan Florentino Morales, likely one of Mamerto's own relatives.
1939 graduation photo of Mamerto Morales, Sr
Mamerto married Patrocinia Quimpo Gonzales Morales—"Lola Pancing" or "Lola Mama" to those who loved her—and together they raised their children in Numancia, Aklan. By 1942, they had four sons: Romulo (who would become a doctor), eight-year-old Miguel (who would become a lawyer), six-year-old Virgilio (who would become a food inspector), two-year-old Cenon Gregorio, and infant Jones. They had also buried a baby daughter in 1939.
When the Japanese invaded the Philippines in December 1941, educated men like Mamerto became targets. Notaries, lawyers, civic leaders—anyone who could organize resistance—were systematically hunted down.
In 1942, the danger finally reached the Morales family.
Picture that terrifying day: Mamerto gathering what he could carry—a heavy sack of rice, perhaps the difference between his family's survival and starvation. The escape route led uphill into the steep mountains of Balete, toward Agtawagon Hill in Barangay Morales—the very land that bore his family's name. This was terrain that rose at brutal 30-degree angles, rocky ground that had been fortified with foxholes because of its strategic importance.
Eight-year-old Miguel and six-year-old Virgilio watched as their father struggled up that hill with the rice sack, carrying the weight of their survival on his back.
Then, somewhere on those steep slopes, Mamerto's back gave out under the strain.
The family never saw him again.
Mamerto Morales died as he lived—taking care of his family, carrying their burdens, climbing toward safety even when the load was too heavy to bear. His body was never recovered, and decades later, when his son Miguel filled out his U.S. naturalization papers, he would write "Abt. 1947" for his father's death—an approximation, because during wartime chaos, exact dates blur. But the memory of that day in 1942 remained seared in the minds of two young boys who watched their father disappear into the mountains.
Generation Two: The Lawyer Who Reinvented Himself (1934-1997)
Love, Marriage, and a Change of Direction
Mamerto Miguel Gonzalez Morales grew up fatherless in occupied and post-war Philippines. The trauma of losing his father at age eight—of watching him carry rice up that mountain and never return—shaped everything that followed.
But Miguel and his mother Patrocinia persevered. Following in his father's footsteps, Miguel pursued law school and graduated, preparing for what he envisioned as a career in politics. Like his father, he understood the power of law and civic leadership. By the 1960s, he had established himself professionally, dealing in property and business transactions across the Aklan region.
Then came love, and with it, a fundamental change in direction.
Wedding invitation for Mamerto Miguel and Eva Diosela, May 2, 1968, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Quezon City
On May 2, 1968, Miguel married Eva Diosela Gonzales Morales at Lourdes Church in Quezon City. The wedding was a major social event—The Saturday Mirror, The Philippine Herald, and The Manila Times all covered it. Aklan Governor Jose Legaspi and Fiscal Leon Gajo served as principal sponsors. Miguel's brother Dr. Romulo Morales was bestman, and Virgilio Morales was veil sponsor. The reception at the Aristocrat's Mural Room in Cubao celebrated two accomplished professionals at the height of their success.
But Eva and Miguel had different visions for their future. Eva, a practical woman with her own career as a dietician, did not view politics as a noble profession. She had no interest in the political life Miguel had been preparing for.
This disagreement would reshape their entire trajectory.
On June 25, 1971, their daughter Mylah was born in Kalibo, Aklan. A year later, in 1972, Miguel made the life-changing decision to immigrate to the United States, settling at 8612 Morehart Avenue in Sun Valley, California.
The American Reinvention
For Miguel, immigration meant more than crossing an ocean—it meant professional annihilation and rebirth. His law degree, earned with such effort in the Philippines, was worthless in the American legal system. Unable to practice law, unable to pursue politics even if he'd wanted to, Miguel had to start completely over.
He transitioned to business pursuits, leveraging the same intelligence and determination that had carried him through law school. Over the years, he moved between Sun Valley, Los Angeles (1989), Baldwin Park (1994), and back to Sun Valley (1996), establishing himself in various business ventures.
On July 19, 1979, at age 44, Miguel stood before the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles and petitioned for naturalization. His witnesses, Gloria M. Tamayo and Elvira M. Au, stood with him. On the form, he wrote his father's death as "Abt. 1947"—his best estimate decades after that traumatic day in 1942. The exact year had blurred, but the memory of his father carrying rice up Agtawagon Hill remained crystal clear.
Miguel became an American citizen, embodying the immigrant experience in its fullest form—leaving behind not just a country but an entire career path, and building something completely new.
In 1985, he lost his mother Patrocinia, who passed away in Numancia at age 80. Despite living in America, this connection to the woman who had raised him through war and loss remained profound.
Miguel spent his final years in Baldwin Park, California. He died on March 17, 1997, in Los Angeles at age 62, and was laid to rest at Mission Hills Cemetery—far from the mountains of Aklan where his father disappeared, but in the country where his daughter would become a star.
Generation Three: The Makeup Artist Who Conquered Hollywood (1971-Present)
Mylah Gonzales Morales was born in Kalibo but raised in California. She grew up as the daughter of immigrants, carrying a grandfather's sacrifice and a father's reinvention in her DNA, though she never met the man who died on Agtawagon Hill.
