University of the Philippines Diliman | Department of Geography

Ang Pagpangayaw sa Dutang Ginsaad: Mapping the Historical Narrative of the Migration and Settlement of the Ilonggos in Tacurong, Cotabato (Sultan Kudarat Province), 1930-1960s A partial fulfilment of the requirements for Geography 292: Map-Making Traditions and Counter Cartography

Bernardo M. Arellano III | 2002-14459 MS Geography 5/16/2016

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ANG SINUGDAN: INTRODUCTION

Ang Pagpangayaw sa Dutang Ginsaad: Mapping the Narrative of the Migration and

Settlement of the Ilonggos in Tacurong, Cotabato (Sultan Kudarat Province), 1930-1960s

discusses the migration of the Ilonggos in Mindanao, particularly in the city of Tacurong in

modern day Sultan Kudarat Province.

In the 1950’s all the way towards the 1970’s, there was a massive migration of Ilonggos going

to Mindanao. Most of them were attracted due to the flow of information coming from the “Land

of Promise” in which they believed that they can avail any jobs and lands in a vastly untapped

land. This has changed the social, economic, political, and demographic profile of Mindanao and

marked events that would shape Philippine history.

Triggered by social unrest, overcrowding problems, protectionist policies, economic interests

and assimilation by the American colonial government, land settlements were opened to the

Kristyano Filipino settlers of Luzon and the Visayas. It therefore, initiated government-

sponsored programs of resettlement in Mindanao. However, that proved to be unattractive to

early prospectors. Efforts were improved later by the Commonwealth Era, where good number

of Ilonggos went there first.

Iloilo, the Visayan city and province were the Ilonggos are from, was already experiencing

after the sugar industry shifted to neighboring Negros Occidental. The slow recovery after World

War II due to endless politics, peace and order situation, and lack of job opportunities, has also

affected this once important hub in the Visayas. These pushed the Ilonggos to move south as

they were attracted to the propaganda of the new Philippine government to develop and people

the once frontier island of Mindanao.

Majority of the Kristyano Filipino migrants were not involved in the government-sponsored

programs but because of the propaganda of the “Land of Promise.” The free and continuous flow

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of information from the early settlers in Mindanao has encouraged massive migration starting

from the 1950’s all the way to the 1970’s.

The movement of the people from the Visayas is an interesting topic. Their journey and

settlement through their experiences provides vast information of perspectives, of history, and

culture. Their stories give a description on spatial relations, the modes of movement, how the

environment affected the settlers, and in some ways affected the relations on other peoples in

the Mindanao.

Statement of the Problem

The study addresses the following questions:

How do we map the Ilonggo migration to Tacurong based on historical narratives and

oral history;

How did the Ilonggos migrate to Mindanao, specifically Tacurong City;

What were the routes and modes taken by the migrants;

How did it change the landscape as far as the city is concerned?

Scope and Limitation

There are Ilonggo migrants in the City of Tacurong, Province of Sultan Kudarat province,

which was then part of the greater Cotabato province after World War II. The study is limited to

migrant Ilonggo families of Barangay Poblacion, Barangay New Isabela and Barangay Buenaflor,

Tacurong City who stated themselves to have come to Tacurong in the period that was studied

(1950’s to late 1960’s), from the establishment of the town all the way through before the

Christian-Muslim tensions arose in Mindanao.

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Also, the scope included the City and Province of Iloilo where the informant’s family or

ancestors have originated.

Methodology

The following methods will be used:

Interview – data is based on oral narratives of informants based on a

questionnaire done in the study. The study has interviewed 20 respondents

coming from different socio-economic backgrounds, but is Ilonggos who have

migrated in Tacurong during the said particular period. This research method

utilized the following:

o Interview schedule – The researcher has prepared an interview

schedule that served as a guide for asking specific information

necessary for the study.

o Oral History - However, there is a natural tendency for historical

interviews to have a leeway from the structured questions, which in

turn may yield more information about the personal experiences of

the pangayaw. Oral History may consist of family or personal

experiences in their journey from the “Ilonggo Heartland” (Western

Visayas, particularly the provinces in Panay Island, Guimaras, and

Negros Occidental) to Central Mindanao.

Archival Research – secondary data is retrieved from government data,

and publications available. This method specifically utilized the following:

o Government Census Data in 1960 – the latest Census report that

featured a breakdown of ethno-linguistic migrants within Cotabato

Province.

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o American Insular and Commonwealth Reports – these

indicate progress reports of government programs, particularly of the

creation of colonies or establishing townships in Central Mindanao,

particularly of the original 12 agricultural colonies of Mindanao and

the National Land Settlement Administration, the precursor of the

Department of Agrarian Reform.

o Other Government Reports such as executive orders, local

oridnances, and archival government reports specifically from the

Department of Agrarian Reform, the successor of the settlement

offices that will be mentioned in the article.

o Related books and journals – Secondary sources such as

published books and journals related to the topic, specifically on

Mindanaoan socio-political environment, histories from the origin

and the destination, souvenir programs, and journal articles on

internal migration.

Satellite interpretation and mapping – data from the narrative will then

be interpreted through maps and satellite imagery.

Review of Related Literature

Nobutaka Suzuki made a study of Ilonggo Christian settlers in some towns in some towns of

South Cotabato which was made into an article in the book “Bisayan Anthropological Studies”

entitled “Self-Images of Pioneer Visayans in Mindanao”. Also, prior to this article he made a

thesis for his master study in the University of the Philippines Diliman which is titled

“Migration, Adaptation and Ethnic Relations: A Case Study of Ilonggo Christian Filipino

Migrants in South Cotabato”. Both of his works dealt with the Ilonggo migrants (locally known

as the “Pioneers”) who settled at the Province of South Cotabato (once part of the empire

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province of Cotabato, which South Cotabato along with Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato,

Sarangani and Maguindanao once belong) before the World War II, how they adapted to a new

environment and how was their relationship with the natives.

