Are You a Lakandula Descendant?

It has become a badge of pride for Cebuano and Bol-anon families to claim descent from Lapu-Lapu, Tupas, or any of the other Visayan rulers who fought the Spaniards. The same is true for those in Luzon whose pride it is to be known to be descendants of the pre-Hispanic noble and royal families of Central Luzon.

Because his descendants outnumber any other prominent pre-Hispanic family in Luzon and many of the names in his tree have become distinguished men and women in history (with some become infamous), descent from the pre-Hispanic royal families of Central Luzon has become almost synonymous to being a Lakandula descendant. Even the record keeping of the Spaniards lumped all royally-descended families into a file called Descendientes de Don Carlos Lacandola and when there was a need to put them all into one barangay in pueblos where descendants of pre-Hispanic royal families were found, this barangay was called the Gremio de Lacandolas. 

It thus stands to reason that in many documents, a "Lakandula descendant" is not necessarily a direct descendant of the famous ruler of Tondo, but rather an indication of descent from the other royal personalities like Rajahs Matanda and Soliman or any of the names mentioned in the Rulers of Central Luzon family tree. In the same manner, while the title of this article is "Are You A Lakandula Descendant", the Lakandula descendant here will mean all other pre-Hispanic royalty descendants.

This article is simply an introduction to the 4 main qualifications for being a Lakandula descendant. Separate future articles will be released for each qualification.

First Qualification: The Surname

Many families today claim a tenuous link to pre-Hispanic royalty just because of the surname they carry. This is the easiest way to claim descent from Lakandula, just because their surname is the same as one of the acknowledged "royal" or "noble" surnames.

So which surnames are these? First, we look at the most obvious list of surnames: the Claveria decree of 1849. The decree mentioned 4 very specific last names that should not be adopted by people without any business using these surnames: Lacandola, Mojica, Tupas, and Rajah Matanda. The reason given for the special protection for these surnames is, as the decree stated, to "avoid confusion which might result to the prejudice of those who with their surnames inherited from His Majesty certain benefits".

The portion in the Catalogo listing Lacandola etc.

Lacandola and Rajah Matanda of course refer to our kings of Tondo and Manila. Mojica, on the other hand, refers to the "patrician house of Don Pedro de Mojica (also spelled Moxica) of Silang, Cavite. In 1677, Don Pedro and "his wife, children and descendants" were exempted by the Spanish crown from "tributes, forced labor (polo) and personal services of the general and particular kind.” To be sure, besides the descendants of Lakan Dula, the Mojicas of Cavite were the only indio clan which was able to maintain and preserve its special prerogatives till the end of the Spanish era. In fact, its vested rights surpassed those of the Lakandulas for they applied to both the male and female lines of descent whereas those of the Lakandulas were limited to the male line. Not even the proud progenies of Rajahs Matanda, Soliman, and Tupas were able to keep up a similar entitlement (Santiago, 1992).”

It is thus a safe assumption that people who carry the surname Lacandola, Raja Matanda (or simply Matanda), and let us add Soliman, are most likely descendants of the Lacandolas. Most likely, but it cannot be definitive for several reasons, chief among these is the fact that while these were "protected surnames" the compilers of the catalogo alfabetico de apellidos or the alphabetical catalog of last names still included these supposed protected surnames. The surnames Lacandola, Mojica, and Tupas are found on pages 71, 87, and 132 of the Catalogo, respectively, while Matanda appears to be not found in the catalog.

The next list of Lacandola surnames comes from the disputed will of Fernando Malang Balagtas. These are: GATBONTON, MONMON, GATCHALIAN, GATMAITAN, MACARALAGA, GATMAITIM, MANDIC, GATDULA, and DUMANDAN. Kapampangan historian Mariano Henson further said that “Kapampangans and Tagalogs with the surnames MUSNGI, DUMANDAN, LUMANLAN, MADLANGBAYAN, SALALILA, GATBONTON, GATMAITAN, GATDULA, CAPULONG, SOLIMAN, LAKANDULA, and MACAPAGAL  are descendants of Pansonum, who was christened Francisco Malang Balagtas and a direct descendant of the Madjapahit rulers of Luzon (Henson, 1955).

