Chapter 4 : Laoang Samar and Tondo Manila: the Unfolding of an Ancient Philippine Civilization. Are Filipinos Asians, Pacific Islanders or Jewish?

Migration patterns of any civilization should start with the plausible explanation on the evolution of biological life in the area. Scientists like Darwin believes that life evolve from the ocean and into the shores, river and inlands. Then the human being evolved and populated a settlement after another. The human population grow and a system of protecting itself from nature and fellow men emerged through time and eventually flourished into some kind government ,culture, economics and civilization (https://www.popsci.com/where-and-when-did-life-begin#page-4).

A foreign study of the Tagalog dialect spoken in the Kingdom of Tondo reveals that Tagalog came from the dialect spoken in the hinterlands of Samar. This was confirmed by the Calatagan Jar found in the deeply Tagalog Region of Batangas. The jar is an ancient burial jar being used in the ancient settlements within the influence of the Kingdom of Tondo. The ancient markings in the Calatagan Jar is written in Waray dialect of Samar. The Samar - Hebrew connections was again confirmed in the recent times when Sephardi Jews escaping Spanish persecution in the Ibarian Peninsula decided to settle in Samar. One of those families is the Mendoza family of Lawan (Laoang) who up to the present, some of their relatives in the US are attending Jewish congregations. British scholars pointed out that the Bisayans are practicing circumcision in the ancient times, a tradition that came from the Hebrews. But because the Hebrews of Samar are in the influence of the Samaritan culture, the natives of Samar did not follow the strict Jewish rituals just like the native Samaritans of Israel. Quite recently, Philippine President Manuel Quezon of the Pacific town of Baler accepted Jewish refugees from Europe into the Philippines during WW ll. It seems that President Quezon is aware of the Hebrew ancestry of a civilization of Hadi Iberein of the Pacific Islands of Samar. It seems that the Pacific islander’s ancient Philippine civilization of chieftain Iberein which the natives called Hadi, slowly spread through time into the pacific islands and inward into the Philippine islands like in Mactan, Surigao, Butuan, Albay and eventually Tondo where it finally prospered into a full blown Kingdom headed by a dynasty of Lakans (paramount ruler). The respect of the Lakans of Tondo to their ancestral homeland of Hadi Iberein in the Pacific island of Lawan, Samar was shown during the height of Spanish persecution of the native nobility when Batang Dula (eldest son of the King of Tondo) and Senorita de Goiti, his Spanish wife, decided to hide their children from the possible harm from the Spanish Guardia Civil. They entrusted their eldest son, David Dula y Goiti to the care of a local chieftain of their allies in Lawan Island in Samar. The other children, Daba was entrusted to an uncle in Candada and Dola, the youngest was entrusted to a tribe in Candola San Luis, Pampanga.

The prosperity and advancement of the Lawan Civilization of the descendants Hadi Iberein and the Kingdom of Tondo can be viewed in an ancient native epic called siday or Kandu. Fortunately, the Spaniards were able to document one siday, as follows:

The Lakanate (Kingdom) of Lawan (Ophir), an Ancient Civilization of Hebrew – blooded natives that started the Migration of the Polynesians

Well - known historians all over the world, both in the past and in the modern time prove the existence of an ancient civilization by studying their ruins, epic, artifacts, historical accounts and current articles of written in the standard history textbooks by well-known historians and archeologists. They did that for the Ancient China 2100 – 221 BC, Ancient Egypt 3150 – 31 BC, Inca Civilization 1200 – 1542 AD (Modern day Peru), Ancient Greece 800 BC – 146 BC, Maya Civilization 2000 BC – early 16th Century (Modern day Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras), Osirian Civilization (Modern day Mediterranean) and, Rama Empire 10,000 – 2,500 BC (Modern day India and Pakistan). The same rigid standard was being applied in the current study of the ancient Lakanate of Lawan where its existence was recently uncovered.

