Why is AI historically accurate when it says that the baptismal name of Lakan Bunao Dula is Lakan Carlos Dula?

Lakan Bunao Dula was baptized as Catholic with three probable names, namely: Fernando Malang Balagtas, Don Carlos Lacandola and Lakan Carlos Dula. Since among the children of Lakan Dula, there is no surname of Balagtas nor Lacandola, but two Dula: Batang and Martin, what is the significance of Lakan Dula adopting the Christian name Lakan Carlos Dula? The baptismal name Lakan Carlos Dula is significant because it is a combination that incorporates both his traditional pre-colonial title and his adopted Christian name, retaining the core of his ancestral identity while conforming to the new colonial regime.

Here is a breakdown of the significance:

• Lakan: This was the pre-colonial title of paramount ruler or "prince" in Tondo. Retaining it emphasizes his native noble status and high rank, which the Spanish crown recognized and granted him special privileges for.

• Carlos: This is the Christian given name, likely chosen in honor of King Charles I of Spain (Carlos I), a common practice among newly baptized native royalty to forge a symbolic connection to the Spanish monarchy.

• Dula: This is the core of his pre-colonial name (Bunao Dula, with Lakan as a title), indicating his lineage, or according to some historians, a word for "palace" or his seat of power. By retaining "Dula" in the Christian name, he kept his ancestral designation.

The name Lakan Carlos Dula, served to legitimize his new status under the Spanish while acknowledging his former rank, which was crucial for retaining influence and securing hereditary privileges for his descendants.

The fact that his children Batang and Martin carried the surname Dula reinforces that this name was the recognized family name or noble designation that the Spanish granted or confirmed for his lineage.

Source: Gemini - Lakan Dula's Christian Name Significance Created with Gemini https://gemini.google.com/share/8df6de9be3b0 Created with 2.5 Flash October 26, 2025 at 12:56 PM .Published October 26, 2025 at 01:12 PM

The Macapagals Descended from a Heroic Granddaughter of Lakan Bunao Dula 

        Don Juan Macapagal, Datu of Arayat, was the great-grandson of the last ruling Lakandula (King) of Tondo, Don Carlos.The eldest son of Lakan Dula is Batang Dula who was married to the relative of the de Goiti, the founder of Manila. The marriage gave birth to three children, the eldest is David de Goiti Dula, next is Daba de Goiti Dula and the youngest is Dola de Goiti Dula. Batang Dula has five brothers and one sister, namely: Martin Lakan Dula, Magat Salamat, Phelipe Salonga, Don Dionisio Capulong, Luis Taclocmao and Maria Poloin. The Lacandola of Arayat came from one of the grandchildren of Lakan Dula of Tondo named Dola, who is from San Luis, Pampanga. When Dola married, she insisted to use the surname Lacandola for her children to maintain connection with his grandfather from Tondo and partly, to hide from Spanish authorities. She has nine children and one of them married a Spanish mestizo surnamed Reyes. Eventually, the Reyes - Lacandola was married into a Macapagal. Dola in her old age was jailed by the Spanish authorities on charges of treating wounded native rebels. She was eventually executed. Her children and grandchildren reacted to her execution by being friendly to the Spaniards, to avoid further persecution of their family. Don Juan Macapagal was given the title Maestre de Campo General of the natives Arayat, Candaba and Apalit for his aid in suppressing the Kapampangan Revolt of 1660. He further aided the Spanish crown in suppressing the Pangasinan Revolt of Don Andres Malong in the same year, and the Ilocano Revolt of 1661. Don Juan Macapagal died in 1683. Don Juan Macapagal is a direct ancestor of Philippine Revolutionary General, Lazaro Macapagal and two former Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal and his daughter, former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (https://www.geni.com).

Was Lakan Bunao Dula Baptized to Christianity?

