Chapter II
Before the Journey
Northern Mindanao
1750 · Northern Mindanao
A land shaped by struggle
From the scanty records that come down to the present, and tradition handed down by our ancestors, it was known that the provinces constituting the former Greater Misamis Corregimiento during the Spanish time — which then made up of Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Lanao and Bukidnon provinces — had been the sites of Boholano migration. These migrations started after peace was established in Northern Mindanao.
The Greater Misamis Corregimiento
During the Spanish colonial period, the Greater Misamis Corregimiento covered what are now the provinces of Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Lanao and Bukidnon. It became the principal destination of Boholano migrants once Muslim depredations in the region were brought to an end.
Spanish expedition
Around the 1800s, a contingent of Spanish and Filipino soldiers and seamen were sent to Mindanao to control Muslim piracy. Composed of 200 Spaniards from Manila led by Captain Miguel Gomez Valdez, and reinforced by 1,000 soldiers from Bohol and supported by the Bukidnon tribesmen, they were put under the overall command of a Jesuit missionary-priest, Jose Ducos. Organized into a fleet consisting of two galleras and twelve smaller boats, it was further reinforced by men from Iligan under the command of Pedro Tamparong, and from Dapitan under the command of Ignacio Cabiling.
The expenses of the expedition, including the salaries of soldiers, were paid from the Treasury of Cebu. After a successful mission, the fleet was assigned to patrol and guard the Misamis Corregimiento and made the Misamis port its base of operation, pending the completion of a Cotta which was constructed upon request of Fr. Jose Ducos from Governor-General Obando y Arandia.
After the construction, one hundred Boholano soldiers from the fleet were sent to garrison the newly built Fort of Tandag. Some five hundred were assigned to maintain the defense of the Fort of Misamis, and the other four hundred were dispersed — but did not return to Bohol. Instead, they opted to settle in Northern Mindanao.
Moro depredation
Among the early villages settled, and which came to suffer Moro depredation, were Lubungan on the Western Coast of Mindanao, Layawan (now Oroquieta City) its immediate neighbor in the eighteenth century, Langaran (Plaridel) to the Northwest, and Palilan (Jimenez) to the South. These places have changed their names. Lubungan is now Katipunan, the “Killing Field” for Muslim marauders. Layawan is now called Oroquieta City, the seat of the Provincial Government of Misamis Occidental. Langaran is now Plaridel, and Palilan became Jimenez.
In the 1750s, all these places were small villages situated on the coast of the Misamis Corregimiento, near the mouth of rivers. All three had suffered terribly from the Moros. In Langaran, eighty persons had been carried off into slavery. In Palilan, the village chieftain whose name was Lipog was killed by the Moros, and the rest of the inhabitants were taken captive. Depredation was also seen at Layawan. The Moros killed the Gobernadorcillo, enslaved the inhabitants and built their fortification. Three thousand Moros settled in the area.
What might have been
Had this pattern continued uninterrupted, the province of Misamis Occidental would today have become a Muslim province like Lanao del Sur. That it did not happen was due largely to the efforts of the warrior-priest missionary Father Jose Ducos and the brave Boholano men who fought with him.
Boholano legacies
The building of the Misamis Fort (Cotta) ended Muslim piracy and freed the province from Muslim depredations. With the Moro threat totally eliminated, many Boholanos migrated to Mindanao and settled and lived their Christian Faith — and, when necessary, were ready to die for it. This explains why, even before the great migration from the various Visayan islands in recent decades, certain towns in Northern Mindanao have a population predominantly of Boholano origin.
The immense debt that the country owes to the little island of Bohol. It is of course, the land of well-known historical personages like Datu Sikatuna, Bohol chief that made a blood Compact with Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, the first Spanish Governor-General, and Francisco Dagohoy, leader of the longest revolt in the Philippines. Most importantly, Bohol has been the home of millions of unknown people who through centuries have lived the Christian Faith and when necessary have fought for it. Many of them migrated to Mindanao.
If the Faith is widespread in Mindanao today, it is largely due under God first, to the missionaries and second, to the large migration from Bohol and Cebu.
Archive of the migration's precedent
An archival document covering the Spanish expedition and Moro depredations will appear here when provided.
Historical record · 1750s – 1800s