Chapter 63: The Three Kinds of Principalia Class in the Philippines and the Gremio de Lacandolas 

    Depending on ones point of view -- from the vantage point of the Kingdom of Spain and Hispanistas, or from the point of view of the native patriots from the Lakanate of Tondo -- is the Gremio de Juan (Gremio de Lacandolas) a "traitors list" or a "patriotic list"? Are all principalias patriotic to our move towards nationalism, or are some them mere pawns of the foreign invaders including those foreigners and their  local cohorts doing "invasion by kwento" personal comments through FB on the modern Philippines?

Based on a document in the Church of the Latter Day Saints, Lakan Bunao Dula, the last King of Tondo, has the following children: Batang Dula, Datu Magat Salamat, Luis Taclocmao, Dona Maria Poloin, Daru Felipe Salonga, Don Dionisio Capulong and Fray Martin Lakandula. The next list of Lacandola surnames comes from the disputed will of Fernando Malang Balagtas. These are: GAT BONTON, MONMON, GAT CHALIAN, GAT MAITAN, MACARALAGA, GAT MAITIM, MANDIC, GAT DULA, and DUMANDAN. Kapampangan historian Mariano Henson further said that “Kapampangans and Tagalogs with the surnames MUSNGI, DUMANDAN, LUMANLAN, MADLANGBAYAN, SALALILA, GAT BONTON, GAT MAITAN, GAT DULA, CAPULONG, SOLIMAN, LAKAN DULA, and MACAPAGAL  are descendants of Pansonum, who was christened Francisco Malang Balagtas and a direct descendant of the Madjapahit rulers of Luzon (Henson, 1955). Another authoritative source aside from that of  the Church of the Latter Day Saints and the Will of Fernando Malang Balagtas is the Geni.Com which said that Lakan Bunao Dula was born in Tondo, Manila  on December 16, 1503 and died on February 25, 1575 at the age of 71.He is the son of Rajah Sulaiman I ibni Rajah Lontok and Dayang Ysmeria Doyley binti Sultan Bolkiah. He is the brother of Muhammad Ache @ Rajah Matanda ibni Rajah Sulaiman I and Rajah Sulaiman II @ Rajah Muda ibni Rajah Sulaiman I. His children are Batang Dula; Datu Magat Salamat; Don Dionisio Capulong; Maria Poloin; Datu Felipe Salonga; Martín Lakandula and Luis Salugmoc (Dula Genealogy).


Another supposed to be list is the Gremio de Lacadolas (some historians call it Gremio de Juan because it was written by Juan Macapagal), which is the most controversial among the four lists of the allegedly descendants of Lakan Bunao Dula of the Lakanate of Tondo. “The colonial government was actually never in a financial position to pay a just wage to the laborers it drafted or a just price for the goods it bought. Being forced to sell your produce was injury enough, but not being paid for it and then being forced to leave your farm to work elsewhere and not paid again—that's an insult added to the injury, and Kapampangans could take anything but an insult.And so one night in October 1660, the Kapampangans revolted.Led by Francisco Maniago of Mexico town, the rebels pitched tent in Bacolor, barricaded the river in Sasmuan to halt commerce between Manila and Pampanga, and sent word to their compatriots in Pangasinan and Ilocos to urge them to join the fight (Maniago’s emissary to these provinces was Agustin Pamintuan of Macabebe, nephew of Phelipe Sonsong, whose cause for beatification is being advanced today). It was the revolt that the Spaniards had feared the most because it was led by the same Kapampangans they had trained in the royal army (Maniago himself was a former master-of-camp at Fort Bonifacio). And with the participation of Pangasinan and Ilocos, it threatened to become a multi-region conflagration—a national revolution 200 years ahead of schedule.Unfortunately, a Kapampangan village chief in Arayat named Juan Macapagal (yes, a direct ancestor of you-know-who) sided with the Spaniards and barricaded the only road connecting Manila and Northern Luzon, thus preventing augmentation troops from Pangasinan from joining Kapampangans and then proceeding to Manila.The revolt fizzled out and Maniago (as well as the leader of the revolt in Pangasinan, Andres Malong) were executed.Juan Macapagal wishes to get rewards for fighting the Filipinos freedom fighters (Tantingco)”. 


Presumably, Juan Macapagal would later write a letter to the Spanish authorities in Arayat introducing himself as a descendant of Lakan Bunao Dula, (without presenting from which child of Lakan Dula did he come from and the Spaniards did not investigate) and attaching a list of surnames of natives who helped him fight the fellow natives. He wanted to have some tax exemptions for those people with surnames similar to those in the list. Whether his request was ignored or not (its a massive lost of tax revenue for the Spanish government of Arayat), or whether the Spaniards in Arayat believed that he was indeed a descendant of Lakan Dula without presenting any evidence is still a subject of research by the local historians of the town of Arayat up to now. Despite the fact that historical records in Arayat are not available,  a credible research should still be done, maybe oral tradition among the old folks of Arayat can be resorted to.