Historian William Henry Scott wrote that a “Samar datu by the name of Iberein was rowed out to a Spanish vessel anchored in his harbor in 1543 by oarsmen collared in gold; while wearing on his own person earrings and chains.” In the local epic called siday entitled "Bingi of Lawan" as written in the article of Scott, Lawan is a prosperous Lakanate in Samar. Datu Hadi Iberein came from the Lakanate of Lawan.(https://fahwany.files.wordpress.com)

“The Almuraya Fortress Ruins of Laoang”

For 300 years, the Spaniards have been systematically marginalizing the native aristocracy of the Lakanate of Tondo and Lakanate of Lawan. Their strategy has always been the same: conquer the natives with religion. In Tondo, the seat of power of Lakan Dula was slowly erased by building the Sto. Nino Church right in his own ancestral home. The same tactics they did in Lawan. They build the church right in the seat of power of Datu Hadi Iberein and name the complex in Spanish so that the future generations will not remember it. They name it “Almuraya”. For 300 years, the Spaniards painstakingly remove all the vestiges of the ancient prosperous Hebrew lakanate. They destroyed all the structures of Almuraya by building their own structures like churches and bahay na bato houses, destroyed the secret passages from “Almuraya” to the caves of Isla de Batag and the shipping ports of Kahayagan, Kalomotan and Palapag which they converted into the ship repair station of the Galleon Trade from the Philippines to Mexico. They suppressed the siday, kandu, sorugmaton and other native folklores. They changed the surnames of the natives to Spaniards. They marginalized the native royal families who were forced to become businessmen (mostly in arastre and coconut plantations) and forget their ancient glorious past. Lawan, with its splendor as described in the “Bingi of Lawan” epic was reduced into a hispanized ruins called even today as “almuraya fortress ruins of Laoang”. Fortunately, a small piece of the grandeur of the Lakanate of Lawan of Datu Hadi Iberein was described briefly by Fr. Ignatius Alzina in his book Historia de las Islas y Indios de Bisayas. The book said that the settlement was ruled by a monarch called Dato Karagrag, whose consort Bingi had an irresistible beauty that captivated other neighboring kings, especially the dato from Albay. (Fr. Alzina lived as missionary in Samar and Leyte for 38 years, from 1634 to 1674, working mostly in Palapag.) Describing the place of the settlement, Fr. Alzina in his visit to the place in 1640 says, “On the opposite side of Rawis, on the Lawang Island, which is a sandbar there is a solid ridge of rock. It is fashioned by nature itself and it is so steep that it looks like a façade of a wall… It was a natural fortification, due to its great height of massive rock; it was also secured as if by a moat which encircled its three sides. The fourth side was blocked by a palisade of strong logs. Then too, nature also formed on one side of this rock something like a small cove with its little beach.” It is this advanced stage of civilization, evidenced by the Dragon Jar of Laoang and many other artifacts found within the Lakanate of Lawan (Catubig-Laoang-Palapag) and their reign of influence like Albay, Surigao, Butuan, Quezon Province and Mactan, and combining the fact that the some historians are pointing to the Hebrew - influenced Lakanate of Lawan of Datu Iberein as the seat of Ophir that started the intermigration of Polynesian people in the Pacific as pointed out by an Australian study on DNA – native historians conclude that for 300 years, the Spaniards have been successful in erasing the political existence of the Lakanate of Lawan in the memory of its people and the history of the country. Fortunately, the surge of the clamor for identity of the present generation of Filipinos is paving the way for the search for the real identity of the Filipinos. One piece of artifacts that are subject to archeological analysis of some historians today is the ruins of the cobblestone watch tower of the Almuraya Fortress Ruins of Laoang. The use of cobblestone is very popular in ancient Egypt and Samaria of Israel. Is it possible that the ancient royalty of Lawan are the Hebrew – blooded people of Ophir that initiated the migration of Polynesian people into different islands in the Pacific?

