His father was Urbano Macapagal y Romero (c. 1883 – 1946), a poet who wrote in the local Pampangan language and his mother was Romana Pangan Macapagal, daughter of Atanacio Miguel Pangan (a former cabeza de barangay of Gutad, Floridablanca, Pampanga) and Lorenza Suing Antiveros.