Chapter 002: Sofronio Dulay

ang prof kong Toti Dulay of Marikina - "maayos na buhay para sa lahat"

Who is really Prof. Sofronio Dulay of Marikina Valley and what he stands for?

Juancho Bong Sempio wrote about Sofronio "Toti" Dulay to the KAANAK NG MGA BAYANI, KATIPUNERO AT REBOLUSYONARYO  on March 13, 2016 

"Our new member bro Toti Dulay is a descendant of Lakan Dula or Lakandula to some...Lakan Dula was a native muslim king of Tundun (a large area covering most of what is now present-day Metro Manila), when the Spanish colonization of the Philippine Islands had begun. He ruled a community of Muslim people who lived north of the Pasig River.Lakan Dula was one of three Muslim chieftains in the Manila during the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors led by Martín de Goiti, and Juan de Salcedo in 1570. Lakan is his official title meaning King and later baptized Lakan Carlos Dula (it was found later by the National Historical Commission that he was not actually baptized and did not changed his name), 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 1570's. His father is Rajah Salalila (Sulayman I) and his mother is Ysmeria. His beloved wife is Mutya and they are blessed with several children. His grandparents are Dayang (Lady) Kalangitan and Gat (Lord) Lontok and his brother is Rajah Matanda (Sulayman II). Rajah Mura or Muda (Sulayman III) and Lakan Banao Dula led a revolt known as the Sulayman Revolt of 1574 in the villages of Navotas, taking advantage of the confusion brought about by the attacks of Chinese pirate Limahong. This is also often referred to as the "Manila revolt" but is sometimes referred to as the "Sulayman Revolt" and the "Lakan Dula Revolt."

Offsprings of Lakan Dula

He fathered at least five sons, namely: Batang Dula - only his eldest son Batang is legally allowed to use his surname, by tradition, the rest, they have to adopt other surnames. Lakan Dula has three legal grand children from Batang Dula who was married to Spanish girl from the Goiti family: David Dula y Goiti, Daba Dula y Goiti, Dola Dula y Goiti. He sent them in very far places along sea and river routes protected by relatives because the Spaniards might kill them to make sure that his Kingdom will not have any successor and will not prosper. Don Dionisio Capulong (Datu of Candaba). Don Phelipe Salonga (Datu of Pulu), Magat Salamat (Datu of Tondo), Don Martin Lakandula - who entered the Agustinian order as a lay brother in 1590. He fathered one daughter: Doña Maria Poloin who married Don Alonso Talabos, one of Doña Teodora Alonso's forefathers. According to Carlos Quirino in his Rizal biography "the Great Malayan" mentioned that one of Teodora Alonso's forefathers proudly traced his ancestry to Lakan Banao Dula, then that makes Jose Rizal a descendant.

Known grandsons from Batang Dula the eldest: David Dula y Goiti (a mestizo) - escaped the persecution of the descendants of Lakan Dula by settling in Isla de Batag, Northern Samar and settled in a place now called Candawid. David later joined the Sumuroy Revolt ( 1649-1650) and changed his name to David Dulay. He was eventually executed by the Spaniards leaving his family in his plantation. He was imprisoned by Spanish soldiers in Palapag and was executed together with several followers. They were charged of treason with planning to attack the Spanish settlement. Daba Dula y Goiti (a mestizo) - escaped the persecution of the descendants of Lakan Dula was hidden to a place known today as Candaba. Dola Dula y Goiti (a mestizo) - escaped the persecution of the descendants of Lakan Dula was cared in a big farm known today as Candola in San Luis, Pampanga. "Kan" is an ancient Tagalog word which means "owned". There are other grandchildren of Lakan Dula have but we can not list all of them here, they are so many.

Lakan Dula wants to see all the descendants of his children. He knows that a lot of them became patriots, but few of them became traitors. Known great-grandson: Juan Macapagal (Datu of Arayat) – Lakan Banao Dula’s name is written in the 1665 document. Wishing to avoid the persecution experienced by his latter ancestors he aided the Spanish authorities in suppressing the 1660 Kapampangan Revolt of Francisco Maniago and the Pangasinan Revolt of Andres Malong and the 1661 Ilocano Revolt. The Ilocano revolt was headed by warrior tribes from Eastern Pangasinan, the Nozuelo and Moreno clans. His prominent descendants of 20th century, namely: Diosdado Macapagal (9th President of the Philippines) – father of Gloria Macapagal –Arroyo (14th President of the Philippines). Jovito Salonga – former Philippine Senate President Gonzalo Puyat - pioneer Filipino industrialist Gil Puyat - former Philippine Senate President Lea Salonga - international stage celebrity.

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."

BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY:  

To set my own context on this essay, let me first narrate my own exposures and experiences on the Philippine bureaucracy.

To start with, I came from the private sector. All my life, I never been an employee of the government.  My nearest experience of being a government employee was when Mayor Marides Fernando of Marikina tapped me as her consultant until her last term in the office.  She is not anymore eligible to run for another term because of the constitutional prohibition for a third termer to run for another term. My exposures and experiences therefore on the Philippine Bureaucracy is more of an outsider looking in.