Two other surnames, TALANGPAZ and PAMINTUAN, are also considered ancient and most enduring Tagalog surnames and are believed to be descendants of pre-Hispanic Central Luzon roaylty (Santiago, 1989). 

It is the belief of many that these names or portions of these names in modern Filipino surnames are true indication of descent from ancient Filipino blue-bloods. Unfortunately, just like Lacandola, Soliman, Tupas, and Matanda, carrying any one of these names isn't an immediate proof of being a descendant of Filipino nobility. The Claveria catalogo shows that these surnames were also found in the list: Macapagal (page 79), Magat (page 80), Salamat and Salonga (page 115), Dula (page 41), and the "Gat" names all found in page 54 of the Catalogo. As such, having Dula or Gatdula or Macapagal as a last name does not mean these people's ancestors did not simply pluck these names from the Catalogo. Mere stories of descent cannot prove validity of the claim.

Second Qualification: Empadronado in the Gremio de Lacandolas

The second list of names who are most likely descended from the Lacandolas are those whose names appear in the Gremio or Barangay de Lacandolas. The so-called gremio de Lacandolas was an administrative grouping of proven Lakandula descendants to simplify the administration of the Spaniards of the privileges received by the Lakandulas. This was established after 1758 when the Audiencia declared that only the descendants of Maestre de Campo Don Juan Macapagal and his brothers were to enjoy the benefits of the privilege given to their ancestors.

Very few pueblos had a large number of Lacandolas, so most of the names are those found in San Simon, Arayat, Apalit, San Luis, and Candaba. These surnames were SIMBULAN, PAGUIO, CAPULONG, PUNZALAN, ALFARO, MASIBAC, LALU, PUYAT, MACAPAGAL, UMALI, AGUIRRE, MATIC, TABORA, QUINTO, BUCIS, TIGLAO, CANLAS, GUEVARRA, PANGAN, TAYAG, SALONGA, and LUBAO. 

Third Qualification: Listed in the Reservados por Privelegio de Lacandolas

Other than the gremio or barangay de Lacandolas, we can also find other sources of Lakandula's descendants through the various lists of reservados in towns in Central Luzon. The Reservados was an accounting of individuals in every pueblo who were exempted from doing polo y servicio and from paying tribute. In most towns these were normally three: reservados por edad (exempted due to old age), reservados por enfermedad (exempted due to infirmity), and reservados por privilegio (exempted due to privilege, usually because the individual was a local functionary and their wife). In other towns, there were also exemptions given to primogenito or the eldest sons of cabezas de barangay; to mestizos espanioles; to church workers like cantors, sacristanes, and porteros; and soldiers, retired soldiers, and their spouses. But for a few towns in Central Luzon, they also an additional reservado called reservados por Lacandolas or reservados por merced de Lacandolas. On a rough estimate using existing records on these exempted individuals, it can be seen from the chart on the left that a bulk of the descendants of Lakandula could be found in the pueblos of Apalit and San Simon, both in Pampanga. There were also a few found in Macabebe and Mexico and a smattering few in other towns, most in Pampanga but also in others outside the province of Pampanga like Tarlac, Calumpit, and Cabanatuan. Many of the names found here like BUNDOC, TIGLAO, PUYAT, VERGARA, PAGUIO, DANGCA, PANIMOG, GALCINA, CAPULONG, YUMUL, YUMBA, LACANDOLA, BINUYA, BAYANI, MANALO, NOCOM, MANANGQUIL, BACANI, PINILI, LAPIRA, ANINAGAN, PAYQUITAN, DE QUIROS, BALAGTAS, DE LEON, LOZANO, DE TORRES, PANGAN, MACAPAGAL, MALDONADO, MANGUNAY, TUMOL, GUEVARRA,MUTYA, BATAC, CORTES, LOBO, CUYUGAN, SOLITAN, PUNSALANG, and RUEDA.

