Modern Filipinos all over the world are now searching for the real identity of their tribes and ancestral homeland. This is a phenomenon among Filipino Americans in the United States who are questioning their very own ancestry: are they Asian or Pacific Islanders. In the past, a lot of races are claiming Filipinos - are Filipinos Jewish, Asians, Pacific Islanders or Malays? Do they come from the people of ancient Ophir in one region of the country or are they the homegrown natives from different points of the country which Otley Beyer described as the "dawn men" who existed as early as 250,000 years ago, way ahead of the cro magnon man of Europe, not to mention the recent French archaeological discovery of a human life form existing in the Philippines 700,000 years ago. The search for the identity, ancestral homeland, ancestral bloodline and the ancestral lineage of their hereditary ancient rulers are now the present preoccupation of modern Filipinos whose country has become a melting pot of different races, whose religion Roman Catholic is western, whose surnames are western, whose native music Kundiman sounds like that of Italians, whose dialect and some practices are Jewish influenced like circumcision, etc; whose looks are mixtures of the east, the west, Latinos, Asians and Polynesians which made them win all major beauty contests in the world; who fought war with main world powers in their time and got their independence: from Spain, American and Japan; and who speaks English like their native tongue. Who are really these mysterious and caring people in a high middle class country somewhere in the Pacific? To really understand these people, there is a need to review their glorious past, the royal houses they have before the three major world powers attempted, but failed, to subjugate them. Some historians believe that the Hebrew ancient Lakanate of Lawan is actually the oldest kingdom of the Philippines which existed at around 1,800 BC. The timeline below will show the different royal houses and settlements together with their estimated era of existence. The reigning kings of these native Royal Houses were officially recognized by the Kingdom of Spain through the Laws of the Indies during the times of Philip ll and Charles ll and were officially designated as Principalias. The principalias are the first gobernadorcillos of different settlements all over the country whose name can be found today in their town or parish church histories, giving the possibility of reconstituting the ancient kingdoms through the living descendants of the gobernadorcillos. The principalía or noble class[1](p331) was the ruling and usually educated upper class in the pueblos of the Spanish Philippines, comprising the Gobernadorcillo, who was later referred to as Capitan Municipal (who had functions similar to a town mayor), Lieutenants of Justice, and the Cabezas de Barangay (heads of the barangays) who governed the districts, former Gobernadorcillos or Municipal Captains, and Municipal lieutenants in good standing during their term of office.[a][2]The distinction or status of being part of the principalía was originally a hereditary right.[b]

Timeline of the Pre - Hispanic Philippines

Based on the Principalia Theory of Austronesian Inter Migration, the Rhinoceros man, Dawn man and Callao man existed in the ancient Philippines (Ophir) as early as 709, 000; 250,000 and 65,000 years ago respectively.

1800 BC – Ancient Lawan Pacific Settlement (Ophir, the homeland of Asians, Polynesians and Austronesian peoples)

1000 BC - Igorot Society (CAR)

601 AD - Chiefdoms of Zabag and Wak-Wak (Pampanga and Aparri

800 AD - Namayan (Mandaluyong, Sta. Ana Manila

900 AD - Tondo (Tondo, Manila)

971 AD - Huangdom of Ma-i

1176 AD - Kingdom of Tondo

1200 AD - Rajahnate of Cebu, Madjas-as Confederation, Dapitan, Butuan

1252 AD - Lupah Sug (Sulu)

1376 AD - Bruneian Empire

1408 AD - Caboloan Vassal State of Ming China (Pangasinan)

1430 AD - Sultanate of Sulu

1450 AD - Kingdom of Tondo reached its peak with the largest territory in the archipelago

1470 AD - Namayan became a vassal state of Tondo

1492 AD - Kingdom of Taytay (Palawan)

1499 AD - Brunei conquered Ma-i and Sulu

1500 AD - Brunei conquered Tondo's Manila territory and established the puppet Kingdom of Maynila

1501 AD - Maguindanao established

1502 AD - Brunei totally took-over Tondo which lost its territories up north of Luzon.

1521 AD - Magellan reaches the Philippines & is killed by Lapu-Lapu in the battle of Mactan

1522 AD - Maranao established

1532 AD - Lanao established

1564 AD - Sultanate of Ternate established, Spain conquered Cebu

1567 AD - Datu Pagbuaya established

1573 AD - Spain conquered Madjas-As and Tondo

1577 AD - Spain conquered Caboloan

During the WWll, Philippine President Manuel L.Quezon, a native of the Pacific side of the Philippines within the influence of the ancient Lakanate of Lawan (Ophir), saved more than thousand Jews from Europe to be butchered by the Nazis by accepting them into the Philippines and settling them in his properties in Marikina Valley.

And the rest is history...