But despite the fact that I have never been a government employee ever since, I am always active in local and national politics. I was the secretary of the Liberal Party of Marikina when I was young. Later on, I was appointed by then Vice – President Erap Estrada as the Municipal Chairman of his own political party, the Partido ng Masang Pilipino, in Marikina. During the 1992 elections, at the age of 31, I was nominated by my party to be the official mayoralty candidate of my hometown Marikina. We have a complete slate, we did all that has to be done during the campaign, but we lost over the team of Bayani Fernando. I went on as the NCR Chairman of the PMP Chairmen’s Forum campaigning for presidential candidate VP Erap Estrada. We won the elections, but the position given to me was a directorship of a private investment company. Eventually, when corruptions became rampant in Erap’s camp, I resigned and distanced from the group. Later, I found a clean candidate, Sen. Raul Roco and I became the NCR Campaign Manager for Aksyon Democratiko, Roco’s party.  We lost that election.

During the last elections, I was again nominated by a local party, Puersa Marikina, to be its official congressional candidate for the first district of Marikina. I have been preparing for the candidacy until former MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando, decided to file his candidacy for the 1st congressional district of Marikina, so, I decided to give way to him. During the campaign period, PDP Laban President and now the Senate President Koko Pimentel, who is also from Marikina, asked for my resume for a probable stint in the Duterte Administration if we win.  I was one of the 60 names submitted by the party for the possible appointment.  However, until now, I have no news about it and the process seem to be slow. We observed that the non – party members that are close to President Duterte are the one calling the shots and not the PDP – Laban. Sen. Pimentel is worried about this. He actually suggested that I visit President Duterte in Davao, but I did not do it because I want to give the search committee enough elbow room to really find the most qualified people in all posts. I know my chance of being finally appointed became more remote with that principled stand, but, so be it: sanay naman ako sa private sector eh. And besides, my salary as FEU Professor is higher than most officers in the government and with a four - day work a week. (This could be a form of rationalization of a man that never gets to be appointed, but come to think of it, I might be really better off remaining in the private sector.)

As to the question of what I think are the most important virtues that the government employees must possess,  my answer  would be influenced  by the fact that I am an outsider looking into the operations and dynamics in the government bureaucracy.  We from the private sector are looking for good services, so, for me, honesty, efficiency and genuine love for the people they serve are the best virtues that our public servants must have.

Honesty is a virtue will make the government employees avoid graft and corruption. At the same time, it will enable them to make principled stand and judgement given a situation. The truth will set them free, so an honest employee will be free from any burden caused by lying. This feeling of being free will be a factor in our quest for transparency and accountability in government.

Efficient government employees will deliver more result given some limited resources.  Wastage of resources and time are avoided by efficient employees and therefore the government gets to achieve more, serve more constituents, for less.  The result is that saved resources can be channeled into the pro poor activities that will help the less fortunate to have better education and food on the table.

The genuine love for the people they serve, their customers, is the fire in the belly that induces the government employees to serve better. It is the feeling of enjoyment of serving other people that should intrinsically motivate government employees to work harder and better. If the government employees genuinely love to serve their customers, the people, what they do is not work but sheer pleasure, a pursuit of a vocation. With this, their relationship and attitude towards their customers will be patient, accommodating and creative in responding to their needs, despite of their low salary of these government employees.

Give our country a bunch of public servants who are honest, efficient and have genuine love for people and this nation will be great again. (This essay got a flat 1 grade in my doctoral class in UP NCPAG)

His Facebook Profile Picture tells this....

      I am in gray, Toti Dulay (Sofronio Cerbito Dulay I), my son is in black Esdee Dulay  (Sofronio Corral Dulay II). I enlisted as sacristan in Concepcion; my son was a sacristan in San Roque. We were both Boy Scouts. My parents objected when the Amigo Youth Club of Friendly Village planned to put me up as KB Chairman of Concepcion, my son won as SK Kagawad of San Roque. We are both inter - barangay basketball players, me in Concepcion Dos, my son in San Roque. I play center, my son plays point guard. My lolo is the eldest son, my dad is the eldest son, I am the eldest son and my son is the eldest son, putting us in the long line of the traditional leaders of the Dulay Mendoza Clan of Marikina Valley in our generations. I entered UP, my son entered UP. I joined the UP Vanguard Fraternity; my son joined the Upsilon Sigma Phi. We both like politics. I dreamed of becoming a lawyer, my son is a second year student of the UP College of Law. My son was chosen as the Prom King of the Marist Graduation Ball. Well, ako?, hehehehe..I was elected Marist PTA president (boxing event ko nung high school, no time to play tweetums). I married a fellow UP alumnus Chinese mestiza, the girlfriend of my son is a pure Chinese schoolmate in the UP College of Law. The Partido ng Masang Pilipino of President Erap Estrada put me up as their Mayoralty candidate of Marikina in the 1992 elections, making me the youngest official mayoralty candidate in the history of Marikina at the age of 31. I lost that election. I dont know how my son intends to create a record of his own. We both love Marikina. I am proud of my son and I know that he will continue the traditional leadership of the clan and groom his own eldest son to continue the tradition that we both inherited.