During the Ice Age, Palawan was linked to Borneo by land bridges which might explain why the flora and fauna of Palawan are similar to Borneo. Archaeological findings indicate that the late Neolithic and early Metal Age saw the influx of the early inhabitants of Palawan, mainly from Indo-China, South China, Malaya, and Thailand. The burial jars, ceramics, and the remains of the dead found in Palawan caves seem to indicate that these early settlers had well-developed belief systems and lifeways.
By the 16th century the Muslim traders from the surrounding areas had established close ties with the inhabitants of the islands, to the point that there were already Muslim villages at the shores of Palawan Island. As trade relations expanded, facets of Muslim cultural and political life were imbibed by the local inhabitants. Soon after, and due to their political superiority the Muslims of Borneo and Mindanao exercised authority over the inhabitants of Palawan. Thus, the people of Cuyo gave the tribute to the Muslims of the Borneo, a custom that persisted until 1588. During this time, the Muslims were also collecting tribute from the Calamianes and were preparing to attack the island of Busuanga.
Palawan’s first contact with Spain was when the remnants of Magellan’s expedition, including Pigafetta, arrived in 1521 at the main island which they called Pulaoan. They also explored the islands of Busuanga and Cuyo. Fr Luis de Jesus noted that the inhabitants of Cuyo Island had Chinese blood which he said explained their industriousness and shrewdness in trade. De Jesus described the islands as abundant in rice, pearls, fish, exotic fruits, forest products and wildlife.
The earliest attempt to assert Spanish authority over the islands came in 1570 when Martin de Goiti arrived at Cuyo Island and collected tribute worth 200 taels. By 1582, Cuyo with population of 800, was placed under the encomendero of Panay who was under the jurisdiction of Iloilo. Meanwhile, the Calamianes and Paragua (Spanish name for Palawan island) were placed under the jurisdiction of the alcalde mayor of Mindoro. By 1591 Cuyo and Calamianes became separate encomiendas. Spanish governance of the islands during this period was limited to the collection of tribute, a fact deplored by the Spanish friars who pointed out that the people of Calamianes also paid tribute to the government in Borneo.
At the onset of the 17th century, the Spanish missionaries began to sow Catholicism in the islands. By 1622 a group of Recollects under the leadership of Fr Juan de Santo Tomas were assigned to Cuyo to plant the seeds of Catholicism. According to the reports of the Spanish priests, the Cuyunon accepted them warmly, except for the native priests and priestesses who considered the foreign priests as threats to their privileged positions. The friars immediately implemented the policy of reduccion, gathering the inhabitants in one settlement whose nucleus was the church. After several months of assiduous evangelization, the Recollects baptized around a thousand natives. They then implemented the same policies in the island of Agutaya. In 1623 they established relations with the inhabitants of Paragua but found them resistant to Catholicism, as Muslim influence in the island was dominant. To offset this, the Spanish government sent two companies fortified with authority to guard the newly founded town and newly built fort in Paragua. So successful were the Recollects that by 1850, there were already 2,000 Catholic families in Cuyo alone.
By 1659, however, and due to lack of funds, the friars were forced to abandon the islands, with the exception of Cuyo and Agutaya. The Vacuum left by the friars was immediately exploited bye the Chinese pirate Cheng Cheng Kung, who demanded that the islands be placed under his rule. To counteract the Chinese presence, the local leaders of the islands requested the national colonial government to facilitate the return of Spanish missionaries, preferably the Recollects. By 1715 the Spanish rule was established once more, as proved bye the increase of “Christian souls” to 18,600. Aside from evangelization, the friars also undertook administrative work in the islands, particular training the natives of “indios” to become local leaders.
Meanwhile, the growing Spanish influence over the islands was challenged bye the Muslims who asserted their presence bye continuous attacks on these territories which they perceived as their own. Because Palawan was located between Christianized Luzon and Islamized Minadanao, the Palawan island group became the battleground of the struggle between the cross and the crescent.
In 1602 a group of Muslim ships from Borneo raided Cuyo and its neighboring islands, capturing in the process over 700 people. Within the same year, the Calamianes were also attacked. In 1603 the Maguindanao took more people captive and collected tribute from the localities. In 1632 Fr Juan de San Jose of Cuyo was captured and released only after tow years and in exchange for a P2,000 ransom. Again, in the summer of 1636, a Muslim captain named Tagal under Sultan Kudarat looted the churches in Cuyo and Calamianes. In Cuyo, on 20 Jun 1636, Tagal’s forces captured the natives who were unable to flee, burned the town, and killed three friars. More Spanish priests were killed in subsequent attacks bye different groups of Muslims. By 1646 the Muslim leaders of Jolo, Guimbahanon, and Borneo conspired to launch joint attacks against the vulnerable Spanish-dominated islands.