        Lakan Dula, is the last King of Manila before the kingdom was totally subdued by the Spanish authorities through a series of intense persecution of the native aristocracy. These persecutions forced the native aristocracy to leave their homeland Intramuros and escaped to friendly settlements in Candaba, San Luis in Pampanga, Pasig, Marikina, Antipolo, Samar, Cebu, North Cotabato, Pangasinan, Nueva Viscaya...mostly within the river and sea routes. The real name of Lakan Dula is Bunao Dula but because he is the Lakan or, according to Henry Scott, the "paramount ruler", he became officially known as Lakan Bunao Dula and much later Lakan Dula. His people in Tondo, Manila recognized this very vividly that is why they named a public school for him into Lakan Dula High School. Was he baptized into Christianity? There is no historical evidence that he was actually baptized. Some history books are telling that he died a Muslim, some are saying that he is an animist. There are evidences however that he tends to preserved his kingdom and bloodline down to his to the death. For one, he participated in series of secret meetings with non-Hispanic European royalties, with the British, planning for the restoration of his Lakanate. Lakan Dula has a British blood from Oxfordshire through his mother Ysmeria Doylly. Second, he initiated a well-planned protective escaped of his children and grandchildren outside of Intramuros to friendly settlements just to protect his bloodline. Thirdly, there is no historical documents or evidenced that he was really baptized into Christianity. There is no baptismal certificate to show that he was actually baptized, otherwise, that baptismal certificate would had been kept securely and propagated by the Spaniards to the natives and use it as a come on for them to join Christianity. Fourthly, if he was baptized, he would have used his new surname for his children, but records show that his children have different surnames: Batang Dula, Magat Salamat, Dionisio Capulong, Felipe Salonga, Martin Lakan Dula, and Maria Poloin. The use of different surnames aside from his legal surname Dula is still a historical mystery up to now. Also, it is very unkingly for Lakan Dula to agree to changed his name, if ever he was indeed baptized, because Spaniards may force him to drop the title Lakan in his name in the process and practically reduce him to plain common man. Therefore, Lakan Dula, in the absence of historical evidences that he was indeed baptized to Christianity should be referred to in history as Lakan Bunao Dula (title, first name and surname) as a sign of respect Filipino history and identity. This will also avoid claims of some corrupt Filipino families that Lakan Bunao Dula was baptized as Eddie Gil, or Carlos Lacandola, or Joaquin Ayala, or Dencio Edralin, or Honorato Aquino,or Miguel Araneta, or Perfecto Tuason just to start a long-shot claim to the lineage of Lakan Dula of Tondo and declare their family as Royal blooded. A claim to the lineage of Lakan Dula should be properly addressed through the lineage from his children and not from a claim that Lakan Dula changed his name and because his new name is similar to your surname, you are now a royal blood. A family from Lubao, Pampanga whose leader is in jail, has done this cheap way of connection to Lakan Dula through one article in an audience edited Wikipedia which is intended to change the name of Lakan Bunao Dula to Lacandola, their surname, an act which is offending the real descendants of Lakan Bunao Dula.

Is there a probability that the Macapagal Family are not descendants of Lakan Bunao Dula of Tondo but to a certain Mr  Lacandola of Arayat?

        A study on the current Wikipedia article entitled Lakandula written by a paid writer of the Macapagal Family reveals the following:

1. That Lakan Bunao Dula of Tondo is different from Mr. Carlos Lacandola. Pre-hispanic Filipinos has no surname, it is just title and the name. Ex. Lakan Timamanukum, Lakan Dula, Batang Dula. Lakan means paramount ruler, Batang means younger Dula, or prince Dula. Mr. Carlos Lacandola is a latter person as shown by the fact that he is already influenced by the Spaniards "first name - surname system". So, he is different from Lakan Bunao Dula of Tondo. One big evidence that Lakan Bunao Dula of Tondo and Carlos Lacandola of Arayat are different is that they have different sets of children. 

2. If Lakan Bunao Dula of Tondo was baptized as Mr. Banao Dula, he will never be baptized again as Mr. Carlos Lacandola. Two baptisms on one person are not allowed in the Catholic Church.

3. There is no baptismal certificate on church records that showed Lakan Bunao Dula of Tondo being baptized as Mr. Banao Dula and later Mr. Carlos Lacandola. Maybe the reasons why the National Museum has no artifact of Lakan Bunao Dula's birth certificate is that he was only baptized in a ceremony but retained his name. Or maybe, he was baptized by giving him a first name and retaining Dula as his surname, and the birth certificate under a Dula surname was ignored by our historians. They never thought that the birth certificate of a guy with a Dula surname is actually that of Lakan Bunao Dula. They did not realize that birth certificates do not show titles of the person being baptized. Besides, it will be for the interest of the Spanish government and the Church at that time to erased the title Lakan in Lakan Bunao Dula's new Christian name to slowly eradicate the Filipino native aristocracy. 

