Lea Salonga
Salonga in 2010, photo by s_bukley/Bigstock.com
Birth Name: Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga
Place of Birth: Ermita, Manila, Philippines
Date of Birth: February 22, 1971
Ethnicity: Filipino [Kapampangan, Tagalog], 1/16th German
Lea Salonga is a Filipino singer and actress. She provided the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in the film Aladdin (1992).
She is the daughter of Ligaya Alcantara Imutan and Feliciano Genuino Salonga. Her brother is musical conductor, composer, and arranger Gerard Salonga. Lea is married to American entrepreneur and managing director Robert Charles Chien, who is of Chinese and Japanese descent; with whom she has a daughter.
Lea is a cousin of ballet dancer and instructor Maniya Barredo. She is also a first cousin, once removed, of Canadian actress, model, and entrepreneur Shay Mitchell.
A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2025) stated that Lea’s genetic ancestry consists of:
*88.9% East Asia
*9.6% Europe
*1.1% Other
Lea’s paternal grandfather was Feliciano Salonga y Peña (the son of Hilario Salonga and Roberta Peña). Feliciano was born in Porac, Pampanga.
Lea’s paternal grandmother was Florentina Pingul Genuino (the daughter of Pioquinto Genuino and Eduvijes Pingul). Florentina was born in Porac, Pampanga.
Lea’s maternal grandfather was Leocadio Villacosta Imutan (the son of Agatón Imutan and Magdalena Villacosta). Leocadio was born in San Rafael, Bulacan.
Lea’s maternal grandmother was Carmen Malhabour Alcantara (the daughter of Mariano Alcántara and Perpetua Malhabour). Carmen was born in Sampaloc, Manila. Perpetua was the daughter of Pedro Malhabar. Her grandfather was German.
Her Filipino ethnicity includes Kapampangan, from her father’s side, and Tagalog, from her maternal grandfather’s side. However, her maternal grandmother’s side is unknown; she may have been of Hiligaynon or Waray descent.
Sources: https://twitter.com
Genealogy of Lea Salonga – http://gma7powers.tumblr.com
Birth record of Lea’s maternal grandmother, Carmen Malhabour Alcantara – https://familysearch.org
She is 1/16 German, through the Malhabor line.
There is an episode of Finding Your Roots about her ancestry.
https://www.facebook.com/boredollie/videos/590043937003543/
Correction. On finding Your Roots they found out that she has German ancestry as well. Her Great great grandfather Pedro Malhabar was the son of a man from Prussia and a Filipino woman. DNA test showed she’s a little over 9% European.
I have found Lea Salonga’s maternal grandmother Carmen Malhabour Alcantara’s birth record: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939F-GMDC-H
Her mother’s name was Perpetua Malhabour, not Enriqueta. Her ethnicity is unclear if she was Hiligaynon or Waray because her birthplace is listed as Iloilo, Leyte which is nonsense.