The Known Royal Houses of the Philippines

Some native Royal Houses are still subject to historical researches, but several of them have been identified and are actually existing even today in a non – formal way since royalty is not recognized in the Philippine constitution. Collectively, they are known in the Philippine society as the Principalia Class, the descendants of the royal houses and principalia families in the Philippines. There is an ongoing efforts of the Lakanate of Tondo, Wangdom of Ma - i, Madja-as Confederation, Sultanate of Sulu and Lakanate of Lawan to meet the heads of the well - known royal houses in the country to serve as the adviser of the Philippine President, conscience of the people and pursue patriotic endeavors as the revival of Baybayin alphabet, arnis, tinalak, kundiman, annual Lakan Bunao Dula birthday ball of the principalias ; support the Sumpa ni Lakan Dula presidential term evaluation and monitoring, and support to the efforts of the House of Kiram in claiming Sabah.

The Sultanate of Sulu and Sabah

The Sultanate of Sulu (Tausūg: Kasultanan sin Sūg, Jawi: کسلطانن سولو دار الإسلام, Malay: Kesultanan Sulu, Arabic: سلطنة سولك) was a Muslim state^{[note 1]} that ruled the islands in the Sulu Archipelago, parts of Mindanao, certain portions of Palawan and north-eastern Borneo (present-day the certain parts of Sabah and North Kalimantan).

The sultanate was founded on 17 November 1405.^{[5][note 2]} by a Johore-born explorer and religious scholar Sharif ul-Hashim. Paduka Mahasari Maulana al Sultan Sharif ul-Hashim became his full regnal name, Sharif-ul Hashim is his abbreviated name. He settled in Buansa, Sulu. After the marriage of Abu Bakr and a local dayang-dayang (princess) Paramisuli, he founded the sultanate. The Sultanate gained its independence from the Bruneian Empire in 1578.

At its peak, it stretched over the islands that bordered the western peninsula of Mindanao in the east to Palawan in the north. It also covers the area in northeastern side of Borneo, stretching from Marudu Bay,to Tepian Durian (in present-day Kalimantan).While another source stated the area stretching from Kimanis Bay which also overlaps with the boundaries of the Bruneian Sultanate.Due to the arrival of western powers such as the Spanish, British, Dutch, French, German and American, the Sultan thalassocracy and sovereign political powers were relinquished by 1915 through an agreement that was signed with the last colonialist, the United States.

In 1962, Philippine Government under the leadership of President Diosdado Macapagal (a descendant of Lakan Bunao Dula of the Kingdom of Tondo) officially recognized the continued existence of the Sultanate of Sulu. On 24 May 1974, Sultan Mohammed Mahakuttah Kiram (reigned 1974–1986), was the last officially recognized Sulu Sultan in the Philippines, having been recognized by President Ferdinand Marcos. On 15 August 1974 Sultan Moh. Mahakuttah A. Kiram submitted the organisational structure of the Sultanate of Sulu to the President of Philippines. The above named structure confirmed that Muedzul Lail Tan Kiram was the Raja Muda (Crown Prince) of Sulu. Under Rodrigo Duterte's administration, calls to finally settle the dispute of who is the officially recognized Sultan of Sulu via government recognition through an Executive Order was voiced out by various parties^[who?] involved with the issue. The calls have yet to be dealt with by the government since 2017, along with a 2016 electoral promise to retake Eastern Sabah (Wikipedia)

According to Principalia Council member Rajah Junbert Guigayuma of the Royal House of Tupas Humabon of the Rajahnate of Cebu, the Sultanate of Sulu and Sabah at present has 9 claimants. But so far, three has been invited by the Principalia Hereditary Council of the Philippines, the council of the hereditary heads of ancient native royal houses of the country whose membership is only through invitation and presentation of historical genealogy, tarsila and credentials, as Diplomatic Observers of the council initially. Whoever finally became the anointed legitimate Sultan will be invited for a seat in the Principalia Council. Out of the nine probable Sultans, only the following were formally invited as the Diplomatic Observers of the Principalia Council, namely: Sultan Mohammad Datu Fictal Gandawali Majuddin (Mauzuddin) Al Hads, Sultan Maedzul Lail Tan Kiram, and Sultan Phugdalon Kiram ll through Princess Jacel Kiram.

Kingdom (Kaharian/Lakanate) of Tondo/Manila

The Kingdom of Tondo became so prosperous that around the year 1500 AD, Sultan Bolkiah (an ancestor of the present ruling Sultan Bolkiah Hassanal) ‘merged’ with it by a royal marriage of Gat Lontok, who later became Rajah (Lord) of Namayan, and Dayang Kaylangitan (or ‘Princess of the Heavens’) to establish a city with the Malay name of Seludong (later on to become the city of Maynila) situated on the opposite bank of the Pasig River. The traditional rulers of Tondo – the Lakan Dula (literally, the “Lords of the Palace’), retained their titles and property but the real political power now resided in the House of Soliman, the Rajahs of Maynila whose line eventually formed the Tagalog ‘Maginoo’ ruling caste of Tondo.

Tondo, referred to also as ‘Tundo’, ‘Tundun’ and ‘Tundok’, was a fortified Philippine kingdom whose capital was located north of the Pasig River which flows into the Manila Bay on the archipelago’s largest island of Luzon.

