Who is Juan Macapagal?
I am a great grandson of Juan Macapagal.The Lacandola of Arayat
came from one of the grandchildren of Lakan Dula of Tondo named
Dola, who is from San Luis, Pampanga. When she married, she
insisted to use the surname Lacandola for her children to maintain
connection with his grandfather from Tondo and partly, to hide from
Spanish authorities. She has nine children and one of them married
a Spanish mestizo surnamed Reyes. My grandfather used to tell me
that we are the descendants of Dola, the grand daughter of Lakan
Dula of Tondo. By the way, Dola, according to my grandfather, was
jailed by the Spanish authority in her old age allegedly for
helping wounded revolutionaries.
Don Juan Macapagal, Datu of Arayat, was the great-grandson of
the last ruling Lakan Dula (King) of Tondo, Don Carlos.[1] He was
given the title Maestre de Campo General of the natives Arayat,
Candaba and Apalit for his aid in suppressing the Kapampangan
Revolt of 1660.[1] He further aided the Spanish crown in
suppressing the Pangasinan Revolt of Don Andres Malong in the same
year, and the Ilocano Revolt of 1661. Don Juan Macapagal died in
1683. Don Juan Macapagal is a direct ancestor of Philippine
Revolutionary General, Lazaro Macapagal and two former Philippine
President Diosdado Macapagal and his daughter, former Philippine
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Don Juan Macapagal occupied the post of juez de sementeras of
the town Arayat twice before becoming its governor five times in a
row. He was also commissioned by the Spanish crown to conduct the
supply of silver from Pangasinan through Zambales.
Don Juan Macapagal started out as a corporal of a squad of
native soldiers. He later rose to the rank of sargento capitan of
the infantry. Fighting under Spanish captain Sebastian Castelu,
Macapagal help pacify the northern frontiers of the province of
Pampanga, which then extends all the way up north to Cagayan
Valley. He was wounded during the suppression of the Chinese
uprising in 1639 and in suppressing a minor Kapampangan uprising in
1641. In 1660, he was given the title Maestre de Campo General of
the natives Arayat, Candaba and Apalit for his aid in suppressing
the Kapampangan Revolt of 1660.
Don Juan Macapagal was also one of the few natives of the
Philippines to become an encomendero or a feudal lord under the
Spanish crown.[1] In order to gain his support suppressing the
Ilocano Revolt of 1661, the Spanish crown awarded him an encomienda
or a fief that once belonged to ex-Governor General Don Diego
Fajardo y Chacon. The fief was worth 500 ducados of tributes of
Negritos from the province of Zambales. After the collapse of the
Ilocano Revolt and the execution of 133 of its leaders, Macapagal
further received the honor of becoming the Maestre de Campo of the
Kapampangan Regiment that guarded Fort Santiago.
Because of his outstanding career in the service of the Spanish
crown, quite rare for a native of the Philippines during that era,
the Spanish authorities decided to revive the special rights and
privileges offered by the Spanish crown to Don Carlos Lacandola and
all his descendants throughout the province of Pampanga.
Don Juan Macapagal is a direct paternal ancestor of former
Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal the 9th president of the
republic and his daughter, Philippine President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo.
