Readings on Siargao Islands_2 of 4

INTO THE DYNAMICS OF THE MOLUCCAS
The island had always been named “Isla de San Juan” as shown in “Map of South Philippines and Maluku” by Nuno Garcia (Italy,1523) taken from Magellan’s Italian chronichler Pigafetta, “Les Isles Philippines” Sanson d’Abbeville (1652), and those by Dampier (1686), Murillo de Velarde (1760, Belgium). The name no longer appeared in later maps. In “The Philippine Islands” (British, 1857) the islands are named Siargao and Bucas.
Mindanao, and inevitably Siargao, is more intertwined with the dynamics of the Moluccas, or Maluku, the “Land of Kings.” This is located about 250 km below the eastern sector of Mindanao, perhaps the distance from Surigao to Masbate. Bornean Sultans of Moluccas named Mindanao Maluku Besar or Greater Moluccas. Velarde’s map on Moluccas did not include Visayas and Luzon. With a few island hops, trade passed thru Saranggani. The Sultan of Ternate once aided the Sultan of Maguindanao against Spaniards, showing the close ties.
Karaga, became the eastern corridor of the conquistadores.
Magellan’s voyage in 1521 captained by Sebastian del Cano, the ships of Garcia Jofre de Loaisa (1527) piloted by Captain Garquizano, and Alvaro de Saavedra (1528), charted and passed by the Hinatuan Passage and Bucas Grande, southward to Moluccas.
When the Portuguese, settled in Moluccas since 1512, noticed Spain’s positioning in their claimed territory, Karaga became the staging point their rivalry.
The Portuguese made their presence felt. Joao de Canha Pinto reconnoitered in Sarangani, Surigao, Butuan and Camiguin. To assert their legal rights thru baptism, Francisco de Castro sailed from Ternate and baptized Soligano, the Chief of Surigao in the name of the Governor of Moluccas, Don Antonio Galvano.

COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION
Evangelization of the Distrito de Caraga and Siargao started in 1622. Schreurs says that the people of Siargao lived in real Paradise, the natives living in houses on trees. From their abode, they warded off conquering Spaniards, killing, or dying, when necessary. Siargao became an encomienda of Sargento Martin dela Cuesta in 1655.
By 1855, four Pueblos had established civil governments under the Gobierno Militar y Political de Surigao. Caolo, the capital of the island with the Visita of Pamosaingan in north Bucas Grande, the Pueblo of Sapao with the Visita of San Isidro, the Pueblo of Cabuntog, the Pueblo of Dapa with the Visitas of Pilar, Cambasag, and Socorro.

THE MANDAYA REVOLT OF CARAGA
The Mandaya live at the southern part of Karaga, while the northern coast is populated by the Manobo. And Mamanwa. The Mandaya were the first natives who settled in Siargao, particularly, Sapao.
The Mandaya were also the first to struggle against the Spaniards. Balintos, one of the Chiefs, attacked Cabuntog in July 20, 1631 with eleven boats. The priest Fray Lorenzo de Facundo fled to Placer. Sapao escaped their fury at the intervention of the brother-in-law of the Mandaya Datu of Tago.

THE MORO WARS: AN EXTENDED WAR IN HOT SPICE
Siargao Islands underwent depredations of Moro warfare, losing thousands of inhabitants as slaves 1644 to 1754.
It was an imported war. Spain and Portugal had a consuming hatred of the Moors of North Africa who subjugated them for 700 years. Thus, their overwhelming objective was to control the spice and ship routes to upstage Mecca and India. From the other side of the globe, warfare was brought to the Islamic Malayan Archipelago
As soon as our natives joined the colonizers in the war against them, the Moros counted them as enemies. In 1604, the battles in Mindanao began.
The most disastrous attacks were made in Numancia and Sapao in 1749. In October 1752, Moros from Jolo ransacked and burned the convent and church of Caolo, killed priests, and kidnapped locals.

LIFE IN THE LIVING ISLAND
Siargao Islands has a moderate rolling topography. The highest point is Mt. Sibonga in Middle Bucas known locally as Alimbongog (291masl). Others notable are Mt Baliuku (Burgos, 184m), those between Pilar and Del Carmen (226m), those feeding the waterways of Del Carmen and Dapa (185-274m), and the rest at Bucas Grande.
Leading rivers that feed the fields are the Lumaton and Bagacay Rivers of Del Carmen, and the Coconut River of Pilar.
Reefs are inexhaustible goldmines of the inhabitants. This is where our fishermen get their catch each morning when the fish feed. Most of these are located at the western and southern side of the islands. Most critical ones are Seco Reef of Pansukian Cay, Barrabas and Quico. The biggest reef assemblies are the Sugbuhan and Malayo.

TREASURES OF NATURE: DIVERSE ADVENTURE.
The east and north sides have the big swells from the Pacific, that surges upon contact at the reef base. The western and southern sides of the island being leeward, have 5,000 ha of mangrove and broad reef flats, attributed to lesser turbulence and, directions of waterflows from the uplands of the central part of the Island.
There are also inland activities that can be done like caving.
SOURCE: PAG-ASA Surigao City Metreological StationFlora and Fauna : Include flowering plants, orchids ferns, magcono, black kamagong, ornamentals, pitcher plants, Surigao dendrobium and fire orchids mostly in Caub and Bucas Grande. Terrestrial and wetland birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, 105 species of butterflies, 137 species of marine mollusks, 38 genera of corals of which 106 species have been recorded from a single reef. Endangered and Rare Species: Green Turtle (chelonia mydas), hawksbill turtle (Erethmochelys imbricata), the rare whale shark, Rhincodon typus.