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A Brief Historical Geology of Mindanao

By Linda Burton

Mindanao, meaning “land of many lakes,” is the second-largest island in the Philippines. It has
an area of about 92,000 square kilometers or nearly 34 percent of the total land area. Because
of its geological development, the island has a long and irregular coastline with many bays and
large peninsulas, numbers of volcanoes, and high peak mountain ranges.

Studies of Philippine geology reveal that during the Cretaceous (last period of the Mesozoic era)
which began some 135 million years ago, the Philippines was part of the Asian continent as
indicated by the presence of some landmass including the peneplains of Mindanao. However,
at the end of the Cretaceous and towards the Middle Tertiary period, around the Miocene age, a
rift separated the Philippines from Formosa or Taiwan. Between the Miocene (16 million years
ago) many geological events took place within the region: there was the intense volcanism
which resulted in more mountain-building and pushing up of new lands. Most geologists believe
these events led to the birth of Mindanao wherein the peneplain was uplifted as much as 500 to
600 meters. Towards the late Pliocene and early Pleistocene, or Ice Glacial age, around two
million years ago, Mindanao may have been five distinct islands: the Zamboanga peninsula, the
long narrow island east of Agusan Valley, and the land south of Cotabato River, the land near
Lake Lanao, and the land between Bukidnon and Agusan Valley. These islands were finally
brought together and became Mindanao during the late past Pleistocene uplift. Mt. Apo, an old
volcano, was also formed at this time.

Moreover, during the Pleistocene, the ocean level was very low islands which exposed
continental shelves and low islands around the Southeast Asia region: thus, land bridges were
formed. There were two distinct land connections: the Palawan-Borneo land bridge and Sulu-
Mindanao-Borneo linkage. These land connections permitted certain fauna such as stegodon
and elephas (middle Pleistocene ancestors of the modern-day elephants) and more flora to
migrate from Asian mainland down to Java, Celebes, thence to Mindanao and perhaps
northward. Around 10,000 years ago, world climatic conditions changed, which led to the
melting of the ice sheets up to the northern hemisphere. This resulted in the rising of the ocean
level up to around 300 meters or more inundating and submerging low islands and continental
shelves as well as coastal lines. Thus, the once linked land bridges were disconnected, so
Mindanao, Borneo, and Sulu archipelago became distinct and separate islands.
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Land Forms of Mindanao

(From “Shadow on the Lands: An Economic Geography” By Robert E. Huke)

Of all the islands of the Philippines, Mindanao the second-largest shows the greatest variety of
physiographic development. In this island are to be found high, rugged, faulted mountains,
almost isolated volcanic peaks, high rolling plateaus, and broad, level, swampy plains.

Mountain Ranges

The mountains of Mindanao can conveniently be grouped into five ranges, including both
complex structural mountains and volcanoes. The structural mountains on the extreme eastern
and western portion of the island show broad exposures of Mesozoic rock with ultra-basic rocks
at the surface in many places along the east coast. Surface rock in other areas of the island is
mainly Tertiary or Quaternary volcanic or sedimentary.

Paralleling the east coast, from Bilas Point in Surigao del Norte to Cape Agustin in southeast
Davao, is a range of complex mountains known in their northern portion as the Diwata
mountains. This range is low and rolling in its central portion, reaching a maximum elevation of
only 450 meters. The Diwata mountains, north of these low portion, are considerably higher and
more rugged, reaching an elevation of 2,012 meters in Mount Hilonghilong, 17 miles’ northeast
of Butuan city. The southern portion of this east coast range is broader and even more rugged
than the northern section. In eastern Davao, several peaks rise above 2,500 meters, and one
unnamed mountain rises to 2,810 meters.

The east-facing coastal regions of Davao and Surigao del Sur are marked by a series of small
coastal lowlands separated one from the other by rugged forelands which extend to the water’s
edge. Off-shore are numerous coral reefs and tiny islets. This remote and forbidding coast is
made doubly difficult of access during the months from October to March by the heavy surf
driven before the northeast trades. A few miles off-shore is found the Mindanao or Philippine
Deep. This ocean trench, reaching measured depths of 35,400 feet, marks one of the greatest
depths known on the earth’s surface.

A second north-south range extends along the western boarders of Agusan and Davao
provinces from Camiguin island in the north to Tinaca point in the south. This range is mainly
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structural in origin, but it also contains at least three active volcanic peaks. In the central and
northern portions of this range, there are several peaks between 2,000 and 2,500 meters, and
here the belt of mountains is about 30 miles across. West of the city of Davao two active
volcanoes, Mount Talomo at 2,693 meters and Mount Apo at 2,954 meters, the highest point in
the Philippines, dominate the skyline. South of Mount Apo, this central mountain belt is
somewhat than it is to the north, with peaks averaging 1,100 and 1,800 meters.

In western Mindanao, a range of complex structural mountains forms the long, handle-like
Zamboanga Peninsula. These mountains, reaching heights of only about 1,200 meters, are not
as high as the other structural belts in Mindanao. In addition, there are several places in the
Zamboanga Mountains where small intermountain basins have been created, with some
potential for future agricultural development. The north-eastern end of this range is marked by
the twin peaks of the now-extinct rise splendidly behind Ozamis city to a height of 2,425 meters.

A series of volcanic mountains is found near Lake Lanao in a broad arc through Lanao del Sur,
northern Cotabato, and western Bukidnon provinces. At least six of the twenty-odd peaks in this
area are active, and several are very impressive as they stand in semi-isolation. The Butig
peaks, with their four crater lakes, easily seem from Cotabato. Mount Ragang, an active cone
reaching 2,815 meters, is the most isolated, while the greatest height is reached by Mount
Katanglad at 2,896 meters.

In southern Cotabato, still another range of volcanic mountains is found, this time paralleling the
coast. These mountains have a maximum extent of 110 miles from northwest to southeast and
measure some 30 miles across. The best-known mountain here is Mount parker whose almost
circular crater lakes measures a mile and a quarter in diameter and lies 300 meters below its
2,040-meter summit.
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Figure 5. Physical Map of Mindanao.

Upland Plateaus

A second important physiographic division of Mindanao is the series of upland plateaus

in Bukidnon and Lanao del Sur provinces. These plateaus are comprised of basaltic lava flows
interbedded with ash and volcanic tuff. Near their edges, the plateaus are cut by deep canyons,
and at several points, spectacular waterfalls drop to the narrow coastal plain. These falls hold
considerable promise for the development of hydroelectric energy. Indeed, one such site, at
Maria Cristina falls, has already become a major producer. Because the rolling plateaus lie at an
elevation averaging some 700 meters, above sea level, they offer relief from the often
oppressive heat at the coastal lowlands.

Lake Lanao occupies the major portion of one such plateau area in Lanao del Sur. This largest
lake in Mindanao and second in the entire country is roughly triangular in shape with an 18-mile
long base. Having a surface at 780 meters above sea level, and being rimmed on the east,
south, and west by a series of peaks reaching to 2,300 meters, the lake provides a scenic
grandeur, and pleasant temperature seldom equaled in the country. Marawi City, at the northern
tip or the lake, is bisected by the Agus River which feeds the Maria Cristina Falls.
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Another of Mindanao’s spectacular waterfalls site is located in Malabang, 15 miles south

of lakes Lanao. Here the Jose Abad Santos Falls present one of the nation’s scenic wonders at
the gateway to a LANDFORMS…200-hectare national park development.
Lowlands

Mindanao contains two large inland lowland areas, the valleys of the Agusan and
Mindanao Rivers in Agusan and Cotabato Provinces, respectively. There is some indication that
the Agusan valley occupies a broad syncline between the central mountains and the east coast
mountains. This valley measures 110 miles from south to north and varies from 20 to 30 miles in
width. Thirty-five miles north of the head of Davao Gulf lies the watershed between the Agusan
and the tributaries of the Libuganon River which flow to the Gulf. The elevation at this divide is
well under 200 meters indicating the almost continuous nature of the lowland from the Mindanao
Sea on the north to the Davao Gulf.

The Mindanao River and its main tributaries, the Catisan, and the Pulangi form a valley with a
maximum length of 120 miles and a width which varies from 12 miles at the river mouth to about
60 miles in central Cotabato. The Southern extension of this Cotabato valley extends an
uninterrupted across a 350-meter watershed from Illana Bay on the northwest to Sarangani Bay
on the southeast.

Other lowlands of a coastal nature are to be found in various parts of Mindanao. Many of these
are tiny, isolated pockets, as long as the northwest coastline of the Zamboanga. In other areas
such as the Davao Plain, these coastal lowlands are as much as ten miles wide and several
times that length.

From Dipolog eastward along the northern coast of the Mindanao almost to Butuan City extends
a rolling coastal plain of varying width. In Misamis Occidental. The now dormant Mt. Malindang
has created a lowland averaging eight miles in width. Shallow Panguil Bay divides this province
from Lanao del Norte and is bordered by low lying, poorly drained lowlands, and extensive
mangroves. In Misamis Oriental, the plain is narrower and in places almost pinched out by
rugged forelands which rich to the sea. East of the Cagayan de Oro a rugged peninsula extends
well into the Mindanao Sea. A few miles off the tip of this lowland rimmed protection lies the
island of Camiguin and its famous, or perhaps infamous’ Mt. Hibok-Hibok.
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This well-known mountain is the largest of a series of six volcanoes on the 15-mile-long
island. The most recent violent eruption occurred in 1951 when poison gas, ash, and lava were
spewed forth in a deadly blanket which leads waste to large sections of the northeast quarter of
the island.
Basilan

Immediately south of Zamboanga Peninsula lies Basilan Island. South of it, the Sulu
Archipelago extends over 200 miles southwest toward Borneo.

MINDANAO: THE LAND OF PROMISE

As an island in the southern part of the country, Mindanao is the second largest at 94,630
square kilometers, only about 10,000 km2 smaller than Luzon. The island is mountainous and
is home to Mount Apo, the highest mountain in the country. To the west of Mindanao island is
the Sulu Sea, to the east is the Philippine Sea, and to the south is the Celebes Sea.
The island group of Mindanao encompasses Mindanao island itself, plus the Sulu Archipelago
to the southwest. The island group is divided into six regions, which are further subdivided into
25 provinces.

