Sumakwel

In the Maragtas, Datu Sumakwel is one of the ten datus who came to Panay from Borneo with Datu Puti. The book is the work of Pedro Monteclaro, who wrote it in 1901, and it was published in 1907. It says that Sumakwel formed the Madja-as confederation, to hold authority over the other datus on the island.

According to the story, he held a council that adopted six articles, called the Maragtas Code. These set up three districts and a system of government and justice. Some writers call this the Code of Sumakwel. The story says the group first landed at the Siwaragan River in San Joaquin, Iloilo, then moved to Malandog after trading goods with the Ati chief Marikudo.

This is the line between history and legend. The Maragtas gives no firm date, and no outside record names Sumakwel. Historians Paul Morrow and William Henry Scott doubt the date of 1212 that a later text gives. Historians dispute how much of the story is real. Treat Sumakwel as a figure of legend that Panay families still tell.