Tondo, Manila

The name Tondo can be derived from its Old Tagalog name, Tundun as inscribed in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription of 900 AD, the earliest native document found within the Philippines. Dutch anthropologist Antoon Postma, the first to translate the copperplate, believes the term tundun originated from the old Indian language Tamil (Thondai naadu-Chola),^[3] which was used alongside Malay as a language of politics and religion in the area at the time.

Before this landmark discovery, several theories (however incorrect now) existed. Philippine National Artist Nick Joaquin once suggested that it might be a reference to a high ground ("tundok").^[4] On the other hand, French linguist Jean-Paul Potet, supposed that the Aegiceras corniculatum, which at the time was called "tundok" ("tinduk-tindukan" today), was the most likely origin of the name.^[5]

The region of Tondo has been settled by humans for over 1,100 years. Historically, Tondo already existed in the year 900 AD according to the Laguna Copperplate Inscription,^[6] a legal document that is the earliest document in the Philippines, written in Kawi script now housed in the National Museum of Anthropology.

According to this document, Tondo was ruled by an unnamed person who held the Sanskrit title of senapati or the equivalent of an admiral. Tondo also had influence all the way to the modern-day province of Bulacan particularly around Lihan (Malolos) and Gatbuca (Calumpit). Tondo was ruled by a line of lakan until the Spanish conquest.

After the Spaniards conquered Tondo in January 1571 they established the Province of Tondo which covered many territories in Northern Luzon particularly Pampanga, Bulacan and Rizal (formerly called Morong), with the city of Manila as its center. In a census conducted by Miguel de Loarca in 1583, Tondo was reported to have spoken the same language as the natives of the province of Pampanga.^[7]

Institute of National Language commissioner Jose Villa Panganiban also wrote that the dividing line between Kapampangan and Tagalog was the Pasig River, and that Tondo therefore originally spoke Kapampangan.^[8] However, Fray Isacio Rodriquez's Historia dela Provincia del Santisimo Nombre de Jesus de Filipinas stated that Provincia de Tagalos which is Tondo covers all the territories of the future Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila. Prior to the establishment of Bulacan in 1578, Malolos and Calumpit were also included in the territory of Tondo as its visitas. By the end of the 1700s, Tondo was a populous province of 14,437 native families and 3,528 Spanish Filipino families.^{[9]: 539 [10]: 31, 54, 113} In 1800, the Province of Tondo was renamed to Province of Manila.

Tondo was one of the first provinces to declare rebellion against Spain in the year 1896. In 1901, under the American colonial regime, there was a major reorganization of political divisions, and the province of Tondo was dissolved, with its towns given to the provinces of Rizal and Bulacan. Today, Tondo just exists as a district in the City of Manila.

Slums developed in Tondo along the Pasig River. Authorities sought to improve housing conditions on these areas without condoning the action of Squatting committed by the slums' residents. In the 1970s, the World Bank provided funds to improve conditions in Tondo which led the increase of rent prices and a property boom in the area. These caused the poor Gentrification. The slums that were upgraded were legalized but these areas remain vastly different from other parts of Manila with higher population density, more irregular road and plot patterns, and uncontrolled housing.^[11]

In the 1987 constitution, Tondo was split into two congressional districts of Manila making the first district to the west while the second district in the east.

Tondo hosts the Manila North Harbor Port, the northern half of the Port of Manila, the primary seaport serving Metro Manila and surrounding areas.^[12]

The area also hosted Smokey Mountain, a landfill which served Metro Manila and employed thousands of people from around the 1960s until its closure in the late 1990s. The dumpsite served as a symbol of poverty even at least two decades after its closure.^[13]

Urbanization as well as the Lina Law which favors squatting over land owners has resulted in Tondo being one of the most densely populated areas in the world at 69,000 inhabitants per square kilometer (180,000/sq mi).^[14]

Tondo has developed a reputation for criminality and poverty. In 2010, Manila records state that Tondo has the highest criminal rate in the whole city with the most common crime being pickpocketing.^[15]

The district celebrates the feast of the Tondo Church annually in January, which is dedicated to the image of the Santo Niño housed within the 16th-century Augustinian Tondo Church. The Lakbayaw Street Dance Festival, a competition among Ati-Atihan groups and school, local and religious groups, served as the climax of the feast.^[16]

The Department of Education – Schools Division Office of Manila lists 26 public elementary schools and 11 public high schools in Tondo.^[17]

The Tondo Campus is a P400-million extension with 48 classrooms, 15 multifunction rooms and a gymnasium. In October 2024, Mayor Honey Lacuna and Felma Carlos-Tria led the time capsule lowering and groundbreaking of Universidad de Manilas's 10-storey school building in a 1,500-square-meter lot at Vitas Skate Park.^[18]