It is one of the older settlements mentioned in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription which dates back to 900 AD. Tondo was an ‘Indianized’ kingdom in the 10th century. It was based essentially on Hindu and Buddhist cultural and economic influences that permeated most of Southeast Asia at the time. Despite being culturally akin to Hindu cultures, kingdoms like Tondo were truly indigenous and independent of India but they nevertheless enthusiastically adopted elements of ‘raja-dharma’ (Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, codes and court practices) to legitimate their own rule and constructed cities.

Tondo’s regional prominence in trade and alliance with Brunei Darussalam’s Sultan Bolkiah (1485 AD-1524 AD), however, led to its peak age as a maritime trading force even as relations between them date farther back in history. The political, economic, religious as well as socio-cultural relations between these two countries have existed for more than five centuries and heightened even more during the period when the Spanish, the Portuguese and the Dutch were contesting supremacy over territories comprising the Malay Peninsula and large swaths of Southeast Asia. In that aspect, a more important relationship had been cemented through a stronger bond of blood-based affinities between the Bruneian royal families with members of the Filipino nobility of the 15th century.

Sulaiman I (Sulayman) is the Kingdom of Tondo/Maynila's second to the last indigenous ruler. Lakan Bunao Dula (Lakan Dula) is the last, as the state was absorbed into the Spanish Empire. His eldest son, Lakan Bunao Dula was crowned Lakan (King) when Sulaiman I was too sick to function as a monarch. Sulaiman I is the grandson of Abdul Bolkiah and the son of Sulaiman Bolkiah. Sulaiman I, however, did not use the surname Bolkiah but instead used the official title "Soliman Dula I" to mark the new lineage of Manila's aristocracy. The regnal surname "Dulay", (later spelled as "Dula") came from the native alibata direct translation of "Doylly", the surname of the royal blooded British wife of Rajah Sulaiman I named "Ysmeria Doylly", mother of Lakan Bunao Dula and Rajah Sulaiman II. In the ancient alibata alphabet, there is no letter Y so, the alibata translation of Doylly becomes Dulay, and much later became Dula, the current surname of Lakan Bunao Dula of the Kingdom of Manila (Casan Ali Jr).

Datu Magat Salamat was a Filipino historical figure best known for co-organizing the Tondo Conspiracy of 1587. He was one of at least four sons of Lakan Bunao Dula, and thus held the title of Datu under his cousin and co-conspirator Agustin de Legazpi, who had been proclaimed paramount ruler (ruler over other datus) of the indianized kingdom of Tondo after the death of Lakan Bunao Dula, although the position soon became little more than a courtesy title.[2] For a long time, not much was known about Magat Salamat outside of his participation in the Tondo Conspiracy. As a result, early Filipino historians such as Gregorio Zaide could only definitively say that he was born of noble heritage - presumably somewhere in or near Tondo.[4] Salamat chose to involve himself in the Tondo Conspiracy because, being the chief or Datu of Tondo, wished to recapture it from the Spanish, in turn also recovering his heritage and birthright. Their aim was to restore the freedom they once had prior to the arrival of the Spanish, but they also sought to restore the leadership and power they had as well.[7]Alongside Salamat were others who shared his ambition, such as the chief of Bulacan, Felipe Salonga, chief of Polo, and Pedro Balinguit, chief of Pandacan, and he was also joined by other chiefs of Tondo, namely Juan Banal and Pitonggatan. Being a family affair as Tondo was his birthright, Salamat was also joined by a few relatives: Agustin de Legazpi, nephew of Lakandula, Salamat's father, and Geronimo Basi, brother of Agustin. Their final ally came in the form of Dionisio Fernandez, a Japanese Christian who reached out to one of his contacts known as Juan Gayo, a Japanese sea captain, in an attempt to secure both manpower and supplies. Gayo would recruit Japanese warriors to assist in the fight against the Spaniards, and in exchange for their assistance, Salamat and the others promised the Japanese half of the tribute to be collected from the Philippines. The Japanese would also attempt to secure aid from areas such as Borneo, Laguna, and Batangas, but it is unknown as to whether or not they were successful. Finally, Martin Pangan, gobernadorcillo of Tondo at the time, also pledged to support the cause, and with their band assembled, a plan came into fruition.[8] Some days prior to the plot's execution, Magat Salamat accidentally revealed the plot to Antonio Surabao, a native of Cuyo who was posing as a supporter of their plot. After he had learned of it, Surabao brought what he had heard to his master, Pedro Sarmiento, the Spanish encomendero of Calamianes, who then scampered to Manila on 26 October 1588 and reported it to the Governor-General at the time, Santiago de Vera. It was then after the revelation of the plot that de Vera had all those involved in the plot arrested, with several of them including Magat Salamat being hanged and executed while others were either fined heavily or exiled to Mexico.[8] The children of Magat Salamat were hidden in the northern settlements of the Lakanate of Tondo and some of his descendants are going back to the annual ritual of doing pilgrimage to the ancient palace of their great grandfather Lakan Bunao Dula of Tondo.The Magat Salamat Elementary School or Paaralang Magat Salamat was erected in the city of Manila to honor the last Datu to rule Tondo. The school is located in the 1st District of Manila, along the streets of Sta. Maria, Pavia, and Perla in Tondo, Man. The Philippine Navy also has the BRP Magat Salamat (PS-20) as part of its naval fleet. Originally named as the USS Gayety under the United States during 1942 and renamed to BRP Magat Salamat (Bapor ng Republika ng Pilipinas) when it was acquired by the Philippine Navy in 1976. After almost 12 years since it was first commissioned, the BRP Magat Salamat is still part of the fleet of the Philippine Navy.