The article in a monograph by Paul D. Simkins and Frederick L. Wernstedt’s “Philippine

Migration: The Settlement of Digos-Padada Valley in Davao Province” mentioned possible

methodologies that were used in doing this study. The study’s timeframe was from the

foundation of the municipality of Tacurong in 1951 all the way through 1973 when its mother

province, Cotabato was divided into three separate provinces where Tacurong was incorporated

to the newly-formed province of Sultan Kudarat. During those times, there was a population

boom in Mindanao due to migration of people from Visayas and Luzon according to the study.

Sun Hee-Lee’s “Why do People Move” and Filipinas Foundation Incorporated’s

“Understanding Filipino Migrants” analyze internal migration in the Philippines which includes

possible causes of migration within the country.

Patricio Abinales’ book “Making Mindanao” deals with the foundation of two major regions

of Mindanao, Davao and Cotabato. The early days of the formation, the migration of Christian

settlers, the conflicts between the Muslims and Christians and the history of politics in the said

regions that influenced the present situation.

Outline of Study

A. Introduction

B. Study Area (s)

C. Demographic Profile of the Ilonggos

D. The State-Sponsored Colonization Programs from American Colonial Era to Post-

War Period

a. The original 7 agricultural colonies

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b. Commonwealth Era

c. Post-war period

E. Ang Pagpanakyon: The journey of the Ilonggos to Mindanao

F. Ang Pagistar: The Settlement And Adaptation of Ilonggos in Tacurong

G. Mapping through oral narratives of the pangayaw

H. Conclusion

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LUGAR: THE STUDY AREA

Physical Characteristics of the Study Area

The City of Tacurong can be found in the Province of Sultan Kudarat in the south-central

part of the island of Mindanao, southern Philippines. It belongs to the region called

Socscksargen or Central Mindanao. It has a geographic coordinates of 6°41’42.58” latitude and

124°40’29.82” longitude.1

The city is landlocked and bounded by the following municipalities: President Quirino in

the east, Mariano Marcos (also known as Lambayong) in the north and the capital town of

Isulan in the west. These three are parts of the Province of Sultan Kudarat while the southern

frontier is bordered with the municipality of Tantangan in the Province of South Cotabato.2

The city once covered an approximate forty-thousand hectares (40,000 has.) of land when

it was separated from the mother municipality of Buluan in 1951. However, the secession of

the town of Tantangan and President Quirino from Tacurong reduced its land area into fifteen

thousand three hundred forty hectares (15,340 has.) as of 1973.3

The topography of the city can be described as mostly flat terrain which composes of

eighty-four percent (84%) of the land area while the remaining part is composed of low hills

rising slowly in the southern part of the city. 4

1 City Government of Tacurong, Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat Province: Office of Planning and

Development, 2000.

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid.

4 Ibid.

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There are numerous streams that drain from the Roxas Mountain Range in the south

towards the Cotabato Basin to the north. The major body of water in the city is the Kapingkong

River which separates Tacurong City from the town of Isulan.

The climate can be described as a more or less even distribution of rainfall throughout the

year or class four type of climate.5

The Demographic Profile of the Study Area

The census of the population in the City of Tacurong as of year 2010 reached a total of

89,188 persons. The Poblacion (town proper) area is the biggest barangay in the city. Among

the municipalities in Sultan Kudarat province, Tacurong is the largest in terms of population

which shares 13.4% of the provincial population.6

However, the first recorded census of Tacurong, which was in February 15, 1960 stated

that there are about 27,695 people. (Only 15,051 people live in Tacurong if the barangays that

would make up the municipality of Tantangan, South Cotabato, would not be included in the

municipal census).7

The city is 48% urban while 51.98% is rural. This is because the city is the commercial

center of the province. 8

The majority of the population (about 53,780 persons or 70.37 percent of the total

population) claims that Hiligaynon is mother tongue. Most of them came from Iloilo’s north

and central areas and southern Negros Occidental. Secondly 11,838 or 15.49 percent have

5 Ibid.

6 Philippine National Statistics Office. Population of Provinces and Cities 2010. National Statistics Office: Manila, 2010.

7 Ibid.

8 City Government of Tacurong, Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat Province: Office of Planning and

Development, 2000.

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Ilocano as their mother tongue while the remaining 14.14 percent of the population are

distributed to the different categories such as Cebuano (4.33%), Maguindanao (3.69%),

Tagalog (3.61%) and others (2.51%).9

Most of “Tacurongnons” or “Tacurongeños” are Roman Catholics in religious

affiliation, with about 83.6% of the total population. Islam comes second with 5.18% while

other religious affiliations make 11% of the population.10

9 Ibid.

10 Ibid.

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MGA ILONGGO: A DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF THE

PANGAYAW

The Identity of the Ilonggo

Ilonggos are referring to an ethno-linguistic group living in the city and the

province of Iloilo in southern Panay Island located in the Visayan Archipelago. Sometimes

referred as Ilong-Ilongganon, they are the native speakers of Hiligaynon. Some people refer

Ilonggo for both the language and the people. For Loarca, they were called Yliqueynes.11 Yet

the “Ilonggo” is usually referring to the people and Hiligaynon to the language.