A sampling of Reservados por Lacandolas

Fourth Qualification: Other Archival Documents

The last way to find out if one's family is a Lacandola descendant is through consultation of other archival document other than those mentioned above. One very sure way is going through the Descendientes de Don Carlos Lacandola which is a treasure-trove of Lakandula descendants.

Other samples of relevant documents that can be found in the Archivo General de Indias include the documents entitled Carta de José Joaquín Merino, Carta de Pedro Calderón Enríquez, Petición de Juan Macapagal para que se le conceda encomienda, and Pleito promovido contra los Herederos de Lakandola.

The last document, which translates as Record of Case Filed Against the Heirs of Lacandola, show a sprinkling of names of Lacandolas from various towns in Bulacan:

Summing Up Everything

It is not enough that one finds one's last name listed among those mentioned above. For all you know, your Salonga or Lacandula surname was adopted only in 1849 in accordance with Claveria's decree. So the first thing one must do is to establish the origin of one's "Lakandula" family name. Roots to Pampanga, Bulacan, and nearby Central Luzon towns would give someone an 80-90% chances of being a Lakandula descendant.

But the most important step to take is to stitch everything together by making sure that one's possible Lakandula descent can be traced to any of the names mentioned in the gremio de Lacandolas or reservados por Lacandolas list. Only when one can trace one's family to these individuals using church and state records can one truly say that one is a Lakandula descendant.

The journey to discovering if one is a Lakandula descendant will be long and difficult, but it would be a great feeling when one is able to do so. 

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Sources:

1. National Archives of the Philippines. Tributos (Bulacan), 1849-1874.
2. National Archives of the Philippines. Tributos (Pampanga), 1792-1873.
3. Indiferente General (1667, February 6). Meritos: Juan Macapagal. INDIFERENTE (121,N.81). Archivo General de Indias, Spain.
4. Audiencia de Filipinas (1667, March 7). Petición de Juan Macapagal para que se le conceda encomienda. Filipinas (43,N.27). Archivo General de Indias, Spain.
5. Audiencia de Filipinas (1751, August 30). Orden sobre reservas de los régulos Lacandola y Rajasolimán. Filipinas (335,L.16,F.176R-178V). Archivo General de Indias, Spain.
6. Ministerio de Ultramar (1185 / 1892). P. Mallari pide heredar privilegios del régulo C. Lacandola. ULTRAMAR (5282, Exp.9). Archivo Histórico Nacional, Spain.
7. Mariano A. Henson. "Genealogy of the Rulers of Central Luzon as Related in the Will of Fernando Malang Balagtas." The Province of Pampanga and Its Towns (A.D. 1300-1955), 163-168. Manila: Villanueva Book Store, 1955.
8. Luciano P.R. Santiago. "The Houses of Lakandula, Matanda, and Soliman (1571-1898): Genealogy and Group Identity." Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, Volume 18, No. 1, 39-73. Cebu City: USC Press, 1990.
9. Luciano P.R. Santiago. "The Lineage of Mojica : the Super-Principalia of Cavite, 1677-1898." Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, Volume 20, No. 2. Cebu City: USC Press, 1992.
10. Luciano P.R. Santiago. "Talangpaz: The Foundresses of the Beaterio De San Sebastian De Calumpang (Now the Congregation of the Augustinian Recollect Sisters) 1691-1732." Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, Volume 17, No. 3. Cebu City: USC Press, 1989.
11. Domingo Abella. Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos. Manila: Government Printing Office, 1973.
12. Historical Conservation Society. The Christianization of the Philippines. Manila: M. Sanchez, 1965.