At present, the House of Magat Salamat is headed by the Patriarch of the Royal House of Magat Salamat of the Lakanate of Tondo, Datuk Delmar Taclibon who is a government executive by profession. He is a member of Principalia Hereditary Council of the Philippines, the council of the hereditary heads of ancient native royal houses of the country whose membership is only through invitation and presentation of historical genealogy, tarsila and credentials.

The House of Capulong of the Lakanate of Tondo

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 seven children, namely, the eldest son Batang Dula; the brave Magat Salamat, the Datu of Tondo; the priest Martin Lakan Dula; the childless Don Dionisio Capulong, the Datu of Candaba; Don Phelipe Salonga, the Datu of Pulu; the pretty Maria Poloin, and the mysterious Luis Taclocmao. Batang Dula has three children: David, Daba and Dola. They were hidden in different places within sea routes and given vast tract of lands, farm workers, and armed followers. The plantation given to David was named Kandawid, the one given to Daba was now known as Kandaba and that of Dola is known as Kandola in San Luis Pampanga. Kan is an ancient Tagalog word for “owned”. The well-known descendants of Dola are the Macapagal of Lubao through a certain Lacandola. The descendants of Daba are the Capulong of Candaba and their relatives are the Gatbontons. The descendants of David Dula y Goiti are the Dulay of Candawid, Isla de Batang, Laoang, Northern Samar; and in Samara, Aringay in La Union. There are other descendants of Lakan Dula such as those who descended from his other children. It is still a historical mystery however why only the eldest son, and another child (Martin Lakan Dula) carried the regnal royal surname Dula. The rest adopted a different native sounding surnames (Carating, 2014, p.36). Dionisio Capulong was childless but he adopted Daba, the daughter of his eldest brother Batang Dula. When Daba married, she insisted that his children use the surname Capulong. One of her sons went back to Tondo and married a granddaughter of an Indonesian tribal king who was a visitor of the Lakanate of Tondo at that time, and the royal couple raised a family in a place what is now known as Sta. Ana, Manila. When the Spaniards came to settle Manila in 1571 Dionisio Capulong was a young boy. His father was one of the rulers in the region and all were scions of the Muslim royal family of Brunei. The father astutely complied—to a certain extent—with the colonising Spaniards. His son subsequently pursued an ambivalent career alternately working for and rebelling against the Spanish colonisers. Ultimately he became a landowner in the Spanish mode. This is his story. Even from only Spanish reports one can discern great astuteness and opportunism, which enabled the elite to keep local supremacy. Tracing the career of Dionisio Capulong sheds light on the elite in pre-Spanish Manila and environs as well as on Manila's earliest Spanish years.

The Kingdom of Palawan

Before the Spanish colonization, the Kingdom of Palawan, based in El Nido, Taytay, Palawan was ruled by a monarch noted as followed everywhere at any given time by ten scribes. The crew of Ferdinand Magellan held the Taytay king and queen for ransom after escaping the Battle of Mactan where Magellan was slain. They intended to secure more supplies as they planned to cross into the Moluccas where the Portuguese were so help could be sought. The native king and his subjects complied with the demands and even added more food supplies than what they asked for. This was duly recorded by Antonio Pigafetta, Magellan's chronicler, who was on board in one of the ships when these events took place.

Archived baptismal records of Cuyo, Palawan show that the last monarch of the Kingdom of Palawan based in the town Taytay was converted to Christianity and christened Flores de los Santos Cabailo meaning, Flower of the Saints.He was married to Tala, who was baptized as Hermigilda Estella . Tala is the granddaughter of Rajah Ache/ Rajah Sulayman and Apo Laktu of Dewil Valley. Apo Laktu is married to a great granddaughter of Singku Khan.

King Flores Cabailo has a daughter Maria who was married to Don Miguel Manlavi. Maria has a daughter by the name of Princess Victoria Cabailo Manlavi who married Rajah Shariff Abdula Usman of Kota Marudo and Palawan. The royal couple had a daughter Asunciana Daquer l. The Asunciana lineage also has the bloodline of Nicolas Salamat Ola, grandfather of Philppine hero General Simeon Ola. One of the grandchildren of Asunciana Daquer l, by the name of Apo Remedios Cabate - Cabral, is the Matriarch of House of Cabailo, in the Kingdom of Palawan, in El Nido in the town of Taytay. She was invited, and now have a seat at the Principalia Hereditary Council of the Philippines being the de jure and de facto leader of the descendants of King Cabailo and the one coordinating with National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) on the ancestral domain of the tribe involving 200,000 hectares of tribal land.