"The Laoang Dragon Jar, (Inalasan nga Tadyaw)"

One archeological artifact that provided the conclusive evidence today of the existence of the Lakanate (a native Kingdom) of Lawan as an advanced ancient civilization in the Pacific coast is a dragon jar which is now kept by the Samar Archeological Museum in Calbayog City, Western Samar. Carl Bordeos, the curator of the museum said that the jar was found in Laoang, Northern Samar. It was carbon dated by foreign archeologists to have been used as a burial jar as early as 960 AD, as old as the Laguna Copperplate that provided the evidence for the existence of the Lakanate of Tondo. The jar is older than the coming of Islam in the Philippines. The dragon jar was discovered by a Polish Priest – historian by the name of Zdislaw Kobak. Historians said that the artifact is a secondary burial jar of a royal child, which indicate an existence of a long succession of monarch of a lakanate (a native kingdom). Historians believe that the Laoang Dragon Jar is one of the only three known dragon jars in Asia, and indication that the Lakanate of Lawan must have been a very prosperous kingdom to afford such kind of a jar for a burial of a minor member of the native royalty. Several other martabanas (burial jars), jewelries of gold and other precious stones, and some Hebrew artifacts have been excavated in an ancient burial ground in a place in Laoang now known as sawang, but they are kept by private collectors (businessmirror.com.ph). A dragon jar, also known as cloud-dragon jar, is a type of ceremonial porcelain vessel that became popular among the ruling classes of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910), China and in ancient Philippine royalty based in Lawan. They are decorated with large dragons against a background of stylized clouds, painted with under glaze pigments. In addition to being a generally auspicious symbol, the dragon represented the authority and beneficence of the ruler (Philadelphia Museum of Art). In 1754, King Yòngjo decreed that iron pigments were to be used exclusively, except for jars having a dragon design (Covell, p.74). Because of the scarcity of the traditional cobalt blue pigment, which was imported from Muslim Turkestan, and was also known as “Mohammedan blue”, an under glaze brown iron oxide pigment was also used between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries (Minneapolis Institute of Arts)

“Bingi of Lawan”: The Origin of Maharlika

There lived in this place a chief called Karagrag, who was its lord and ruler. He was married to a lady of his rank called Bingi, a name which had been bestowed on her because of her chastity, as we shall see. (I was not able to find out if she came from the same town; most probably she was from upstream on the Catubig River, where she was the daughter of the chief there.) This lady, according to what they recount, was endowed with many fine virtues and greedy celebrated for her beauty among these natives, so much so that, moved by the fame of her beauty, the Datu, or ruler, of Albay got ready a hundred ships. This chief was called Dumaraug, which means the victor, and with all those ships he weighed anchor in his land, and within a short time came in view of the [Lawan Island] town of Makarato.

His unexpected arrival excited the town, but since it was well-fortified by its natural location and it was the season of the Vendavales (the best time for going there from Albay) when the force of the sea and its waves were strong and turbulent, he did not venture to go straight in but took shelter instead near the beach which Rawis Point makes with very fine sand and free of shoals, where, became of an islet across the entrance from the sea, the surf is less obstructive and the sea milder and calm. From there he sent a small boat with a sign of peace to announce the purpose of his coming, which was simply to carry Bingi away as his wife, the fame of whose beauty alone had left him love struck and with only this would he then return to his land without making any attack and always afterward remain their friend and protector, since he think that he is more powerful than they, he could do it to their advantage. Karagrag, rather than making reply, showed them how well prepared he was by entertaining them, and when his wife was informed of Dumaraug’s intentions, she responded at once that she was greatly surprised that for something of such little worth he: had made such a demonstration and launched so many ships, that she was content with the husband she had and did not care to exchange him for any other, even to the most powerful man in the world, and that so long as he was alive, she could not think of leaving him; and if it should be her unlucky fate to fall into his hands captive, he should understand that though he might carry her off and command her as his slave, that to make her his wife, she would never consent and was ready to give her life first. Encouraged by so bold a response, her husband Karagrag simply added that he was there waiting with his men deployed, and that although they were not many, they were very good men, and that the place where they were was very secure and their arms are advanced, and if he came to try his arms in battle, they would do their duty; and if he should defeat them, he would be lord of his wife and property, but if not, he would return to his land empty-handed, if indeed he escaped from there with his life.

With this reply, and in view of the superior strength and impregnability of the place for them, with no more arms than spears and shields or at most some arrows, the chief reconsidered and hesitated a bit but not for long, and without attempting anything more and risking his men, he returned home just as he had come, leaving both the chief and his wife Bingi happy.

This happened a few years before the Spaniards came, and is still fresh in the memory of the natives of the Lawan town, who today are their descendants. Not many years ago, I buried a chief of the said island, who was more than seventy years old, whose parent had been alive when this raid took place; and a son of his who had heard it many times, related it to me with all the aforesaid details (Alcina 1668a, 4:20-23).