4. One proof that Lakan Bunao Dula did not changed his name to Mr. Bunao Dula and later to Mr. Carlos Lacandola was that his children and grandchildren did not carry the supposed surname Lacandola. The surnames of the children of Lakan Dula are Batang Dula, Magat Salamat, Dionisio Capulong, Felipe Salonga, Martin Lakan Dula and Maria Poloin

5. Since no child of Lakan Bunao Dula of Tondo carried the surname of Lacandola, then, the surname Lacandola is not a descendant of Lakan Dula of Tondo but a descendant of Mr. Carlos Lacandola of Lubao. And since the claim of Macapagal of their decendancy to Lakan Dula of Tondo is anchored on the surname Lacandola, therefore, the Macapagal are not descendants of Lakan Dula of Tondo but of Mr. Carlos Lacandola of Lubao, the traitor who sided with the Spaniards against the native patriots.

6. One probable proof of their Lakan Bunao Dula lineage is that one grandchild of Lakan Dula of Tondo married a guy with a surname Lacandola, a common surname among Filipinos, but the Wikipedia article of the Macapagal entitled Lakandula is not saying so.

7. Another probable proof also is that one granddaughter of Lakan Dula was named Dola Goiti Dula and was hidden in San Luis, Pampanga by giving her a big farm now known now as Candola, or owned by Dola. And that granddaughter changed the surname of her family to Lacandola to hide them from Spanish prosecution. But, the Macapagal has not identified a relative from Candola, San Luis, Pampanga with a surname Lacandola. Their Wikipedia article entitled Lakandula is not showing it.

8. The desire of the Macapagal Family to change the name of Lakan Bunao Dula of Tondo from where the Lakan Dula High School was named, to Lakandula and later on to Lacandola in some official documents, awards (e.r. Order of Lakandula) and in Wikipedia is their desperate desire to link with their surname Lacandola to Lakan Bunao Dula, forgetting that to prove their descendancy to Lakan Bunao Dula, a closely similar name is immaterial, they must link their bloodline with one of the children of Lakan Dula, or grandchildren, which their own Lakandula article in the Wikipedia did not show.

9. Now, given that their Lacandola gambit to connect with Lakan Bunao Dula is a failure because they did not connect with one of the seven children of Lakan Bunao Dula of Tondo, watch out, they might eventually connect with one of the Lakan Dula children or grandchildren, or might even invent a Lakan Dula child with a surname Lacandola. But, what will they do with the much publicized “Lacandola of Lubao Tall Tales” that made them traitors siding with the Spaniards, against native Filipino patriots? Will they just say, ok, my bad! misdeal?

