Lakandula - Name and Title

Name and Title

Over time, Lakandula's name has come to be written in several ways. However, according to the firsthand account written by Hernando Riquel,the royal notary who accompanied Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, the Lord of Tondo specifically identified himself as "Sibunao Lakandula, lord of the town of Tondo" when he went onboard Legazpi’s ship with the Lords of Manila on May 18, 1571. The lords of Manila introduced themselves as "Rajah Ache the Old and Rajah Soliman the Young, lords and principals of the town of Manila"

In page 13 of "Cracks in the Parchment Curtain", preeminent historian William Henry Scott quotes Riquel’s original text, which he found in the Spanish archives under "Archivo General de Indias Seccion Patronato leg. 24, no 24." The relevant part of the text read:

"...declaracion llamarse Raha Ache el Viejo y Raha Solimane el Mozo, senores y principales del pueblo de Manila, y Sibunao Lacandola, principal del pueblo de Tondo..."(Emphasis added)

Historians routinely remove the Filipino linking verb “si”, analogous to the English “am”, from recorded names in this era, because Spanish writers who had not yet learned the local languages often mistakenly attached it to Filipino names. Historians thus record that the Lakan introduced himself as “Bunao Lacandola.”