Did you know that Tondo used to be a kingdom?

For those who are not familiar with it, they may think of Tondo as place filled with neighborhood brawlers.

According to Kuya Kim on “24 Oras” Friday, the place may indeed be known for its street gangs, which proliferated in the ’60s because of poverty.

Because these gangs ruled the streets, they came to be known as hari ng Tondo or kings of Tondo.

But did you know that Tondo was, in fact, a kingdom?

According to historian Xiao Chua, Tondo is referred to as a kingdom as early as 900 AD in an old document called Laguna Copperplate Inscription.

JR Susi, a researcher at the Santo Niño Parish in Tondo, said the Manila district used to include Pampanga, Bulacan, Rizal, and Malabon.

Chua said the name Tondo came from a river mangrove named tundok or tinduk-tindukan.

Meanwhile, the old kingdom led by Lakandula was rich and had vast lands of sugar cane or tubuhan, where the place Tutuban got its name. – RC, GMA News