Inearly Philippine history, therank oflakan denoted a "paramount ruler" (or more specifically, "paramount datu") of one of the large coastalbarangays (known as a "bayan") on the central and southern regions of the island ofLuzon.[1]
Thelakan was democratically selected by other rulingdatus from among themselves to serve as their "pangulo" (head).[2] Writers such asWilliam Henry Scott have suggested that this rank is equivalent to that ofrajah, and that different ethnic groups either used one term or the other, or used the two words interchangeably.[3][4] But other writers such asNick Joaquin have suggested that the usage of the term "rajah" specifically indicates leadership of a bayan or barangay which has extensive trade relations with Muslim traders.[2][5] Equivalent terms for this rank include the term "sultan" in the Muslim polities ofMindanao, and the term "datu" as used by various polities in theVisayas and in some areas ofMindanao.[6]
There is no particular legal or academic prescription of orthography for the title oflakan. Thus it may be spelled separate from the person's name (e.g. "Lakan Dula"), or be incorporated with the name to form a single word (e.g. "Lakandula").
Rajah and lakan: It is sometimes argued that since the titles "rajah" and "lakan" are roughly equivalent, the two should not be used together. Thus, referring to Lakandula as Rajah Lakandula is said to be the result of mistaking Lakandula to be the full proper name of the said king.[4]
In his book, Tagalog Borrowings and Cognates (2024), linguist Jean-Paul Potet lists the word 'laka' as the possible earlier form of the title; the added 'n' is a shortened '-ng', a descriptive linker that is a contraction of the word 'nang/ng'. The man Dula is described as a 'laka' in the phrase, "laka na Dula", which becomes "Lakang Dula" contracted further to 'Lakandula", meaning the Chief who is Dula. The cognate identified for 'laka' is the Javanese word 'raka', which means 'lord', "the highest-ranking ruler of a region comprising several communities" in pre-Hinduist Java. Hindi influences brought the title 'raja' to the Philippines. Perhaps from the Spanish colonists' lack of knowledge and/or interpretation of Tagalog,'lakan' was believed to be the word for highest chief starting from the Spanish period. This probable 'mistake' is akin to the contemporary use of the word 'barong' instead of the grammatically correct 'baro', as an abbreviation of the phrase 'barong Tagalog'; the latter is a contraction of the descriptive phrase, 'baro na Tagalog', which means 'shirt that is Tagalog (or worn by the Tagalogs)'. The proper word for shirt is 'baro', but the use of the word 'barong' as if it were a stand-alone noun has become widespread and mainstream.
Users of the titlelakan that figure in 16th- and 17th-century Spanish colonial accounts of Philippine history include:
In present-day culture, the term is still occasionally used to mean "nobleman", but has mostly been adapted to other uses.
The name ofMalacañan Palace, the official residence of the president of the Republic of the Philippines, is traditionally attributed to the phrasemay lakan diyan, or "the king [or head] resides there".[8]
InFilipino Martial Arts,lakan denotes an equivalent to theblack belt rank.[9] Also, beauty contests in the Philippines have taken to referring to the winner as "lakambini", the female equivalent oflakan. In such cases, the contestant's assigned escort can be referred to as alakan. More often, a male pageant winner is named alakan.[10]
Philippine National Police Academy graduates are calledlakan (male) andlakambini (female)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
