Lawyer Darwin Mariano holding his novel 'Namwaran and the Golden Tara.'
Corporate leader, tech entrepreneur and now Filipino author, lawyer Darwin De Jesus Mariano recently unveiled his debut novel, “Namwaran and the Golden Tara,” an epic historical fantasy spanning centuries of Southeast Asian history.
The historical fiction novel draws its foundation and inspiration from two of the most exceptional and culturally significant pre-colonial artifacts discovered in the Philippines – the Laguna Copperplate and the Golden Tara of Agusan.
After 10 years of writing and meticulous research, Mariano officially launched the novel at the Manila International Book Fair 2026 on September 12, followed by a special book launch and historical tour at the National Museum of Anthropology on September 13, supported by the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines (UNACOM).
The novel debuts amid the Philippines’ landmark UNESCO Memory of the World Registry bid for the historic Laguna Copperplate, brought to life by generations to come.
The event was attended by notable guests, including Senator Risa Hontiveros and British Ambassador to the Philippines and Palau Sarah Hulton.
A limestone urn used to bury Filipinos long agoNational Museum of the Philippines director-general and agency head Jeremy R. Barns, also the chairman of UNACOM’s Committee on Culture, expressed his support for the book launch and warmly welcomed guests in his opening remarks.
The presence of Philippine Memory of the World Committee representatives, led by UNACOM secretary-general Ivan Anthony Henares, underscored the importance of preserving the country’s pre-colonial heritage, particularly as the Laguna Copperplate undergoes evaluation for possible inclusion in the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific Regional Register, with results expected in November.
Dating as far back as April 21st 900 CE, the Laguna Copperplate is the earliest known historical document of the Philippines, offering a glimpse of the country’s deep connection with Southeast Asia before the Spanish colonization.
Mariano welcomed guests to the National Museum of Anthropology, his favorite museum. “I learned that around 81 years ago in February 1945 during the Battle of Manila, the entire collection of the National Museum and the National Library were destroyed,” Mariano told ABS-CBN News.
“Imagine how much more we wouldn’t know about our past if those records and artifacts survived. Without museums like this one, our history will not exist.”
During his visit to the National Museum of Anthropology that Mariano saw the Laguna Copperplate. He kept his scribbles that date back a decade ago, plus his visits to many other museum’s historical sites, fueled his fascination with our nation’s ancestral history. “With many ancient places and kingdoms of the Philippines and Southeast Asia.”
The Laguna Copperplate was discovered by a quarry company in the Lumbang River in Laguna in 1989 in an ancient grave site, where gold ornaments, stone tools, bronze images, coins, porcelains stone adzes, potteries, jade and other artifacts were also found.
Ten lines of characters cover one side of the plate, perhaps impressed or hammered representing a script already rarely used by 900 AD. Separate studies made by Dutch researcher Antoon Postma of the Mangyan ambahan for over 50 years and Dr. Johannes Gijsbertus de Casparis, a Dutch paleographer, identify the main language as old Malay mixed with Sanskrit, old Javanese and old Tagalog terms.
Postma translates the artifact’s writing as old Javanese script (Sanskrit Kawi) with old Malay words (1991). It is about a case of partial debt payment in gold by a person of nobility, Namwran, to a chief of Dewata representing the chief of Mdang.
The inscription was made as a document and witnessed by the leaders of Puliran (now Pulilan), Kasumuran, the leader of Pailah, Ganasakti and Binwangan, Bisruta.
A visit to the National Museum of Anthropology a decade ago, where Mariano saw the Laguna Copperplate that inspired him to write the novel. ”When I saw the copperplate, my mind was blown,” he said. “From the first germ of the idea, you could actually connect the dots.
“The copperplate was found in Laguna, the golden tara was found in Agusan. That is not a common genre. Then I thought it would be a nice journey through the Philippines and Southeast Asia.”
The plate was among the documentary heritage submissions put forward by UNACOM MoW Technical Secretariat for the 2026 Cycle of the MOWCAP Regional Register alongside the Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group Audiovisual Archive and Baybayin Documents in the Archivo de la Universidad de Santo Tomas.
Meanwhile, the Golden Tara of Agusan, another key inspiration for the novel, is a 21-karat gold statue from the 9th-10th century discovered in 1917 along the banks of the Wawa River in Esperanza, Agusan del Sur. It is presently housed at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, USA.
The pieces of heritage come to life in the fictional world of “Namwaran and the Golden Tara,” which follows three siblings, Namwaran, Angkatan and Bukah -- all named in the Laguna Copperplate -- whose lives change after their mother, Pandi, disappears and the priceless golden statue is stolen.
Given three black-stone amulets that grant long life, the siblings embark on a centuries-long journey across the Srivijaya and Majapahit Empires and into the Spanish arrival in Luzon, following the trail of the Golden Tara and searching for their mother. Through its centuries-spanning story, the novel explores family, grief, identity, survival and the cost of living far beyond one’s own time.
The Laguna Copperplate
Set across the Philippines and Southeast Asia, the novel also brings together creative voices from across the region, with art and illustrations by Filipino comic book artist Miko Pica, cover art coloring by Indonesian colorist Fauzi Nugraha and a custom typeface by Singaporean artist John Poh.
For lawyer Mariano, the book is borne from a decade-long effort to build a Filipino historical fantasy rooted in the region’s past while telling a deeply personal story of family and loss.
His years of working across technology as the founder of Ticket2Me, entrepreneurship, public policy, government affairs (as a current UNACOM commissioner) and the creative industry have all found their way into “Namwaran and the Golden Tara.”
His background in Psychology, Law and Science Communication, plus his experience working across the Asia-Pacific gave him a unique perspective in bringing together the research, history and human stories that shaped his third book and first novel.
“I hope this short visit to the National Museum of Anthropology have helped you love this country a little bit more, although it’s which is not always easy to love,” said Mariano. “We produced stuff like this and I think that counts for something. So it’s worth remembering as we remember maybe not only do we build on what they built, but learned the lessons so that we don’t make the same mistakes.”
“Namwaran and the Golden Tara” is now available at Central Books nationwide.