Lakandula

Lakan Dula
Lakan (King) of Tondo.
File:Lakandula.JPG
Reign	1558–1571
Predecessor	[[]]
Successor	Agustin de Legaspi
Issue	Batang Dula Magat Salamat Dionisio Capulong Phelipe Salonga Martin Lakandula Doña Maria Poloin
Names Banaw Lakan Dula
House	Kingdom of Tondo

Banaw Lakandula, (sometimes also Bunaw Lakandula) often referred to simply by his title Lakandula, and later baptised Carlos Lacandola, was the Lakan (paramount ruler) of the pre-colonial Philippine Kingdom of Tondo when the Spaniards first conquered the lands of the Pasig River delta in the 1570s.

Another common variation of the name is Gat Dula which at present times evolved into Gatdula. He is sometimes erroneously referred to as Rajah Lakandula, but the terms "Rajah" and "Lakan" have the same meaning, making the use of both "Rajah" and "Lakandula" at the same time redundant.

Along with Rajah Matanda and Rajah Sulayman, he was one of three Rajahs who played significant roles in the Spanish conquest of the kingdoms of the Pasig River delta in the early 1570s.

Name and Title

Over time, Lakandula's name has come to be written in several ways. However, according to the firsthand account written by Hernando Riquel,the royal notary who accompanied Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, the Lord of Tondo specifically identified himself as "Sibunao Lakandula, lord of the town of Tondo" when he went onboard Legazpi’s ship with the Lords of Manila on May 18, 1571. The lords of Manila introduced themselves as "Rajah Ache the Old and Rajah Soliman the Young, lords and principals of the town of Manila"

In page 13 of "Cracks in the Parchment Curtain", preeminent historian William Henry Scott quotes Riquel’s original text, which he found in the Spanish archives under "Archivo General de Indias Seccion Patronato leg. 24, no 24." The relevant part of the text read:

"...declaracion llamarse Raha Ache el Viejo y Raha Solimane el Mozo, senores y principales del pueblo de Manila, y Sibunao Lacandola, principal del pueblo de Tondo..."(Emphasis added)

Historians routinely remove the Filipino linking verb “si”, analogous to the English “am”, from recorded names in this era, because Spanish, who had not yet learned the local languages by then, often mistakenly attached to Filipino names. Historians thus record that the Lakan introduced himself as “Bunao Lacandola.”

Etymology of "Lakandula"

Banaw was the given name of the lord of Tondo at the time of the Spanish advent, and his title "Lakan" refers to a monarch and was the equivalent of "Rajah" or "King". This leaves the matter of the addendum “dula” to be settled. This could not have been a family name such as Filipinos use today, because family names were only introduced to the Filipino culture later, by Governor General Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa on November 11, 1849.

Kapampangan Katipunero-turned-writer Aurelio Tolentino, however, suggests that Dula was not a personal name at all, but a local word for “Palace,” such that “Lakandula” was the local-language title, “Lord of the Palace” of the rulers of Tondo. Analogously, Rajah Ache was also referred to as Rajah Matanda (Old Rajah), while Rajah Sulayman was sometimes referred to as Rajah Muda or Rajamora (Young Rajah).

In the Gatdula variant of the name, the word or prefix Gat is a shortened version of the Tagalog honorific "Pamagat", which at the time meant "nobleman," such that the variant literally read "Nobleman of the Palace", which meant essentially the same thing as the Kapampangan version.

In any case, most contemporary historians continue to refer to him as Lakandula. Where historians such as Dery and Scott explain that his given name is Banaw, they then continue to refer to him as Lakandula. Joaquin does something similar, explaining that the Lakan's given name is Banaw, and then proceeding to call him Lakan Dula (separate words) throughout his "Manila, My Manila" manuscript.

"Lakan" instead of "Rajah"

With the term "Rajah" and "Lakan" meaning the same thing, the "Rajah Lakandula" variation of the title was also never used in the original sources pertaining to Lakan Dula, and Philippine historian and national artist for literature Nick Joaquin takes pains to point out that the term Lakan, not Rajah, was used by the rulers of the Kingdom of Tondo.

Early Life

Little is known about the early life of Banaw Lakandula before the arrival of Legazpi. According to National Artist Nick Joaquin “he is presumed to be of native birth,” with mixed Tagalog and Kapampangan descent. Joaquin adds that “He was said to be a descendant of King Balagtas.”

Joaquin further speculates on Lakandula’s religious beliefs: "Tondo's Lakan Dula may have been unusual in being neither foreign nor muslim. This was indicated by his use of the native term Lakan instead of the foreign title Rajah. Lakan dula can be presumed… to have been reared in the anito cults. One guess is that he converted to islam, then changed his mind and returned to his native faith."

