The Glory of Misamis
Mike Banos
April 22, 2006
By October 10 this year, it will be seven years since the Region 10 Tourism Council passed a resolution asking the national government to rename Northern Mindanao as the "Misamis" region.
The motion was passed following a presentation by Commissioner Antonio J. Montalvan II of the Cagayan de Oro Historical and Cultural Commission during the council's 5th general assembly October 2, 1999 at Gingoog City.
Montalvan's presentation was based on his paper “Resurgence of Identity: The Heritage of Misamis, 1818-1945” tracing the Misamis region's rich cultural and historical heritage from the times of the Himologan settlement at the Huluga caves site dating back to the Late Neolithic Age or 377 A.D. down to contemporary history in World War II when Cagayan de Misamis (as Cagayan de Oro was then known) and Bukidnon became rallying points for the underground resistance against the Japanese invaders.
Montalvan writes that the Misamis region had its beginnings during the early 1800s when the Spanish government decided to pacify Mindanao. The island was made into one province with Zamboanga as its capital. It was divided into three politico-military districts under the administration of a military governor: the Primero Distrito de Zamboanga, Segundo Distrito de Misamis and Tercio Distrito de Surigao.
The largest of these was the Segundo Distrito de Misamis which covered present day Zamboanga del Norte, the Lanao and Misamis provinces, Camiguin, Bukidnon, and the northern portions of Cotabato and Maguindanao.
The Misamis district was further subdivided into four: the Partido de Misamis, Partido de Dapitan, Partido de Cagayan, and Partido de Catarman.
It was named Misamis after its capital town at the mouth of Panguil Bay, now Ozamiz city. Here, the Spanish Jesuit Jose Ducos built the Fuerza Real de la Virgen del Triunfo as a fortress against Moro raiders who had to pass through the narrow bay in their raids against Spanish and Filipino towns along the coast.
The Misamis district, particularly the Partido de Dapitan, is also significant historically because it was here where Filipino national hero Dr. Jose Rizal was exiled from 1892-1896. Montalvan cites the rich oral tradition which tells of Rizal's famous friends, patients and visitors and his many sojourns around the region.
For instance, there was the Jesuit lay brother Juan Costa whose " Aguas Potables" waterworks in Balingasag, Misamis Oriental became the inspiration for Rizal's famous Talisay water system which still works to this day at the Rizal shrine in Dapitan.
Although it remains little known to this day, Misamis was the only region which actively joined the Katipunan revolt against Spain. On September 29, 1896, 350 revolucionarios, including 50 Bukidnon lumads, overwhelmed the Spanish garrison and raided the armory of the Fuerza Nueva Victoria in Iligan. Unable to seize Cagayan because of superior Spanish forces, the revolucionarios proceeded to Sumilao and marched down the coast where they commandeered a boat and landed in Balingasag.
From there the group stormed the Tercio Civil outpost in Gingoog where the uprising was finally put down in January 1897 with the help of reinforcements and a gunboat from Butuan.
Montalvan writes that although the Camiguin writer Vicente Elio y Sanchez wrote an account of it in the Manila newspaper "La Oceania Española", it was censored by the Spaniards. Augustinian Recollect chronicles reveal that this revolt was in fact instigated by a communication from Katipuneros in Luzon, making Mindanao the ninth province to join the Katipunan revolt, albeit not included in the eight rays of the sun in the Philippine flag which represent the eight provinces which first rose against Spanish tyranny.
Misamis also became the first region in Mindanao to join the new Philippine Republic under Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo. On December 26, 1898, the new Filipino flag was borne aloft in a public demonstration for Philippine independence in the streets of Mambajao, Camiguin. And on January 10, 1899, Philippine independence was proclaimed with much fanfare in Cagayan de Misamis, which also elected the first set of local officials and officially raised the Filipino flag for only the second time ever in the island (the first was in Surigao).
During the Second World War, Misamis became a part of world history when Gen. Douglas MacArthur, supreme commander of the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) landed in Macabalan port in Cagayan de Misamis on March 13, 1942 after successfully escaping from invading Japanese forces in Corregidor in a flotilla of PT Boats.
He stayed over at the Del Monte compound in Bukidnon until March 17, 1942 when he and his family and a few of his staff were airlifted to Australia in two rickety B-17s. Around a week later, Phil. Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon and Vice President Sergio Osmeña, Sr. also used the same route to escape from Corregidor to Australia.
Bukidnon added to the lore by becoming the headquarters of the Philippine government under Gen. Manuel A. Roxas during the early years of the war. It was also here where Gen. William Sharp became the last US general in the country to surrender to the Japanese.
Later, Lt. Col. Wendell W. Fertig, who led the guerrilla movement in Mindanao, and the United States Forces in the Philippines (USFIP) had their base and headquarters in the town of Oroquieta, Misamis Occidental.
Montalvan said this was significant because Oroquieta then was considered to be the capital of the entire Free Philippines, perhaps the only time in our country's history when its capital was in Mindanao, in the region then known as Misamis.
Not the least, Montalvan cites the significance of Misamis in pre-history through the discovery of the Huluga caves in Cagayan de Oro city in the early 1970s. A fragment of a skull sent to the Scripps Institute in La Jolla, California for a dating technique known as acid racemization showed it dated back to 377 A.D.