New York Post feature on Mylah Morales, December 3, 2015" and "Mylah's work with Rihanna for Dior
Mylah started her career at MAC and Make Up For Ever makeup counters in Los Angeles—humble beginnings that would lead to extraordinary heights. Her talent caught the attention of the entertainment industry's elite, and she became Rihanna's primary makeup artist, working with the superstar for over a decade since her Barbadian debut album.
Elle magazine dubbed her "The Glaminator." Jeremy Scott described Rihanna's ability to transform looks as "electric"—and Mylah was the artist who made that electricity possible. Her specialty, according to Elle: "Record execs call on Morales' skillful hand to help turn on-the-verge pretty girls with pipes into glam divas."
When Rihanna became Dior's first Filipina spokesperson and wore Mylah's work at the house's Spring 2016 show in Paris, it represented a pinnacle moment not just for Mylah's career but for her family's three-generation journey. From a mountainside in Barangay Morales to Paris Fashion Week—the distance her family had traveled was immeasurable.
Mylah was repped by Rhianna’s recently launched Fr8me (stylized with an umlaut), a Los Angeles-based beauty and stylist agency whose clients include hair pro Marcia Hamilton and costume designer Oscar Lima. The New York Post profiled her work, and industry publications celebrated her innovative techniques.
Her approach to makeup? Technical excellence combined with boldness. "If you're going to do it, do it big!" she told Alexa—a philosophy that could serve as the Morales family motto.
“If you’re going to do it, do it big!”
From the New York Post profile: "It's craaaaazy!" says Jeremy Scott of Rihanna's ability to inhabit different looks. "She can do so much more than a model. She can make something electric." And Mylah is the one who creates that electric transformation, using "rich shades like sapphire, emerald, ruby or amethyst for lips and eyes."
Today, Mylah continues to reign supreme in the world of celebrity makeup artistry, representing the fullest flowering of her family's journey—a journey that began with sacrifice, continued through reinvention, and culminated in artistic triumph.
Three Generations, One Story
The arc of the Morales family story captures something essential about the Filipino-American experience and the immigrant journey more broadly:
Sacrifice: Mamerto Sr. dying on Agtawagon Hill, carrying rice to save his children
Survival and Reinvention: Miguel crossing the Pacific, abandoning his law degree and political dreams to build a new life in business
Success: Mylah achieving international recognition, working with global superstars, embodying dreams that began on a Philippine mountainside
When Mylah does Rihanna's makeup for a Dior show in Paris, she carries with her the strength of a grandfather she never met, who died trying to save his family in 1942. She carries the resilience of a father who gave up his law degree and started over in California. When she says "If you're going to do it, do it big," she echoes three generations of courage—the courage to carry rice up a mountain, the courage to cross an ocean and reinvent yourself, and the courage to reach for the stars.
This is the power of family history. This is why we preserve these stories.
From the mountains of Aklan to the business landscape of California to the stages of international fashion—this is the story of the Morales family, and it's a story that belongs not just to them but to every Filipino-American family that has made the journey, every immigrant family that has sacrificed and survived and ultimately succeeded.
Author's Note
This narrative is based on eyewitness testimony from Virgilio "Tito Bill" Morales and Dr. Romulo Morales, who witnessed their father's final moments as children in 1942. Additional information comes from:
Mamerto Miguel Gonzalez Morales's U.S. Petition for Naturalization (1979)
Real estate and property records from Kalibo, Aklan (1960s)
Marriage announcements from The Saturday Mirror, The Philippine Herald, and The Manila Times (1968)
Elle magazine's "Beauty Genius" feature on Mylah Morales
New York Post profile "Rihanna's Glam Dame" (December 3, 2015)
Family photographs and documents
Mylah Morales is my husband's first cousin. The details of Mamerto Sr.'s death come from the consistent childhood memories of his sons, preserved for over 70 years and corroborated through analysis of notary records (which show Mamerto Sr.'s signatures disappearing in 1942) and historical records of the Japanese occupation.
While some dates remain approximate—particularly Mamerto Sr.'s death, listed as "Abt. 1947" on official documents but dated to 1942 through eyewitness testimony—the core story remains a powerful testament to Filipino resilience, sacrifice, and the immigrant dream realized across three generations.
Continue the Journey
This story began on a Philippine mountainside in 1942. Read the full account of Mamerto Morales Sr.'s final moments and the family history that shaped three generations in my companion post: The Story of Mamerto Morales and Agtawagon Hill.
Researching Filipino families? Visit my Philippine Genealogy page for resources and guidance on tracing your Aklan ancestry.
Ready to uncover your own family narrative? Contact me to learn how Storyline Genealogy can help you research and write your family's history.Continue the Journey
Tags: Filipino-American history, WWII Philippines, Japanese occupation, Aklan history, Philippine immigration, three generations, celebrity makeup artist, Rihanna, immigrant success stories, family history, Barangay Morales, Filipino families in California
© 2025 Storyline Genealogy. This family research and narrative is original work protected by copyright.