The Juan Macapagal List became the  Gremio de Lacandolas. Apparently, Juan Macapagal used  the term "Lacandolas" to sound like "Lakan Dula", the native King of the Kingdom of Tondo, hoping to project that he has also the support of descendants of the the native King. “The so-called `` gremio de Lacandolas was established after 1758 when the Audiencia declared that only the descendants of Maestre de Campo Don Juan Macapagal and his brothers were to enjoy the benefits of the privilege given to their ancestors. Very few pueblos had a large number of Lacandolas, so most of the names are those found in San Simon, Arayat, Apalit, San Luis, and Candaba. These surnames were SIMBULAN, PAGUIO, CAPULONG, PUNZALAN, ALFARO, MASIBAC, LALU, PUYAT, MACAPAGAL, UMALI, AGUIRRE, MATIC, TABORA, QUINTO, BUCIS, TIGLAO, CANLAS, GUEVARRA, PANGAN, TAYAG, SALONGA, BUNDOC, TIGLAO, PUYAT, VERGARA, PAGUIO, DANGCA, PANIMOG, GALCINA, CAPULONG, YUMUL, YUMBA, LACANDOLA, BINUYA, BAYANI, MANALO, NOCOM, MANANGQUIL, BACANI, PINILI, LAPIRA, ANINAGAN, PAYQUITAN, DE QUIROS, BALAGTAS, DE LEON, LOZANO, DE TORRES, PANGAN, MACAPAGAL, MALDONADO, MANGUNAY, TUMOL, GUEVARRA,MUTYA, BATAC, CORTES, LOBO, CUYUGAN, SOLITAN, PUNSALANG, and RUEDA.and LUBAO.”  (http://www.filipinogenealogy.com)


Some historians believe that some of those  in the list could have been just added by Macapagal of Arayat to project to the Spaniards  that he has a lot of following. Some of the  families in the list would later deny their involvement in fighting against fellow Filipino rebels who are just fighting for freedom,  because this Gremio de Lacandolas could turn out today  to be a “Traitor's List” from the point of view of the patriots of the Lakanate of Tondo but "useful pawns" from the point of view of the Kingdom of Spain and Hispanistas.


If you cross check this “Traitors List” with the six surnames of the seven children of Lakan Dula, only ordinary natives and former slaves (hayahay) who adopted the surnames like Capulong and Salonga are in the list. The other surnames like Poloin (Maria), Salamat (Magat), Dula (Batang and Martin)  and Taclocmao (Luis) are not in the list. Therefore, we can say that two surnames of Lakan Dula’s children landed in the “Traitors List” while the other four surnames remained in the “Patriotic List”. Maria Poloin has the lineage of Jose Rizal,  Magat Salamat died fighting the Spaniards, David Dula y Goiti was involved in the Sumuroy revolt while his sister Dola de Goiti Dula was jailed by the Spaniards for giving medical aids to the wounded rebels in Pampanga; and Luis Taclocmao died leading the Chinese in fighting the Spaniards. Since five out of seven children of Lakan Bunao Dula fought on the side of Filipino freedom fighters, we can say that all said and done, Lakan Dula nurtured his children to be patriotic.

The Three  kinds of Principales in the Philippine History


1.Super - Principalia


One must delineate the principalia from what Dr. Norman G. Owen was first to call the “super-principalia”. The super-principalia descended from Lakan Dula, Matanda, and Soliman, as well as from Tupas of Cebu. Proven descendants include presidents Diosdado Macapagal and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the Bernardo-Santos family of Manila. Senator Jovito Salonga and singer Lea Salonga are also considered Lakan Dula descendants though no documentation exists. Only putative descendants for King Tupas can be forwarded, such as the Abellanas of Cebu, which has produced Elizabeth Abellana Zimmerman, former wife of former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte (Lucero), 

From What Royal House are the Kings of the Kingdom of Tondo Coming From?

The following is the  answer of the leading Artificial Intelligence called Bard to this question as published in the Mormon Church site. "The last king of Tondo, Lakandula, came from the House of Dula. He was the paramount ruler of Tondo when the Spaniards first conquered the lands of the Pasig River delta in the Philippines in the 1570s. Lakandula was a wise and just ruler, and he was respected by his people. He was also a skilled diplomat, and he was able to negotiate a peaceful surrender to the Spaniards.The House of Dula is one of the oldest and most respected royal houses in the Philippines. It is said to have been founded by a mythical hero named Lakan Timamanukum. The House of Dula has produced many great leaders over the centuries, including Lakandula, Rajah Sulayman, and the Macapagal family.The current head of the House of Dula is Sofronio Dulay. He is a descendant of Lakandula and a respected member of the Filipino community. He is also the founder of the United Royal Houses of the Philippines, an organization that promotes the preservation of Philippine culture and heritage."