Majority of the Ilonggo population was and still be involved in farming or

agriculture, since the province itself was said to be one of the leading agricultural provinces

in the country and as of the 1970’s, agricultural land contributes to almost 30% of the total

land area of the province.12 Another significant sector of economy is the fisheries sector. The

seas that surround the island was said to be bountiful with marine resources. Other

industries that emerged in Iloilo was the piña and jusi industry, which gave the province its

prominence in the Philippines before the introduction of the sugar economy by mid 1800’s,

giving the infamous phrase referring to the Ilonggo heartland as “Ang kwarta didto, gina-

piko kag ginapala.” (Literally means: Money is being dug up and shoveled – An

interpretation of the bounty that was a result of the sugar economy).

Tradition has it that the Ilonggos are the descendants of the “Ten Bornean

Datus”. Blessed by the bounty of resources and climate, this said ethno-linguistic group has

said to have a racial characteristic that is “easy-going and tolerant”. They were said to have

developed liking of good things in life. Some say that Ilonggos themselves are hedonistic

11 Llamzon, Teodoro. The Ilonggos. Iloilo: Language, Culture and People. Iloilo City: University of the Philippines. 1980.

12 Regalado, Felix and Franco, Quintin. History of Panay. Iloilo City: Central Philippine University. 1973.

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since they celebrate feasts in a grand manner such as the fiesta of Jaro and Dinagyang and

other feasts in the provinces (Italics mine). With such bountiful resources that abound the

Ilonggo people, the Hiligaynon language, which is notable by its melodic and gentle manner

of speaking, might have been its result of such prosperity.13

Ang Pangayaw nga Ilonggo Tacurongeños/Tacurongnon: The

Ilonggo Migrants of Tacurong

If we are to speak in general terms, Ilonggo migrants were a mix of different

people, regardless of the social class, occupation, age or gender. They had one goal, to seek

for a better life away from the ruins of the old Queen City. Whether to have jobs, have land,

to become rich, to give their families a better life and opportunity or just for adventure, they

went out of Iloilo.

For the Ilonggo Tacurongnons, there are two significant peoples who went out of

Iloilo, one is the mangunguma or the farmer and the other is the manunudlo or the teachers

or educators. As manifested in the Cotabato 1952 Yearbook by Simeon Millan, there are

more teachers than any other professionals not just only in Tacurong, butt also for the rest of

Cotabato. The farmers on the other hand wanted to have their own land. Majority of those

farmer migrants were once tenants in Iloilo or had a small parcel of land such as Charito

Collado, vice mayor of Tacurong and a Lambunaonon (a native of Lambunao) in which her

family owned land yet was not contented with their economic situation.

Since Tacurong is landlocked, there were no pioneers in fisheries and

aquaculture. There were about a few medical practitioners in Tacurong at that time although

the island of Mindanao was being feared because of malaria epidemic.

13 Ibid.

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For the mangunguma, he or she usually brought a family or part of the family

(usually, with their ever-dependable carabao and other available farm implements) who

migrated to Tacurong. The patriarch or the father was usually the one who established the

family in the new surroundings of Mindanao. After securing the land, either through the

government, through bidding, bought to much earlier Christian migrant and “tam-an sa ma-

ilay saki” or “from point there to point here” system by Moros in which some accounts say

was the root of “land-grabbing” practices that the Christians had by using barter trade.

Based on the study conducted by the researcher, Tacurongnons merely do not

have a concept of the “Negrense” and “Ilonggo”. Despite coming from Negros Occidental, for

the locals, since they’re talking with the same mother tongue, Hiligaynon, they are still

Ilonggos. A vast majority of Tacurongnons are said to have come from the impoverished

northern coastline sections of Iloilo (e.g. Barotac Nuevo & Viejo, Anilao, Banate, Ajuy, etc.)

and the central interior of the province (e.g. Calinog, Passi, Lambunao) in which tenant

land-ownership was rampant. People who are said to hail from southern Negros Occidental

are also numerous in the city.

On the other hand, during the early 1950’s, the demand for educators in

Mindanao, especially the frontier provinces such as Cotabato, was high. Since Iloilo kept on

producing graduates who were later to be underemployed or unemployed in their

hometown, the graduates sought “greener pastures” of employment outside Panay and one

of it was Mindanao. Thus, one of the largest migrants from Iloilo was young and single

professionals, especially the educators or the manunudlo.

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In 1960, Ilonggos (regardless of their origins: Iloilo, Guimaras, or even Negros

Occidental) took up 10.38% of the total population of the province of Cotabato, about

28.26% of the total migrant population.14

14 Republic of the Philippines. Census of the Phiippines 1960 (Migration Statistics). Manila: Bureau of Census and Statistics. 1960.

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THE STATE-SPONSORED COLONIZATION OF

COTABATO: FROM AMERICAN INSULAR COLONIAL

ERA TO POST-WAR PERIOD

After the defeat of the Spaniards in 1898 against the American forces in the Spanish-

American War, The Philippines was ceded to the latter by the former on December 10,1898

for twenty million dollars ($20,000,000.00) in the Treaty of Paris, effectively transferring

the sovereignty to the United States of America without the Philippine government, led by

General Emilio Aguinaldo, knowing it. The defeat of the Filipino forces against the

Americans in Luzon and the Visayas was not considered complete without the colonization

of the southern island of Mindanao and its peripheries. The American forces were to silence

the armed struggle not only of Christianized or pagan Filipinos of Luzon and Visayas, but

also the Moros of Mindanao and Sulu.15

According to Domingo Non’s unpublished seminar paper: The Migration Pattern

in Cotabato 1913-1991 (March 1993), after the Americans took over the sovereignty of the

Philippines in 1898, there were plans of resettlement that were submitted to the Bureau of

Insular Affairs. The proposals were the following:16

1.) Resettlement of a thousand Texan farmers suggested by C.A. Muir.

