Apo Rodolfo Aguilar

Apo Rodolfo Aguilar, or Apo Kudol ang Calis in Tagbanua, is the current traditional Tagbanua tribal leader of Coron Island.
He chairs the Board of Directors of the Tagbanua Tribes of Coron Island Association which empowers tribal members in their ancestral lands. Helping him is the Tribal Council of Elders in the management of their ancestral domain. The traditional tribal chieftain is a tribal king because the concept of democracy does not exist in ancient Philippines during the time of Lapu-Lapu, Rajah Sulayman of Manila, Rajah Lakan Dula of Tondo and other native kings. The Datu or noble class exists as well in the Southern Palawan Tagbanua tribes and is known there as Usba.
The traditional management of Coron Island was reestablished after hundreds of years of interruption of their life under the Spanish and later by the Americans to the Republic of the Philippines that existed upon departure of the Americans. The organization and existence of Coron Island was realized upon passing of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act or better known as the IPRA Law. This law provides rights and specifically provides for an 'internal governance' that is comparable to a kind of sovereignty comparable to the "internal sovereignty" provided to the American Indians in their reservations. Aguilar played an key role in the review of the provisions of the law because he stood up and explained in the halls of the Senate of the Republic of the Philippines the importance of territorial skies above ancestral lands for inclusion in the IPRA law.
The foreign powers occupation destroyed many ancient Tagbanua traditions such as use of the ancient alibata alphabet, including their religious beliefs because they are mostly Christian now.
He has traveled abroad such as in Durban, South Africa for international tribal conventions. He was a retired staff of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples of the Republic of the Philippines. He busies himself entertaining visitors to the islands who wishes to know more of their distinct culture.
He was formally proclaimed by the Tribal Council of Elders through a proclamation signed on 31st December, 2010 as a true and recognized supreme leader (Paramount Chief) of the Tagbanua tribe in Coron Island. Thus, he possessed the sovereignty rights which existed before the arrival of the Spaniards according to international law.

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