Island Group of Mindanao

The island group of Mindanao is an arbitrary grouping of islands in the southern Philippines
which encompasses six administrative regions. These regions are further subdivided into 25
provinces. Of which only four are not on Mindanao island itself. The island group includes the
Sulu Archipelago to the southwest, which consists of the major islands of Basilan, Jolo, and
Tawi-Tawi, plus outlying islands in other areas such as Camiguin, Dinagat, Siargao, Samal, and
the Sarangani islands.

The six regions are listed below, and each is individually discussed in the succeeding
paragraphs. (As of 2004)

Zamboanga Peninsula (Region IX)

Northern Mindanao (Region X)
Davao Region (Region XI)
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SOCCSKSARGEN (Region XII)

Caraga Region (Region XIII)
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao

Zamboanga Peninsula (Region IX), formerly Western Mindanao, is located in the landform of
the same name. It consists of the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur,
Zamboanga Sibugay, and two cities – Zamboanga City and Isabela City – which are
independent of any province. Isabela City is the only territory not on Mindanao island itself and
is located in Basilan. The region’s new administrative capital is Pagadian City and the whole
region used to a single province named Zamboanga.

Northern Mindanao (Region X) consists of the provinces of Bukidnon, Camiguin, Lanao del
Norte, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, plus Cagayan de Oro City. The province of
Camiguin is also an island just of the northern coast. The administrative center and capital of
the region is Cagayan de Oro City.

Davao Region (Region XI), formerly Southern Mindanao, is located in the southeastern portion
of Mindanao. The region is divided into the provinces of Davao Oriental, Davao, Davao del Sur
and Compostela Valley plus Davao City. The region encloses the Davao Gulf to the south and
includes the island of Samal in the gulf and the Sarangani islands further to the south. Davao
City is the region’s administrative center.

By virtue of RA 10360 enacted on July 23, 2013, the Davao Occidental province is the newest in
the country, carved out from the southern part of Davao del Sur. The Act was passed by the
House of Representatives and the Senate on November 28, 2012, and December 5, 2012,
respectively, and signed by President Benigno Aquino III on January 14, 2013. A plebiscite was
held on October 23, 2013, along with the Barangay elections and the majority of votes cast were
“yes” ratifying the province.

SOCCSKSARGEN (Region XII) formerly Central Mindanao is located in the central portion of
the island. It consists of the provinces of Cotabato, Sarangani, South Cotabato (which was
used to be part of Region XI), and Sultan Kudarat plus Cotabato City. The names of the
provinces together with General Santos City spell the name of the region, which is an acronym.
Cotabato City, geographically located in, but not part of Maguindanao province, is the region’s
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former administrative center. Koronadal City in South Cotabato is the new administrative center
of the newly formed region.

CARAGA (Region XIII) is located in the northwestern part of Mindanao. Its provinces are
Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte, and Surigao del Sur. The administrative
center is Butuan City in Agusan del Norte. The region also covers the outlying islands of
Surigao del Norte such as Dinagat Islands, Siargao Island and Bucas Grande Island.

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is a special region which covers the
territories predominantly populated by Muslims. ARMM has its government, unlike almost all
the other regions in the country. It consists of almost the whole of the Sulu Archipelago (the
Isabela City of Basilan is part of Zamboanga Peninsula region) and two provinces in the
mainland. The provinces located in the Sulu archipelago are Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi.
Basilan and Tawi-Tawi are themselves the main islands of their respective provinces, while the
main island of Sulu in Jolo island. The mainland provinces are Lanao del Sur and
Maguindanao. Cotabato City, which is not part of the ARMM is the region’s administrative
center.

Figure 6. Mindanao and Outlying Islands. Source: http://mapsof.net/mindanao/mindanao-and-islands-map (2016)

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MUSLIM FILIPINOS AND THEIR HOMELAND

By Peter Gowing

The Malay World, encompassing the insular Southeast Asian states of Indonesia (with
East Timor), Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and the Philippines, has one of the heaviest
concentrations of Muslim peoples on earth. Approximately 129 million humans being embraced
Islam there, and Indonesia lays claim to being numerically the world’s largest Muslim nation –
some 90 of her 135 million population adhering to that religion. Racially, linguistically and, in
important ways, culturally, the Philippines is very much part of the Malay World. But she is not a
Muslim country. Ninety-two percent of her population of 42.2 million is Christian, a fact which
makes her the only predominantly Christian nation in Asia. Still, the Moros (Muslim Filipinos)
who inhabit mainly on the southern islands of the Republic and who constitute a little over 5 of
the population, are self-consciously part of the Muslim majority in island Southeast Asia.

A PROFUSION OF GROUPS

The estimated number of Muslim Filipinos in 1975 was 2,188,000 (Yambot et al.,
1975:16). This is considerably below the figures of four or five million which some Moros claim,
but it also suggests that the official 1970 Philippine Census figure of 1,584,394 was too
conservative. Counting Muslim Filipinos is manifestly an imprecise science, yet the 1970
Census did reveal that the rate of growth for the Muslim population has been slower than that
for the Christian population. Economic disadvantage, social and political upheaval, and high
political mortality in areas without adequate faculties, partly explain this slower growth.

The Moros are found principally in southern Philippines: on the island of Mindanao, in
the Sulu Archipelago and on the island of Palawan south of Puerto Princesa. Thirteen cultural-
linguistic groups have been identified as Muslim (Fox and Flory, 1974) though a few of the
groups, such as the Badjao of Sulu, have been less intensively Islamized. Some 94 of the 2.2
million Moros are found in three groups: 1. the Maguindanao of Cotabato region; 2. the
Maranao-Ilanun of Lanao region, and the Tausug and Samal of Sulu. The thirteen Moro groups,
their estimated number in 1975 and their principal locations are as follows: (cf. Yambot et al.,
1975:16)
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Malay in the race, the Muslim Filipinos are virtually indistinguishable physically from
Christian Filipinos. Anthropologists today stress that except for those Filipinos who are Chinese
or Negrito stock, the Filipinos are racially one people.

The thirteen Moro groups speak various languages or dialects – often the name of the
group and of the language is the same. A native speaker of the Tausug, for example, refers to
himself as Tausug (“people of the current”). Some of the languages are so closely related as to
be mutually intelligible. This is the case with the Maranao, Ilanun and Maguindanao language
which, taken together, virtually constitute one Mindanao language. The dialects of the Badjao,
Samal and Jama Mapuns are also closely related. But there is no single language which is
understood by all the Muslim groups. In nearly all the groups, there are some who have studied
Arabic fo religious purposes.

All of the indigenous languages and dialects are spoken by the Moros belong to what
has been termed “the Central Philippines Subgroup of the Malayo-Polynesian (Austronesian)
Linguistic Family.” Hence, they are related in varying degrees to the languages spoken by the
major Filipino Christian groups such as the Ilocano, Visayan, and Tagalog. Generally, the
Moros are monolinguist except in the larger ethnically mixed settlements along the coasts. In
Sulu, Tausug is the lingua franca, and both the Samal and Badjao feel obliged to learn it.

Each of the thirteen Moro groups occupies a more or less distinct territory, though in
some instances the smaller groups have their living space penetrated by families belonging to
the larger groups. Again using Sulu as an example, The Tausug mix on various island cluster.
Generally, the Tausug outnumber other groups in the northern half of Sulu and the Samal
increase in number in the southern half nearest Borneo. But the Tausug found all over, ranging
even to distant Palawan and the East Malaysian state of Sabah.

The Badjao – the name given to a boat dwelling Samal people – are the smallest of the
Moro groups in Sulu. Living as “sea gypsies,” they move with the wind and the tide in their
small house-boats. They are the least intensively Islamized of all the Muslim groups, and their
religious beliefs and customs are still largely animistic. Even so, it is a mistake to call them
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“pagans” for Islamization continues steadily and is bringing about social and value changes
among them (Nimmon, 1972:96).

The Maranao, Ilanun, and Maguindanao are found mostly on Mindanao though each
group has kinsmen in Sulu and Sabah. As noted above, the Maranao and Ilanun are so closely
related ethnically and linguistically that they are often thought as one group. The minor
differentiations which exist spring mainly form the fact that the Maranao historically have been
somewhat isolated in their Lake environment while their Ilanun cousins have remained centered
principally on the shores of Illana Bay and oriented to the sea. Very likely, what are today
identified as three groups – Maranao, Ilanuns, and Maguindanao – came from common
progenitors not many centuries back. For their part, the Maguindanao have long been found in
the broad valley of Pulangi River and communities scattered all over the Cotabato region.
Together, the three groups make up 61% of all Muslim Filipinos. They have maintained fairly
close contacts over the centuries and on occasions have formed military alliances to repel
outsiders.

The unifying bond of Islam notwithstanding, the Moro groups differ among themselves
almost as markedly as the Muslim population as a whole differs from the Christian Filipino
groups. Anthropologist Melvin Mednick (1965:15) has commented that the Muslim Filipinos “in
a micro manner … illustrate the range of diversity to be found in the Philippines.”

The Moros differ in their subsistence patterns, ranging from those who are predominantly
sedentary agriculturists, such as the Maranao, to a group which is almost completely dependent
upon the sea, the Badjao. Between these two may be found practically every other kind of
subsistence adaptation which exists in Southeast Asia. Both wet and dry rice cultivation is
practiced among the Maguindanao as well as the Maranao; slash and burn (swidden or kaingin)
agriculture is found among the Yakan; and the sea-and-coast oriented livelihood –i.e., fishing,
trading, smuggling – is seen among the Samal and Tausug. These differences in subsistence
are by no means rigid, for there are many fishermen and seafarers among the Maguindanao
and many farmers among the Tausug.

Moro groups also differ to some extent in their historical development and the intensity of their
contacts with the rest of the Philippines and the world beyond. While the Maranao has been,
until this century, comparatively the most isolated and least touched by external influences of
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the major groups, the Maguindanao have fallen the brunt of encounter with migrating peoples
from the central and northern regions of the Philippines. The Tausug has been the most
exposed to foreign influences by virtue of Sulu’s location hard by the lanes of international
shipping.

The Muslim groups differ as well in the details of their social organization; in the degree of their
Islamic acculturation; and in their dress, customs, arts, and many aspects of culture.

While acknowledging the differences which distinguish the various Moro groups from one
another, these differences should not be emphasized as to lose sight of the things they have in
commons which justify their being included together under the general name “Moro” or “Muslim
Filipino.” Chief among these, obviously, is their adherence to Islam. Almost as important is
their retention of the old “datu system” which, being touched by the unifying and legitimizing
effects of Islam, provided a cohesiveness in the face of threats to their way of life that did not
exist among the non-Muslim groups of the Philippines at the time of the Spanish arrival.