BOOK REVIEW: In the Blood: Tracing the Kapampangan Lineage of Andres Bonifacio

The book cover

In the Blood: Tracing the Kapampangan Lineage of Andres Bonifacio by Joel S. Regala is perhaps the first book that has attempted to trace the genealogy of Katipunan founder Andres Bonifacio. While Bonifacio is considered as one of the greatest Filipino heroes and many biographies have been written about him, his genealogy remains very much unexplored.

To be fair, it would seem that Bonifacio's genealogy has been designed by fate to be extremely hard to establish. Tondo, Bonifacio's birthplace, was heavily bombarded by the Americans during WWII, thus destroying many of the older edifices including the archives of the  Santo Niño de Tondo Church. Even the supposed root of the Bonifacio's of Tondo - Masantol, Pampanga and then much earlier to Macabebe, Pampanga - as hypothesized by Regala, also do not have church records earlier than the 1890s. Regala's 100-page book on the "lineage" of Andres Bonifacio is founded on his theory that because there wan an abnormally high number of residents in Masantol with the last name Bonifacio and there was one Bonifacio family in Masantol that has a long-time oral tradition of claiming relationship to Andres Bonifacio, Andres Bonifacio was most likely from Masantol or thereabouts. 

Mr. Regala is to be commended for his dogged pursuit of his theory of the possibility that the Bonifacios of Tondo were most likely not from Tondo but were from Pampanga. Again, the strongest "proofs" for this assumption are a) Masantol (in December 2008) had around 1,009 registered voters under the last name of Bonifacio as compared to the measly 102 Bonifacios found in Tondo, and b) the Narciso Bonifacio family of Masantol has long held the belief that they were related to the Supremo. Because the Narciso Bonifacio descendants , through several generations, were consistent in their claims of relatedness with Andres Bonifacio, Regala surmises that Andres or at least his father, Santiago, was from Masantol. 

The basic conclusion with which he arrives at is that due to the destruction of the records of Andres Bonifacio's birth place, Tondo, or possible birth place, Masantol, we cannot go beyond the names of Bonifacio's parents, who were Santiago Bonifacio and Catalina de Castro. But perhaps, the consistency of the claims of a Bonifacio family in Masantol is the key to unlocking the lineage of Andres Bonifacio.

The Available Facts on Andres Bonifacio's Lineage

In the Blood came out in 2014. The author's research on Bonifacio took four years but it is puzzling that he only had the names of Andres Bonifacio's parents. This is indeed unusual because the names of Andres Bonifacio's grandparents on both paternal and maternal sides have been known to historians for decades now.

The eminent American historian Austin Craig, who wrote a definitive biography of Rizal and did a very extensive study of Rizal's genealogy, was the first to write about the names of Santiago's and Catalina's parents in the Sunday Tribune Magazine on November 23, 1929. Citing the marriage records of Tondo, Craig cited the record as such:

That Santiago Bonifacio, the son of Vicente Bonifacio and Alejandra Rosales, married on the 24th of January 1863 Catalina de Castro, the daughter of Martin de Castro and Antonia Gregorio...in the presence of Don Severino Ampil and Doña Patricia Trinidad as witnesses and sponsors...

Of course, naturally, this record no longer existed after the Second World War. The same is true for Bonifacio's baptismal record, which was firth cited in Manuel Artigas y Cuerva's Andres Bonifacio y El ‘Katipunan’ in 1911, which states:

“On December 2, 1863, on my authority as Parish Priest, Padre Don Saturnino Buntan, presbyter cleric, baptized according to the rites of our Holy Mother Church, and applied the Holy Oils to, Andres Bonifacio, indio three days born, legitimate son of Santiago Bonifacio and Catalina de Castro, of the barangay of Don Patricio Infante, with Vicente Molina as sponsor at the font....Fr. Gregorio Prieto.”