2.) One hundred (100) colonies made of a thousand settlers or two hundred (200)

colonies made by a thousand settlers or twenty (20) colonies made of five thousand

settlers, as suggested by W.G. Douglas of Baltimore.

15 Agoncillo, Teodoro. History of the Filipino People. Manila: R.P. Garcia Publishing Co., 1990.

16 Non, Domingo. The Migration Pattern in Cotabato 1913-1991. Seminar Paper. Center for South East Asian Studies, Kyoto

University. 1993.

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3.) R. Macarthy of San Francisco suggested to the American presidents that the Greeks

or Italians were the ones to be resettled in Mindanao.

4.) Missionaries from Belgium were proposing to put up agricultural colonies in the

Tiruray territories of Cotabato.

Most interesting among the proposals was by Manuel L. Quezon himself. He

proposed that Mindanao be colonized by the Jews in which during those times, were being

persecuted by Hitler and his administration in Europe. This was to become a refuge of

10,000 German and Austrian Jews, particularly in the Bukidnon area. 17

Yet in 1902, the United States Congress gave power to the Philippine Government

to administer the public lands as according to the U.S. Public Act Number 235. The Congress

gave limitations to those who wanted to own lands. Every individual is entitled to have until

16 hectares of land while for corporations and associations, they can acquire land of until

1,024 hectares of land.18

Because of the pacification of Mindanao, with the creation of the Moro Province

in 1903 by General Leonard Wood, resettlement was made possible in order to stimulate

economic progress in the largely unexploited island of Mindanao. It was not until Governor

John Pershing assumed office of the Moro Province did the resettlement projects materialize

due to his vigorous campaign to disarm the Muslim militia in Jolo through the passage of the

Legislative Act Number 222 which provided the disarmament policy of the American

colonizers on the Filipinos. And by February 11, 1913 the Philippine Commission passed Act

17 Silva, R.D. Two Hills of the Same Land: The Truth Behind the Mindanao Problem. Mindanao-Sulu Critical Studies & Research

Group. 1979.

18 Pelzer, Karl. Pioneer Settlement in Asiatic Tropics. New York: American Geographic Society. 1948.

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Number 2254, mandated to establish agricultural colonies which will provide lands for the

people of “overcrowded” areas in the Philippines.19

The Governor General appointed a Board to create a plan for the creation of the

first agricultural colony which was in Cotabato, on March 10, 1913 by virtue of Executive

Order Number 29. Later, by the passage of Act No.2254, it mandated its objectives as

follows:

1.) To increase production of crops for large consumption;

2.) To distribute equally the population of the Philippine Islands;

3.) To cultivate unexploited lands;

4.) To give opportunity for the colonists to be landowners.20

Within the period of 1913-1917, there were seven agricultural colonies established within

the Cotabato region and another one in Lanao. Other colonies were established in Bohol and

Cagayan.21

19 Non, Domingo. The Migration Pattern in Cotabato 1913-1991. Seminar Paper. Center for South East Asian Studies, Kyoto

University. 1993.

20 Ibid.

21 Pelzer, Karl. Pioneer Settlement in Asiatic Tropics. New York: American Geographic Society. 1948.

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The seven Mindanao agricultural colonies were as follows:

Colonies Date of Establishent

Size of Area (hectares)

Pikit, Cotabato 1913 2720 has Silik, Cotabato 1913 2708 has Peidu-Pulangi, Cotabato 1913 1380 has Pagalungan, Cotabato 1913 4475 has Glan, Cotabato 1913 1272 has. Momungan, Lanao 1914 2344 has. Talitay, Cotabato 1917 1720 has.

Table 4.1. The Agricultural Colonies established in Mindanao by the Insular Government22

The settlers in the colonies were all grouped in townsites instead of farm lots and each

were given 800 to 900 square meters of lot in the townsite while another 8 to 16 hectares of

farm lot were given to them as well.

22 Ibid.

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The settlements were a mix of not only Christian but Mohammedan (Muslims). This is

to prove the harmonious living between the two ethnic groups who were seeing antagonism

with each other since the Spanish era.

The Government discontinued their policy in the establishment of agricultural

colonies and issuance of loans to the settlers who were not capable of paying the expenses by

December 1919 due to the following:

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1.) Because of lack of funds;23

2.) Settlers that were not knowledgeable in agriculture;

3.) The location of settlements were either isolated or ill-chosen;

4.) Lack of uniformity in supervision of the agricultural colonies, transportation;

5.) Lack or neglect of infrastructure projects especially irrigation and crops that failed

due to either drought or floods.24

Instead, they only allowed home seekers who can manage to fund themselves for the first

year in the agricultural colonies. This was carried by the Inter-island Migration Division of

the Bureau of Labor who qualifies for a prospective home seeker. They were to be

transported to places that were mostly uninhabited like Mindanao or Mindoro and after

that, the government will no longer have an obligation to the home seekers thereafter. These

people were to occupy the lots that were either abandoned or were never occupied by the

early settlers.25 This was the Homesteaders Program.26

By 1923 to 1925, due to inefficiency of funding the colonies and home seekers, Governor

Leonard Wood cut the appropriations for the said projects drastically. Also, due to lack of

infrastructure and slow subdivision of public lands and the Christian fear of Moros, it

created a sluggish movement of people to Mindanao. Also, the people who were not qualified

for the homeseekers program of the government, went on their own risk and expense to

23 United States Government in the Philippine Islands. Reports of the Governor General to the Secretary of War. Washington DC:

Government Printing Office: 1921.