Cultural differences between Muslims and Christian Filipinos are significant, but it is broadly true
that they have more in common with each other than either has so-called “Tribal Filipino”
cultural communities which make up roughly 3 percent of the population. The Christian and
Muslim peoples are mainly coastal, lowland or agriculturalists (though many Christians are
urbanites) who live in permanent settlements with a population often ranging upward from
several hundred persons. Both Christians and Muslims engage in cottage industries, are active
in trade and have contact with other peoples within and outside the Philippines. The tribal
Filipino groups, in contrast, tend to be marginal and isolated. Their settlements are small; often
as not, temporary and scattered through relatively inaccessible hill and mountain country.
There are few craft specialties among them while their agriculture is based on shifting cultivation
and relies largely on the dibble-stick. The notable exceptions to this general description are, of
course, the Igorot groups of the Luzon mountains which lie in permanent communities and
make extensive use of impressively engineered rice terraces (cf., Mednick, 1965:2-6).

The factors which most characterize the Muslim Filipinos as a whole-Islam and the datu
system – most differentiate them form the Christian Filipinos. This differentiation is the product
of history. Spain, arriving in the Archipelago four centuries ago, halted by force of arms the
Islamization then in progress in the northern and central regions. Islam was pushed out of
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Luzon and the Visayas and after that contained in the southern islands. Spain tried, but failed,
to effectively incorporate the Moro parts of Mindanao, Sulu, and Palawan into the political
system, under which she had united the northern and the central islands. Consequently, the
social and cultural development of the Moros has been more or less independent of the
development of the other lowland Filipino groups. That development was along “Islamized
Malay” lines, in contrast to the Hispanization and Christianization which occurred in the north.
“It was not,” Professor Mednick (1956:4) remind us, “until the assumption of American
jurisdiction of the Philippines in 1898 and the resulting pacification of the Moros that the
separate steam of development came together again”. Even so, the Moros belong to that
category of Filipinos – along with the Igorot peoples of Luzon and the other Tribal Filipino
groups in Mindanao and Palawan – who were little touched by centuries of Spanish
acculturation. They are part of what Dr. William Henry Scott has called “the un-hispanized
Philippines.”

MOROLAND

The land of the Muslim Filipinos, Moroland, has been described picturesquely as a vast green
crab, in tropic waters, stretching out an irritated claw after a school of minnows skipping off in
the direction of Borneo. The crab is the island of Mindanao. The irritated claw is the
Zamboanga Peninsula. And the minnows are the islands of the Sulu Archipelago. Moroland is
the territory of 36,540 square miles, exceeding in size the combined areas of all the other
islands of the Philippines excluding Luzon. By way of comparison, Moroland is larger in territory
than either Portugal of Austria. And the Muslim population of Moroland outnumbers the
populations of many independent countries such as Albania, Costa Rica and Libya.

Actually Moros have never occupied the whole of Mindanao. Historically, they have
been concentrated in the western and southern portions of the island. Islam had not had time to
take hold among the Filipino groups inhabiting the northern and eastern parts of the island
before the Spaniards began encouraging the colonization of those areas by Christianized
Filipinos from the Visayas and Luzon. The Spaniards also established a Christian presence at
the very gate of Moroland when they placed a strong fort and settlement at the tip of the
Zamboanga Peninsula. During the American regime (1898 – 1946) and under the Republic,
increasing numbers of Christian Filipinos migrated to Moroland, notably to northern Lanao and
Cotabato. They settled on vast tracts of fertile lands unused, or little used, by the Moros who
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traditionally have favored riverbanks and shorelines. The mountainous interior portions of
Mindanao have long been the habitat of such Tribal Filipino groups as the B’laan, Tiruray,
Manobo, and Tiboli of the Cotabato region, the Subanun of Zamboanga and the Mandaya and
Bagobo of Davao.

In Muslim Filipino history, three regions of Moroland have loomed more important than
others. The Sulu Archipelago, the Lake Lanao region, and the Pulangi River Valley that is the
Cotabato region.

Sulu
The Sulu archipelago is the southernmost chain of islands in the Philippines and extends
for 200 miles from the Zamboanga Peninsula to northeast Borneo. The archipelago was one of
the principal routes of early migrations, maritime traffic and Islamization from Borneo to
Mindanao, the Visayas, and Luzon.)

Sulu (a name given by foreigners) is made up of 369 named islands and at least 500
nameless protrusions. It has a total land area of 1687 square miles, of which only 180 square
miles are suitable for cultivation. Most of the arable land is found in three clusters of islands:
Jolo, Siasi and Tawi-Tawi. Coconut, cassava, yams, and upland rice are the principal crops.
The islands also produce tropical fruits and vegetables in abundance and the markets of Jolo,
Siasi and Bongao offer a wide variety of fresh fish and other sea products. In the past, pearl
fishing was an important source of income. There is a possibility that the Sulu and Celebes
seas cover significant deposits of oil, the exploitation of which could have an enormous impact
on the economy and lifeways of the peoples of Sulu.

The three principal island clusters of Sulu are today among the most densely populated
areas in the Philippines. In 1948, the density of the Jolo cluster alone was 2,088 persons per
square mile of cultivated land. In 1975, the total population of Sulu was estimated 714,000. The
peoples of Sulu – the Tausug, Samal, Badjao, and JamaMapun – are mostly sea oriented, their
livelihood dependent on the current shore and market place. (cf. Stone, 1965’ Kiefer, 1972;
Nimno, 1972 and Casino, 1976). As already noted, however, there are many fanners among
the Tausug, locally called Taugimba or Guimbahanon (“inland people”) by the shore-dwellers.
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Sulu today is divided politically into two provinces: sulu province and the Province of
Tawi-Tawi. The town of Jolo (population in 1970: 45,000), capital of Sulu province, and located
on the main island of the archipelago, is 590 statute miles from mania and 85 miles south of
Zamboanga City. When Manila and Cebu were little more than enlarged villages, the old town of
Buansa (embraced by modern Jolo) was an important center of trade and commerce, if not
actually the most important center of settlement in the pre-Spanish Philippines. Chinese
merchants traded in Jolo markets long before the arrival of Spaniards. For centuries, and down
to the present time, Jolo has enjoyed lively trade with Borneo and the Malay Peninsula. In past
centuries, when European incursions sought to curtain traditional trade, and then in the present
century as American and Philippine government policy further restricted commerce across
international lines, some of the seafaring Sulu turned to piracy or smuggling, finding havens in
the many small bays and estuaries of their archipelago.

Lanao
Lake Lanao, 135 square miles in size and shaped roughly like an isosceles triangle, fills
the depression of a collapsed plateau 2300 feet above sea level. The temperature at that
altitude is comfortably cool most of the year, while heavy annual rainfall keeps the countryside
lush and green. The Lanao region is the homeland of the Ilana Bay. To the east and the
northeast, it fronts the province of Bukidnon, and to the south, it borders Cotabato. Today two
provinces divide the region: Lanao del Norte whose population is only 20% Muslim; and Lanao
del Sur, which is about 92% Muslim. Lake Lanao is entirely within the Province of Lanao del
Sur.

The Maranao (“people of the lake”) are concentrated around the edge of Lake Lanao
and along the banks of the small rivers which lead to it. Few of tier communities can be
described as large, though Marawi City (63,000 people in 1977), capital of Lanao del Sur, is the
only chartered city in the Philippines with a predominantly Muslim population. The twenty-five
municipalities bordering the Lake had a density of 536 persons per square mile or arable land in
1956. If the Maranao and Ilanun groups are counted together as one people, their estimated
population in 1975 was about 670,000.

The last of the major groups to be Islamized, the Maranao were little touched by the
Spaniards until the end of the 19th century. Left pretty much to themselves in their rather
isolated Lake country, they have adhered more tightly to their traditional lifeways than either the
 16

Tausug or Maguindanao. Primarily, agriculturists, the Maranao cultivate both upland and
lowland (wet) rice and sweet potatoes for their own consumption and corn for export. Cottage
industries are an important source of income; and their woven mats and textiles, brassware and
decorative woodcarving are famous. Maranao vendors carry these items all over Mindanao and
the Visayas and as far north as Manila. Fishing on the Lake, once an important industry, has
declined sharply in recent years due partly to man-induced ecological changes.

Some of the Ilanun cousins of the Maranao are farmers, but many are fishermen living in
small communities along the eastern shore of Ilana Bay. In the past they were famous as
buccaneers, carrying death and destruction to the Spanish foe and their Filipino Christian allies
in the Visayas and Luzon.

Cotabato

The Pulangi River, called by the Spaniards the Riio Grande de Mindanao is the longest
in Mindanao ad, together with its tributaries, forms the chief means of transportation for
conveying people and produce up and downstream to the coast. The Maguindanao (“people of
the food plain”) lived along the banks and in the broad river valley. Their name derives from the
fact that the river, affected by the tide for more than ten miles inland, regularly overflows its
banks, inundating the adjacent plain. The interior of the Cotabato region is a vast swampland
crossed by sluggish, muddy streams which converge into the Pulangi River.

Some twenty miles inland from the coast, the river forks into north and south branches.
Historically, after the coming of Islam, this geographic break was paralleled by a political
division: the “lower valley” (sa-ilud) nearest the sea was the locus of the Sultanate of
Maguindanao (also called Sultanate of Mindanao), while the “upper valley” (sa-raya) inland was
loosely under the control of the Sultanate of Buayan. The fortunes of these two states rose and
fell; and, at times, a third and smaller principality, that of Kabuntalan (Bagumbayan), located at
a point between two larger states, momentarily appeared and then receded from view.

Cotabato City (the name means “stone fort”) is located about twelve miles from the
mouth of the Pulangi River (i.e., on the northern branch of that river) and has given its name to
the surrounding region. That region is now divided into four provinces. North Cotabato, South
 17

Cotabato, Maguindanao, and Sultan Kudarat. These four provinces encompass the entire
southwest portion of Mindanao.