A bingi or bingil was a virgin or a woman who had been faithful to one man all her life. It must therefore have been bestowed on the heroine of this romance sometime after the Albay raid, the first step in an historic event’s becoming a legend. The quotation of her and her husband’s noble words indicates that the poetic process had already had its effect by the time Father Alcina heard the story. Perhaps with retelling over the centuries and the accumulation of apocryphal embellishments, the tale might have grown into a full-fledged kandu. Indeed, had ancient Visayan culture not succumbed to colonial acculturation, some Waray bard might now be singing the Epic of Bingi (William Henry Scott).

“Laoang Twilight: The Lost Garden of Glory”

The cradles of the Filipino civilization. The place of light, charm, beauty and harmony with its proud, insightful people stemming from enlightened culture originated before the chronicles of the Garden of Eden.

I have looked back on my life and recorded everything about my place, hence, I would like to share the wonder, glory and majesty of my beloved town—Laoang. Just imagine what it looks like before our time. The glorious name Laoang, the nature, lands, brackish and sea waters, legends, mythology's, epic of heroism and the first people in their quest through the epochs of time. This is my personal journey through my candid readings and research. I will not twist its history but I will carve up an expedition to its grandeur.

We must leave two things to our descendants when we die. One is tradition and culture and, the other is our golden history. A person without tradition and culture will fail—it is a soul that guides us to wonder in this world, our survival and the practices of our civilization. Through our history, people acquire knowledge and wisdom for living. To open up new future, we need, on the other hand, to pass on to our descendants the tradition, culture and history that has been handed down to us over thousands of years. Colorful as it is, we must continue to educate our successors especially the love for their native land, heroism, harmony and Glory.

Before our time, our ancestors worked for peace, harmony and love of our native land. People these days are raised by the picture of a hopeless society that they could not stop and suspend the perils of the forthcoming "human calamity". The present practices of "denial" to our good ancient culture, and tradition of love and harmony would lead us to our destruction, thus, developing sensitivities for our past communities and 'silvery-water history' can truly revive the resonance of a true character and proud Nortehanon-Laoanganon--the tribe of pintados-Lawagnon. Our ancestors, shed their blood and tears to make us free and happy, they didn't even fight each other rather shared their everything for 'common good', for their families, neighbors, and love of their native land.

In my expedition, in prehispanic centuries, my town was garlanded with so many names; 'Garden of Eden', 'Dawn of the Traders', 'Haven of Sailors', 'Land of Princess and Harmony', 'Gems of the East', 'Shining Islet of the Pacific', 'Port of Gold', 'Twilight of the Fishermen', 'City of Angels' and 'Land of Mystics and Miracles'. Spending time to recall its beauty will gives me pleasure and a smile. Ah, the splendor of my hometown! At bedtime, I would close my eyes, saying… I wish I have been there to see and observe the real story far from the current books of history where interest’s people were eluded inclined to their respected dimensions but not its true accounts. I could not sleep with the sounds of leaves rustling in the wind, the sound of the blowing wind through the reeds that keeps my imagination alive.

I have immersed myself in understanding the questions and finding their answers. Where did i came from? My ancestors? As I went through, my town was once known as the 'great port' of the Far East—"Pantalan-Sinirakan". The whole island was called "Sirac-an" popularly known as "Lawagan" which means "crystal torch" or something that can be associated with a fishing boat that uses light as a bait to catch fish. Sirac-an was named and called by the people living in hinterlands while Lawagan named by the people living in the plains and sea shores. Native people were known as "Lawagnon", "Lawodnon", "Sirakan", "Batacnon", "Anoron", and "Rawisnon" but most of the natives were called Lawagnon. They spoke four major dialects; Kawi, Waray, Lao and Baybayin. Batag Island used Kawi due to David Dula's influence; Waray was the native dialect of most Lawagnon and Sirakan while Lao and Baybayin were used for trading and business with the other people.

According to legend, without the crystal torch you could not find the island. Native people are 'naturists', they believed in the power of nature and spirits, they can heal wounds, they can summon good spirits to protect their land and hide them with a glow of a 'crystal torch' that evaded them from the attack of different pirates, calamities and evil spirits.