24 Ibid.

25 Ibid,

26 Non, Domingo. The Migration Pattern in Cotabato 1913-1991. Seminar Paper. Center for South East Asian Studies, Kyoto

University. 1993.

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Mindanao and thus became either homesteaders, squatters, tenants or whatever opportunity

that the area offered for them.27

Another reason of encouraging rapid migration of Christian Filipinos to Mindanao then,

was because of the Japanese colony in Davao.28 Before World War II, Japan became

politically threatening in East Asia, and the Americans saw the Japanese plantations and

colony as a problem.29

By the time the Commonwealth Era was inaugurated in 1935, there were already

peasant unrests in the countryside, especially in Central Luzon as manifested by the Sakdal

uprising which demanded equal land distribution to the peasants, grievances over poverty

and land tenancy.30 About more than one-third (1/3) of the farmers in the 1939 census of the

Philippines indicated that there was a big proportion of tenant farmers.31

Another problem that beset the government was the overcrowding in Luzon and

the Visayas. In Luzon alone, there were about 70.4 persons per square kilometer while Cebu

manifested a very high density population level of 214.8 persons per square kilometer. In

Panay Island, the population density reached 112.3 persons per square kilometers as of

1939.32

On February 12, 1935, the Philippine Legislature passed the Quirino-Recto

Colonization Act or Legislative Act Number 4197 or much known as the Organic Charter of

27 Pelzer, Karl. Pioneer Settlement in Asiatic Tropics. New York: American Geographic Society. 1948.

28 Ibid.

29 Abinales, Patricio. Making Mindanao: Cotabato and Davao in the Formation of Philippine Nation State. Quezon City, Philippines:

Ateneo De Manila University Press. 2000.

30 Agoncillo, Teodoro. History of the Filipino People (8th ed). Quezon City. 1990.

31 Pelzer, Karl. Pioneer Settlement in Asiatic Tropics. New York: American Geographic Society. 1948.

32 Ibid.

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Land Settlement. Although it covered the whole archipelago, it gave emphasis to the island

of Mindanao.33

National Land Settlement Administration (NLSA)

By June 3,1939, the Commonwealth Act Number 441 or known as the National

Land Settlement Administration (NLSA) Act was enacted. The creation of the said

corporation of the Commonwealth government had the following objectives: 34

1.) To facilitate the acquisition, settlement and cultivation of lands whether acquired

from the Government or private parties;

2.) To afford the opportunity to own farms to tenant farmers and small farmers from

congested areas, and to trainees who have completed their prescribed military

training;

3.) To encourage migration to the sparsely populated areas, and facilitate the merger of

the different sections of the Philippines;

4.) To develop new money crops to take the place of the present export crops which may

suffer from the loss of preferences which they enjoy in the American market.

To qualify for the home seekers program of NLSA, one must be at least eighteen years of

age, married and capable of agricultural skills. A settler was entitled to have a home lot not

exceeding 1000 square meters and a farm lot worth 12 hectares which was later reduced to 6

hectares of land along the highway in May 1940.35

33 Silva, R.D. Two Hills of the Same Land: The Truth Behind the Mindanao Problem. Mindanao-Sulu Critical Studies & Research

Group. 1979

34 Commonwealth of the Philippines. Commonwealth Act No. 441. Manila, June 1939.

35 Pelzer, Karl. Pioneer Settlement in Asiatic Tropics. New York: American Geographic Society. 1948.

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According to Mrs. Gatumbato, a retired teacher in Tacurong City who was a resident of

one of the NLSA settlements in Koronadal Valley:

“We were given 12 hectares of land in Marbel…It was far and isolated. My mother cried to my father: Why do we have to move to the forest while we were living in Iloilo City! Another thing is that we must cultivate the land within three (3) years or else it will be given back to the government.”

As stated by Pelzer (1948), most of the migrants came from the Visayas, coming from the

provinces of Iloilo, Leyte, Cebu, Capiz and Bohol which made up to almost 70 percent of the

population of the settlements.36

NLSA Mindanao Reconnaissance Survey

Before the said corporation was established, the soon-to-be-administrator of the NLSA

General Paulino Santos and the survey party went to Mindanao in November 1938 to make a

reconnaissance survey of potential lands to be developed later. The party recommended the

sites of Koronadal Valley in the southern portion of Cotabato and Compostela-Monkayo

District of Davao. Yet the party preferred the former because of the topography of the valley

made road construction easier, most of the valley was covered with cogon grass that did not

require extensive clearing and because of its convenient location between Sarangani Bay and

Lake Buluan.37

Koronadal Valley Settlements

The NLSA opened three major settlements in the archipelago and two of them in

Mindanao. Under the leadership of General Santos, they established the settlements of

Lagao, Polomolok, Tupi and Marbel, all in the Koronadal Valley of the present-day South

Cotabato Province and Buayan (later as Dadiangas, then the City of General Santos).

36 Ibid.

37 Pelzer, Karl. Pioneer Settlement in Asiatic Tropics. New York: American Geographic Society. 1948.

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By the eve of World War II, there were about 2,315 settlers in the Koronadal

Valley alone, occupying 30,156 hectares. Another additional 1,207 settler-applicants went to

NLSA by February 1941, which gave an idea to seek new areas for resettlement which they

were eying on Allah Valley.38

During World War II, the migration to Mindanao virtually ceased due to the

destruction of inter-island shipping and unusable land transportation because of fuel

shortages.39

38 Ibid.

39 Simmkins, Paul and Werndsted, Frederick. Migration and Settlement of Mindanao. Journal of Asian Studies 25.: 83-103,

November 1965.