The coastal Maguindanao are fishermen and traders while the valley dwellers. Who are
the majority, are mainly rice farmers. One or two communities among the Maguindanao
manufacture brassware, making beautiful trays, urns, and gongs. In 1975, the Maguindanao
were estimated to number 674,000 personas and so constitute the largest of the Moro groups.
The great number of Christian Filipinos who have migrated into the Cotabato region, both before
and since World War II have made the Maguindanao a minority in their own homeland.[*The
province of Maguindanao is the only province out of the four in the Cotabato regions which is
predominantly (60%) Muslim. The province of Sultan Kudarat, with the second largest number
of Muslims, has only a 40 % Muslim population.
] This resulted in marked changes in their economic, political, and social life, often
accompanied by severe hardship and consequent breakdown in peace and order.

Yakans
The Samaeacas, as the Spaniards were wont to call the Yakans, once lived in the
interior of Basilan. They were described as people who kept much to themselves, who were
suspicious of everybody, and who was given to fighting whenever a chance occurred. They
were seldom to be seen about their huts being high upon the mountains. But they have
changed.
The Yakans have marked Malay features – slanting eyes, the skin of deep brown and
wavy black hair of a fine texture and rich blue-black color. They have few hairs on the lisp and
chin, but none one the jaw. There still remain sighs that these people came from good stock –
formerly much more refined than at present – or else how could one account for the prettily
formed and chiseled ears with undetached earlobes/
The Yakans have long specialized in agriculture and are extensive growers of rice
peanuts, root crops, and coconuts. They live principally on camotes, vegetables, and fish
although, as in times past the hunt provides them occasional meat except for wild pigs which
are hunted for sale to the Christians. They have also been engaged in the making of boats
which they sell to the Tausugs. But vital to their present-day survival is their dependence on
trade with coastal villages.
As the people kept to themselves, they have preserved tier racial features except for the
corrupting influence of constant intermarriages. They professed to be Muslims, although, to a
 18

rudimentary belief in the Quran, they have added a vast number of superstitions of their own.
They follow their own datu or sultan, although in the past their datus were under the sovereignty
of the Sultanate of Sulu. Today, many of them have become educated and even Christianized,
providing some kind of a transition to their social change.
Considered the latest groups which migrated to the region are the Jama Mapuns. They
belong to the Samal group and sedentary. They are found in Cagayan de Sulu island, and
thinly scattered in Southern Palawan and North Borneo.
The Jama Mapuns are sometimes called Samal Cagayan. Although they have some
customs similar to the Tausugs, they nonetheless, have essentially remained Samal in culture.
IN A DIFFERENT WORLD

SOMETHING OFTEN OVERLOOKED BY NON-Muslims is the crucial fact that Muslim Filipinos
live in a quite different world from Christian Filipinos. Muslims and Christians are oriented,
respectively toward two different wide communities from which they draw their religion, culture,
law, values, and view of history (cf. Schiegel, 1974”12-13). Christian Filipinos owe much to the
West – to Spain, which brought the Roman Catholic faith and influences in language, music, art,
law and so on; and to America, which brought the English language, democratic institutions, and
perhaps less happily, a “Hollywood” lifestyle. But the Muslims of the southern Philippines have
maintained their roots more firmly in the Islamized Malay World, and owe much to the Islamic
civilization of Arabia and the Middle East.

One cannot study the histories of the Mindanao and Sulu sultanates without noting the
dynastic, political and commercial ties which for centuries existed between them and the rest of
the Malay World and the larger Islamic World beyond. One cannot travel in the Muslim areas of
the Philippines without discovering that the arts and manufactures, music and dancing,
language and literature, dress and lifeways are similar, in some instances nearly identical, to
those of the neighboring Islamized people of Malaysia and Indonesia. Nor can one stay long in
the southern Philippine without being aware that a great deal of trade and communication –
“legal” and otherwise – is still carried on between the Moro inhabitants and their kinsmen and
partners across the international lines. Indeed, as is well-understood, those lines were drawn
not by Malaysians or Indonesians or Filipinos but by the Spanish and American, Dutch and
English colonial powers. And those lines had the effect of involuntarily incorporating into the
Philippine nation a Muslim people who were, and remain, integral to the Malay World.
 19

___________________________________
*The province of Maguindanao is the only province out of the four in the Cotabato regions which is predominantly
(60%) Muslim. The province of Sultan Kudarat, with the second largest number of Muslims, has only a 40 % Muslim
population.

THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

LUMAD

“Lumad” is a Cebuano Visyan term meaning native or indigenous. For more than two decades
it has been used to refer to the groups indigenous to Mindanao who are neither Muslim nor
Christian.

There are 18 Lumadethnolinguistic groups, Ata, Bagobo, Banwagon, B’laan, Bukidnon,

Dibabawon, Higaono, Mamanwa, Mandaya, Manguwangan, Manobo, Mansaka, Subaanon,
Tagakaolo, Tasaday, Tibolli, Teruray and Ubo.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Lumads controlled an area which now covers 17 of
Mindanao’s 24 provinces, but by the 1980 census, they constituted less than 6% of the
population of Mindanao and Sulu. Heavy migration to Mindanao of Visayans, spurred by the
government-sponsored resettlement programs, turned the Lumads into minorities. The
Bukidnon province population grew from 63,470 in 1948 to 194, 368 in 1960 and 414,762 in
1970 with the proportion of indigenous Bukidnon falling from 64% to 33% to 14%.

Lumads have a traditional concept of land ownership based on what their communities consider
their ancestral territories. The historian BR Rodil notes that “a territory occupied by a
community is communal private property, and community members have the right usufruct to
any piece of unoccupied land within the communal territory.” Ancestral lands include cultivated
 20

land as hunting grounds, rivers, forests, uncultivated land and the mineral resources below the
land.

Unlike the Moros, the Lumad groups never formed a revolutionary group to unite them in armed
struggle against the Philippine government. When the migrant came, many Lumad groups
retreated into the mountains and forest.

The infieles, as the Spaniards called the unchristianized, were probably the most numerous of
the peoples of southern Mindanao at that time. But the most numerous if these infieles were the
Manuvus of Agusan. The Manuvuswere found as well in the peninsula of San Agustin and parts
of the m mountains of Culaman and eastern Pulangi in Cotabato. It was believed sometime in
the past Manuvus had mixes of Chinese blood. They were characterized as fierce, fearsome,
and powerful, and their lives were marked by uninterrupted warfare with their neighbors. They
paid homemade to the spirits of the dead ancestors, a belief which is widely shared with other
groups in infieles, but the quaintest element in their belief was that the thunder being the spoken
word of lighting, a god whose form is that of a monstrous animal. When lightning struck and fell
a tree, the Manuvus believed that the monster’s teeth or some of them remained embedded in
that tree. Missionaries, who related the above accounts, explained that in reality, the teeth were
flint axes of fragments of them. In any case, these were actually artifacts similar to the one
found in old buried trees in some primitive lake communities in Europe.

The Mandayas occupied the mountainous area of Surigao, the peninsula of San Agustin and
the Northern part near the Gulf of Davao. Most of their ways and customs were very similar to
those of the Manuvus except that the former was docile and gentle. The Mandaya were wont to
depilate their chins and eyebrows and their taste of clothes tended toward the more colorful.
The Mandayas were more expressive of their religious beliefs than the Manuvus. In front of
every Mandaya household, an altar is tended for the anitos. On the rivers, they constructed
rafts or makeshift boats with the same offerings other anitos. They interred their dad in their
huts, which were built deep inside the forest. Their great attachment to idolatry was the despair
of the missionaries. Their idols were called manauag were made from a special kind of wood
from the bayog tree, and the eyes of these idols were of the fruit of magobahay. They were also
greatly influenced by their bailanas or priestesses and sometimes by living deities.
 21

There are five principal groups of Mandayas, according to the place where they live and their
environment. 1) Mansakas, those who lived in the mountain clearings and practice the kaingin
method of cultivation; 2) Manwanga, those live in the thickly forested mountains, known to be
wild and warlike; 3) Pagarpan, those who thrive in the swampy river banks of the Tagum and
Hijo rivers, facing unique fishing methods; and 5) Divavaoan, the groups found in the southern
part and western parts of Compostela towns. Although these groups have separate places of
habitat, they have similar dialects, customs, and traditions so that they could be regarded as
one group.

The Bagobos were the first infieles from among whom the Spaniards won their first converts.
They wre found to occupy the highlands of Mt. Apo and some were found living in the lowlands
of Daliao, Bago and Talimo, a short distance from the cabecera or capital of Davao. Their
nearest neighbors were the Guuiangas who lived along the banks of rivers in Dulian, Gumalan,
Tamugan, Ceril, and Biao, but for a slight difference in language, the Bagobos and the
Guiangas observed the same customs and beliefs.

The Bagobos were ruled by their chieftains who were called datu, after the fashion of the
“Moros.” It may be said that the Bagobos were the most exposed to the Muslim in terms of
customs and civilization since the former were already living in the lowland coastal areas which
were occupied by the latter at the tune of the arrival of the Spaniards in the Gulf of Davao.

The Bagobos were greatly feared for the practice of offering human sacrifices to their god,
Madaranganor Darago, whom many believed to live on top of Mt. Apo. These sacrifices were
usually made during the planting or harvesting seasons. Sometimes, newly –married couples
were also wont to offer human sacrifices in the belief that these would bring them good fortune.
Another occasion for these sacrifices was pestilence, especially after a member of the family
had died.

These sacrifices started with a feast, during which all were invited to the house of the datu.
Everybody are, drank and danced, during the drinking which lasted for several days, the old
men among them started to call on Darago invoking him to accept the soon-to-be-made
sacrifice. These sacrifices were usually kept a secret from the Spaniards who waged vigorous
campaigns to stop them.
 22

The first group of Bagobos whom the Spaniards came to know was those Sinulan. They
impressed the Spanish missionaries as being very ancient for possessing a Genealogy of the
ancestors. The datu at this time was a Manip whose father was Pangilan.

The Bagobos of the 19th century was probably the most fastidious dessets among the infieles.
The missionaries cold tell a Bagobo from afar, from the manner and number of adornments,
e.g., beaded necklaces, bracelets, anklets, and pendants hanging from belts and clothes. The
men wore the customary short jackets and knee-length breeches and a kerchief around the
head like a bagani. The women wore combs in their hair, short blouses with embroidered
sleeves, a patadjong made of abaca and dyed in fantastic color combinations.

They played the agong and the kulintang like the Muslims and the gimbao like the Mandayas.
They possessed guitars with only two strings and a large flute which touched the ground when
played in a sitting position.

The Bagobos are divided into two groups: the lowland Bagobo and the upland ones. These
groups came about when the natives were forced to retreat uphill because new settlers arrived
to exploit the potentials of the place. They are confined to the district of Davao, especially within
the vicinity of Mt. Apo.