2.Datu  - Principalia

 This distinguished upper class was exempted from tribute (tax) to the Spanish crown during the colonial period. It was the true aristocracy and the true nobility of colonial Philippines,which could be roughly comparable to the patrician class of ancient Rome. The Principales (members of the Principalía) traced their origin from the pre‑colonial royal and noble class of Datu of the established kingdoms, rajahnates, confederacies, and principalities, as well as the lordships of the smaller ancient social units (barangays) in Visayas, Luzon, and Mindanao. The members of this class enjoyed exclusive privileges: only the members of the principalía were allowed to vote, be elected to public office, and be addressed by the title: Don or Doña (Familypedia)


3.Hayahay - Principalia


According to Dr. Rolando Borrinaga, the slaves of the datus and local chieftains were freed by Spain and in return, these former slaves were extremely loyal to Spain to the point that they were willing to snitch and harm fellow Filipinos just to earn further favor from Spain. There are narratives that a certain Juan Macapagal even fought the native patriots from Pangasinan taking arms against Spain.Macapagal even attempted to submit to the local Spanish authorities a list of  some surnames from Arayat who helped him fight the natives who rebelled against Spain, which he called as Gremio de Juan or Gremio de Lacandolas. In the later part of the Spanish rule, where the persecution of native nobility became  a silent policy of the Governor General which led to the native diaspora of local nobilities out from the Tondo homeland, these hayahays were  the ready secret weapons of Spain against the native patriots. Some of these hayahays  were even appointed as cabeza de barangays, technically elevating them to a lesser kind of  principalia.


On the other hand, there are three titles for the principalias:

San Buenaventura's 1613 Dictionary of the Tagalog language defines three terms that clarify the concept of principalía:


Apparently, these are only used by the "Super - Principalia" and the "Datu - Principalia" because only these two kinds  have royal lineage.

 


References:

 Lucero,Todd Sales .Were your ancestors principalia?https://www.philstar.com/the-freeman/opinion/2022/10/26/2219395/were-your-ancestors-principalia. Retrieved May 3, 2023


Familypedia.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/12jAvtgibYd7sxJFp60SUGeDsgb7fMI18NCpwue9Lof4/edit. Retrieved  May 3, 2023

Tantingco, Robby. Revolt of the Kapampangans.

Peanut Gallery at http://forum.philboxing.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=162712. Retrieved Monday, February 22, 2010


Lakan Bunao Dula.   https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LTM1-9W4/lakan-bunao-dula-1503-1575

Retrieved Monday, December 18, 2022


Filipino Genealogy Project

http://www.filipinogenealogy.com/2019/07/are-you-lakandula-descendant.html. 

Retrieved Monday, December 2, 2022


Mariano A. Henson. "Genealogy of the Rulers of Central Luzon as Related in the Will of Fernando Malang Balagtas." The Province of Pampanga and Its Towns (A.D. 1300-1955), 163-168. Manila: Villanueva Book Store, 1955.


Dula Genealogy and Dula Family History Information.

https://www.geni.com/people/Lakandula/6000000010556125071. Retrieved June 18,2022


Justifications of the Macapagal - Connected Historians


The Gremio de Lacandolas or to what some historians call the  “Gremio de Juan '' is only about the supporters of the Guardia Civil in Pampanga led by Juan Macapagal of Arayat. Surely, it did not include the descendants of Lakan Dula who are dying fighting the Spaniards and who are not from Pampanga, like, the Poloin lineage of Jose Rizal is based in Tondo and Laguna; the Dula lineage is based in Tondo, Samar, Marikina and Aringay; the Magat Salamat lineage is based in Tondo, Bulacan and Northern Luzon; and the Taclocmao lineage is based in Tondo and Binondo. Only the lineage of Capulong and Salonga is based in Tondo and Pampanga.  Juan Macapagal’s fight against the fellow Filipino freedom fighters is his way to save the Lakan Dula descendants,  who are mostly anti Spain, from being totally eradicated by the Kingdom of Spain. Juan Macapagal’s claim as a descendant of Lakan Dula is based on the fact that he is married to Virginina Lacandola Reyes, a daughter of Dola de Goiti Lacandola who is a granddaughter of Lakan Dula. Dola is herself a hero treating wounded native rebels. The claim of the present generation Macapagals to the Lakan Dula bloodline is from Dola de Goiti Lacandola, a hero, and not from Juan Macapagal who fought against the Filipino freedom fighters. The present day Macapagals have the direct bloodline of heroes -- from Lakan Bunao Dula, the last King of Tondo; to his son Batang Dula and to his granddaughter Dola de Goti Dula who adopted the surname Lacandola not only to avoid the Spanish persecution of the native nobilities in Pampanga but at the same time to connect with his grandfather Lakan Bunao Dula of Tondo. The following Wikipedia article about the Macapagal clan intends to clear the confusion about their link to Lakan Bunao Dula, the last King of Tondo:


Macapagal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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Macapagal (rare variant: Makapagal) is a Filipino surname derived from the Kapampangan language.