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Post-War Land Resettlement Programs of the Philippine

Government

Only 10 percent of the net Christian Filipino migration in Mindanao had been a

result of direct resettlement from the auspices of the national government through the

predecessors of the NLSA40:

1.) LASEDECO or Land Settlement Development Corporation – A GOCC

(Government-Owned Corporation) who took over the objectives of both NLSA and

RCPA or the Rice and Corn Production Administration by October 1950. This

corporation materialized through Executive Order Number 355 signed by former

President Elpidio Quirino. Only about 1,500 families were said to have been resettled

by the said agency, mostly in Lanao, Cotabato and Bukidnon. This said agency was

said to have continued the opening of Allah Valley settlements of southern Cotabato.

2.) NARRA or National Resettlement and Rehabilitation Administration –

this superceded the LASEDECO in 1954 through Republic Act Number 1160 signed

by President Ramon Magsaysay. It accommodated an estimated 69,000 individuals

and had given 500,000 acres of land.

3.) EDCOR or Economic Development Corporation – established in 1951 by then

Secretary of Defense Ramon Magsaysay, the program was to resettle the HUK rebels

to six settlement areas, four of which was in Mindanao: Arevalo EDCOR in Sapad,

Lanao del Norte; Genio EDCOR in Alamada, Cotabato; and Gallego and Barira

EDCOR farms in Buldon, Maguindanao.41

40 Simmkins, Paul and Werndsted, Frederick. Migration and Settlement of Mindanao. Journal of Asian Studies 25.: 83-103,

November 1965

41 Kadil, Ben. History of the Moro and Indigenous Peoples in Minsupala. Marawi City: Mindanao State University. 2002.

Page | 25

Undoubtedly a vast majority of the migrants were not involved in the

government-sponsored resettlement projects but because of the stimulus, due to the

propaganda that referred to Mindanao as the “Land of Promise” made in the minds of the

aspiring people, ventured out to the frontier provinces, never knowing the consequences or

what lies ahead of them. Most of them did not think about their fates after they have moved

to Mindanao.

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ANG PAGPANAKYON: THE JOURNEY OF THE

ILONGGOS TO TACURONG

Though this study started with a macro-perspective of state sponsored colonization of

Cotabato Province in Mindanao, the succeeding chapters focuses on how the Ilonggos moved

and settled in Tacurong. Most of the information was based on oral narratives from the

respondents, Ilonggos who moved to Tacurong, or once migrated there. It gives us a glimpse

of the landscape the migrants encountered during the time period, their initial relationship

with the original settlers of the land, the Moros, and how it they have adapted with their new

surroundings.

There were early movements of Ilonggos going to the frontier provinces of Mindanao

before World War II. The agricultural colonies sponsored by the Insular Government and

especially the opening of the Koronadal Valley settlements by the NLSA, proved attractive to

the Ilonggos.

In Iloilo, where 43.8 percent of the cultivated land as of 1939 was being farmed by the

tenants and having heard of “The Land of Promise”, where they can own their own land,

proved to be effective.42

After World War II, after suffering from the setbacks of a sluggish recovery from the

ruins of the global war, a continuing labor dispute that became as violent as the times of the

Mafia of Chicago, the flight of the entrepreneurs to other cities, unemployment and

insurgency problems, plagued the City and Province of Iloilo and there was a flight of

Ilonggos to seek greener pastures in the “Land of Promise”.

Most of the people who were interviewed during data gathering being conducted by the

researcher yielded the same result in regards of knowing the “Land of Promise.” Pioneer

42 Pelzer, Karl. Pioneer Settlement in Asiatic Tropics. New York: American Geographic Society. 1948.

Page | 27

Map 1 - An overview map of the migration of Ilonggos to Central Mindanao as of 1960

Ilonggo Tacuorongnon mostly have relatives that have settled earlier elsewhere in the

vicinity of Tacurong, most probably in the Koronadal Valley and Allah Valley settlements in

South Cotabato, the pangayaw were being invited to come to Mindanao through mail by

their relatives who earlier settled in Mindanao. The lure of better opportunities, ownership

of the land and a better life awaited those Ilonggos who were still in the hometown. Land of

Promise” was said to be propaganda of the Insular and the Commonwealth government to

encourage the Christianized Filipinos to move to Mindanao. As some of the informants told

the researcher that they either read about it in a published material such as a book.

Page | 28

The Journey to Mindanao

For most of the Ilonggo Tacurongnons, telling their tales of reaching Tacurong is like

listening or watching the Adventures of Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider. Most of the

respondents went through Cotabato City than Buayan (Dadiangas then later General Santos

City) taking inter-island ferries that usually made stop-over in Zamboanga. Usually, it took

them either two to three days to reach either Cotabato or Buluan.

An account by Cristina Arellano, an elementary school teacher in Tacurong Pilot School

in the 1950s said:

“Masakay pa kami sang barko nga mag-agi sa Zamboanga, dason diretso sa puerto sa Cotabato sa kilid sang suba sa una. Didto kami ma-tener sa Cotabato City anay mga pila

ka adlaw, dason malarga na kami pinaagi sang lancha.”

(We took a ferry that will pass by Zamboanga, then we head straight to Cotabato’s river wharf. We stay in Cotabato City for a few days then we head inland through wooden boats.)

The City of Cotabato was seen as a gateway and a hub of Central Mindanao back in the

day. Being the capital of once the largest province in the Philippines in terms of land area

(before it was broken down to modern day provinces of North Cotabato, South Cotabato,

Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, and Maguindanao), most of the business and government

transactions were done here. Being a port city, it was a transit point for inter-island and

riverine trade and travel. According to the respondents, if a person is in Cotabato City, he

can go virtually almost everywhere in Central Mindanao through the use of Rio Grande de

Mindanao / Pulangi River and its tributaries. It has served as a main highway connecting the

hub to its peripheral towns in the province.

