Ananias Laico (1877-1939) was a Filipino politician and administrator during the American colonial era. Early life [Note: Early in his life, he was known as 'Ananias Ong-Layco', using the same surname as his father, as well as 'Ananias Layco'. As an adult, however, he adopted 'Laico' as his last name, as did his brother Francisco.] Ananias Lucena Laico was born on January 24, 1877, in Magdalena, Laguna, Philippines, the fourth child of Don Luis Ong-Layco by his second wife, Doña Maria Concepcion Bernardo Lucena. According to tradition, the Laico family originated from Xiamen (formerly known as Amoy), Fujian Province, China, although the Ong-Layco surname or variants have appeared in Laguna parish records since at least the late eighteenth century. Ananias' father was from Pagsanjan, Laguna, while his mother was from Magdalena. A major landowner in the Magdalena area, Luis Ong-Layco was well-connected and powerful. His wife Maria Concepcion was a direct descendant of at least three eighteenth-century capitanes municipales (mayors) of the town of Majayjay, from which Magdelana was later separated. She was the granddaughter of Don Juan Pascual Bernardo, who played an important role in the founding of Magdalena and served as its second capitan municipal in 1821, as well as in 1833. Don Luis himself was capitan municipal of Magdalena in 1873–74; his oldest son Francisco, Ananias’ brother, held the same office in 1899. The Laico family business was copra (coconut) farming. Copra was the principal crop in Laguna and brought considerable prosperity to the province at the turn of the twentieth century. The wealth from these endeavors allowed the young Ananias to study at the Ateneo de Manila and obtain a Bachelor of Arts. Professional career Laico's response to the political upheavals in the Philippines and the occupation of the country by the United States at the end of the nineteenth century was ambivalent - and typical of the ilustrado elite, of which he was part. He served in the Filipino army during the Philippine War of Independence in the late 1890s and evidently never gave up its ideals. As late as February 1930, he and his older brother Francisco attended the First Independence Congress in Manila. However, like other members of his social class, Ananias Laico accepted the new rulers; indeed, he flourished professionally under the American colonial administration. Following family tradition, he served as Magdalena's mayor (renamed presidente municipal) in 1901, at the youthful age