Calaganes inhabited the eastern coast of the Gulf of Davao. They were neighbors to the
Bagobos in the CasilaranCreek; some believed that the Calaganes descended from the Samals
whose customs resembled those of the former. They were fishermen and lived on trade with
other groups.

The Dulanganes were found south of Lake Buluan. The Muslims called them by the name
Bangal-Bangal. The former appeared to be greatly afraid of the Dulanganes whom they
described as fierce and cruel. The Dulanganes went about almost naked except for small
pieces of clothing which covered their private parts.

The Samales of the island of Samal resembled the Mandayas on their ways, but the most
interesting that the Spaniards learned about them was the story that these people maintained
the mummified ancestors in caves. For hundreds of years, they were known to have interred
their dead in one of the caves of caverns of the nearby island of Malipano. Here, the dead of
 23

the Samales lay buried for the centuries with their worldly belongings such as weapons, cups,
plates, etc. The coffins in which they were buried were made of wood and were shaped like
boats bound tightly in bejuco or rattan.

The most industrious of the different infieles was said to be the Bilaans or Bilanes whose
communities were found between the Belatukan River and Sarangani Bay. They were known
as friends if the Moros and aided the latter in their piratical activities.

The Bilaans (now Blaan) are otherwise known as 1) Tagalacad or “dwellers in the back
country; 2) Tagakogon or “dwellers in the cogon”, the groups living in the grass plains west of
Malalag; 3) Buluan, the group dwelling near Lake Buluan which is sometimes identified with the
Tagabilis who reside in that region; 4)Bira-an or Bara-an, synonym for Bilaan, often used by the
neighboring Bagobo; 5) Vilanes or Bilanes; 6)Balud or Tumanao, which is sometimes applied by
the early writers to the Bilaans who live in the Sarangani Island.

The Talaos lived in an island of the game name south of the Sarangani. They were known to be
peaceful and industrious and much admired by the Spaniards for bringing goods and expert
sailors. The Talaos knew how to construct boats which were big as the Spanish goletasduring
the months of April and May they would take to the seas sailing as far as the peninsula of San
Agustin where they would land and even live in some Christian settlements there. When the
month of November came, they, however always sailed back to their island.

The Tagakaolos were so-called because they preferred to build the Rancherias at the sources
of heads of rivers. Groups of Tagakaolos were found inhabiting the areas between Malalag and
Sarangani. This people, in general, were not as warlike as the other groups of infieles with the
exception of the ones known as Loocswho were quite fierce and primitive. The Tagakaoloswere
often victims of preying Bagobs and Moros. The term Tagakaolos pertains to “those who dwell
at the head of the river.” It is applied to all the hill people living between the coast and the
country of the Bilaans. They inhabit a part of the district of Davao, bordering on the Davao Gulf
and extending from the Casilaan Cave to a point a little below the Lais River. Some also live on
the peninsula of San Agustin, between Cuabo and Macambul.

The Tagabilis (T’boli) inhabit the area hidden in the mountains of southern Cotabato between
Surala and Kiamba. The land of the Tagabili is considered to be more beautiful than the beauty
 24

itself. It has three lakes. One is Lake Sebu with a floating island on it, with numerous lagoons,
a couple of waterfalls, rolling hills, steep crests, and forested mountains. The name Ata is
derived from a word meaning “high” or “on top of.” It is applied to the members of numerically
important groups living the high mountains in the interior of Mindanao, west, and northwest of
Mt. Apo, the headwaters of the Davao, Lasan, Tuganay and Libagawan rivers. In the region
around the Apo, the Atas is found with the Obo and Tigdapaya, and in the area around Lasan,
they are known as Dughatang or Dugatong. In the central part of Mindanao are the
Tagahuanum, who have a distinct feature like those of the Negritoes. Known to be the traders
of hemp cloth and knives, they are also classified as Atas.

Subanun

The Subanun (also written as Subanu, Subano, Subanon) is of Moro (Sulu origin and means
men or people of the river, more exactly, miner people who live along the river banks or
streams. Their habitat is confined to the interior and the mountainous portions of the
Zamboanga district of the island of Mindanao. In 1667, Father Francisco Combes called the
Subanuns the “fourth nation” of Mindanao and referred to them as the inhabitants of the rivers,
to which they owe their name, as one radical Suba is the word used by the inhabitants of
Mindanao for “river.”

This group is scattered all over the mountains of Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga del Norte.
They have continued their old customs and traditions, which keep them distinct from the outside
world. However, many of them have embraced Christianity and have been integrated into the
larger community. They are typical Malays either dark or light and complexioned with plenty of
hair on the head and forehead, sturdy bodies and with a blunt and prominent cheekbone. They
are closely knit clan since they believe they have all descended from one ancestor.

Those among the Subanuns who were Islamized and who remained as such are called
Kalibugan. Although religiously they are like Muslims, they still retain their old Subanun
customs and beliefs. But unlike their parent-stock, they have derived benefits from coastal
trade which the Muslims had dominated since ancient times.
 25

Across the northern tip of Zamboanga del Sur, bounded by the Basilan Strain in the north, the
Celebes Sea in the south, the Moro Gulf and the Sulu Sea in the East and West respectively, is
the lay and fertile land of Basilan, the traditional home of the Yakans. Called by the Spaniards
“Taguima,” Basilan had also been described as the finest garden in Zamboanga. It was once
part of the Sulu and for a long time was a refuge for Sulu traders and seafarers.

One part of Zamboanga del Sur, Basilan was made into an independent province on December
27, 1973, by Presidential Decree No, 356. Its total land area, including the adjacent islands, is
1,359 sq. km. With a predominantly rural population of 171,000, it has seven municipalities
with Isabela as the capital town. The provincial terrain is rough and mountainous, especially
along the center.

The mother tongue of the province is Yakan, the tribe being the biggest cultural group. It is
spoken mostly in the interior where the Yakans live. In the towns, a mixture of English, Filipino,
Tausug, Chavacano, and Samal is spoken.

A STORY OF MINDANAO AND SULU IN QUESTION AND ANSWER

Excerpt from B.R. Rodil

1.Who are the present peoples of Mindanao, Sulu, and how may they be distinguished
from one another?

In general, the peoples of Mindanao may be divided into two broad categories: indigenous and
migrant. The indigenous may be further subdivided, for our convenience, into Indigenous A and
Indigenous B, while the migrant may be sub-classified into migrants and their descendants.

Indigenous A

Generally professing belief in Islam, the Muslims or Islamized groups are, more specifically, in
alphabetical order, the Iranun (also known as Ilanun or Ilanum), Jama Mapun, Kalagan,
Kalibugan, Maguindanao (also known as Maguindanawon), Maranao, Sama, Sangil, Tausug
and Yakan. Also generally known as Moro — or more recently Bangsamoro — they constitute
about 20 percent of the total population of Mindanao and Sulu. We also include the Islamized
group of Palawan province, namely, the Molbog (also known as Melebugnon) and the
 26

Panimusan (also Palimusan), the Islamized portion of the Pala'wan group. The Kalagan are
partly Islamized and partly not. Although not generally Muslims, the seafaring Sama Dilaut or
Badjao of the Sulu Archipelago are also classified in the Moro category by virtue of their long
traditional stay in the Sulu seas.

Approximately five percent of the total population of the region, the Lumad groups are
individually known, in alphabetical order, as: Ata (or Ata Manobo), Arumanen Manobo, Bagobo,
Banwaon, Bla-an, Bukidnon, Dibabawon, Dulangan Manobo, Higaunon, Ilianen Manobo,
Jangan, Lambangian (mix of Teduray and Manobo), Livunganen, Kulamanen, Mamanwa,
Mandaya, Mangguwangan, Manobo, Mansaka, Manuvu, Matigsalug, Pulangiyen Manobo,
Subanen, Tagabawa, Tagakaolo, Talainged, T'boli, Teduray, Ubo Manobo and Umayamnon.
There could be more if we pursue the Lumad habit of naming themselves after their place of
traditional residence. We must also include here that part of the Kalagan population that are not
Islamized, although it must be stressed that it is extremely difficult to make a population
estimate of them.

Indigenous B

Under Indigenous B we have the Visayan speaking indigenous peoples of Northern and Eastern
Mindanao, and also the Chavacanos of Zamboanga. There were already Visayan-speaking
peoples in northern an eastern Mindanao when the Spaniards arrived during the second decade
of the 17th century. They eventually became the Christian communities of the Spanish colonial
period, which in 1892 totaled 191,493 thousand. It is no longer easy to identify them because
they have assimilated into the migrant Visayan population, which now compose the majority in
the place. They are known locally by their place names like Davaweño in the Davao provinces
but mostly in Davao Oriental; Butuanon in Butuan, Camiguinon or Kinamigin in Camiguin island,
Cagayanon in Cagayan de Oro City, Misamisnon, Iliganon in Iligan, Ozamiznon in Ozamiz,
Dapitanon in Dapitan, Dipolognon in Dipolog, Chavacano in Zamboanga City and nearby places
and so on and by some peculiarity in their respective accents. The two provinces of Surigao
have several local dialects peculiar to the place. Surigaonon, Waya-waya, and Jaon- jaon are
spoken in the towns of Surigao del Sur, namely, Carrascal, Madrid, Lanuza, and in Surigao del
Norte, specifically in the towns Siargao, Gigaquit and Claver. In Surigao del Norte, iianon is
spoken in Cantilan; Tandaganon in Tandag and 'ligon-on in Tago, San Miguel, and Bayabas;
 27

Kamayo in Lianga, Diatagon, Barobo and Bislig. Cebuano is predominant in and Bol-anon in
Cortes and San Agustin.

Originally Mardicas or Merdicas, meaning "free people" who were natives of Ternate in the
Moluccas, in present-day Indonesia, the Chavacanos were Christian soldiers who were brought
to by the Spaniards in 1663. They were first settled in Ermita what was known as Bagumbayan
and were, later, resettled at Barra de Maragondon or the sandbar of Maragondon river; they
called this Ternate in 1850 in memory of their place of origin. Some of them must have been
assigned to Zamboanga, possibly in 1718, if not later. They, too, are now integrated into the
majority population.

Migrant and Their Descendants

Also known as settlers, these constitute the migrants of the 20th century from Luzon and the
Visayas and their descendants. Since 1948, they make up the majority population of the region,
and since 1970, about seventy percent of the total population. They are also known as settlers.
Included in the count are the Indigenous B and the Chavacanos.