This Website is Searching for the Descendants of Lakan Bunao Dula 

           Some historians interpret as abandonment of the Kingdom when Lakan Bunao Dula sent his heir apparent and several trusted warriors as well as members of his clan to different places of the archipelago using the galleon trade and river routes. But, there are historians who say that this is a brilliant tactical move to mass up forces from different parts of the Philippine Islands, regroup, consolidate and drive away the Spaniards in the proper time. This could also be a way to preserve his bloodline - by sending his eldest son and heir apparent, and some children and relatives to faraway lands. He feared that his bloodline will be slowly murdered by the Spaniards to totally erase the native aristocracy. This tactical move proved to be a long-term strategy and had gone beyond his lifetime. This explains why there are Lakan Bunao Dula descendants in Pampanga, La Union, Marikina, Northern Samar, Sorsogon, Quezon Province, Pangasinan, Quirino, Bulacan, Davao, Zamboanga, Panay Islands, Rizal, Cebu and in many other far flung places of the country. Lakan is prefix to Tagalog name, which once meant "paramount ruler" according to W. H. Scott in his paper, "Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philipppine History", revised edition, 1984. So, Lakan is the title, which meant "paramount ruler", and Bunao Dula is the name of the paramount ruler of Tondo. The descendants are usually carrying native sounding or non-Hispanic surnames like lakandula, dula, dulay, gatdula, dulayan, abdullah, rebadulla, dulatre, duldulao, dulayba, lakandola, lacandalo, lacandola, lacandula, dula -torre and many others revolving around the root word “dula”. During the intense persecution of the Spaniards on the native aristocracy, some descendants even disregarded the “dula” root word and adopted totally different native sounding surnames like magsaysay, agbayani, salonga, bacani, macapagal, guingona, pangilinan, sumuroy, dagohoy, kalaw, salalima, soliman, pagdanganan, macalintal, angara, datumanong, panganiban, katigbak, macarambon, aglipay, kasilag, salamat, karingal, daza, lacanilao, lacanlale, gatchalian, manalo, lagumbay, tamano, ilagan, bunye, pangandaman, maliksi, silang, badoy,puno,lapid,nalupta, binay,gatbonton, capulong,puyat,gatmaitan, dagami, ablan, capinpin, punongbayan, madlangbayan, gatlabayan, cabangbang, calungsod, capangoy, kapunan,etc. There are those who actually embraced Spanish surnames like guevarra, legaspi, mendoza, estanislao, fernando, delapaz, santos, de guzman while some adopted chinese surnames of their mother like lim, uy, go, tan, etc.Although some website thinks that Diosdado Macapagal could be a descendant of Lakan Dula, there are historians and descendants of Lakan Dula, specifically those associated with the blog of Ellen Tordisillas who claim that the macapagals are not really descendants of Lakan Dula. For one, the macapagals are not really from Lubao, but from Candaba, Pampanga. The Macapagals are desendants of Lacandola of Lubao, a spanish collaborator. They say that the claim of the Macapagals to the Lakan Dula heritage is based on the tall tales concocted by the father of President Diosdado Macapagal who can write stories. These tales seem to have shaped the formative years of young Diosdado which planted the seeds for his presidential ambition. He sustained the tale during his term and at present, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo seem to be sustaining the same tale. Some websites wish to appeal to fellow descendants of Lakan Bunao Dula to be inclusive rather than exclusive. Even God is against exclusivity, that is why He warned the humanity against the evil of 666. In short, let us welcome any family or clan who has a long-cherished family legend or tales that in one way or another is linked to the old Manila Kingdom of Lakan Bunao Dula. The Jewish people have their own myths, legends, practices and tales. And they believe them to the point that they are willing to die for them. In the face of the present day Filipino Diaspora, if the history, legends, myths and tales around Lakan Bunao Dula will give us our lasting identity and unity, then, by all means let us continue to make family tales and myths around Lakan Bunao Dula, the Old Manila Kingdom, the pre-Hispanic grandeur of native aristocracy, the dying wish of Lakan Bunao Dula for his descendants, the legend of the “lineage of the first-born son”, the “descendant” Philippine deliberant, the “Sumpa ni Lakan Dula” etc. And let them flourish into culture, religion, cult, drama, literature and even civilization. This could be the start of the Philippine greatness that Lakan Bunao Dula has wished for. 

Some comments from the selected descendants of Lakan Bunao Dula of Tondo:

Rajah Lakandula

        jjmacam - May 31st, 2011 -  Gloria Macapagal first claimed that they were part of the Lakan Dula family by using the historical account of my ancestor Pampalung Gatbonton who is in "his youth was known as Macapagal". the reason why Pampalung Gatbonton used the Macapagal as an alias is that obviously he shield himself from the Spanish authorities in fear of being exterminated. after a carry on order to crush all the Royal Families of Tondo. the Gatbontons from Tondo sailed to Pampanga via Pasig river and settled in Candaba and Apalit. the phrase 'in his youth" determines that he was only using the name Macapagal for a limited time. conclusion: the Macapagals claim as a member of the Lakan Dula clan thru the Gabonton is nothing but a hoax.

http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/jsp/db/board.jsp?id=78656