To protect themselves, the Recolllect missionaries and the christianized natives built fortifications and garrisons. In 1638 Fr Juan de San Severo led the building of fortresses which protected the churches in Cuyo, Agutaya, and Culion. To stop the Muslim attacks, the Spaniards applied dilatory tactics and diplomatic double dealing, negotiating with Borneo while revitalizing and building their own military capabilities. The diplomatic efforts resulted in the acquisition of the whole island of Paragua, which was given to Spain bye Borneo in 1705.
As a matter of policy, more fortresses were built in the Christian-dominated towns of the islands, a timely decision indeed as the Muslims renewed their attacks during the 1720s. The Muslims attacked Cuyo in 1722, but they failed to overrun the fortress and defeat the combative natives. Bye the 1730s the Muslims stepped up their harassment and attacks on the fortresses in Culion, Paragua, Calatan, Malampaya, Dumaran, Linapacan, Taytay, and other bastions of Spanish rule. A this time, Cuyo’s ability to protect itself became evident, as the Cuyunon foiled another Muslim attempt to invade the island bye a fierce counterattack which defeated the Muslims and gained arms for the natives. During the 18th and the 19th centuries, Palawan was microcosm of the fragmented society that was the whole archipelago. The natives of the province were divided: some, like the Molbog and Jama Mapun were under the jurisdiction of the Muslim sultanate of southern Philippines; many, like the Calamianon, Agutaynon, Cagayanon, And Cuyunon, became Christianized and fell under the Spanish government; while the rest, like the Batak, Tagbanua, and Palawan, continued their precolonial existence, practicing their ancient native religion.
In the early years of the 19th century, the resurgence of prehispanic native religion among the Cuyunon despite 200 years of Catholic indoctrination, greatly bothered Cuyo’s parish priest, Fr Pedro Gilbert de Santa Eulalia. The priest noted the still widespread worship of the souls of ancestors and the prevalence of rituals of the babaylan or babylana (native priest/priestess). This was cause for worry since the Cuyunon were considered as among the most Christianized in the islands.
Another phenomenon that upset the Spanish authorities was the fact that 2/3 of the Cuyunon still celebrated the feast honoring the Diwata ng Kagubatan/Virgen del Monte (Enchantress of the Mountain), periodically held atop Mt Caimana in Cuyo. The situation led the Spanish authorities to intensify their evangelization and governance efforts. Spain’s effort to achieve national control over the archipelago resulted in the organization of politico-military provinces in designated territories. During the 1840s Cuyo became the capital of the politico-military government of the Calamianes, which also administered Agutaya, Culion, Busuanga, Linapacan, and Coron. Meanwhile, Puerto Princesa became the capital of the politico-military government of Paragua in 1872. Soon the Muslims stopped their attacks. By 19 Nov 1886 the chieftains from Sulu and Jolo signed a treaty with Don Joaquin Ybanez of the Spanish armada, recognizing the Spanish authority over the entire Paragua.
In the 19th century, the Spanish government used Culion as a leper colony, and as penal colonies for both political and criminal offenders. As resistance against Spanish colonialism grew during the second half of the 19th century in Luzon and the Visayas, the territories of the present Palawan province became useful as dumping ground for “subversives” or oppositionists caught bye the government. During the late 1890s, 50 native soldiers of the Spanish guardia civil defied colonial authority and released some 235 deportees or political prisoners. However, the Spanish government suppressed the insurgency and eliminated its leaders.
When the Spanish authorities left after the defeat of Spanish colonial rule, the government of Emilio Aguinaldo designated Hermogenes Constantino as commissioner for Palawan. But Constantino and his men-supposedly revolutionaries from Luzon-abused their authority, exploited the people and used their positions for personal benefit. Upon the order of Baldomero Aguinaldo, Rufo Sandoval replaced the corrupt Constantino as the head of Calamianes and Paragua. Sandoval was warmly received in the islands-except in Cuyo, which became the bastion of American colonialism. The foremost pro-Americans in Cuyo were its local head Clemente Fernandez along with propertied and prominent personalities like Ricardo Fernandez, Jose Manuel Fernandez, Jose Manuel Rey, Alfonso Clemente Encarnacion and Abdon Diego. These men decided to welcome the American control over Cuyo even before the Americans arrived.
To secure the revolutionary government, Sandoval assigned Fabian B de Leon and Pedro Concepcion as representatives of the newly installed republic in Cuyo. Meanwhile, Sandoval had to track down the stubborn americanistas of the island. To control the island, travel to Panay was likewise restricted. However, de Leon and Concepcion were eventually outmanuevered by the local elite who scorned being ruled by the Tagalog leaders. The two were finally banished from Cuyo and failed to regain control of the Cuyunon.
On May 1901 Lt Day of the Department of Mindanao and Jolo sent an American ship to Cuyo. The Americans occupied and asserted their authority over Puerto Princesa on 29 May 1901. During the period of the Philippine-American War, the Cuyunon acquired the reputation of being the “most pronounced Americanistas in the archipelago.” Cuyo was inaugurated as a local government under the new colonial government, which, under the leadership of a pro-American army, reported that the Filipino revolutionaries were effectively neutralized. The Cuyunon gladly accepted the education offered by the new colonizers. According to official US reports, even the elderly Cuyunon scholars spoke and sang songs in English.