Joaquin also expounds on the economic context of Lakandula’s reign over Tondo:

“Tondo had replaced Namayan as the chief port of entry on Manila Bay. Tondo was right on the seaside. This was the advantage it had over Namayan, which was upriver inland. So the merchant ships that came into the bay preferred to unload their goods at the port of Tondo. And now it was the king of Tondo who was responsible for sending the merchandise upriver to the lakeside communities, there to be traded for local products. Tondo was thus the distributing center, or entrepot, on the delta... At the time of Lakan Dula, Tondo was at the height of its career as an entrepot…."

William Henry Scott notes that Augustinian Fray Martin de Rada Legaspi says they were “more traders than warriors”, and that Tondo’s ships, along with those of the Borneans, dominated trade through the rest of the archipelago. People in other parts of the archipelago often referred to Tondo boats as “Chinese” (Sina or Sinina) because they came bearing Chinese goods.

When ships from China came to Manila bay, Lakandula would remove the sails and rudders of their ships until they paid him duties and anchorage fees, and then he would then buy up all their goods himself, paying half its value immediately and then paying the other half upon their return the following year. In the interim, he would trade these goods with peoples further upstream and all over the archipelago, the end result being that other locals were not able to buy anything from the Chinese directly, but from Lakandula, who made a tidy profit as a result.

Arrival of Legazpi, May 1571

When Miguel Lopez de Legazpi came to Manila Bay in May 1571, Lakandula was there to meet him. The two first met on May 17, the day after Legazpi’s arrival on the bay, when Lakandula and Rajah Matanda came aboard Legazpi’s ship to discuss terms with him. Part of these discussions specified that the Spanish would not land in Tondo, and would instead land in Maynila, which had been burned to the ground the year before. Joaquin suggests that Lakandula would “have seen that Legaspi was being practical. Burned down and emptied, Maynila would be a better spot to fortify, being more strategic.”

On May 18, 1571 Rajah Sulayman, Rajah Matanda, and Lakan Dula acknowledged the sovereignty of Spain over the islands and proclaimed themselves the vassals of Spain. On the following day, May 19, Legazpi landed in Manila and took ceremonial possession of the land in the presence of Soliman, Matanda, and Lakandula.

Lakandula helped make a house for Legaspi, and a fort for the Spanish, giving them fourteen pieces of artillery and twelve jars of gunpowder – a gift much appreciated by the Spanish, who were running low on ammunition.

Soon after, Lakandula and his sones became baptized as Catholics. The Spanish had Manila’s artillery and arquebuses discharged in honor of the ceremony. Banaw Lakandula took on the name Don Carlos Lacandola after Charles I of Spain.

The Battle of Bangkusay, June 1571

It wasn’t long before Spanish power in Luzon was challenged. A month later, Tarik Sulayman of Macabebe attacked Manila, convincing Rajah Sulayman to join the battle against Legazpi. Macabebe and Sulayman’s forces were defeated, and the Datu of Macabebe was killed in what history would record as the Battle of Bangkusay. (The similarity of names has caused some confusion between these two leaders, but Tarik Sulayman and Rajah Sulayman were different individuals - one survived the battle, and the other did not.)

Lakandula had refused to join Macabebe and Sulayman's coalition, but among the prisoners taken by the Spanish after the battle were two of his nephews and a number of his officers. When questioned, they said that they had been on the scene only as observers, not as combatants. Legazpi let them go to demonstrate his confidence in Lakandula.

Joaquin notes that this was a wise choice on Legaspi’s part.:

“If he had been playing a double game before, Lakan Dula now became earnest in supporting the Spanish. It may be he who persuaded the fugitive Soliman to surrender and return to the good graces of Legazpi.”

Expedition to Pampanga and Bulacan, late 1571

Later that year, Legaspi sent Martin de Goiti to spread Spanish rule to the peoples of what are now the provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga, most notably the territories of Lubao and Betis. He sent Lakandula and Sulayman with him, because, as one account has it, “if so great a chief should go with him, when the Pampangos saw that he had given obedience to His Majesty, they would give it also.”

The account continues:

“Lacandola agreed to go, and served with two ships provided at his cost, and distinguished himself by performing much service for His Majesty, and went along so the said Pampangos would give him obedience, as in fact they did.”

These boats were Joangas, which, as Dery points out, was a seacraft common in Maritime Southeast Asia capable of carrying 300 men each.

Attack by Limahong, 1574

Lakandula’s close association with the spanish continued despite Legaspi’s death on August 20, 1572 and his replacement as Governor by Guido de Lavezares, who had been the colony’s treasurer. Lakandula was on hand to help repel the invading corsair Limahong when he came to try and sack manila in 1574.

Death

Mentions of Lakandula's death are few, but Scott indicates that he died in 1575, "three years after" Legazpi and Rajah Matanda, who both died in 1572.