The descendants of the Royal House of Cabailo include the present clans of Cabailo, Cabate, Cabral, Manlavi, Gabinete and Macolor.

Lakanate of Lawan

A civilization can be prosperous with the growth of the population its inhabitants, by birth or migration, and by the idealism of its people. Biological life from the ocean started to evolve in what Darwin described as a “pond of life”-- a complex interplay of ocean water, sea, bay, cove, big river, lagoon, luscious forest, stream, spring, beaches, islands, caves, mountain, hills, plateau – all are found in the homeland of the Polynesians called in its ancient name as Lawan. Today, Lawan is estimated to be in the area of Laoang – Catubig – Palapag of Samar, island towns in the Philippines in the Pacific. The natives described the place as “kabubuhian san ilo” (translation: even orphans can survive here). The area is marked today by an old lighthouse guiding big ships from the Pacific entering the Philippine archipelago to Manila. With the diggings of early human and ancient treasures surrounding Lawan in the Pacific coasts of the Philippine archipelago like the 65,000 year old Callao man, the Limestone tombs of Kamhantik in the Buenavista Protected Landscape in Quezon province, existence of chief Dumaraug of Albay, the Mactan of Lapu Lapu settlement, the ancient shipyard in Palapag, the treasures in Surigao, the balangays in Butuan and the ancient plates, martabana (burial jar) and jewelries in Sawang (part of modern Lawan now called Laoang), and with siday and kandu (local historical epic), legends (sigbin, Araw City), ancient relics, the fortified main settlement; the historical fact that the name of the island Samar came from Samaria which is the ancestral homeland of Datu Iberein of the Lakanate of Lawan and one of the evidences that the Philippines is indeed the Biblical Ophir; the Catubig being the old historical capital of whole Samar island, and historical accounts of the Spaniards -- some historians conclude that Lawan is indeed an ancient Philippine civilization in the pacific ocean (New York SNA).

The surname Iberein may have come from the term Ibriy. In the Strong's Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and Chaldee, IBRIY derives from a family name. It is a surname from the Hebrew word Eber, and designates an Eberite. The Hebrew word Eber translates as "a region beyond" which partly explains that Samar of the Philippines is a region beyond their ancient Samarian homeland of the Hebrew civilization. Eber is also the name of a descendant of Shem, and ancestor of Abraham. Genesis 10:21 mentions Eber. The natives of Lawan, even today, are adventurous people found in different parts of the world but wherever they are, they are always dreaming of their homeland that they even celebrate their ancestral homeland fiesta in Manila, in the US and in different parts of the world. The cohesiveness, culture, familial bonds, legends, folklore, the homey feeling, oral kandu, and the written siday (epic) of its people are like the centrifugal force that evolve into a civilization and attracts the adventurers and migrants all over the world. The wave of migrations into the Philippines in the direction of the Pacific Ocean postulated by historian Otley Beyer supports the existence of a prosperous ancient kingdom in the Pacific.

The Confederation of Madja – as

The Confederation of Madja-as was a pre-Hispanic Philippine state within the Visayas islands region, and a Srivijayan colony in the Philippine Archipelago, like the Sulu Archipelago. It was established by nine rebel datus or high officials connected with the court of Brunei, who were forced to leave that country on account of enmity of the Rajah at that time ruling the land. The datus, together with their wives and children, as well as few faithful servants and followers were secretly escorted out of the country by the Rajah's Chief Minister, whose name was Datu Puti. The local folklore says that the name of the Bornean Rajah was Makatunao.

They embarked on sailing rafts of the type used by the Visayans (the term used in the Malay settlements, of what is now Borneo and Philippines, to refer to Srivijayans) in Sumatra and Borneo. According to tradition, which survive in the local culture of Western Visayas, this seafaring vessel is called Balangay, from which Barangay - the smallest social unit in the present-day Philippines - came from.

