Tondo (東都, "Eastern Capital"), once historically known as the capital of the Luzon Empire (Chinese: 呂宋國, "The Lesser Song Empire") and the hereditary stronghold of the Lakandulas, is now just one of the districts of Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. It is one of the most densely populated areas of land in the world. Tondo is located in the northwest portion of the city and is primarily residential-industrial in nature. Tondo is notorious for being the poorest and most underdeveloped district of the country. Many of the city's slums are found in this area. It is also the birthplace of former president Joseph Estrada, singer and actress Regine Velasquez, businessman and politician Manuel Villar, Manila Mayor and Gatpuno Antonio Villegas, Andres Bonifacio, the Great Leader of the Katipuneros, and Kyla, the Philippines' R & B Princess.
An NGO run by students who are media practitioners has recently been established. It should not be confused with the District Library of Tondo, better known as the "Aklatan ng Tondo", which is the district's official library owned by the Manila City government. The organization derives its name from the British Library portrayed in the anime Read or Die.
It was established as a media-rights awareness group and charity organization. Ironically, their headquarters are located within the Ateneo de Manila, an affluent school located between Quezon City and Marikina City, despite being named after one of the most underdeveloped urban districts in the Philippines. Their 2 primary activities are campaigning for media awareness and providing basic advertising lessons to Grade School Students. They also enable reference books and literature to be more accessible to both private and public school students; due to the high shipment prices of the books or localized publishing in the country of origin, thus deriving their name from the British Library. Examples include books written by foreign celebrities and yearly copies of imported almanacs and the Guiness book of World Records. They also develop "School Weapons" as novelty items. "School Weapons" are mostly 'special' variants of paper-bolt-launching slingshots, which are allowed in many schools. They also offer a variety of services such as 'search and retrieve'; which involves helping students look for materials lost at school and 'surveillance'; which actually translates as a service that helps keep troubled students at bay. Note that their activities are mostly confined throughout Metro Manila. The structure of the organization is similar to that of the Mafia yet is not considered a fraternity. The current "Godsquatter", 20-year-old college student Paolo Vergara insists that "the Tondo Library is devoted only to the welfare of both the public and private school students of Metro Manila, and is not into secrecy and other things associated with illegal fraternities."