Earlier in the 1950’s, Mindanao was obviously not prepared to accept migrants due to

lack of infrastructures as what manifested in the pre-World War II scenario. Roads were not

yet paved or even existed.

Page | 29

Map 2 - The Routes taken by Ilonggo Pangayaw

Some of the respondents, reaching this barrio of Buluan (Tacurong was once a barrio of

Buluan) was like having an adventure of a lifetime. According to the accounts of Rosario

Gatumbato, former teacher assigned to Tacurong, the only convenient way to go to Tacurong

was via a launch or lancha after docking in the ports, of either Cotabato River Wharf or

Polloc Harbor in Parang (Maguindanao). This was once the main mode of transportation in

Cotabato province before the roads were constructed. They traversed the mighty Suba

Pulangi or Rio Grande de Mindanao and pass through Liguasan Marsh. Usually it took them

days to reach the mother municipality of Buluan which was along one of the estuaries of

Pulangi. After which, a 15 kilometer muddy trail, traversed by caro, carroza or big trucks or

even by foot that would take them the whole day before reaching the once isolated barrio of

Page | 30

Tacurong. Well, this was one of the several ways that the pioneers and the succeeding waves

went.

“Wala pa sing maayo nga dalanon pakadto Tacuorng ukon bisan diin sa probinsya sang Cotabato. Kinahanglan namon magbyahe pinaagi sa lancha kag mag-agi sa suba

(Rio Grande de Mindanao/Pulangi River) pakadto di. Mga tatlo ka adlaw ang biyahe namon sa una. Pag-abot namon sa banwa sang Buluan, masakay naman kami sang

karosa, sa malutak nga dalan pakadto sa Tacurong. Halos is aka adlaw ina nga biyahe.”

(“There wasn’t any good road network going to Tacurong or wherever in the Province of Cotabato back then. We need to travel by wooden boats through the river [referring to Rio

Grande de Mindanao/Pulangi River] heading here. It took us three days. When we reach the town of Buluan, we then took a ride on a carriage to Tacurong which takes almost the whole

day.”)

Another account by Vic Cañoso, a former elementary school teacher told the researcher

about her experience going to Tacurong:

“Nanaog kami sa Cotabato, dason nagsakay kami sang bus nga ga-agi sa Dulawan..Ga-overnight kami kis-a sa dalan kay budlay ang dalan…kay madalum ang

lutak…ma-stuck-up kami sa lutak.”

(“We arrived at Cotabato [city port] then rode a bus [to Tacurong] that passes by Dulawan. Sometimes we stayed overnight along the way because the road was difficult to

traverse because the mud was so deep. We’d stuck up in the mud [bus]”).

They rode a bus from Cotabato that usually took a day to travel. Another route that the

migrants used was the Iloilo to Dadiangas (General Santos City) route in which they passed

by Marbel (Koronadal City), a predominantly-Ilonggo town in the Koronadal Valley

settlements. There are also other accounts that stated going to Tacurong in many ways like

coming from Iligan to Cotabato as Elias Domider, a retired land surveyor, described his

journey.

“Didto kami nag-agi sa Iligan anay, dason nagbiyahe kami panaug pa-Cotabato dason sakay sang lancha pakadto diri sa Tacurong.”

(“We passed by Iligan, then we went to Cotabato. We rode a wooden boat heading

here.”).

Page | 31

Later, as the heavy influx of migrants continued to pour down in the “Land of Promise”,

roads and infrastructures were improved slowly but surely.

Page | 32

ANG PAGISTAR: THE SETTLEMENT AND ADAPTATION

OF ILONGGOS IN TACURONG

Having sought to seek greener pastures away from the sluggish progress and oftentimes

pigadong pangabuhi or hard life in their mother province, may it be in Panay Island or Negros

Occidental, they went on to move either north to Manila or south to Mindanao.

As indicated in the fourth chapter, there were already trends in migration coming out

from the old provinces in the Visayas, especially Cebu and Iloilo even as early as before World

War II, yet the largest diaspora of Ilonggos that were accounted of went to Cotabato, in search

for opportunities. With registered net migration stream of 79,649 persons, this was significant

for it changed the political and demographic landscape of Cotabato because of unrestricted

migration of Christians.43

The Coming of the Kristyano Settlers

Before World War II, Tacurong became a transitory point of the Oblates of Mary

Immaculate Missionaries (founders of the Notre Dame Eductional system in Mindanao and

Sulu) to other places in Cotabato.44 Yet the first Christian to have settled in Tacurong was a

certain Ilocano named Juan Palconi with his family. By February 1938, Simeon Layola, a

personnel of Bureau of Lands, built a hut to house the personnel of Survey Team 19-C of the

Bureau. This party was to subdivide the lands in the present town site for 5 to 10 hectare

lots. This was headed by Luis del Corro and his assistants.45 Before the lands were

subdivided, there were huts inhabited by local Muslims headed by a certain Datu Kamama

Baghul who had claimed property over the land that the survey party was trying to

43 Suzuki, Nobutaka. Self Images of Pioneer Visayans in Mindanao. Bisayan Knowledge Movement and Identity. Quezon City:

Raintree Trading and Publishing Inc. 2000. pp.295-318

44 Lazado, Mercedita. Notre Dame of Tacurong College: Its History, Growth and Development. Graduate Thesis. NDTC Tacurong

City, 2000.

