HISTORY OF DANAO

DANAO DURING PRE-SPANISH PERIOD

You have to know the past to understand the present. By Carl Sagan.
There are no records of Danao before Spanish colonization, except early in 1400 A.D. when Sri Rumai
from Sumatra arrived and settled on the island now called Cebu. He became King of Cebu and a few
years later divided Cebu into three kingdoms.
Kingdom of Sugbo - Central Cebu,
Kingdom of Siaro - Southern Cebu,
Kingdom of Naharin - Northern Cebu where Danao was part and known as the center of the Kingdom
of Naharin, Danao was an ordinary fishing village and agricultural settlement, but trade and
commerce gradually flourished during the reign of Humabon, who ruled the Kingdom of Sugbo. Then
came the Spaniards who put Cebu on the map when Ferdinand Magellan arrived in 1521 and brought
Christianity. However, it was not until 1565 (44 years after Magellan) that the Spaniards, led by
Miguel López de Legazpi, successfully conquered Cebu and again Danao, once the center of Kingdom
of Nahalin, was no exception. During the early years of Spanish rule, around 1570, Danao, like the
rest of the Philippines, became an "encomienda" where the encomienderos (Spanish settlers and
people who worked well for the Spanish authorities) made a big difference, rice field. It was given
the right to control the land and make the natives work on it. The encomiendero was also
instrumental in assisting the Augustinian priests (OSA) in evangelizing the people of Danao. Under
the "encomienda system," priests ruled communities alongside civilian leaders. However, in the
1700s, the system was abolished due to the ill-treatment and mistreatment it brought to the
natives.According to other records of Spanish origin, the founding and naming of the place now
called Danao can be traced back to this period. The time of Legazpi's conquest in 1565. The earliest
written reference to Danao's name to date is a letter from Legazpi of October 28, 1568 lamenting the
atrocities of the Portuguese navy under Captain Gonzalo Pereira. In his document of November 10,
1886, Frey his Fidel his Moreno minister of Danao associates the name of Danao with the lower
marshes and positions the founding of Danao at the time of Legazpi's conquest in 1565 to increase.