Andres Bonifacio family tree shown in the book

The marriage record is also mentioned in Ambeth R. Ocampo's Bones of Contention: The Bonifacio Lectures in 2001. Both citations were also made in the 3-part article Andres Bonifacio: Biographical Notes by Jim Richardson, an independent scholar whose research focuses on Philippine nationalism and radicalism in the 19th and 20th centuries and whose publications include Roots of Dependency: Political and Economic Revolution in 19th Century Philippines (co-authored with Jonathan Fast); The Philippines (World Bibliographical Series); Komunista: The Genesis of the Philippine Communist Party, 1902-1935; and The Light of Liberty: Documents and Studies on the Katipunan, 1892-1897. 

So it is a little strange that Mr. Regala missed out on something that I was able to google in just within an hour. Aside from this missed information on the parents of Santiago Bonifacio, Regala's assumption of Andres Bonifacio's Masantol roots is further weakened by both these records. 

Narciso Bonifacio family tree shown in the book

It is a little strange that nothing is mentioned of the town origins of the Bonifacios in both the wedding of Vicente and Alejandra and the baptism of Andres. Only Catalina's town of origin - Zambales - is mentioned. In most cases, a person during the Spanish period was either from that particular town, original de este pueblo, or from another town, original de pueblo de (so and so). It is most probably safe to assume that since nothing is mentioned of the town of origin of the Bonifacios, it is possible that a) they are old timers of Tondo, or b) they came from somewhere else but a few generations ago.

What is clear about the book of Regala is the strong dependence he has on the descendants of Narciso Bonifacio as his source for most of the book. I do not discount the inter-generational insistence of the Narciso Bonifacio family that they are related to Andres. What I do wish to be made clear is that we cannot say for certain the validity of their claims. Pending DNA tests between the descendants of Narciso Bonifacio and those of the siblings of Andres Bonifacio (and this was mentioned in the book), we simply cannot say for sure how true this supposed connection is.

Of course, the fact that very few Bonifacios could be found in Tondo at the time of Andres Bonifacio's birth could bolster the claim of Mr. Regala that his roots were from Masantol. Obviously, more research is needed for a definitive conclusion to the roots of Andres Bonifacio.

In the end, this was an easy, short read. The techniques he used were exact and laudable but ultimately, it was was really more about the Narciso Bonifacio family and not so much of Andres Bonifacio. It was more of an attempt at tracing rather than actual tracing the lineage of Andres Bonifacio.

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In the Blood: Tracing the Kapampangan Lineage of Andres Bonifacio can be purchased through the Center for Kapampangan Studies - Holy Angel University at Angeles, Pampanga.

Was Jose Rizal a Descendant of Lakandula?

Once every few years the question "Was Rizal descended from Lakandula?" pops up. There are just a few scholarly works in recent years that claim this and so far none have been able to prove this claim.

Taken from Austin Craig's book

In more recent references to Rizal's claimed descent from the great Tondo ruler, there is always a consistency that this descent was through his mother, Teodora Alonso. The book Jose Rizal's Immortal Legacy states that "Teodora Alonzo Rizal, was a descendant of the last Malayan king, Lakandula" (Rivera, 1997) while another book, Sa Ningas ng Apoy: Si Rizal ang Dakilang Manunubos ng Kalayaan Henyo, Makabayan, Bayani at Martir (1861-1896), states that . . ."the heroism of Dr. Jose Rizal is inherited from his family and that his strength and courage is from his ancestor Lakandula" (Ramos, 2001). An older reference to this claimed ancestry can be found in The Maranao, which said "Way back in 1571 A.D., the Manila Bay area, the banks of the Pasig, the shores of Batangas were predominantly the site of Muslim communities. A confederation of barangays in Manila area was once ruled by Muslims - Rajah Soliman and Rajah Lakandula from whome Dr. Jose Rizal, the Great Malayan Filipino, is said to have been descended" (Saber and Madale, 1975).

