EXILIUM REX

Chapter 12

From the pages of The Chronicles of the War of Names in the Suyo Islands of Palawan (part 3):

Here are some of the questions The Chronicles of the War of Names in the Suyo Islands of Palawan attempted to shed some light to: Who is Pitonggatan? Why was he given the most lenient punishment among the conspirators of the Conspiracy of the Maharlikas, given that he played a major part in the plot to revolt against the Spanish colonists? Why was he rescued by the mercenary warriors of the Suyo islands of Palawan?

According to the more significant excerpts regarding Pitonggatan, known in the history book of the Philippines as a Prince of Tondo, there was more to the man than meets the eye.

For if Magat Salamat was recorded in the annals of Philippine history as the son of Lakan Dula and the Crown Prince of Tondo, Pitonggatan, according to the War of Names, was the other son of Lakan Dula (the youngest, according to the secret Suyonon chronicles) and may be considered as the Uncrowned Prince of Tondo. This fact was only revealed to the Spanish authorities when, according to the War of Names, Magat Salamat confession that he be given the maximum sentence for conspiring against Spain in exchange for his youngest brother’s life; in that allegedly signed confession by Magat Salamat, the Crown Prince of Tondo warned the Spaniards that the execution of Pitonggatan, the last in the royal and extremely revered lineage of Lakan Dula, would set in motion what the Spaniards tried to avoid in the first place, an all-out uprising against the Crown and the Queen of Spain. Thus, being briefed with this matter and upon extensive investigation by the informants of the Spanish authorities, it was verified that Magat Salamat was indeed telling the truth about Pitonggatan being his youngest brother and therefore the youngest son and heir of Lakan Dula. Erring more on the side of caution, the Spanish Governor-General ordered the brutal hanging ang beheading of Magat Salamat along with a certain amount of gold as well as confiscation of real estate properties; that was allegedly and secretly in exchange of giving Pitonggatan the least punishment among the conspirators, which was two years exile in New Spain, or Mexico.

The Chronicles of the War of Names, having answered the first two questions posed, then turned to the third one: Why was he rescued by the mercenary warriors of the Suyo islands of Palawan?

As mentioned on the earlier pages of the secret Suyonon chronicles, Pitonggatan was rescued by mercenary warriors of the Suyo islands, helped him recover in Manila some of the confiscated gold and other wealth by the Lakan Dula royalty, and then treated him as their own datu when they returned to Palawan. All these was allegedly true, of course, buth what was not mentioned before was during the celebration of the merger between Datu Sumaclob and Magat Salamat, Pitonggatan already fell in love with an unnamed Subanon native and made love with her during that one week of the Lai Mabinta-Nong. The earlier pages of the secret Suyonon chronicles also failed to mention (intentionally or otherwise, no one could really be sure) that the unnamed Subanon native which bore the child of Pitonggatan was none other than the daughter of Datu Sumaclob, Lakambini Lerma.

Allegedly true also was the fact that Pitonggatan, fearing for the life of his baby, entrusted the child to the babaylans of the Suyo islands, for whether the threat would come from within the islands or outside, the danger was real. If found out by the Spanish authorities, the Spaniards in the Philippines would presume that Pitonggatan returned to the Suyo islands to regroup and plot vengeance against the death of his brother Magat Salamat as well as the death of his co-conspirators in the Conspiracy of the Maharlikas. If found out by the native datus of the Suyo islands, particularly the Amianans, they would be inclined to take the side of Antonio Surabao who was one of them and who became the conduit for Spain to invest in the Suyo islands (albeit the internal rift between the European blue-blood outsiders and Antonio Surabao was never mentioned if it was resolved).

In any case, entrusting the life of his child to the babaylans was the reasonable thing to do. And so, years, decades, centuries passed and the babaylans did not really understand the origins of some of their rituals. How the pangabas, a ceremony done at dusk, days after the first harvest of the annual Amianan calendar would follow the seemingly innocent act of offering seven fistfuls of cotchiam rice (Pitonggatan, which was a variation of Pitong gatang, which meant seven cupfuls, more or less). As mentioned before, during the pangabas, women shall visit a maiden’s house, preferably blood-related to the ancient high minister. Presumably they shall be carrying a basket containing seven fistfuls of cotchiam rice grain. Pinilpil or limbac shall then be cooked from the cotchiam, together with raw eggs. These then shall be offered to the ancestral spirit of the Goddess of the Forest, the Virgen del Monte. Enchantress of the Mountains. The soulkeeper of the Lai Mabinta-Nong.

Centuries passed with the secret of Pitonggatan already more than forgotten seemingly by the gods themselves. But in a time when gods were mountains and mountains were gods, the period of revelation shall inevitably come to pass.

According to the secret Suyonon chronicles, on November 21, 1849, then Governor-General Narciso Claveria y Zaldua issued his famous decree called the Claverian Decree. The decree’s primary intention was to minimize the confusion in the census activities of the colonists, since most Filipinos did not have surnames. Through this decree, long lists of Spanish and local surnames were sent out to the chiefs of the provinces. According to the War of Names, only the datus and other nobles were allowed to retain their names, as per the 1594 decree of then King Philip II of Spain, in the spirit of magnanimity by the Crown to the Philippine colony.

The Claverian decree somehow became a dilemma for the babaylans for they are neither chiefs nor of noble blood. Yes, they were counsels to the datus, but they were not covered by the exemption to the Claverian decree.

And so it was explicitly mentioned in The Chronicles of the War of Names in the Suyo Islands of Palawan the surname given (or chosen to be given) to the babaylans of the Suyo islands.

Fernandez.

No, according to the secret Suyonon chronicles, not the Fernandez blue-blooded lineage from Europe and was adopted by the Amianan tribe. Yes, according to the secret Suyonon chronicles, the Fernandezes who owned vast tracts of Subanon farmland.

Yes, the Fernandez family who entered the 21st century with a sole and estranged heir: Rafael Apostol Fernandez. The late father of Alfredo Apostol.

According to The Chronicles of the War of Names in the Suyo Islands of Palawan, therefore, Alfredo Apostol is the last in the royal lineage of Pitonggatan, Magat Salamat – and Lakan Dula, the ancient Ruler of the Kingdom of Tondo.