So majestic is Laoang before, native people in the different areas of the Lawagan land pray to good spirits. One day, their faith was challenged by a "great tidal wave", as tall as a 50-story building but it was easily subsided when a good spirits rubble the wave with his mighty shield and sword. Native people, young and old, saw this picture with their eyes and believed the power of their prayer. It was not Saint Michael the Archangel, not until the Spaniards and Jesuits established its mission in the area. Our ancestors believed that they be can be saved by their faith and prayer to the good spirits. This is also the light when people celebrate its feast to the good spirits that save their lives that eventually evolved to the Fiesta Celebration of St Michael the Archangel on the 29th day of September but before it was celebrated on the 8th day of August following the 'animists calendar'--It is the Feast of thanksgiving where people solemnly pray for their lives and fortune.

The land was once inhabited by the "Great Chieftains"," Princesses" and "Warriors of Virtues" whose majesty, beauty and charm were known to the world. Neighboring tribes would always visit the land; for friendship and trade, to marry their lovely women, to train as "spirit warriors" against invaders and pirates enlightened by good spirits.

The land was divided into three territories and constituencies but harmony existed in every person living in the land, they were united by one blood and honor to their sole ancestor—pintados-Lawagnon—a great family of Lawagan land who stand 15 feet tall who defended Lawagnon people many times against invaders and pirates. According to "surmatanons" (epic of Lawagnon) Pintados-Lawagnon family threw big stones to invaders that echoed Lawagnon and earned the description of "the unconquered land". Since then, people will come for trade not for war and invasions. This was our hallmark that we should remember day by day. Our hospitality has reached to the whole islands of the country then to Spain then to mexico and other parts of the world.

Moreover, the first territory was under Dato Karawton and his consort Princess Bangipa , he ruled and managed the "region of Anadanod" now the "poblacion of the town" extending Baybay to Mualbual then to Calomotan. These areas were also known as the "golden port of the pacific". The "port of Baybay" was used by different wealthy foreign citizens and Spanish royal blood who were honorable by the kingdom of Spain. They stayed in the area for a month to rest and treasured the island. The "port of Calomotan" was used by Spanish friars, officers and soldiers while the "port of Mualbual" was used to shuttle slaves going to other areas under Spain colony to perform "polo y servicio".

In other reign, the second territory was under Dato Sankayon who has lovely Princesses named Rawis and Talisay who were abducted by moro pirates in the fiercest battles in the shore of Rawis (now Titong beach). Dato Sankayon was a bitter brother of the Palapag ruler. He ruled the "Region of Rayang" extending from Rawis to Vigo to Oleras up to Pambujan (now Pambujan municipality). Dato Sankayon named the two barangays after his daughter's name. The port of Rawis was used as the Spanish elite trading capital of the pacific and "the great indies" route together with the galleon trade from Mexico then Rawis before going to Manila and Cavite.

The last kingdom, the third territory was under Dato Batac with his consort Princess Rayandayan, the land is presently named the Batag Island. He rules the "Region of Lawod" where most of his people were fishermen. People from different places in Asia, Europe and Oceania went to the place for "fish business" that's the reason why the "port of Kahagyan" now Brgy Cahayagan was made for fish market. Most people called themselves Lawodnon and Batacnon. Batacnon believed with the "Lady of the sea" (Senora de Salvacion) a good spirit who performs miracles for sick people from fishing, voyage and expeditions. The Lawodnon people were once lead by "David Dula" grandson of Lakan Dula, the great king of Tondo, Manila. When Lakan Dula's forces were defeated by the Spaniards, he sent a mission to keep his bloodline thus, his grandson David Dula was hidden at Kandawid, now Brgy Candawid in the Island of Batag, in the decree of Spanish high officials that all of Lakan Dula's heir and bloodline would be killed if found out by the Spanish soldiers. David rose to power and led "Lawagnon" side by side with a Palapag hero Juan Ponce Sumuroy against the Spanish conquistadors.

The old Lawagan regions were God's creation and His gift to presently Laoanganons. I intend to introduce the details of the history and the accounts of great men who contributed much in building Laoang. In these venues people would rather ask for a copy of its book rather than reading here. This is just a short story that is inclined to the forgotten jewel of the east but not as a complete elements of history but just to remind other about our past glories and true character.