Lakandula's role as ruler of Tondo was then taken up by by his grandnephew, and Rajah Soliman’s adopted son, Agustin de Legazpi.

Agustin de Legazpi, who was married to the cousin of Sultan Bolkiah, would lead Tondo as a territory under Spanish rule until he rose up against them in 1587-1588 Revolt of the Lakans, and was deposed and killed as a result.

Documentary Sources

Primary documentary sources about Lakandula are sparse, so much so that there has been debate about the actual name of the Lakan. Dery identifies three types of sources regarding Lakandula:

• accounts of Legaspi’s 1571 conquest,
• a record group in the Philippine National Archives collectively referred to as the "Lacandola Documents" containing mostly 18th century Geneaological Documents, and
• folklore, which “suggests prior lineage where documentation definitively identifies only descendants”.

In his “Bibliographic Essay” at the end of his book "Barangay:Sixteenth Century Philippine Culture and Society", William Henry Scott identifies the three accounts directly detailing the events of Lakandula’s lifetime. One was written by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi himself, the other by ‘royal notary Hernando Riquel’ who acccompanied Legazpi, and a third which is anynymous but which Scott suggests is ‘probably written by royal notary Hernando Riquel.’ Scott identifies this third account as particularly useful, because it ‘includes careful observations of the islands and people contacted’.

Scott also identifies other accounts that don’t directly refer to that occasion, but provide additional information about conditions at the time. These include two accounts of the Magellan voyage, reports from the attacks on Borneo in 1578-79, letters to the king from royal auditor Melchor de Avalos, Reports by later Governors General, passing details in sworn testimony about Augustinian activities (the latter two recorded in Blair and Robertson), Correspondence of Augustinian Fray Martin de Rada, the Relacion accounts of Miguel de Loarca and Juan de Plasencia, and the Boxer Codex, which “can be dated to 1590 on internal evidence.”

Descendants

Lakan Dula was the most prolific of Luzon's ancient rulers. His descendants are spread out all across the Kapampangan Region during the Spanish colonial era. He fathered at least five sons, namely Batang Dula, Don Dionisio Capulong, the Datu of Candaba, Don Phelipe Salonga, the Datu of Pulu, Magat Salamat, the Datu of Tondo and Don Martin Lakandula who entered the Agustinian order as a lay brother in 1590. He had one daughter by the name of Doña Maria Poloin who married Don Alonso Talabos.

Lakan Dula's sons and nephews were after implicated in the Revolt of the Lakans of 1588, a conspiracy meant to overthrow Spanish that was spearheaded by the former ruling class of the defeated Luzon Empire. His son Magat Salamat was executed by the Spanish authorities while the rest were executed.

Learning from this experience, his great grandson Don Juan Macapagal, Master-of-Camp and Datu of Arayat, aided the Spanish authorities in suppressing the 1660 Kapampangan Revolt of Don Francisco Maniago and the Pangasinan Revolt of Don Andres Malong, and the 1661 Ilocano Revolt. Because of his service to the Spanish crown, the Spanish authorities revived the special privileges offered by the Spanish crown to Lakan Dula and his descendants spread across the province of Pampanga. A Gremio de Lakandulas was created in 1758 to safeguard the rights and privileges of the Kapampangan descendants of Lakan Dula. During the British invasion of 1762–64, the descendants of Lakan Dula, now concentrated in the province of Pampanga, formed a company of volunteers to fight the British and were granted autonomy by Governor General Simon de Anda.

Prominent Lakan Dula descendants of the 20th century include the former Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal, father of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, former Philippine Senate President Jovito Salonga, pioneer Filipino industrialist Gonzalo Puyat, former Philippine Senate President Gil Puyat and international stage celebrity Lea Salonga.

Legacy

• The Order of Lakandula is one of the highest honors given by the Republic of the Philippines. It is an order of political and civic merit, awarded in memory of Lakan Dula’s dedication to the responsibilities of leadership, prudence, fortitude, courage and resolve in the service of one’s people.
• The BRP Rajah Lakandula (PF-4) was the a Destroyer Escort / Frigate and is the only ex-USN Edsall-class destroyer escort that served the Philippine Navy. She was also the flagship of the Philippine Navy from 1981 to 1988. Struck from the Navy List in 1988, she was still in use as stationary barracks ship in Subic Bay as of 1999.
• A number of Lakan Dula Elementary and Secondary Schools are named after Lakan Dula, notably in the City of Manila, and the Province of Pampanga, both closely associated with Lakan Banaw Dula.

See also

• Rajah Sulayman
• Rajah Matanda
• Kingdom of Maynila
• Kingdom of Tondo
• Rajah
• Sultan
• Datu
• Lakan
• History of the Philippines
• History of the Philippines (900–1521)
• Philippine revolts against Spain