Obviously, these references to Lakandula simply make a passing reference to the alleged connection between Rizal and the great king. It is interesting to note that Jose Rizal, while interested in genealogy at an early age, never mentioned his supposed descent from Lakandula. He was, however, interested in the ancient Tagalog nobles, as attested through his unfinished novel or story, The Ancient Tagalog Nobility and Sinagtala and Maria Maligaya. The latter story tells the story of twins Sinagtala and Maligaya whose mother, Isabel, was the granddaughter of Lakandula (Ocampo, 2008). 

The earliest reference by a renowned scholar with regard to Rizal being a Lakandula descendant was made by American author Austin Craig. In his book Lineage, Life, and Labors of Jose Rizal, Filipino Patriot, he wrote that all branches of Teodora Alonso's family tree were richer than that of her husband's and several names of these related families belong among the descendants of Lakandola, as traced by Mr. Luther Parker in his study of the Pampangan migration...(Craig, 1914).  He later elaborates on this connection in a 1928 article in the Philippine Education Magazine where he wrote that the Castro connection of the Alonsos, though no longer verifiable, ran back to the old Bisayan rajahs of Manila, the family of Rajah Matanda, Soliman, and Lakandula (Craig, 1928). Unfortunately for Austin Craig, he also does not have any irrefutable proof of how Rizal descended from Lakandula. 

Austin Craig's 1928 article on Rizal's lineage

In recent times, it would seem that scholars and historians have accepted that without further proof, one cannot continue this claim. However, there is a need to point out that in the online commercial genealogy and social networking website Geni, the master profile of Jose Rizal can be traced back to Lakandula definitively (see illustration below as taken from Geni):

Fake Descent of Rizal from Lakandula

While Geni is an interesting and a helpful site to many genealogists whether amateurs or experts, the illustration above of Rizal's descent from Lakandula is one of the website's downsides. The relationship as shown above is clearly not just erroneous, but very illogical and impossible.

First error: assuming that the Alonso line of Rizal is related to Lakandula simply because Maria Poloin, Lakandula's only daughter, married a man named Alonso Talabos. Obviously, those who connected Maria Poloin to the Alonso family did so using the flimsiest connection between the last name Alonso (for the family of Rizal's mother) and the first name Alonso for Lakandula's son-in-law. 

The second error in this tree is the alleged son of Maria Poloin, Jose Alonso. Where did this person come from? Austin Craig's painstaking tracing of Jose Rizal's family tree showed that the earliest traceable Alonso was Don Gregorio Alonso who died in 1794. He was Rizal's great-great-grandfather. The family tree of Lakandula as reconstructed by the late Luciano P.R. Santiago clearly does not show a Jose Alonso as one of Maria Poloin's children. In fact, she and her husband Alonso Talabos only had daughters, who were Juana Malay and Monica Bina. So, this Jose Alonso is very clearly an anomaly.

The final and most obvious error in this online connection is the generational anomaly. Simple math and a whole lot of logic would show us that there is no way that Rizal was separated by only 7 generations from Lakandula. As seen in the generation chart below, even when Lakandula had married and had children when we was 40 years of age, the timeline would still not allow for Rizal to be just 7 generations away from Lakandula. So it would mean, and it would also completely invalidate the above family tree, that Lakandula would have to have been in his 60s when he married if we want to force the 7-generation gap between Lakandula and Rizal. So very obviously, the connection of Rizal to Lakandula in Geni is not only wrong, it is misleading to many people who believe in the website. The connection was made using flimsy and illogical connections and is bereft of concrete evidence.

So, once again, we ask the question. Was Rizal a descendant of Lakandula?

It is unfortunate that the complete set of archival documentation on Lakandula's, Matanda's, and Soliman's descendants in the archives have been lost or cannot be retrieved for now. But what we have for the moment does not show the Alonsos in any of the branches of the Lakandula family tree. 