First District

• Zone 1: Barangays 1 to 9
• Zone 2: Barangays 11 to 20, 25, 26, and 28 to 32
• Zone 3: Barangays 33 to 39 and 41 to 47
• Zone 4: Barangays 48 to 55
• Zone 5: Barangays 56 to 61
• Zone 6: Barangays 62 to 75
• Zone 7: Barangays 76 to 90
• Zone 8: Barangays 91 to 106
• Zone 9: Barangays 107 to 112 and 116 to 123
• Zone 10: Barangays 124 to 128
• Zone 11: Barangays 129 to 134
• Zone 12: Barangays 135 to 146

Second District

• Zone 13: Barangays 147 to 151
• Zone 14: Barangays 152 to 165
• Zone 15: Barangays 166 to 176
• Zone 16: Barangays 177 to 186
• Zone 17: Barangays 187 to 197
• Zone 18: Barangays 198 to 205
• Zone 19: Barangays 206 to 212
• Zone 20: Barangays 213 to 220
• Zone 21: Barangays 221 to 233
• Zone 22: Barangays 234 to 248
• Zone 23: Barangays 249 to 259
• Zone 24: Barangays 260 to 267

• Andrés Bonifacio, Filipino revolutionary leader
• Lakandula or Lakan Dula (1503–1575), the last ruler of pre-colonial Tondo when the Spaniards first conquered the lands of the Pasig River delta in the Philippines in the 1570s
• Antonio Villegas, 18th Mayor of Manila City
• Amy Austria, famous actress
• Alfredo Lim, 19th Mayor of Manila
• Rudy Fernandez, actor, movie producer
• Carmen Planas, lawyer, politician
• Tito Arevalo, actor
• Emilio Jacinto, Filipino general
• Mila del Sol, actress
• Esang de Torres, singer, stage actress
• Mona Lisa, actress
• Chichay, comedian
• Dely Atay-Atayan, comedian and singer
• Amado V. Hernandez, labour leader, awarded order national artist of the Philippines
• Charito Solis, actress
• José Palma, soldier, writer
• Lualhati Bautista, novelist
• Gina Alajar, actress and tv director
• Wendell Ramos, actor and firefighter
• Florin Hilbay, attorney
• Levi Celerio, national artist of the Philippines
• Isko Moreno, actor, TV personality and former mayor of Manila
• Ricky Belmonte, actor
• Ramon Ang, businessman, vice-chairman of San Miguel Corporation
• Arnold Clavio, newscaster and journalist
• Rene Requiestas (1957–1993), actor-comedian
• Dolphy, actor-comedian
• Carlos Badion, basketball player
• Ernest Obiena, pole vaulter
• RK Bagatsing, actor-model
• Vice Ganda, actor-comedian
• Raymond Bagatsing, dramatic actor and model
• Jerald Napoles, actor
• Joyce Pring, actress
• Arnel Pineda, singer and the current vocalist of Journey
• Regine Velasquez-Alcasid, singer and songwriter composer
• Ramon Bagatsing, politician and the former mayor of Manila
• Willie Ong, cardiologist
• Geneva Cruz, actress, singer, and composer
• Joseph Estrada, former actor and President
• Valerie Concepcion, actress and television host
• Asiong Salonga, gangster also known as the "King of Tondo"
• McCoy de Leon, actor and dancer
• Francine Diaz, actress and model
• Jose Manalo, comedian, actor
• Sonia Roco, educator
• Ate Gay, comedian
• Irma Adlawan, actress, queen of local indie film

• Gaspar de San Agustin, Conquistas de las Islas Filipinas 1565-1615, Translated by Luis Antonio Ma�eru, 1st bilingual ed [Spanish and English], published by Pedro Galende, OSA: Intramuros, Manila, 1998
• Henson, Mariano A. 1965. The Province of Pampanga and Its Towns: A.D. 1300-1965. 4th ed. revised. Angeles City: By the author.
• Loarca, Miguel de. 1582. Relacion de las Yslas Filipinas. Blair and Robertson vol. 5 page 87:
• Panganiban, J.V. 1972. Diksyunaryo-Tesauro Pilipino-Ingles. Quezon City: Manlapaz Publishing Co.
• Mallat, Jean, Les Philippines: Histoire, Geographie, Moeurs, Agriculture, Idustrie, Commerce des colonies Espagnoles dans l'Oc�anie, Paris: Arthus Bertrand, Libraire de la Soci�t� de G�ographie, 1846
• Santiago, Luciano P.R., The Houses of Lakandula, Matanda, and Soliman [1571-1898]: Genealogy and Group Identity, Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society 18 [1990]
• Scott, William Henry, Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society, Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1994
• Scott, William Henry, Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History, Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 1984

• After Fishing in Tondo, Manila, oil on canvas by Fernando Amorsolo, 1927. 58.4 x 96.5 cm.
• Casas de Pescadores en Tondo ("Fishermen's Houses, Tondo"), oil on canvas by Fabian de la Rosa, 1928. 50 x 70 cm.
•   Media related to Tondo, Manila at Wikimedia Commons

14°37′01″N 120°58′01″E / 14.617°N 120.967°E / 14.617; 120.967