The semi-democratic confederation reached its peak during the 15th century under the leadership of Datu Padojinog when it warred against the Chinese Empire, the Rajahnate of Butuan, and the sultanates of Sulu and Maguindanao. It was also feared by the people of the Kingdom of Maynila and Tondo. It was integrated to the Spanish Empire through pacts and treaties (c.1569) by Miguel López de Legazpi and his grandson Juan de Salcedo. During the time of their hispanization, the principalities of the Confederation were already developed settlements with distinct social structure, culture, customs, and religion. Among the archaeological proofs of the existence of this Hiligaynon nation are the artifacts found in pre-Hispanic tombs from many parts of the island, which are now in display at Iloilo Museum. There are also recent discoveries of burial artifacts of eight-foot inhabitants of Isla de Gigantes, including extra-large Lungon (wooden coffins) and pre-hispanic potteries. Another testimony of the antiquity of this civilization is the longest and oldest epic in the region, the Hinilawod. Some historians believe that the Madja-as Confederation did not exist at all and was just a story carried by a certain community newspaper. But there are really principalia families in almost all parts of the country. They are the last native datus that are coopted by the Spaniards to help them pacify the place by appointing them gobernadorcillos. Therefore, only the lineage of the first gobernadorcillo of a place are the present principalia. The official hereditary heir of the first gobernadorcillo will be his eldest son which also carry the surname of principalia up to the present. The rest will just be pretenders. From the writings of Book of Maragtas however, the Madja-as Confederation was mentioned. Datu Sumakwel and his people crossed over the Madja-as mountain range into Hamtik and established their village at Malandong. Datu Puti left the others for explorations northwards after ensuring his people's safety. He designated Datu Sumakwel, being the eldest, as the commander-in-chief of Panay before he left. By 1213, Datu Sumakwel invoked a council of datus to plan for common defense and a system of government. Six articles were adopted and promulgated, which came to be known as Articles of Confederation of Madja-as. The confederation created the three sakups (Sovereign territories) as the main political divisions, and they defined the system of government, plus establishing rights of individuals while providing for a justice system. Today the descendants of Datu Sumakwel are alive and organized. Their leader, together with a prominent member of the Gatbonton Principalia family of Pampanga JJ Macam once visited the House of Dulay Mendoza of the Lakanate of Tondo in Marikina Valley. They had dinner together and discussed plans to gather the representatives of royal houses and prominent principalia families to be the collective conscience of the Philippine presidencies. The hereditary heir of Datu Sumakwel, the the King of the Madja-as Confederation, used the Spanish surname Tolosa where the remains of Datu Sumakwel was believed to be buried in the Tolosa ancestral land in Tigbauan, Iloilo.

At present, the House of Sumakwel is headed by the Dayang of the Royal House of Sumakwel of the Madja-as Confederation, Dayang Corazon Siya who is a Ramon Magsaysay Award nominee. He is a member of Principalia Hereditary Council of the Philippines, the council of the hereditary heads of ancient native royal houses of the country whose membership is only through invitation and presentation of historical genealogy, tarsila and credentials.

The Royal House of Lapulapu of the Rajahnate of Mactan

Lapulapu (based on Çilapulapu;[5] Baybayin: ᜎᜉᜓᜎᜉᜓ, Abecedario: Lápú-Lápú) (fl. 1521), also known as Lapu-Lapu, Si Lapulapu,[6] Salip Pulaka,[7] Cali Pulaco,[8] and Lapulapu Dimantag,[9] was a ruler of Mactan in the Visayas. Modern Philippine society regards him as the first Filipino hero because he was the first native to resist imperial Spanish colonization. He is best known for the Battle of Mactan that happened at dawn on April 27, 1521, where he and his soldiers defeated Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who was killed in battle.[10] Magellan's death ended his voyage of circumnavigation and delayed the Spanish occupation of the islands by over forty years until the expedition of Miguel López de Legazpi in 1564. Monuments of Lapulapu have been built in Cebu and Manila, while the Philippine National Police and the Bureau of Fire Protection use his image as part of their official seals.

The Rajahnate of Butuan

The Rajahnate of Butuan (also called as Kingdom of Butuan; Butuanon: Gingharian hong Butuan, Cebuano: Gingharian sa Butuan, Filipino: Kaharian ng Butuan/Karahanan ng Butuan, Chinese: 蒲端國, Púduānguó in Chinese records) was an Indic polity centered on present Mindanao island in the modern city of Butuan in what is now the southern Philippines. It was known for its mining of gold, its gold products and its extensive trade network across the Nusantara area. The kingdom had trading relationships with the ancient civilizations of Japan, China, India, Indonesia, Persia, Cambodia and areas now comprised in Thailand.

The balangay (large outrigger boats) that have been found along the east and west banks of the Libertad river (old Agusan River) have revealed much about Butuan's history. As a result, Butuan is considered to have been a major trading port in the Caraga region during the pre-colonial era.

Spanish chroniclers, when they stepped foot on Butuan, remarked that gold was so abundant that even houses were decorated with gold; "Pieces of gold, the size of walnuts and eggs are found by sifting the earth in the island of that king who came to our ships. All the dishes of that king are of gold and also some portion of his house as we were told by that king himself...He had a covering of silk on his head, and wore two large golden earrings fastened in his ears...At his side hung a dagger, the haft of which was somewhat long and all of gold, and its scabbard of carved wood. He had three spots of gold on every tooth, and his teeth appeared as if bound with gold." As written by Antonio Pigafetta on Rajah Siagu of Butuan during Magellan's voyage.

Butuan was so rich in treasures that a museum curator, Florina H. Capistrano-Baker, stated that it was even richer than the more well-known western maritime kingdom of Srivijaya; "The astonishing quantities and impressive quality of gold treasures recovered in Butuan suggest that its flourishing port settlement played an until recently little-recognized role in early Southeast Asian trade. Surprisingly, the amount of gold discovered in Butuan far exceeds that found in Sumatra, where the much better known flourishing kingdom of Srivijaya is said to have been located." (Wikepedia)

The Sovereign State of Ma-i

Mai or Maidh (spelled Ma'I, Mai, Mayi or Mayi; Baybayin: ᜋᜁ; Chinese: 麻逸; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: má it) was an ancient sovereign state located in what is now the Philippines, notable in Philippine historiography for being the first place in the Philippines ever to be mentioned in any foreign account.