To my constituents, we must work together to awaken our fellow Laoanganon of the preciousness of our true character, history, tradition, culture and, the urgent need to regain them the rich minds of our generation which can offer lessons from our true identity from the time of the "crystal torch" up today. We cannot allow our rich past to saddle in vain and to be damaged any further.

Laoang or Lawagan is one of humanity's treasure troves, where majesty and wonderful people and its colorful history live. The flora and fauna seem to exist as they might have on the first morning of Creation.The riverbanks used to have pineapples, banana and mango trees. Rice grows so well that it is possible to have three harvests in a year, even without irrigated fields. That's how rich the soil was. Crops such as corn and US beans could be grown just by spreading the seeds over the valley. Very little human labor is need. Farmer who lived there did not experience to be hungry; they went into the fields and dug up sweet potato and "agikway". Potatoes could be harvested without annual planting which can feed even the barrio folks. Laoang provides plenty of economic benefits just in its agricultural lands and marine wealth. The area has vast tracts of virgin hardwood forest. But now? Why?

Laoang provides a perfect environment for a Garden of Eden by its people's glory. It is not just birds and fish that are plentiful in the area but our true identity of love, harmony and glory. Lawagnon people must lead the way in the effort to save our precious nature, culture, tradition and history.

Simple words such as beautiful, wonderful and fantastic can begin to describe its value.We were once great people who lived in the "Garden of Eden".Sirac Laoang!!! (Mongas).

Siday (Noel Mongas), arnis (Bambit Dulay), tinalak (Lang Dulay), and baybayin alphabet (Jay Enage of Marikina) are being championed and preserved today by the descendants of Lakan Dula.

With all the recent findings about the ancient ancestry of the Filipinos, the Filipino Americans in the US have the right to ask: are we Asians, Pacific Islanders or Jewish. If the bloodline of Samaritan Hadi Iberein of Laoang Islands in the Pacific part of the Philippines started the expansion of the his reign to different parts of the pacific and Philippine islands, eventually centralizing in the Kingdom of Tondo, is it safe to conclude that the Hebrew bloodline is found not only in Laoang Island but in the Pacific and Philippine Islands, embedded in the ancient times long before the cro magnon men of Europe emerged. The ancient Philippines of Hadi Iberein of Lawan, Samar as the basic ancient ancestral bloodline of the Filipinos, have created a prosperous and peaceful civilization to be based later in the Kingdom of Tondo as early as 900 as per the Laguna Copperplate. It attracted the migration of so many foreigners that in 1300, the Muslims from Borneo, together with the Negritoes, migrated in the prosperous homeland of Hadi Iberein and the Kingdom of Tondo. Sometime around 1500, the Spaniards came, Chinese came, the British also arrived, later, the American came and finally the Japanese. Presently, the Philippines has become a melting pot of different races. But, they should not forget that their civilization started in the Pacific Ocean and the bare basic ancient components of their bloodline as a race is the bloodline of the descendants of Hadi Iberein of Samaria and the Kingdom of Tondo.

References:

Center of Center of the World "The Philippines. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4efhXRP6qc. Retrieved April 4, 2018.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misliya_cave. Retrieved April 4, 2018.

https://fahwany.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/philippine-medical-and-solidarity-mission-4-14-september-2018-1-1.pdf. Retrieved October 10, 2018

http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-evolution-human-origins/new-study-suggests-philippines-ancestral-homeland-polynesians-001463. Retrieved April 4, 2018.

https://www.popsci.com/where-and-when-did-life-begin#page-4. Retrieved April 4, 2018.

Noel Acedera Mongas. Tribute to Laoang Fiesta 2013: First Edition

Solomon's Gold Series - Part 1: Introduction: Where is Ophir? Is it Philippines? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL2eltMMK0U&t=118s. Retrieved April 4, 2018.

William Henry Scott. https://archive.org/stream/BarangaySixteenthCenturyPhilippineCultureAndSociety/Barangay+-+Sixteenth+Century+Philippine+Culture+and+Society_djvu.txt. Retrieved April 4, 2018.