So, the answer to above's question is simple. No one can really tell. And until evidence is found, no, Rizal WAS NOT Lakandula's descendant.

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References:

1. Filomena V. Rivera. Jose Rizal's Immortal Legacy. Manila: National Book Store, 1997.
2. Victor C. Ramos. Sa Ningas ng Apoy: Si Rizal ang Dakilang Manunubos ng Kalayaan Henyo, Makabayan, Bayani at Martir (1861-1896). Manila: Rex Bookstore, Inc., 2001.
3. Mamitua Saber and Abdullah T. Madale. The Maranao. Manila: Solidaridad Pub. House, 1975.
4. Ambeth R. Ocampo. "The Ancient Tagalog Nobility" and "Sinagtala and Maria Maligaya". Makamisa. Manila: Anvil Publishing, 1992.
5. Austin Craig. Lineage, Life, and Labors of Jose Rizal: Filipino Patriot. Manila: Philippine Education Company, 1913.
6. Austin Craig. "Rizal's Lineage Typically Filipino", The Philippine Magazine (formerly Philippine Education Magazine). Manila: Philippine Education Company, Inc., 1928, pp. 11, 67-68.
7. "José Protacio Alonso Realonda Mercado Rizal (1861-1896)" <https://www.geni.com/people/Dr-Jose-Rizal/6000000003219874928>. Geni. (August 1, 2008). Retrieved July 12, 2019.
8. "Bunao Dula (1503 - 1575)" <https://www.geni.com/people/Lakan-Dula/6000000010556125071>. Geni. (December 29, 2009). Retrieved July 12, 2019.

Family Tree of the Rulers of Central Luzon (1st to 6th Generation)

The family tree of the rulers of Central Luzon, that is, the ancestors of Lakandula, Matanda, and Soliman as well as their cousins and other close relatives as mentioned in various sources of research and archival documents, is one of the most fascinating family trees for any Filipino family. While it is a combination of oral tradition and scholarly research and some of the people in the first few generations have been confused by early Philippine historians and chroniclers and may have been doubted by others, the fact remains that this genealogy remains the only genealogy that has been studied and vetted by historians since as far back as the time of Spanish colonization.

This write-up is by no means complete. However, this takes into account all previously written and researched genealogies of the Central Luzon rulers, called by the late Luciano P.R. Santiago as the super-principalia families in Philippine society (Santiago, 1990). It is interesting to note that the usage of the term super-principalia was first coined by Norman G. Owen in his work on the principalia of the Kabikolan (Owen, 1974). As such, the genealogy of families like that of former President and House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has been fully traced and documented, thanks to the works of the likes of Santiago, Beyer, Parker, Henson, etc. Many other more recent writers have made use of these scholars' works, but they remain the pioneer in terms of tracing the family tree of the super-principalia.

Generations One and Two

The earliest mention of the ancestors of Lakandula and his family was supposedly in the will executed by Fernando Malang Balagtas in 1589. This will was featured in the works of H. Otley Beyer (Beyer, 1919) and Luther Parker (Parker, 1931). The interesting thing about this will is the genealogy it contains. While Filipino politician and writer Isabelo de los Reyes (Reyes, 1890) and American historian William Henry Scott (Scott, 1978) both questioned the provenance of the will as do many other more recent historians, Luciano P.R. Santiago nevertheless writes that though it is true that there are doubts on the will, the genealogy it contains should probably be considered separately as many of the names it enumerates appear in various old manuscripts (Santiago, 2001).

The first in the family tree was a nobleman called Principal Araw (also Arao). The will of Balagtas as well as later discussions on Principal Araw all claim that he was from the royal house of Borneo. Naturally, this is hard to confirm. The timeline for Principal Araw was sometime in the 1300s A.D., when the Philippines was already under remote influence by the Madjapahit empire. Principal Araw married a local by the name of Maylag, who is also another noble person as she is always written with the title of Lady. Nothing much is said more of these two, except that based on where their descendants happened to have lived they probably settled in Pampanga and Bulacan (Henson, 1953).