Its existence was first documented in 971 AD, in the Song Dynasty documents known as the History of Song, and it was also mentioned in the 10th century records of the Sultanate of Brunei. Based on these and other mentions until the early 14th century, contemporary scholars believe Ma-i was located in Bay, Laguna.

In 2004, Chinese Filipino scholar Bon Juan Go questioned this common belief, citing the lack of physical evidence for a large, prosperous settlement on the island of Mindoro. He suggested that Chinese orthography equally allows for the possibility that Ma-i became Bay, Laguna, whose name is pronounced "Ba-eh" by locals. He notes that Bay is also a match for the physical characteristics of Ma-i, and that numerous artifacts found in the area (including the nearby towns of Victoria Pila and Lumban, Laguna) suggest the presence of a prosperous pre-colonial settlement. Grace P. Odal-Devora notes that this region was the place of the taga-ilaya, whereas the taga-laud who settled downstream on the banks of the Pasig River.

Go suggests that Ma-i, as Ba-e, became less important as the riverine settlements of Namayan, Tondo, and Maynila rose to power, but also noted that Ba-i still nonetheless served as the capital for the province of Laguna de Bay, which would later be split into the provinces of Laguna and Morong (modern day Rizal Province, including coastal towns now administered by the National Capital Region).

An earlier theory, put forward in 1914 by Craig 1914 and asserted by local historians, also suggested Malolos, Bulacan as a potential site of Ma-i.

The Sultanate of Maguindanao

The Sultanate of Maguindanao (Maguindanaon: Kasultanan nu Magindanaw; Jawi: كسولتانن ماڬوايندنااو; Iranun: Kesultanan a Magindanao; Filipino: Kasultanan ng Maguindanao; Arabic: سلطنة ماجوينداناو) was a Sultanate state that ruled parts of the island of Mindanao, in southern Philippines, especially in modern-day Maguindanao province and Davao City. Its known historical influence stretches from the peninsula of Zamboanga to the bay of Sarangani. At its peak, the sultanate covered the entire island of Mindanao, and ruled over the smaller neighboring islands near and around Mindanao. During the era of European colonization, the Sultanate maintained friendly relations with British and Dutch traders.

During the indigenous era, there were two brothers named Mamalu and Tabunaway, who lived peacefully in Mindanao, specifically the Cotabato valley. When Shariff Kabungsuwan preached Islam in the area in the 16th century, Tabunaway converted, while Mamalu decided to hold fast to the beliefs of their elders. The brothers parted ways afterwards; Tabunaway to the lowlands and Mamalu to the mountains, but they vowed to honor their kinship, and thus an unwritten pact of peace between Muslims and indigenous peoples was forged through the two brothers.

As of May 2018, there are three major royal families in Maguindanao. Each having an enthroned sultan under the Sultanate of Maguindanao, Kingdom of Rajah Buayan, and Domain of Alah Valley.(Maguindanao.Wikipedia)

The Luyag na Caboloan

Caboloan (also spelled Kaboloan; Pangasinan: Luyag na Caboloan), referred to Chinese records as Feng-chia-hsi-lan (Chinese: 馮嘉施蘭; pinyin: Féngjiāshīlán), was a sovereign pre-colonial Philippine polity located in the fertile Agno River basin and delta, with Binalatongan as the capital. It expanded its territory and influence from Pangasinan, to what are now the neighboring provinces of Tarlac, La Union, Benguet, Zambales, Nueva Ecija and Nueva Vizcaya, and had full independence until the Spanish conquest. It traded with the Kingdom of Ryukyu, Ashikaga shogunate and for trading with and sending gifts to Ming dynasty. The polity of Pangasinan sent emissaries to China in 1406–1411.

The Chinese records of this kingdom began when King (Chinese: 王, pinyin: Wáng, Wade–Giles: Huang), Kamayin, sent an envoy bringing gifts to the Chinese Emperor.

Around the same period, the Srivijaya and Majapahit empires rose in Indonesia and Malaysia, and extended their influence over much of Southeast Asia. Urduja, a mythical warrior princess, is believed to have ruled in Pangasinan around the 14th century.

In the 16th century, the port settlement of Agoo in Pangasinan was called the "Port of Japan" by the Spanish. The locals wore apparel typical of other maritime Southeast Asian ethnic groups in addition to Japanese and Chinese silks. Even common people were clad in Chinese and Japanese cotton garments. They also blackened their teeth and were disgusted by the white teeth of foreigners, which were likened to that of animals. They used porcelain jars typical of Japanese and Chinese households. Japanese-style gunpowder weapons were also encountered in naval battles in the area. In exchange for these goods, traders from all over Asia would come to trade primarily for gold and slaves, but also for deerskins, civet and other local products. Other than a notably more extensive trade network with Japan and China, they were culturally similar to other Luzon groups to the south, especially the Kapampangans.

