Lakandula was the hereditary title of the rulers of Tondo. Banaw was the personal name of the Lakandula (? - 1575) recorded in Philippine history at the advent of the Spanish colonization. He was one of the three principal rulers of the Luzon Empire (traditional Chinese: 呂宋國; pinyin: Lǚsòng Guó). The name Banaw and his title Lakándúlâ suggests he was a follower of the ancient animistic religion and not a Muslim like his cousin and half-brother Rajah Suliman of Mainila.
The best way to describe the historical Lakándúlâ (Personal name: Banaw, Christian name: Carlos) is through the 1665 notarized document written as an endorsement of his great-grandson Don Juan Macapagal, Master-of-Camp and Datu of Arayat: Don Carlos Lacandóla, his great-grandfather, was Lord and principal of the town of Tondo, and other surrounding towns, whose natives paid him tribute and vassalage and other recognition as their natural lord, and when ships from China came to this bay, they similarly paid him duties and anchorage fees, he removing their sails and rudder for this purpose, and taking their merchandise by paying half its value at the time and the other half the next year, without any other natives being able to buy anything from the sangleyes but only from the said Lacandola, from which much profit, which he ceded at the coming of the Spaniards to these Islands, they collecting the said tributes and duties for His Majesty.
Lakándúlâ played a crucial role in the fall of the Luzon Empire and the creation of the province of Pampanga. The Spaniards used him in pacifying the last independent Luzon states in what is now the province of Pampanga, namely Lubao and Betis. He further helped the Spaniards in defend their foothold in the archipelago from the invading forces of the Chinese pirate Limahong.