2.Where the name Moro come from did and what does it mean?

It came from the Spanish colonizers.

When the Spaniards arrived in the archipelago in 1565 and discovered that some of the
inhabitants were Muslims, they called them Moros, in the same manner, that they called those
Muslims from North Africa who had conquered and occupied Spain for nearly eight centuries,
that is, from 711 to 1492. It was meant to refer only to the Muslims of the archipelago. But over
the years, as a result of the bloody Spanish-Moro war which lasted for 333 years, the name
acquired a pejorative connotation, like pirates, and was much disliked by the Muslims
themselves until very recently.
 28

It did not begin to be accepted among the Muslims until around 1900. But with the emergence in
1972 of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) which bannered the name Bangsa Moro,
Moro acquired a new dimension. Using it became a source of pride in itself. In their own words,
the MNLF claims that originally, the use of the term Moro by the colonialists was meant to
perpetuate an image of the Muslim people of Mindanao, Basilan, Sulu, and Palawan, as savage
and treacherous, while they are simply daring and tenacious in defense of their homeland and
faith. But despite its colonial origins, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) has cleansed
the term of its unpleasant connotation by propagating the more correct view that the tenacity
with which the natives conducted their war of resistance against foreign intrusion was a classic
exercise in heroism.

They also expanded the population base of the name, at least in theory, to include all
indigenous populations of the region, among others, as follows:

The term is not only common to all the indigenous tribes of the region but includes Muslims,
Christians, and those still adhering to traditional religious values — in a word all those who
share common aspiration and political destiny. Hence, the MNLF has adopted Bangsa (nation)
Moro as national identity and implants it in the consciousness of the masses. Today, it is rooted
in the heart of every man and woman, and the defense of its integrity has become a national
identity and implants it in the consciousness of the masses. Today it is rooted in the heart of
every man and woman, and the defense of its integrity has become a national duty.

3.Where did the name Lumad come from, and what does it mean?

The name Lumad grew out of the political awakening among various tribes during the martial
law regime of President Marcos. It was advocated and propagated by the members and
affiliates of Lumad-Mindanao, a coalition of all-Lumad local and regional organizations which
formalized themselves as such in June 1986 but started in 1983 as a multi-sectoral
organization. Lumad-Mindanao's main objective was to achieve self-determination for their
member tribes, or, put more concretely, self-governance within their ancestral domain in
accordance with their culture and customary laws. No other Lumad organization had this
express goal in the past.
 29

The name is a Cebuano Bisayan word, meaning indigenous, which has become the collective
name for the thirty or more ethnolinguistic groups enumerated earlier. Representatives from
fifteen tribes agreed in June 1985 to adopt the name; there were no delegates from the three
major groups of the T'boli the Teduray and the Subanen. The choice of a Cebuano word
Cebuano is the language of the natives of Cebu in the Visayas was a bit ironic, but they deemed
it to be most appropriate considering that the various Lumad tribes do not have any other
common language except Cebuano. This is the first time that these tribes have agreed to a
common name for themselves, distinct from that of the Moros and different from the migrant
majority and their descendants. Lumad Mindanao, the organization, is no longer intact, but the
name Lumad remains and is apparently gaining more adherents.

Earlier, they were called by various names by outsiders, like paganos by the Spaniards or
simply by their tribal identities; Wild Tribes or Uncivilized Tribes or non-Christian Tribes by the
Americans; National Cultural Minorities or just Cultural Minorities or simply Minorities by the
Philippine government since 1957, which was amended in the 1973 Constitution as Cultural
Communities, then by the 1987 Charter as Indigenous Cultural Communities. Except for
paganos, all these denominations also included the Moros. Visayans call them nitibo; Tagalogs
call them taga-bundok or katutubo. Christian churches used to prefer the name Tribal Filipinos,
but today they are among the more active users of the name Lumad.

4.What do all of them, the Moro, the Lumad, and the other settler inhabitants of
Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan have in common?

They all share a common origin in the Malayo-Polynesian family of languages which explains
the close similarity among the various languages in use throughout the islands. Also, in their
ratites physical appearances.

A recent linguistic study by Richard E. Elkins has concluded:

Present-day Mindanao languages which are members of the Manobo subfamily include the
following: Cotabato Manobo and Tasaday in South Cotabato; Sarangani Manobo in southern
Davao; Tagabawa and Obo, west and southwest of Davao City; Dibabawon, Ata, and Matig
Salug in northern Davao; Livunganen, Ilianen, and Kulamanen in northern Cotabato; Western
Bukidnon Manobo and Tigwa in southern Bukidnon; Binukid in northern Bukidnon; Agusan
 30

Manobo with its several dialects in Agusan and Surigao; and Higaonon in Misamis Oriental,
Bukidnon, and Agusan. Kinamigin on Camiguin Island north of Mindanao and Kagayanen on
Cagayancillo Island in the Sulu Sea have only recently been identified as members of the
Manobo subfamily.

This similarity of origin is acknowledged among the Moro people and the Lumad by their folk
tradition. For example, among the Kalibugan of Titay, Zamboanga del Sur, they speak of two
brothers as their ancestors, both Subanen. Dumalandalan to Islam while Gumabon-gabon was
not. Among of Lapuyan, Zamboanga del Sur, they talk of four ancestors. Tabunaway was the
ancestor of the Dumalandalan the Maranao; Mili-rilid of the Gomabon-gabon of the Subanen.

Arumanen Manobo of North Cotabato and the say that brothers Tabunaway and Mamalu are
their ancestors, although they differ on which of the two was to Islam and on whether they were
really siblings. To the Maguindanao, they were blood brothers, and it was Tabunaway a
Muslim.[]In the Manobo version, also, the real names of Tabunaway and Mamalu were Rimpung
and Sabala and were close friends, not siblings. They called each other brother, but this word is
used for siblings, relatives, and friends as well. The story goes that after Sabala adopted
Tåbunaway told him that he would call him Mamalu because while he was a Manobo but not
anymore, he had become Muslim. Sabala, in turn, said to Rimpung that because he had
decided to retain his traditional Manobo belief and the practice of their tradition, he would then
call him Tabunaway.

The Manobo version further states that they share the same ancestor with the llanun, the
Matigsalug, the Talaandig, and the Maranao. In the Teduray tradition, the same brothers
Tabunaway and Mamalu are acknowledged as their ancestors.

In the Teduray tradition, the same brothers Tabunaway and Mamalu are acknowledged as their
ancestors.

The Higaunon and the Maranao also speak of common ancestry in their folklore, especially in
the border areas of Bukidnon and Lanao. This seems more pronounced in the Bukidnon folklore
where they speak of two brothers Bowan and Bala-oy.
 31

Among the Talaandig of Bukidnon, their great, great ancestor Apu Agbibilin is the common
ancestor of the Talaandig, Maguindanao, Maranao and Manobo tribes who were saved at the
highest peak of Mt. Kitanglad during the great flood.

Among the Bla-an (pronounced by them as two syllables, accent on the second syllable) of
Davao del Sur, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, and Cotabato, they speak of
common ancestry with other ethnolinguistic groups. In an interview with a Bla-an tribal leader,
Lawon Tokaydo, of Danlag, Tampakan, South Cotabato, this author got the following account:

It was Almabet, their creator, who gave them that name. Almabet created eight people, first the
Bla-an, then the others, namely, Tabali (T'boli), Ubo (Manobo), Alnawen (Maguindanao Muslim),
Teduray, Klagan, Matigsalug, and Mandaya. And be called them by these names. They would
later be the ancestors of ethnic groups of the same names. Lands were assigned to them. Kolon
Nada/ (Koronadal) was given to the Bla- an. Almabet ascended from Melbel (Marbel) From here
they (Bla-an) went to Kolon Bia-o (Columbio), to Buluan which they partly share with the
Alnawen (Maguindanao Muslim), to other parts of the present South Cotabato, and Datal Pitak
in Matanao in the present Davao del Sur. The Tabali went to Lake Sebu. The rest went to their
respective places. Although they claim common ancestry with these other groups, their
languages are not mutually intelligible.

The Kalagan belong to the same tribe as the Tagakaolo.

5.When did Islam come to Mindanao, Sulu, and Palawan?

Islam first arrived in the Sulu archipelago towards the end of the 13th century, estimated to be in
1280, brought by a certain TuanMasha'ika who apparently got married there and thus
established the first Islamic community. Masha'ika was followed by a Muslim missionary named
Karim ul-Makhdum around the second half of the 14th century. With Rajah Baginda who came
at the beginning of the 15th century was introduced the political element in the Islamization
process. It was his son-in-law, Abubakar, whom he had designated as his successor, who
started the Sulu sultanate.

Islam came to Maguindanao with a certain Sharif Awliya from Johore around 1460. He is said to
have married there, had and left. He was followed by Sharif Maraja, also from who stayed in the
 32

Slangan area and married the daughter of Awliya. Around 1515, Sharif Kabungsuwan arrived
with many the Slangan area, roughly where Malabang is now. He is generally credited with
having established the Islamic community Maguindanao and expanded through political and
family alliances with the ruling families.

Maranao tradition speaks of a certain Sharif Alawi who landed (in the present Misamis Oriental
and his preaching there was to have eventually spread to Lanao and Bukidnon. There is any
evidence of this in the latter, however, except in some border towns adjacent to Lanao del Sur.
From the southern end came through marriage alliances with Muslim Iranun and Maguindanao
datus, specifically around the area of Butig and Malabang.

It is not clear when Islam first came to Palawan. Indicators at the arrival of the Spaniards,
however, reveal trade and political influences flowing from the sultanate of Brunei, then later
from the sultanate of Sulu.

6.How did Islam come to Mindanao, Sulu, and Palawan?

Islam came with trade.

After the death of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) in 632 A.D. a general expansion movement
followed. Through military conquests, the Islamic world turned empire with dominance
established in the Middle East, North Africa, Spain, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe. The
expansion likewise moved towards Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, made possible
either by or through Muslim merchants or missionaries or both. It was through the latter that the
Malayo-Indonesian region and Mindanao and Sulu were Islamized.

The trade route which led to the Islamization of Mindanao and Sulu was the one that linked
Arabia overland through Central Asia and thence overseas to India, China, Southeast Asia an
Africa, especially in the period starting from the beginning of the 9th century.