Descendants of Lakan Dula of Tondo

Willy Ronquillo - June 30th, 2009 

            In 1587 Magat Salamat, one of the children of Lakan Dula, and Augustin de Legazpi, Lakan Dula's nephew and the chiefs of the neighboring areas of Tondo, Pandacan, Marikina, Candaba, Navotas and Bulacan were executed for secretly conspiring to overthrow the Spanish colonizers.Before the execution, the third generation descendants of Lakan Dula has already been moving to settlements along the sea and river routes, to escape the intense Spanish persecutions. An incident happened in Pampanga during the famine. The Pampangos sought the help of the Borneans for their plan to enter Manila one dark night to massacre all the Spaniards. Unfortunately, a native woman married to a Spanish soldier betrayed the plan. Many Pampangos were arrested and executed. In Northern Mindanao, Governor Fajardo executed the chieftain of the Manobos named Dabao, after he accepted Fajardo's offer of amnesty. David Dula y Goiti, a grandson of Lakan Dula with a Spanish mother escaped the persecution of the descendants of Lakan Dula by settling in Isla de Batag, Northern Samar and settled in the placed now called Candawid (Kan David). Due to hatred to the Spaniards, he dropped the Goiti in his surname and adopted a new name David Dulay. He was eventually caught by the Guardia Civil based in Palapag and was executed together with seven followers. They were charged with planning to attack the the Spanish detachment. In 1762, Palaris led a revolt of Pangasinan and waged war that last for two years. This rebellion was crushed in 1765 and Palaris was hanged. Apolinario de la Cruz or popularly known as Hermano Pule revolted caught and after a hasty trial was executed and his body was dismembered and exhibited in the town of Tayabas. The execution of local priests Gomez, Burgos and Zamora, in February 17 1872, maliciously charged by the friars gained sympathy among the natives that led to numerous uprisings. However these uprisings unfortunately ended up in the execution of leaders and sympathizers. For instance, the 13 martyrs of Cavite, leaders in Bulacan and Nueva Ecija but the most gruesome and well remembered of all these executions was the execution of Jose Rizal on Dec. 30, 1896

Omeng - January 13th, 2010 - 

    You mentioned in your article that the Kapunan family name (originally from Mambusao town in the province of Capiz, Panay Island) are descendants of Lakan Dula of Tondo.

    From what I know in our family history, Kapunan is not the real family name but Lopez. The Lopez name are numerous and also notorious at that time associated with all kinds of misdeeds. Out of disgust and not wanting to be drag into so many scandals, five brothers from one of the Lopez family deliberately changed their family name. In essence the Kapunan's are related to the Lopezes' that came from Panay island.

    If your tracing of the descendants of Lakan Dula of Tondo is correct, the Lopezes trace their roots to Lakan Dula.

The Dulays from Pangasinan - July 21st, 2010 -

    So how about the Dulays from Pangasinan?Are we related or just namesake?My grandfather's ancestral birth origin was La Union!

    jjmacam - May 31st, 2011 -  True. the Gloria Macapagal clan is trying to invent another royal family out of nowhere by affixing their names into someone elses. First they tried to associate with us in our Gatbonton family side but her arch rival FPJ is a real Gatbonton being the grandson of Martha Gatbonton Kelley. During the height of the presidential elections, the Gat bonton Wikipedia page was gone in the web. Now they are trying to connect themselves to Lakan Dula, the Son of Raha Sulaiman Salalila , but to no avail. while the Lakan Dula heirs were dying for the country Juan Macapagal of the Lacandolas of Lubao was busy helping the spanish position to supress the Filipino revolt. There is a traitor in our midst!

anonymous - November 28th, 2010 - 

i read your article about lakan dula,you think dulatre is one of descendant of lakan dula of tondo. but thier from la union

jmacam - May 29th, 2011 - 

    During the height of the elections, (Macapagal-Arroyo versus Fernando Poe Jr.) the Entry 'The gatbontons" in wikipedia was removed. Fernando Poe Jr. is a grandson of Martha Gatbonton Kelley. the Gatbontons are descendants of King Lakan Dula of Tondo. The chieftain who established a small kingdom in Barrio kapalangan (Palang is the pampango word for sword or bolo), Apalit, Pampanga was Pampalung Gatbonton. In his younger days he was nicknamed Macapagal, if translated in english means "one whos very tiring.." (hyperactive?) or in tagalog nakakapagud. maybe this inspires Diosdado Macapagal to brew a story connecting him to the royal filipino lineage, as scholars have claimed it. (note: macapagal was just an alyas and was not a first name or a last name) If by chance someone discovers the entry in Wikipedia, the talltale created by Diosdado Macapagal which even until now is continued by Gloria will be revealed, at the same time will benifit Fernado Poe Jr., as the real descendant. On the other hand the discovery can be used to heighten the drama in the elections.

j macam grandson of Feliza Gatbonton Corrales-Macam of Bulacan 

jmacam - May 29th, 2011 - (view article)

The Dulays of sagay city are very good looking mestizos..

