The Philippines in Relation with the Royal Family
And Original Certificate of Title (OCT) 01-4
(The Title of the Philippines Archipelago)
By Cenon C. Marcos
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 his article has been undertaken to provide the correct information to Filipinos locally and abroad and also to the whole world pertaining to this country, the rightful owner of the country and about the title (OCT No. 01-4), the very first title issued for the country January 17, 1764.
Before the conquest of the Philippines by the tyrant Spaniards, who converted this formerly Muslim country to Christianity, there already existed a civilization which had an Oriental texture. Until the 1970s it had been assumed that the Philippines was a part of the mainland China; however, this was contradicted by Dr. Fritiof Voss, a German scientist who studied the geology of the Philippines which, according to him, rose from the bottom of the sea and continues to rise as the thin Pacific Crust moves below it. In 1964 to 1967, scientific studies were done and it was found out that the 35 kms thickness crust underneath China does not extend to the Philippines, hence the latter could not have been a part or land bridges to the mainland China.
On the other hand, the Philippines lies "along the great earth faults extending to deep undersea trenches" and "so through violent earthquakes it rose to the surface of the sea" what is now the Philippines.
Whatever the causes of the Philippines coming to the surface of the sea, it is certain that ancient man came to settle in it. The theory that the Negritos were the aborigines of the Philippines was criticized in anthropologically literate quarters. But whether they are Negritos or not is not of great importance; what concerns us is that there is positive proof that man was in the Philippines at least as early as 21,000 or 22,000 years ago. None of these ancient men could be categorized under any of the historically identified ethnic groups (i.e., Malays, Indonesians and Filipinos) today.
The Western colonizers were the ones who fragmented the population into ethnic groups as they partitioned the region into their respective colonies. The British popularized in scholarship, they term Malay to characterize the group of people they encountered in the Malay Peninsula. The Portuguese, the Germans and the Dutch introduced the Indonesians to the Western world. The Spaniards on the other hand worked for the conversion of Filipinos (formerly Indios) to Christianity; later on the Americans came and further differentiated the Filipinos from the other Southeast Asian Countries.
The peopling of the Philippines through a series of waves of migration, as documented by old history like the Maragtas, has to be reconsidered; the undue credit given to the Malays as the original settlers of the region and dominant cultural transmitter must be corrected. Emerging from a common population with the same base culture, the Malays, the Filipinos and Indonesians are coequal as ethnic groups in the region of them being socially or culturally dominant.
Economic activities had been recorded to start in the Island of Sulu and mainland Mindanao when the introduction of Islam was spread to Malays brought about by the activities of Arab traders, missionaries and teachers who introduced their religious beliefs among the Malays.
The Islam spread rapidly to the Visayas and Luzon; the arrival of Spaniards in the second half of the 16th century and the subsequent conquest of Luzon led the Muslim to retreat to the south. They maintained their independence from the foreign powers to the end of the Spanish regime.
These historical events have been written by Teodoro Agoncillo; however, nowhere in his book, which is now the prescribed reading material for history at the secondary level of Department of Education, is there mention of the Royal Family and its descendents.
THE ROYAL FAMILY OF THE PHILIPPINES
The reign of the royal family of the Philippines had started as early in the l3th century, about 200 years yet before the Spanish came to our shores. The noble family was headed then by the late King Luisong Tagean married to Lamayan Bowan.
According to the Philippine Historical Commission; the entire Greater Manila area was under the territories of Namayan then some five (5) centuries ago which was divided into seven (7) districts which included said Greater Manila areas including the former Karilaya Island (now Quezon province), which include the whole region of Kawit (now Cavite) and that lake region; the province of Laguna including portions of Batangas (Bumbon province before).
The origin of their inhabitants from mentioned places came from the noble family names Lacan-Tagean centuries ago and by his wife Lamayan Bowan. The noble tribes were the owners of said territories and they controlled the areas and inhabited it themselves for more than five (5) centuries ago and it was passed by more than ten (10) generations of their clans. Some of these were their children and grand children, like the names of Rajah Lacan-Tagean, the 11th son of Rajah Soliman who is married to Mary Anne Dent, the beautiful daughter of Alfred Dent, a British Lord. Rajah Soliman is the second son of the King who controlled the entire area of Manila and its suburbs including the provinces of Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite, Batangas, Laguna and Quezon.