Overseas travel at that time was directly influenced by monsoon winds and merchants had to
establish trade stations along their route where they tarried for long periods of time. In the
course of these stays, merchants-missionaries would marry into the local population, thereby
creating and establishing Muslim communities.
 33

It was generally assumed that the Islamization process was facilitated and hastened in this way
in such places as Malacca, Pahang, Trengganu, Kedah, Java, and others. By 1450, Malacca
had become a leading center of Islam in the Malay Archipelago. It was from the Malay
Archipelago that Mindanao and Sulu were Islamized. The establishment of Muslim trading
communities in such places as Mindoro, Batangas, and Manila in the northern Philippines came
from the same direction.

The combination of trade and Islamization created the necessary conditions that enabled the
Sulus, and later, the Maguindanao, to advance way ahead of the other indigenous inhabitants of
the Philippine archipelago.

7.To what extent did Islam revolutionize the recipient communities?

Before the advent of Islam in the Philippine archipelago, no community was reported to be a
monotheist. The diwata (in the Visayas and Mindanao) and anito (in Luzon) were essential
features of the belief system of the peoples here. Animists, they are called by social scientists
nowadays. Believing that "There is no other god but God, and Muhammad is His Prophet,"
Islam was the first to bring monotheism to the people of the Philippines.

In the course of its historical development, the Islamic world was able to develop a social
system distinctly its own, in consonance with the doctrine revealed in the Qur'an and also
embodied in the Hadith or Sunnah (tradition) of the Prophet. Such institutions as the caliphate,
the emirate, and the sultanate are part of this development.

The religion and the social system brought by Islam were radical from the animism and
barangay type communities prevalent among the many peoples of the archipelago, specifically
lowlanders. Further, the stimulus-provided by the Muslim combined to push the Islamized
communities far ahead of others.

There is no question that the centralized system of life introduced by the combined forces of
Islam and trade provided greatest source of strength in their 333 years of struggle against
Spanish colonialism. Doubtless, too, this fight against foreign domination contributed in no small
 34

measure to this strength. And the main explanation of why they were able to sustain themselves
gloriously against Spain until 1898 is to be found here.

8.Which portions of Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan are traditionally considered the
ancestral homeland of the Islamized people, and which portions that of the Lumad?

Ordinarily, when we speak of the ancestral homeland, we refer to that portion of territory
traditionally occupied by a tribe or another, or by a community of people, say a clan bound by
ties of common interests. This is normally understood to mean not just land, but also rivers,
creeks, seas, mountains and hills, forests and all-natural wealth contained therein, Including the
wild game, and, nowadays, also the airspace above. No different, therefore, from the present
concept of state domain.

The nature of the occupancy is usually described in modern-day legal language as "prior and
uninterrupted," meaning, the tribe or community came to the territory in question ahead of any
other, and their stay has remained unchallenged. "Prior and uninterrupted occupancy" is
recognized the world over as the ultimate evidence of possession. The case of the Sulu and
Maguindanao Sultanates, however, presents a more complex situation where (political)
dominance attendant to their having attained statehood was added to the matter of occupancy.

Using the territorial jurisdictions of the 22 provinces and 16 cities that constitute the entirety of
Mindanao and Sulu, In the 1990 census, prior to the creation of the three provinces of
Compostela Valley from Davao del Norte, Sarangani from South Cotabato, and Zamboanga
Sibugay from Zamboanga del Sur, there is incontrovertible evidence that from 1596-1898 the
Islamized peoples have traditionally lived in an area encompassed within the equivalent of
fifteen provinces and seven cities; the Lumad in seventeen provinces and fourteen cities, and
the indigenous Christians in nine provinces and four cities. They overlap in many places.

It must be stressed, however, that defining the ancestral homeland of the Islamized people
presents some difficulty because aside from being subdivided into twelve ethnolinguistic groups
through which the matter of physical occupancy may be determined, they were also identified
with one sultanate or the other where the decisive point is, to use a modern terminology,
political dominance. The sultanate is a political entity that is by right and as a matter of fact, a
state, no different, say, from a monarchy, exercising sovereign jurisdiction over the various
 35

peoples encompassed within its territory. And in the history of the Moro sultanates, these
peoples included communities from the non-Muslim tribes. There were generally two traditional
sultanates in Mindanao and Sulu, the older one of Sulu and that of the Maguindanao.

9.Which portions are generally deemed to be the traditional territorial jurisdiction of the
Sulu Sultanate?

The Sulu Sultanate started formally in 1450 A.D. At its peak, its territory included the Sulu
archipelago (covering the present provinces of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi), North Borneo or the
present Sabah, Basilan, southern Palawan and Samboangan, roughly equivalent to the present
territory of Zamboanga City, and the western portions of the Zamboanga peninsula where the
Tausug and Sama settlements were located. The present towns of Sibuco and Siraway in
Zamboanga del Norte could possibly be two of these.

Islamized tribes in the territory were the Tausug in Sulu Sama in Tawi-Tawi; Jama Mapun in
Mapun Island and Palawan; Molbog or Melebugnon and the Panimusan or Palimusan, the
Islamized portion of the Pala'wan group, also 500thcrn Palawan; Yakan in Basilan and the
Kalibugan in the Zamboanga peninsula. The non-Islamized tribes included the Dilaut or Badjao
of the Sulu Archipelago, the Batak and Of southern Palawan, and the Subanen of the
Zamboanga peninsula. We have not included northern Palawan because there is so far no
clearcut historical evidence that this portion ever fell within the territory of the Sulu sultanate.
Spanish records have shown that Muslim settlements in the province were located generally in
the southern part roughly from Aborlan southward to Balabac Island.

The whole time that the Spanish colonizers were wreaking havoc in the sultanate domain, from
1565 to 1898, the sultanate machinery remained intact. But certain portions of its territory went
to the colonizers. Samboangan was taken over by Spanish armed might in 1635, seized by the
Maguindanao sultanate after it was abandoned by the Spaniards in 1663, recaptured by the
Spaniards in 1718 and remained in their hands until 1898.

Palawan had a curious history all its own. It was ceded by the Maguindanao sultan to the
Spaniards in 1703, yet it was also given away by the Sulu sultan to the Spaniards in 1705, and
this was confirmed by his successor in 1717.
 36

An additional factor in the story of Zamboanga may be cited here. The Chavacano speaking
population were presumably brought in by the Spaniards in 1718 and have remained there
continuously until the end of the Spanish regime, and to the present. From available historical
sources, it appears that their arrival caused no dislocation nor displacement on the indigenous
population

To what extent were the indigenous communities of the Tagbanua and Batak of Palawan and
Subanen peoples subjects of the sultanate? This is not clear in existing documents. No doubt,
extensive research on the oral traditions of these people would help The Sulu sultanate's claim
to sovereignty over its territory and subjects was challenged decisively by the American
colonizers. After the Treaty of Paris in 1898 through which the Americans acquired dubious title
to the entire Philippine territory, including the Sulu sultanate, there followed the Bates
agreement in 1899 and the Carpenter agreement in 1915 which supposedly marked the Sulu
sultan's submission to American sovereignty. The latter was in turn passed on to the Philippine
State in July 1946. The Philippine claim to sovereignty over the territory once held by the Sulu
sultanate dates back formally only to the Treaty of Paris.

10.Which portions belonged to the traditional territorial jurisdiction of the Maguindanao

Sultanate?

The Maguindanao Sultanate came into reality around the second decade of the 17th century. Its
territory was most extensive in the reign of Sultan Kudarat (1619-1671), particularly in the last
twenty-five years. Following was the way Dr. Majul describes it:

The coastal area from Zamboanga to the gulf of Davao was tributary to him. He was
acknowledged the paramount lord of the Pulangi. His sphere of influence extended to Iranun
and Maranao territories and even as far as Bukidnon and Butuan in the north of Mindanao, His
rule held sway over Sangil and Sarangani. Except in points like Dapitan, Caraga, and the sites
of the present-day Butuan and Cagayan de Oro cities, and in the almost inaccessible parts of
the interior of the island, practically all of the accepted him as suzerain.
 37

The center of the Maguindanao sultanate was in the present province of Maguindanao and the
southern portions of Lake Lanao, from where it expanded through the use of armed might
traditional alliances, all the way to Davao Oriental in eastern Mindanao and to Zamboanga del
Norte in western Mindanao.

The Islamized tribes that may be categorized as subjects at one time or another of the
Maguindanao sultanate included the Maguindanao, Iranun, and Sangil; the Kalagans are part
Muslim part Lumad. The Lumad tribes found within the territory claimed by the Maguindanao
Sultanate were the Subanens in the Zamboanga peninsula; the Teduray, Ubo T'boli, Bla-an,
Dulangan, Lambangian, Manobo In the Cotabato area (encompassing the present four
provinces of North Cotabato, South Cotabato Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat); the Bagobo,
Bla-an, Tagakaolo, Ata, Mandaya and Mansaka and Manobo in the Davao region, and the
Bukidnon and Higaunon in the Bukidnon border as well as in Iligan.

It is extremely difficult to determine from historical sources to what extent the non-Islamized
groups were subjects of the Sulu Sultanate. In the specific case of Zamboanga, no study has
yet been made specifying where the Sultanate's suzerainty ended and where the
Maguindanao's influence began. Nor is it clear to what extent the Subanens were subjects of or
influenced by them. Dr. Majul did mention Bukidnon as falling within the Maguindanao sphere of
influence but Jesuit writings in the late 19th century indicate that the farthest Muslim outpost in
Bukidnon at that time was located at the confluence of the Malita river or in the present border
between Bukidnon and Cotabato. Muslim traders, usually Maguindanao, reportedly went deeper
into Bukidnon upstream of the Pulangi. Not, however, to collect tribute which was the common
expression of subjection at that time, but to trade.Twentieth-century censuses, however, reveal
that until 1948 the municipalities of Pangantukan and Talakag had a relatively high number of
Muslim residents, presumably Maranaos since these towns are located at the Bukidnon-Lanao
del Sur border. Of some-more than thirty coastal settlements noted in Davao by the Spaniards
in the late 19th century, the Moros of Davao occupied it.

These settlements were spread out along the coastal stretch from Mayo Bay in the east coast,
roughly where Mati is, and westward along the entire length of Davao Gulf's coastline to
Sarangani Islands. The non-Muslims were decidedly more numerous. We are told that the
Muslims collected tributes from the Mandaya far as Caraga; controlled the Samals of Samal
Island, and were continually at war with the Bla-an, Manobo, Ata, and Tagakaolo. It was from
 38

this last tribe that the Kalagan Muslims came from, Ka'agan means imitator in the Tagakaolo
language.