The Descendants of Lakan Dula of Tondo are united, their unassuming secretive patriarch does not rule, he reigns privately

Roderick Alain Alvarez : 9th cousin's husband's 9th great uncle's wife's 6th great aunt's husband's 16th great grandson  we're that related, insan Toti, pero hindi pa tapos ang Lakan Dula genealogy: please add as many relatives coz, as head of the Royal House, you know them better :)

Toti Dulay: today at 2:36 AM

Thank you insan Roderick, in the Geni. Com genealogy, we saw na lumabas na yung name nung Juan Reyes Macapagal..ang main concern  na lang natin is paano na connect si Diosdado Macapagal kay Juan Macapagal?

Toti Dulay: today at 2:36 AM

Thank you insan Roderick, in the Geni. Com genealogy, we saw na lumabas na yung name nung Juan Reyes Macapagal..ang main concern  na lang natin is paano na connect si Diosdado Macapagal kay Juan Macapagal?

The Pre Hispanic Native Royal Houses and Principalia Families of the Republic of the Philippines

The Principalia families  of the Philippines are the descendants of the prehispanic  lakan, sultan, datu, rajah, hadi of the different ancient prosperous native settlements all over the country that were eventually recognized by the Kingdom of Spain as part of the their royal administration in the country. 

This could be a result of the informal alliance between Lakan Bunao Dula of the Lakanate of Tondo with the Kingdom of Spain. Among the agreement of the Lakanate of Tondo and the Kingdom of Spain are : there will be no more armed conflict between the two kingdoms, the native hereditary leaders will be allowed to use their ancient surnames, they will be free  from paying taxes, and  they will be appointed as gobernadorcillos of their  own settlements. As a gesture of this diplomatic alliance between the Kingdom of Spain and the Lakanate of Tondo, Batang Dula, the eldest son and heir apparent of Lakan Bunao Dula and Senorita Goiti were betrothed and the palace of Lakan Bunao Dula, will be under the protection and maintenance of the Kingdom of Spain. Later, the palace was converted into a dormitory and eventually, a church was built on it.

A circle of advocates on specialized fields were involved in the projects: Pastor Jay Enage, founder of Baybayin Buhayin, Inc., Samuel Bambit Dulay for arnis, Arjhay Laurea for Kundiman and the family of the late national artist Lang Dulay for tinalak. The leader of the descendants of Lakan Dula had been interviewed by bloggers, I - Juander of GMA, different students and I -Witness of GMA; and the House of Dulay Mendoza has been a favorite venue for films and documentaries. One of those who took notice of the activities of the descendants of Lakan Dula was a Fil American from New York representing the Wangdom of Ma-I in Bulalacao Mindoro. He wrote a letter to the head of the House of Dula and an informal alliance between the Lakanate of Tondo and Wangdom of Ma-I was discussed in principle to support the existing projects and advocacies. The alliance embarked on a US Mission to Recover Doctrina Cristiana now kept by the US Library of Congress which was coordinated with the Office of the President, National Historical Commission and the Department of Foreign Affairs. The people behind the God's Culture in YouTube visited the House of Dula for a Dine with the Ancestors Ritual Havilah Version. A principalia who is a high ranking Filipino priest and papal official based in Vatican City in Rome later participated in the visioning of an organization of the principalia families in the Philippines which in essence became the foundation of the council. In a meeting between the patriarch of the House of Dula and the parish priest of the Sto. Nino de Tondo, a pilgrimage of Lakan Dula descendants to Tondo was discussed and the necessity of formalizing the Principalia Council was deemed as historical priority.

References

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Was_Lakan_Banaw_Dula_Baptized_to_Christianity

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_there_a_probability_that_the_macapagal_family

            _are_not_descendants_of_lakan_dula_of_tondo

https://www.geni.com/people/Juan-Capulong/6000000020264669446. Retrieved    

             November 10, 2017

http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/jsp/db/board.jsp?id=48207