Two children were born from their union: Principal Gatpandan and Principal Lontoc (also Lontok).

The rough genealogy of Araw and Maylag as seen in Mariano Henson's work

Generations Three and Four

Both Gat-pandan and Lontok had children; according to the Malang Balagtas will, Gat-pandan's children founded Ternate, Moluccas. This write-up is interested in the line of Principal Lontok, who had four children: three daughters by the name of Panginoan, Lahat, and Cahia, and one son by the name of Selalila or Salalila or Sri Lela. He was later identified as Suleiman or Soliman I, the founder of the Kingdom of Maynila (Beyer, 1919). These four children were born within the years 1400 until 1478, a time when the Madjapahit empire had started to decline. 

Soliman I was married to a Lady Ysmeria and they had at least three sons: Soliman II, Matanda, and Lakandula (Henson, 1953). Although Beyer and Henson made use of a the questionable Balagtas will as source for their genealogy, these personalities were proven to be real by later historians like Santiago and Dery as well as other sources like the tarsilas of Brunei's royal families.

Further in the Henson family tree showing Lakandula

For instance, while Santiago could not identify the name of Matanda's father, he was mentioned in the tarsila of Brunei's royal family as the "Raja of Maynila" who married a daughter of Sultan Bolkiah and his second wife, Putri Laila Menjanai of Sulu (Buyers, 2011).

Generations Five to Six

Further in the tarsila, another princess of Brunei (also unnamed), daughter of Sultan 'Abdu'l Kahar, son and successor of Sultan Bolkiah, was married to a Raja Sulaiman, Raja of Maynilad, the nephew and successor of Raja Muhammad Matanda, Raja of Maynilad (Buyers, 2011).

So clearly, this brings the genealogy full circle. By merging the various genealogies from different sources we get to not just give names to the personalities that are found on archival documents without their names, but also prove and validate the existence of most, if not all, of the people mentioned in Balagtas's will even if its origin is questionable. Another member of the family marries into the Brunei royal family: Augustin (Agostin) de Legazpi was married to another granddaughter of Sultan Bolkiah 26th June 1578, a nephew of Datu Lacondola, of Tondo, in the Philippines (Buyers, 2011).

Tracing down the line further, we get to Lakandula's children. Among his six documented and proven children, only the eldest, Dionisio Capulong, is found in all the documents and scholarly articles about Lakandula's children. Santiago identified 5: Dionisio Capulong, Magat Salamat, Phelipe Salonga, Maria Poloin, and Martin Lacandola. Dery further adds another son, Luis Taclocmao, making the total number of Lakandula's children 6. There are some claims that Lakandula had an older child by the name of Batang Dula. However, nowhere in any of the previous scholarly works or even in the existing archival documents was there any mention or documentation of a  Batang Dula. So, without corroboration of this supposed eldest son of Lakandula, it can be concluded for now that there was no Batang Dula among the children of Lakandula.

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Sources:

1. El Folklore Filipino (1890) by Isabelo de los Reyes
2. Various writings by H. Otley Beyer (1919)
3. Various writings by Luther Parker (1931)
4. Genealogy of the Rulers of Central Luzon (1953) by Mariano Henson
5. Cracks in the Parchment (1978) by William Henry Scott
6. The Houses of Lakandula, Matanda, and Soliman (1990) by Luciano P.R. Santiago
7. Rajahs Katunao, Lakandula, Tupas, and Matanda (1992) by Luis C. Dery
8. A History of the Inarticulate: Local History, Prostitution, and Other Views from the Bottom (2001) by Luis Camara Dery
9. Beating the Odds: The Life, the Times, and the Politics of Diosdado P. Macapagal (2005) by Cecilia Pestaño Serrano
10. Royal Ark: Brunei Genealogy (2011) by Christopher Buyers