Portions of the provinces of South Cotabato, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato, and
Maguindanao were without a doubt open to question, despite very strong Maguindanao
influence, in the sense that these were traditionally occupied by the non-Islamized tribes whose
subjection to Maguindanao rule can no longer be gauged at this time. Until 1918, certain towns
were predominantly inhabited by them, like Awang (83.75%), Glan (60.76%), Kabakan
(66.42%), Kiamba (80.59%), Kidapawan (65.9%), Salaman (64.16%) and Sebu (83.07%),
Talayan (56.88%); some others were almost equally shared with the Maguindanao, e.g.,
Buayan (45.14% Muslim & 53.89% Lumad), Kitubod (50.99% Muslim & 49% Lumad), Kling
(50.18% Muslim & 49.4% Lumad).

Lanao del Sur is definitely Maranao territory including at least seven border towns in the present
Lanao del Norte, namely, Balo-i, Matungao, Pantao-Ragat, Munai, Tangkal, Tagoloan, and
Nunungan, The Maranao people generally identify themselves with the Pat a Pongampong a
Ranao and did not experience domination by the Maguindanao sultanate. Those of Kapatagan
Valley in Lanao del Norte, however, speak of their own Pat a Panuruganan a Kapatagan and
clam no allegiance to the Pat a Pongampong.

Throughout the 333 years of Spanish attempts at conquest of Moroland, the Sulu and
Maguindanao Sultanates fought Spanish colonialism as independent states and remained
uncolonized to the very end. The Moros are extremely proud of this. Yet it cannot be denied that
in the last 50 years or so of the 19th century, the sultans of both sultanates signed treaties and
agreements with Spain which compromised their respective sovereignties. Sulu, in particular,
signed the 1878 treaty with reduced the sultanate to the status of a Spanish protectorate. To
modern political scientists, both the Sulu and Maguindanao sultanates lost their de jure status
but seemed to have retained their de facto status.

Shortly thereafter, U.S. colonialism took over from Spain through the Treaty of Paris in
December 1898. Spain ceded the archipelago, including the sultanates of Maguindanao to the
United States for $20 million. Finally, on March 1915, through the Memorandum of Agreement
between the General of the Philippine islands and the Sultan of Sulu, The latter ratified and
confirmed recognition of the sovereignty of the U.S.A. By this time, nothing more was left of the
 39

two sultanates’ sovereignty. The Moro people's right over their ancestral domain was
substantially eroded by the implementation of American public land laws, later sustained almost
hook, line and by the government of the Republic of the Philippines.

11.Which portions are generally regarded as the ancestral homeland of the Lumad
peoples of Mindanao and Sulu?

In the tradition of the Subanen, the entirety of Zamboanga peninsula is their ancestral
homeland. Among themselves, they have partitioned the territory to the three major subdivisions
of the tribe, the Ginsalugan, the Sibugay-Sung, and the Debaloy.

The Debaloy territory includes the present municipalities of Baliguian, Gutalac, Labason,
Sibuco, Sindangan, Siocon, and Siraway in Zamboanga del Norte; Salug, Surabay, Tukuran,
Kalawit, in Zamboanga del Sur, and Ipil, Titay, Tampilisan, and Tungawan in the newly created
Zamboanga Sibuguey.

The territory of the Ginsalugan encompasses 32 municipalities in the three provinces in the
peninsula of Zamboanga, as follows: Misamis Occidental: Aloran, Baliangao, Bonifacio,
Calamba, Clarin, Concepcion, D. Victoriano, Jimenez, Lopez Jaena, Oroquieta, Ozamiz, Pana-
on, Plaridel, Sinacaban, Sapang Dalaga, Tangub, Tudela.

Zamboanga del Norte: Dapitan, Dipolog, Katipunan, La Libertad, Manukan, Mutia, Osmeña,
Piñan Polanco, Punot, Rizal, Roxas, Sibutad. Zamboanga del Sur: Balangasan, Josefina,
Mahayag, Molave, Pagadian City.

The Subanen of Sebugay and Sung are distributed into four sub-tribes of Sebugay, Sung,
Balangasan, and Pingulis; their territory encompassing a total of 20 municipalities in the
provinces of Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sebuguey, as follows: The Sebugay group
are to be found in the towns of Bayog in Zamboanga del Sur, and in Naga, Kabasalan, Buug,
Siay, Imelda, Payao, Alicia in Zamboanga Sibuguey. The Sung people are in the Baganian
peninsula in Zamboanga del Sur which includes the towns of Dinas, Margosatubig, Danao
(Lakewood), Tabina, Pitogo, SM Tigbao, V. Sagun and Dimataling.

The Balangasan inhabitants are found in the towns of Malangas in Zamboanga Sibuguey and
other parts of Dinas and Bayog in Zamboanga del Sur.
 40

The Pingulis population is on the island of Olutanga, specifically in the towns of Mabuhay,
Olutanga, and Talusan in Zamboanga Sibuguey, and Lapuyan in Zamboanga del Sur.

They have been living in larger concentrations in the following specific areas: Dapitan or Illaya
Valley, Dipolog Valley specifically in Diwan, Punta and Sinaman, Manukan Valley, Sindangan,
Panganuran in the present town of Gutalac Coronado in the present town of Baliguian, Siocon,
Kipit in the present town of Labason, Malayal and Patalun (now Lintangan) both in the present
town of Sibuco, Bolong Valley, "lüpilak and Bakalan Valleys in the town of Ipil, Lei-Batu Valley,
Sibugai-Sei Valley, Dumankilas Bay, Dipolo Valley, Lubukan Valley, Labangan Valley and
Mipangi Valley. Other concentrations are also found in the present towns of Katipunan, Roxas,
Sergio Osmena, Sr., Leon Postigo, Salug, Godod, and Siayan.

The Higaunon generally refer to their ancestral territory as the walo ha talugan or eight
territories, named after big rivers in northern Mindanao, namely, Odiongan (Gingoog), Agusan
Kabulig (Claveria), Tagoloan, Lanao, Cagayan, Pulangi (Bukidnon) and Balatukan (Balingasag).
More particularly, these places are located in the present provinces of Agusan del Norte,
Agusan del Sur, Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, and Lanao del Norte. In Agusan del Norte they are
to be found in the towns of Las Nieves Buenavista, Butuan City, and Nasipit. In Agusan del Sur
they are the town of Esperanza. In Misamis Oriental, they inhabit the towns of Magsaysay,
Gingoog, Salay, Balingasag, Medina, Claveria, Cagayan de Oro City, Manticao, Naawan, Initao,
and Opol. In Bukidnon, they have lived in the towns of Manolo Fortich, Impasug-on, Baungon,
Talakag, Libona, Malitbog, Malaybalay, Cabanglasan, Lantapan, and Valencia. In Lanao del
Norte, they are in Barangay Rogongon of lligan City. Although the Higaunon their language
Blnukid and themselves as Higaunon, they tend to be identified with Bukidnon in popular usage
among outsiders. latter is a generic name given all indigenous groups in the province of
Bukidnon by Bisayans and other outsiders. Among indigenous groups found at the north-central
Bukidnon area aside from the Higaunon, the Talaandig and the Banwaon; the inhabiting the
border area between Bukidnon and Agusan, more specifically within the territory stretching from
Libang River Esperanza in the north up to the town of San Luis and La Paz, Agusan del Sur,
from Barangay Balit still in San Luis to the Agusan del Sur-Bukidnon boundary. The southern
part of the province is inhabited by the Tigwahanon; the Matigsalug — mostly in the town of
Kitaotao, Bukidnon and the Umayamnon, the latter occupying the border area of Bukidnon and
Agusan, more specifically in the municipality of Cabanglasan, Bukidnon.

The Manobo are traditional inhabitants of several portions of Mindanao: at the Agusan river
valley, Surigao del Norte and Sur; in Bukidnon south; in Sigaboy north of the Cape of San
Agustin in Davao Oriental; along the coastal stretch from Padada in Davao del Sur down to
Sarangani Bay in South Cotabato; in Sultan Kudarat, and in Cotabato.

The Mamanwa used to live in the territory around Lake Mainit at the Agusan del Norte Surigao
del Norte down to Tago river in Surigao del Norte.
 41

The Mandaya have traditionally occupied the stretch of territory from Tandag in Surigao del Sur
down to Mati in Davao Oriental and the area of Salug river valley in the interior of Davao del
Norte. Within the Davao Oriental-Davao del Norte are also to be found the Mansaka-
Dibabawon-Mangguwangan populations.

Starting from that part of Davao City bordering Davao d Norte down to Davao del Sur, we have
in succession the Ata or Manobo, the Bagobo, the Tagakaolo-Kalagan, and the Bla-an.
As one moves into South Cotabato, Sarangani, Sultan, and Maguindanao, one runs into
the Bla-an again, then Manobo, the Arumanen, Ilianen, Pulangiyen, Manuvu, Ubo, then the
T'boli, then the Dulangan, the Lambangian and the Teduray.

In Palawan, the Batak and the Tägbanua are more well. known Indigenous Cultural
Communities. We cannot tell, however, to what extent they were subjects or influenced by the
Sulu Sultanate. Other indigenous populations which have been assimilated into the majority
culture are the Agutaynon, Kagayanen, Kalamianen, and Kuyunon; the last is also known as
Cagayano.

Determining the exact boundaries of Lumad tribal territories at present has become extremely
difficult. For one thing, a good number of them are now dispersed people, intermixed in small
pockets with settler populations. This dispersion is reflected at the municipal level in the various
censuses. Short of another statistical survey with each tribe, we can only rely on the censuses
of 1918, 1939, and 1970. But not fully. The 1903 census does not have comparative figures at
the municipal level of Muslim, Lumad and Christian population; the details of the 1948 census
seem to be unavailable in most big libraries in Manila; the 1960 enumeration has simply
eliminated the "Pagan" classification Which is the nearest to determining the Lumad population.
The censuses of 1975, 1980 and 1990 no longer have any classification that will lead us to
more accurate figures on the indigenous cultural communities.

Many of their elders who know their ancient habitat have died, and very little oral tradition
affecting territorial boundaries, no matter how vague and general, has been handed down to the
present generation. The dominant presence of the migrant-based population, which IS also
concretely revealed in the censuses has made the situation even more complicated.