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A.Paulita Roa

CAMIGUIN was well known among the ancient inhabitants of this country. The island’s was referred to as “Camigui,” “Camiguing” and “Camiguenen” by early Spanish and Portuguese chroniclers.

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There is another Camiguin island that is located on the northernmost part of Luzon. Not much is known of it even today but what is interesting is that it is near Cagayan Valley. And here, we have the popular and fabulous Camiguin island of northern Mindanao that is only several hours away by land and sea from another Cagayan — the city of Cagayan de Oro!

The place names Camiguin and Cagayan are both proto-Austronesian words. Austronesian is the family stock from which all the Philpipine languages are descended. So both Camiguin and Cagayan are very old prehispanic names.

Fr. Francisco Alcina S.J. wrote a book in 1668 about the Bisayans and he mentioned a famous epic or kandu that was sung in his time about a prehispanic Bisayan warrior who made several raids around the archipelago, including “Camiguing” and even as far as the coastal areas of China! He did this so he can win the hand of a beautiful princess from Bohol.

Since Camiguin island is prominently located before the central coast of northern Mindanao, many surmised that perhaps, the ships of Ferdinand Magellan caught sight of the island on their way to Cebu. While there are others who wrote that he did land in Catarman and filled his casks with water from a spring there, however, there is no record by Magellan’s chronicler, Pigafetta. There is also no record on the accounts of the sailors who survived the ill-fated Magellan expedition who were interviewed by Fernando Oliveira that they landed in Camiguin.

The earliest document about Camiguin was written by a Portuguese, Joao de Barros in his book, “Quarta Decada da Asia.” He wrote that in 1538, a Portuguese captain, Francisco de Castro sailed the length of Mindanao and converted the rulers of Sarangani, Surigao and Camigui to Christianity along with their respective wives, children and subjects. That the king of Camigui was baptized and given the name, Dom Francisco.

The book about the voyages of Fray Urdaneta (J.R. de Miguel 2009), the friar who was with the Legazpi expedition, states that on Sunday of March 11, 1565, the fleet of the Spanish conquistador Don Miguel Lopez de Legazpi cast anchor on the west coast of Camiguin at 6 pm. They found all the houses empty as the inhabitants fled and hid in the forest. Legazpi ordered Martin de Goiti and Andres de Ibarra to explore the island and look for cinnamon, a spice that they greatly valued. Having found none, they left for Butuan.

Another 1565 document that was subsequently published in La Solidaridad in 1892 mentioned that on Legazpi’s arrival in the island, they met the chief named Malitik and he allowed his son Kamutuhan to guide the Spaniards to Limasawa.

The reason why the people fled in fear when they saw Legazpi’s ships approaching the island was because two years earlier, the Moluccans and Portuguese raided Bohol and killed a ruler there. They then proceeded to Camiguin and Limasawa islands where they sacked and burned the coastal villages and killed many of the inhabitants.

In 1596, the Jesuits were given permission by Governor General Francisco Tello to do mission work along the Butuan river and in Camiguin. Three years later, they founded Guinsiliban — it is the oldest town and the first parish of the island. Due to the several hardships they encountered in the island, the Jesuits left. They were followed by the Agustinians of the Observant Order but did not stay long just like the Jesuits because of the “extreme ferocity” of the people.

Finally in 1622, the Agustinian Recollects came to the island with the Venerable Fray Miguel de Santa Maria as the first Prior. They were to stay there for more than 200 years and founded the towns of Catarman, Sagay, Mambajao and Mahinog. The Recoletos, as they were known, established their first mission station in Catarman, not in Guinsiliban. It was there on that same year that two of their missionaries from Caraga stayed for sometime while awaiting word from Datu Salangsang that they be allowed to enter his territory of Cagaiang.

And the rest is history. From Camigui (as written in the 1681 Recoleto Journal), the two priests, Fray Juan de San Nicolas and Fray Francisco de la Madre de Dios, became the first Spaniards to set foot in Cagaiang and subsequently were able to convert the people there starting with Salangsang and his wife. They founded a new settlement around 1624 and that is located in the present site of Barangay 1 of Cagayan de Oro.

An archaeological survey was done sometime ago around the island by our team from the Archaeological Studies Program of the University of the Philippines. Our team leader is Dr. Leee Anthony M. Neri, the first Kagay-anon archaeologist and a UP-ASP professor. Based on our exploratory findings, there is a very rich potential of discovering more material evidence that can help establish the prehistoric and prehispanic periods of Camiguin. We plan to do more of this soon — hopefully with the support of the local government and the cultural stakeholders of the province.

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