Depressed economic conditions in Cuyo bye the end of the 19th century necessitated immigration to the other islands, like Panay, to trade fish and harvest rice, Mindoro to cut sugercane, and Manila to engage in commerce. Palawan drew swidden farmers in the 1910s and 1920s and larger scale homesteaders in the 1930s and 1940s. Overpopulation and the encouraging accounts of out-migrants who returned to Cuyo in wartime induced an upsurge of out-migration in the immediate postwar years.
The Cuyonon are believed to be of Malay origin. They are of medium build with brown complexion, and with straight or curly hair. The Cuyonon speak the Cuyono dialect.
Cuyo is a tiny island municipality which lies in the southern part of Mindoro and between the northeastern part of the mainland and Palawan and Panay. It has a total land area of 4,309.62 hectares; 2,504.83 hectares cover the mainland and 1,804.79 hectares represent the island barangays.
In terms of political boundaries, the municipality is divided into 17 barangays with an area ranging from 36.19 to 738 hectares. Seven (7) or 11.20% of these are in the poblacion mainland, four (4) or 46.93% in the rural mainland and six (6) or 41.87% are island barangays.
Through a small place, the municipality has a total population of 15,294 with 7,624 or 49.85% registered female and 7,606 or 49.73% male (ratio of 100:100). The population growth rate of the island is low at 0.36% annually specially where travel is limited to water and air transport. The island has the highest concentration of population at 360 persons per square kilometer compared to the provincial density of 35 person per square kilometer. Both young and adult populations predominate the area with an average of 37.4% for 0-14 and 25-64 age level. More than half (55%) of the population belongs to the productive or working age group.
According to legends, Cuyo was first occupied by chief Matu-od, a brave Malay who landed at Tabunan, Suba on big bancas called sakayan.
Cuyo is the oldest town in Palawan with a culture of its own which has been preserved all these 350 years; and a dialect spoken by 43% of the estimated 300,000 Palaweños. Around its islets are rich fishing grounds. It is estimated that of about P200,000.00 worth of fish caught annually in Palawan, 50% comes from the waters around Cuyo Islands.
Cuyo is politically subdivided into 17 barangays.Balading, Bangcal, Cabigsing, Caburian, Caponayan, Catadman, Funda, Lagaorio, Lubid, Manamoc, Maringian, Lungsod, Pawa, San Carlos,Suba, Tenga-tenga, Tucadan.
RATAGNON (DATAGNON, LATAGNUN, LATAN, LACTAN, ARADIGI) [BTN] Very few speakers. Southern tip of western Mindoro. Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Western Malayo-Polynesian, Meso Philippine, Central Philippine, Bisayan, West, Kuyan. Dialects: RATAGNON, SANTA TERESA. Rapidly assimilating to Tagalog. Close to Cuyonon. Survey needed.
Palawan, which is the country’s largest province, has three historical forts. Fort Culion built in 1740, Fort Cuyo in 1680, and Fort Labo in 1719, were all constructed by the Augustinians to ward off Muslim Raiders.
“CUYONON”, also “CUYUNIN”, “CUYUNO” and “TAGA-CUYO”, refers to the people and culture of the occupants of Busuanga Island, Agutaya, and Cuyo, the main Island in a group of some thirty five islets in the middle of sulu sea, east of Palawan southwest of Panay, comprimising Busuanga are the towns of Busuanga in the west and Coron in the east. Cuyo mainland includes Magsaysay and Cuyo town, it is located 281.2 km northeast of Puerto Princesa city. The term is derived from Cuyo the etymology of which is undetermined. In 1990, a population of 15,175 (1990 Census Population by NSO) was spread over the 50-sqkm Cuyo Island, which is defined by a rocky terrain with numerous hills, three of these hills are Aguado in Igabas Kayamamis in Lucbuan and Bonbon in Rizal. The Cuyunon language is accentuated by the peppet sound (the stress combined with the terminal glottal stop) and contains monosyllabic word forms like. KUT “Touch something”, SUT “go into”, BUT “Suffocate” EL “get” BUK “Hair”, BAG “Loincloth.” There is neither a Cuyunon grammar nor dictionary, altough a few prayer books have been written in a vernacular.“Cuyonen or Cuyonon are mostly found in Cuyo Island, Palawan. They are engaged in swidden farming and fishing. The conversion of the people in Cuyo Island to Christianity has led to the merger of the animistic beliefs of the Cuyonen with the Christian elements to produce a folk Christianity which is the prevailing belief of the Cuyonon.
Cuyonon or (Cuyonen, Cuyono, Cuyunon, Cuyo, Kuyunon, Kuyonon) is the dialect and people, believed to be of Malay origin, of Cuyo Island, Palawan in the Philippines. The Cuyonon dialect is also spoken along the Palawan coast and it is similar to Ratagnon.
good information… thanks for sharing.
thanks for putting up info about our beautiful island of cuyo
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Thank you => Matamang Salamat. , dialic in cuyo palawan
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