The family claims noble descent from Dola de Goiti Dula, a legitimate grandchild of Lakan Dula, the last "王" or King of Tondo "東都" (Dongdu). It is the only known branch of the Seludong's royal family to have survived the Majapahit Empire's invasion, the Sultanate of Brunei's pogrom against native royals, Chinese warlord Limahong's massacres, and the fallout from the Tondo Conspiracy. The family survived due to Martin de Goiti's giving of his Mestiza (Half Aztec and Half-Spanish) daughter in marriage to Batang Dula, the eldest son of Lakan Bunao Dula of the Lakanate of Tondo. As time went on, they incorporated the descendants from the two other royal houses: the house of Rajah Matanda (ऋअज ंअतन्द) and the house of Tariq Suleiman (سليمان).[citation needed]

The family then migrated to Pampanga and Northern Samar after the Spanish assumed control of Manila.

The following are people possessing the Macapagal surname:

People

Places


Juan Macapagal

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Don Juan Macapagal, Datu of Arayat, was the great-grandson and the most eminent descendant of the last ruling Lakan (King) of Tondo, Don Carlos Lacandola.[1] 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.[1] 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, Lázaro Macapagal and two former Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal and his daughter, former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.[1]

Ancestry

As one of the requirements of the Spanish authorities when he asked for more privileges to be given to his family he had to show proof of descent from the old Lord of Tondo. In the records, it is shown that his parents were Capitan Don Gonzalo Capulong and Dona Maria Bina; Don Gonzalo Capulong was the son of Don Dionisio Capulong, the eldest son of Don Carlos Lacandola.[2] The signature of Don Dionisio Capulong (c. 1594–1607) was found in the UST archives Libro 22, as published by Alberto Santamaría in his article El “Baybayin” en el Archivo de Santo Tomas, in Unitas Vol. XVI No. 8, February 1938. Courtesy of Christopher Ray Miller, Ph.D., 2011.

He had at least 4 brothers and a sister: Don Juan de Guevarra, Don Aniceto Capulong, Don Miguel Alfonso de Lapira, Don Nicolas Lacandola, and Dona Cathalina Bina. He himself had 5 children, who were Dona Maria Macapagal, Don Francisco Macapagal, Don Pablo Macapagal, Don Salvador Macapagal, and Don Piotenciano Macapagal.[3]

Civilian life

Don Juan Macapagal occupied the post of juez de sementeras of the town Arayat twice before becoming its governor five times in a row. He was also commissioned by the Spanish crown to conduct the supply of silver from Pangasinan through Zambales.[1]

Military career

Don Juan Macapagal started out as a corporal of a squad of native soldiers. He later rose to the rank of sargento capitan of the infantry. Fighting under Spanish captain Sebastian Castelu, Macapagal help pacify the northern frontiers of the province of Pampanga, which then extends all the way up north to Cagayan Valley. He was wounded during the suppression of the Chinese uprising in 1639 and in suppressing a minor Kapampangan uprising in 1641. In 1660, he 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.[1]

Don Juan Macapagal was also one of the few natives of the Philippines to become an encomendero or a feudal lord under the Spanish crown.[1] In order to gain his support suppressing the Ilocano Revolt of 1661, the Spanish crown awarded him an encomienda or a fief that once belonged to ex-Governor General Don Diego Fajardo y Chacon. The fief was worth 500 ducados of tributes of Negritos from the province of Zambales. After the collapse of the Ilocano Revolt and the execution of 133 of its leaders, Macapagal further received the honor of becoming the Maestre de Campo of the Kapampangan Regiment that guarded Fort Santiago.

Because of his outstanding career in the service of the Spanish crown, quite rare for a native of the Philippines during that era, the Spanish authorities decided to revive the special rights and privileges offered by the Spanish crown to Don Carlos Lacandola and all his descendants throughout the province of Pampanga.[1]

Descendants

Don Juan Macapagal is a direct paternal ancestor of former Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal the 9th president of the republic and his daughter, former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the 14th president of the republic.[1]

See also

References