Jun Salvador in a Ritual with the Reigning Leader of the Dulay Clan of Marikina Valley

Jun Salvador, a senior citizen former Marikina policeman and a scion of the Salvador political clan that produced Congressman Serafin Salvador has long been fascinated with the pre - hispanic kingdom of Lakan Dula. His long search led him to many places, and books, discussion groups and endless nights in the internet. Then, one day, he encountered an internet article that mentions the Dulay Clan of Marikina Valley. That internet article, according to him, says that the Dulay Clan of Marikina Valley came from David Dula y Goiti, a direct descendant of Lakan Dula from Tondo. The article said the present head of the clan is a 5th generation reign of successions of the eldest sons starting from Petre, Doroteo, Elpidio, Ceferino, Sofronio I and Sofronio II. Ceferino, direct from Tondo, decided to settle in MarikinaValley, afterall, Marikina Valley is part of the Kingdom of Lakan Dula.

Jun searched for the address and telephone number of Sofronio I, the current and the 5th generation clan leader, he found it, and they talked over the phone. He visited the residence of the leader – an old Hispanic house near the papal canonized Our Lady of the Abandoned (OLA) Church within neighborhood of the Shoe Museum (formerly Spanish jail) and International Red Cross Office, along the street formerly called Daang Kalabaw which was later on named Callejon and later renamed I. Mendoza, but the leader was in a business meeting. One Sunday morning, Jun went again to that old house and he spotted a tall man with a high cheekbone, a “bigote” and a slightly protruding forehead, standing along the grapes and millionaire’s vines beneath a pine tree that grow abundantly outside of the old Hispanic house few blocks away above the bank of Marikina river that has been converted into Butiki Park and Women’s Park.

“Are you Professor Dulay?” Jun asked the man. ”Yes, what can I do for you” replied the visibly surprised leader. After a short introduction, Jun was welcomed into the Hispanic house and the two exchanged stories over orange juice and cookies.

“May I call you Lakan?” said Jun to the clan leader. “Ok lang”, said the leader, “after all, you reminded me of an old friend of our clan Abdullah Santos from Parang who often tells me that I should love the Muslims because Lakan Dula is a Muslim,”

Jun proposed the creation of Marikina Geological Society and the planting of bamboo along the river bank because it is part of the folklore of the Tagalogs (Taga-Ilog) of the past. Incidentally, the clan leader is a supporter of congressional candidate Marcy Teodoro who was his schoolmate in MSAT and in UP Diliman. Jun turned out to be a former staff of Marcy’s father, Amado, in the Bureau of Fisheries. He knows lots of stories about the Teodoro family.

The clan leader and Jun walked near the Butiki Park beside the river, few houses away from the old Hispanic house. Jun said, “Lakan, I know that the descendants of Lakan Dula in Marikina settled over there”, pointing to a spot in the ibayo, at the opposite side of the river. “Yes, according to local historian Servando de los Angeles. My lolo also told me that,” said the leader. The De los Angeles is a descendant of Don Emiliano Guevara, the founder of the shoe industry in Markina. One of the ladies of the Guevaras is married to Mike Defensor who is currently running for the Philippine senate. The root of the Guevara clan is from Quiapo while the Dulay Clan is from Tondo, both in Manila, before they settled in Marikina. Ceferino retired as a “Katiwala” of Don Francisco Cacho, a Spaniard that developed Concepcion Dos, Marikina Heights, and part of Parang as well as Concepcion Uno in partnership with the Tuazons who owned Hacienda Marikina. Sofronio I, eldest son and legal heir of Ceferino, worked as an executive of a century old Swiss - owned cigar manufacturing company Alhambra Industries, Inc. based in Pritil, Tondo, Manila before he was encouraged by his friend Sergio Montinola to teach at the Far Eastern University in downtown Manila. The clan leader is a Director of the Asian Institute of Management Alumni Association (AAAIM). Sofronio II, the future clan leader and only son of Sofronio I is an honor high school student of Marist School, an exclusive Roman Catholic school for boys based in Marikina Heights and is serving as a Sacristan of OLA Church as part of traditional conservative upbringing as the 6th generation future clan leader. Former Mayor and now MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando and former AFP Chief of Staff Generoso Senga also served as Sacristans of OLA Church when they were kids.

Jun said that the descendants of Lakan Dula in Marikina built the first Catholic Church in the city, recently discovered in barangay Jesus de la Pena. They were also responsible in relocating the church into a bigger place now called Our Lady of the Abandoned (OLA) Church. No wonder, the house of Don Emiliano Guevara and Ceferino Dulay are both found near the vicinity of the Church. Ceferino was even buried in the upper chamber of a secretive old Roman Catholic Chapel found in small cemetery at the back of OLA Church.

The clan leader said that he can feel that the Guevaras in Marikina are also descendants of Lakan Dula, aside from the fact that his father told him so. He also told Jun that, “You may not know it by now, but I can feel that you are also a descendant of Lakan Dula. The fact that you are continuously seeking for it is a living proof that there is in your blood a surge that tells you to look for your root. The test of Lakan Dula ancestry is in the feeling; it is not in the name or membership I.D. card. This is the main reason why our clan prohibits recruitment of clan members. Membership in our clan is based on bloodline, marriage or a surge of mysterious affinity or feeling like what you have shown.” The leader said that his father told him that there are lots of missing Lakan Dula descendants all over the country who adopted other surnames because of Hispanic prosecution or intermarriages. They should be found and put back into the lineage. The clan leader and Jun went back to the old house. The leader asked Jun to hold one of the a 16th century antique plates located at the top of an antique black piano. The plates were part of the household of David Dula y Goiti that was handed down from the series of generational successions of eldest sons and leaders of the Dulay Clan down to the present. A couple of similar plates are displayed at the University of Sto. Tomas (UST)Museum. UST is pontifical university. The plates dates back from 16th century and was uncovered in Pandacan, Manila.“By holding that”, the leader said, “it is as if you have dined with your ancestors at this moment”

And so… the clan ritual of going – back – to – his - ancestral - root has been performed peacefully by Jun through the reigning clan leader whom he called Lakan.