Tallano Foundation Website

We all have been taught a certain version of our country’s history. But since the winners write history, the younger generations are at the mercy of what the winners have told us. Many of you may not be aware that there is a totally different version of history being told by those claiming to be descendants of the country’s pre-Hispanic Royal Family – the Tagean-Tallano clan. According to the accounts written in their website:

“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. ”

…

“The reign of the royal family of the Philippines had started as early in the 13th 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.”

…

“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.”

Since we read about Sri Vijaya and Madjapahit empires covering much of the present day Malaysia and Indonesia before the arrival of Europeans in Southeast Asia, the claim that there was also a reigning royal family in the Philippine archipelago around those times is not far fetched. It’s just interesting that this supposedly wealthy royal family did not leave any archeological traces (like buildings, temples or tombs), quite unlike the other two empires I mentioned. However, it’s possible that we are yet to find evidences for such claims, once this is seriously investigated.

The family of King Luisong Tagean controlled many parts of the archipelago. Continuing with their story…:

“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.”

At this point, I feel that we are really missing a lot of pieces that this story seems to supply. From the version of history taught in schools, Lapulapu, Rajah Soliman, and Rajah Baginda are presented as chieftains of local tribes. There was not much hint from any of our history books that these leaders are actually blood relatives and are governing the people in the name of their father/grandfather, King Luisong Tagean.

“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. [Emphasis mine.]  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 [emphasis mine].”

That the 2o million US dollars was actually paid by the Tagean-Tallano clan is something that has eluded the attention of historians. I can’t find any reference to this in the documents of the 1898 Treaty of Paris. Maybe this was supposed to be kept a secret by the royal family and the US government.

Also, this part got me really confused. The cessation treaty where an amount of 20 million US dollars was said to be paid by US to Spain, is no other than the 1898 Treaty of Paris – this is a well-known and well-docmented historical event. One sentence after, the author claims that another treaty was initiated as a result of the earlier treaty and that the latter is called the Treaty of Paris. Were there two treaties in Paris? …. After a little Googling I found that there are at least  three noted historical treaties in Paris – one in 1763, another in1783 and in 1898. However, the author claims that there was another treaty in Paris that was established after 1898; but the succeeding paragraph was even more bewildering, and I quote:

“The Treaty of Paris was signed April 4, l894 [emphasis mine]. 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.”

If this is not a typographical error, then this a serious case of anachronism, unless the author has a different chronology of the historical events of the world (i.e. to put the Treaty of Paris of 1898 at a year or years earlier than 1894). I invite the author, if he ever lands on this page, to correct this discrepancy or to correct my understanding about these events.

Actually, this is a just part of a long and complex history of our country’s royal family.  Our courts are witnesses of this story and it is said that the story of the royal family or the Tagean-Tallano clan can be recounted from court documents. And there are even more interesting aspects of the story that I will write about in my next posts .

The Tagean-Tallano clan claims ownership of the whole Philippine archipelago and boasts that this ownership was recognized by the Spanish, British, and American colonizers. The descendants of the royal family is in a possession of 720,000 metric tons of gold…a portion of which (about 400,000 metric tons) was deposited in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, which rests there until now. This is for me, the most interesting part of the story.

I understand that the whole story of the royal family, their claim of ownership of the whole archipelago, and their bullions of gold is very extensive that I can only scratch its surface in this blog article. I invite you to read more if you are interested to investigate this matter yourself. The best place to start is the website of the Tallano Foundation.

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