Limahong, a Chinese corsair and warlord, briefly invaded the polity after his failure in the Battle of Manila (1574). He then set up an enclave of wokou (Japanese and Chinese pirates) in Pangasinan. Nevertheless, the Mexico-born Juan de Salcedo and his force of Tagalog, Visayan and Latino soldiers then assaulted and destroyed the pirate-kingdom, liberated the Pangasinan people and then incorporated their polity into the Spanish East Indies of the Spanish Empire.(Caboloan,Wikipedia)

The Kedatuan of Dapitan

The Kedatuan of Dapitan(Mislabeled as "Kingdom of Dapitan") was an ancient Philippine polity once based at Bohol at TagbilaranStrait. Bohol's first indigenous people settled in the Anda peninsula. These people came from northeast Mindanao. These people were responsible for the Anda petrographs which are one of the most important indigenous rock writing in the country.

Around the 12th century, a group of people from Northern Mindanao settled in the strait between mainland Bohol and the island of Panglao. Those people came from a nation in northern Mindanao called Lutao (probably the animist kingdom of what will soon be the Islamic Lanao). Those people established the Kedatuan of Dapitan in western Bohol because the true indigenous people of Bohol in the Anda peninsula and nearby areas were not open to them, forcing them to establish settlement in the western part of the island. The kedatuan was first built with hardwood on the soft seabed. It engaged it trade with nearby areas and some Chinese merchants. The Jesuit Alcina tells tales about a rich nation he called the 'Venice of the Visayas', pointing to the Kedatuan of Dapitan at that time. The Jesuit also tells of a Dapitan princess named Bugbung Hamusanum, whose beauty caused her suitor, Datu Sumangga of Leyte, to raid parts of southern China to win her hand.

By 1563, before the full Spanish colonization agenda came to Bohol, the Kedatuan of Dapitan was at war with the Sultanate of Ternatein the Moluccas (who were also raiding the Rajahnate of Butuan). At the time, Dapitan was ruled by two brothers named Dalisan and Pagbuaya. The Ternateans at the time were allied to the Portuguese. Dapitan was destroyed and Datu Dalisan was killed in battle. His brother, Datu Pagbuaya, together with his people fled back to Mindanao and established a new Dapitan in the northern coast of the Zamboanga peninsula. The displaced people had to wage war against the Sultanate of Lanao as they settled territories that used to belong to that Sultanate. The new Dapitan was eventually incorporated by the Spanish. Pagbuaya's son, Manooc was among those who sided with the Spanish that had arrived from Mexico. He converted to Christianity and aided the Spaniards in the conquest of Islamic Manila and the Camarines area in Luzon. The people of Dapitan also assisted the Spanish in the conquest of Northern Mindanao. Eventually, the Dapitans took their vengeance against the Ternateans when Manooc's cousin, Laria, guided the Spanish in their invasion of the Moluccas (Dauis).

The circumstances why the Palace became the property of the Catholic Church was not yet clear historically but a priest in the Church said that as per oral accounts, the children of Lakan Bunao Dula led by his eldest son and heir apparent Batang Dula donated the Palace to the Church with the hope that it will become the Church of Sto. Nino de Tondo. Apparently, the Catholic hierarchy gave several tracts of hacienda to the descendants in exchange for the palace – some of these are found in Candaba and Candola in Pampanga and Candawid in Northern Samar. The installation of the Grand Patriarch and his Council started with a short meeting and the Dine with the Ancestors Ritual in a secret chamber of the the Sto Nino de Tondo Church. The “Dine with the Ancestors Ritual” has been a tradition of the descendants of Lakan Dula at the House of Dulay Mendoza in Marikina Valley for so many years. The ritual includes dining of grapes placed in two 16^th century plates that were part of the Lakan Dula household, bottles of red wine whose names are hard to pronounce, beside an old bayonet used by Ceferino Rivas Dulay, the 4^th hereditary leader of the Dulay Clan of Marikina, while he was still a guerilla fighting the Japanese forces, and a candle being lighted in a classic lamp given by a friend to the House of Dulay Mendoza. When the group of Timothy (who decided to change his name to Pedro during the ritual) of the You Tube’s God Culture fame visited the House, they requested for a Havilah Version of the Dine with the Ancestors Ritual which included a tour at the OLA Church, Shoe Museum, Kapitan Moy and in the nearby tomb of the Jewish – blooded wife of the clan leader Ceferino -- Juana Mendoza Cerbito. After the Dine with the Ancestors Ritual, the former Parish Priest of EDSA Shrine Rev. Father Arnel Calata, Jr. and the principales proceeded to the mass and the three principales where given the front seat in the mass traditionally reserved for the Lay Minister of the Holy Eucharist. In the mass, Fr. Calata cited the history of the Sto. Nino de Tondo being the ancient Palace of Lakan Bunao Dula, and introduced to the devotees the three Lakan Dula descendants one by one, amidst clapping of hands from the mass attendees. Fr.Calata also mentioned that in that day’s special anniversary of Lakan Dula’s baptismal to the Catholic Faith,