INDNJC-
The motion was passed following a presentation by Commissioner Antonio J. Montalvan II of the Cagayan de Oro Historical and Cultural Commission during the council's 5th general assembly October 2, 1999 at Gingoog City.
Montalvan's presentation was based on his paper “Resurgence of Identity: The Heritage of Misamis, 1818-1945” tracing the Misamis region's rich cultural and historical heritage from the times of the Himologan settlement at the Huluga caves site dating back to the Late Neolithic Age or 377 A.D. down to contemporary history in World War II when Cagayan de Misamis (as Cagayan de Oro was then known) and Bukidnon became rallying points for the underground resistance against the Japanese invaders.
Montalvan writes that the Misamis region had its beginnings during the early 1800s when the Spanish government decided to pacify Mindanao. The island was made into one province with Zamboanga as its capital. It was divided into three politico-military districts under the administration of a military governor: the Primero Distrito de Zamboanga, Segundo Distrito de Misamis and Tercio Distrito de Surigao.
The largest of these was the Segundo Distrito de Misamis which covered present day Zamboanga del Norte, the Lanao and Misamis provinces, Camiguin, Bukidnon, and the northern portions of Cotabato and Maguindanao.
The Misamis district was further subdivided into four: the Partido de Misamis, Partido de Dapitan, Partido de Cagayan, and Partido de Catarman.
It was named Misamis after its capital town at the mouth of Panguil Bay, now Ozamiz city. Here, the Spanish Jesuit Jose Ducos built the Fuerza Real de la Virgen del Triunfo as a fortress against Moro raiders who had to pass through the narrow bay in their raids against Spanish and Filipino towns along the coast.
The Misamis district, particularly the Partido de Dapitan, is also significant historically because it was here where Filipino national hero Dr. Jose Rizal was exiled from 1892-1896. Montalvan cites the rich oral tradition which tells of Rizal's famous friends, patients and visitors and his many sojourns around the region.
For instance, there was the Jesuit lay brother Juan Costa whose " Aguas Potables" waterworks in Balingasag, Misamis Oriental became the inspiration for Rizal's famous Talisay water system which still works to this day at the Rizal shrine in Dapitan.
Although it remains little known to this day, Misamis was the only region which actively joined the Katipunan revolt against Spain. On September 29, 1896, 350 revolucionarios, including 50 Bukidnon lumads, overwhelmed the Spanish garrison and raided the armory of the Fuerza Nueva Victoria in Iligan. Unable to seize Cagayan because of superior Spanish forces, the revolucionarios proceeded to Sumilao and marched down the coast where they commandeered a boat and landed in Balingasag.
From there the group stormed the Tercio Civil outpost in Gingoog where the uprising was finally put down in January 1897 with the help of reinforcements and a gunboat from Butuan.
Montalvan writes that although the Camiguin writer Vicente Elio y Sanchez wrote an account of it in the Manila newspaper "La Oceania Española", it was censored by the Spaniards. Augustinian Recollect chronicles reveal that this revolt was in fact instigated by a communication from Katipuneros in Luzon, making Mindanao the ninth province to join the Katipunan revolt, albeit not included in the eight rays of the sun in the Philippine flag which represent the eight provinces which first rose against Spanish tyranny.
Misamis also became the first region in Mindanao to join the new Philippine Republic under Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo. On December 26, 1898, the new Filipino flag was borne aloft in a public demonstration for Philippine independence in the streets of Mambajao, Camiguin. And on January 10, 1899, Philippine independence was proclaimed with much fanfare in Cagayan de Misamis, which also elected the first set of local officials and officially raised the Filipino flag for only the second time ever in the island (the first was in Surigao).
During the Second World War, Misamis became a part of world history when Gen. Douglas MacArthur, supreme commander of the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) landed in Macabalan port in Cagayan de Misamis on March 13, 1942 after successfully escaping from invading Japanese forces in Corregidor in a flotilla of PT Boats.
He stayed over at the Del Monte compound in Bukidnon until March 17, 1942 when he and his family and a few of his staff were airlifted to Australia in two rickety B-17s. Around a week later, Phil. Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon and Vice President Sergio Osmeña, Sr. also used the same route to escape from Corregidor to Australia.
Bukidnon added to the lore by becoming the headquarters of the Philippine government under Gen. Manuel A. Roxas during the early years of the war. It was also here where Gen. William Sharp became the last US general in the country to surrender to the Japanese.
Later, Lt. Col. Wendell W. Fertig, who led the guerrilla movement in Mindanao, and the United States Forces in the Philippines (USFIP) had their base and headquarters in the town of Oroquieta, Misamis Occidental.
Montalvan said this was significant because Oroquieta then was considered to be the capital of the entire Free Philippines, perhaps the only time in our country's history when its capital was in Mindanao, in the region then known as Misamis.
Not the least, Montalvan cites the significance of Misamis in pre-history through the discovery of the Huluga caves in Cagayan de Oro city in the early 1970s. A fragment of a skull sent to the Scripps Institute in La Jolla, California for a dating technique known as acid racemization showed it dated back to 377 A.D.
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