Another grandson is Rajah Lakandula who took over Tondo during the untimely demise of Rajah Soliman. The 3rd eldest grandson is Rajah Gat Mauban who is married to the daughter of Bornean Sultan Abdul Kahar, the Sultan of Brunei. Rajah Soliman had a son named Prince Lacan Tagean that was adopted from his grandmother Margarett Acuña Macleod Tagean. The Prince was married to Princess Rowena Ma. Elizabeth Overbeck of Austria and in the same manner has a begotten son who is the Prince Julian Macleod Tallano who is married to Princess Aminah Kiram and their descendant Rajah Magat Salamat took over the area of Cagayan Valley, while Rajah Baginda, another grandson had covered the area of Bohol, and Rajah Lapulapu, the eldest son of the King took over the Island of Mactan, while Rajah Kolambo, the 8th grandson is the ruler of the Island of Cebu. Rajah Gat Mauban took the eastern part of the Province of Quezon including Mauban, Sampaloc and Lukban to protect the interest of his grandson Vicente Lukban.
For reference, Manila started some thousand years ago, born out from the very womb of Rio de Tagean (now Pasig) river. The seat of the most powerful Datu, the King Luisong Tagean, which was inherited by his son Rajah Soliman and later by his grandson Lacan Tagean and his Royal Family, was not in Manila but in Lamayan District, now the Malacanang Palace. The evolution of Tagean Clan into Tallano Clan served as catalyst in their claims and interest in land against the Spanish government until such time when foreign intervention, like the British Royal Government started in l76l, had successfully invaded and liberated the Filipino people from the Spanish colonization in October l4, l764. The American government took its role and settled the inhabitants' perennial land problems by cessation treaty at the acquisition cost of U.S. Dollar 20 million. Such amount had been provided by Tallano Tagean Clan through the King's son, Lacan-Tagean Tallano. One condition in the said accord, the British and the Spanish governments, and the US government as well, and any foreign dominion, should respect the inhabitants' private ownership and interest in land. As a result of this treaty, another treaty, the Treaty of Paris, came into being, also containing the precondition that private rights and interest in lands in the Philippines would be respected.
The Treaty of Paris was signed April 4, l894. Upon signing it, the Spanish Royal Crown through its Queen sent Hermogenes and Miguel Rodriguez to the Philippines to assist the recovery of the Hacienda Quebega together with Hacienda Filipina by the Tagean Tallanos. Instead, they connived to carve out some of the best land for themselves. The Queen commanded them to cease and desist and reconvey from their landholdings the whole Hacienda Filipina, the archipelago with title OCT 0l-4 in the name of Prince Lacan Acuña Tagean-Tallano or to his son Prince Julian Macleod Tallano, the grandson of Alfred Dent, a British Lord and London merchant and part owner of Royal British North Borneo Company.
The court had ruled that the invaders were not the Spanish Royal Crown and neither the Great Americans but merely the Spanish Filipino mestizos who have vested interest to grab the archipelago.
A further evidence that the archipelago was the property of the Royal Family was written in Sung and Ming dynasty between the year l368 to l644 AD by the Chinese Emperor Yung Lo. As a symbol for the respect and due recognition of the Chinese Empire to the nobility of the King over his land ownership and rulership of the archipelago, the Chinese Emperor gave him a gift of silk cloth and several tons of precious metals like gold and jewels as a token of tribute to the Noble King whose name, King Luisong Tagean, was adapted in the naming of the largest island in his honor, the island of Luzon. Foreign traders regarded him as the sole ruler over the Archipelago; his ownership remained as an historic landmark; he never gained any resistance or opposition of any kind from various tribes of the inhabitants, meaning they directly admitted that the vast land of the archipelago was owned by the Tagean-Tallano Royal Clan, who discovered, rebuilt, glorified and fortified it for thousands of years. The inhabitants of the islands of Visayas and Mindanao acknowledged his rule by paying their share of their harvest from the lands they were tilling for and in behalf of the Royal Family.
King Luisong Tagean died in December 17, 1764 who left of nothing but noble teachings and his bounty of bullion of gold, 720,000 metric tons, as legacies to his royal children and descendants, and to the inhabitants of Maharlika Islands. He died nine (9) months after the issuance of the declaration of said treaty, died in peace and happiness. He died at exactly 270 years of age upon learning the positive fruits of his efforts which was the issuance of land title over the archipelago in his honor issued by the British Government embracing 7,169 islands and around 503,877 square nautical miles under OCT No. T-0l-4 and in the name of his grandson, Prince Lacan Tagean on January 17, 1764 and later to l6 year-old Prince Julian Macleod Tallano in 1780.
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