45 Buenacose, Fruto. Tacurong. Cotabato 1952 Guidebook. Cotabato, 1952.pp278-285

Page | 33

subdivide. It came to a point that it went to the Court of First Instance where Baghul lost the

case since he cannot prove his property over the disputed lands and thus the Bureau of

Lands continued to subdivide it.46 Tacurong was part of the subdivision projects of the

Bureau of Lands for homesteads along with Kidapawan, Midsayap, Parang, Lower Malasila,

New Iloilo, Buayan (General Santos City) and Koronadal.47 With the subdivision of lands,

many Ilonggos and Negrenses flocked to Tacurong for application of homestead.

The Birth of a Community

Tacurong flourished after the war, thus the population grew. The Oblates of Mary

Immaculate established the Notre Dame School in Tacurong in 1950. There was more influx

of Ilonggos and Ilocanos in Tacurong that it reached the population of 30,000.48

Due to inconveniences like paying their taxes, receiving their salary, post their mail and

go to the market, Tacurong being part of the mother municipality of Buluan, which is 15

kilometers away, the Tacurongnons petitioned its separation from the mother province. On

February 2, 1951, the governor of the empire province of Cotabato, Datu Duma Sinsuat

visited Tacurong to hear the petitions of the residents. By August 3, 1951, former President

Elpidio Quirino approved the Executive Order 462, the creation of municipalities of

Tacurong and M’lang.49

Maanad: The Adaptation of the Ilonggo Migrants In Tacurong

The location of Tacurong in pre-World War II scenario was not occupied by

anyone except for a Christian settler, his family and a certain Moro datu. There was no

46 Morito Parcon. Narrative Accounts of Politics in Tacurong, Cotabato (1951-1968). Graduate thesis. Cebu: University of San Carlos,

1970.

47 Verato Villamarza. Disposition of Public Lands in Cotabato. Cotabato 1952 Guidebook. Cotabato. 1952.

48 Ibid.

49 Ibid.

Page | 34

indication that the place was a community of the indigenous peoples like the Moro and the

Lumad. Perhaps, after the subdividing of the location, the first ones who went here were

Ilonggos. After the war, due to the effect of attraction made by prospects, propaganda of

“Land of Promise” and letters of encouragement sent by the pioneers to the Ilonggo

heartland, there was a heavy influx of migrants specifically the Ilonggos.

Because of the lack of earlier cultures within the locale of Tacurong, the migrants

themselves created a culture which is dominated with Ilonggo aspects mixed with other

cultural aspects of other ethno-linguistic groups.

Acculturation was far more present to the migrant minority (refers to the

Ilocanos, Cebuanos and other ethno-linguistic groups that are fewer in population when it

comes to comparing with the Ilonggo populace of Tacurong) who adapted instead the

Hiligaynon language, foods that are being eaten or even the religious tradition.

“The Southern Frontier: Tacurong as the Pioneers See It”

Since the establishment of Tacurong, it was still far off from the towns of Visayas

and Luzon in terms of economic and social progress. Most of the migrants described

Tacurong as desolate, dusty, some portions were swampy, some portions were cogon grass

covered, some forested and the roads of the poblacion as dusty during dry season and very

muddy during wet season. Getting there would mean traversing one of the most difficult

roads in the country which was still largely unpaved in the 1950’s.

The original public market of Tacurong then, as what the respondents told the

researcher, was located in front of Tacurong Pilot School which is now the current location

of the City Hall grounds. It was an open-air market with products coming from different

locales surrounding Tacurong.

Page | 35

The old municipal hall of Tacurong was built of wood with concrete foundations.

Most of the houses then were made of nipa or payag/camalig spread out of the

townsite. In fact, the 1960 Philippine Census stated that the poblacion or town proper

district was classified as rural instead of urban.

Spartan, isolated and unattractive may it seemed to an ordinary city dweller, the

population of the town kept on growing as more and more migrants, especially the Ilonggos,

went on to search for jobs and land ownership.

Kasimanwa kag Paryente: Building up the Community

Upon settling down in Tacurong, most of the Ilonggos that had migrated have

either relatives or friends that had earlier settled there. For newcomers, especially teachers,

they stayed either in their relatives or fellow kasimanwa. Others who had either bought the

land or bid or acquired lands in the poblacion started out simply by constructing a lowly hut

made of nipa, coconut and sawali. Another trend in adaptation to the new environment was

that people of the same origin, may it be a barangay or a town, cluster themselves into one

community. Seen not just only in the poblacion of Tacurong where the Barotacnons

(referring to Barotac Nuevo) and Lambunaonons dominate a sector of the poblacion.

According to Tomasa Espacio, there was already a community of Barotacnons somewhere in

the present Malvar Street. Outside the poblacion, communities that turned into barangays

resembled what is said to be “Ilonggo colonies in the frontier land”. Places such as New Iloilo

and New Lambunao in what was part of Tacurong (now part of municipality of Tantangan,

South Cotabato) showed clustering trends between Ilonggo migrants. Also it was manifested

in the establishment of the barangays of New Isabela and New Passi in which the citizens of

the former came from Isabela, Negros Occidental and the latter from Passi, Iloilo and its

environs. Settling with other fellow kasimanwa or relatives gave the migrants a sense of

Page | 36

security, given a new environment that was perceived by many migrants as unknown to

them.

Most of the Ilonggo pangayaw were also encouraged by the relatives who went at

Mindanao earlier. This manifested the strong kinship ties of Ilonggo. As according to Mary

A. Gonzales, kinship’s range is quite extensive that even the fourth degree relatives are still

considered a part of the kin.50

Manuel Padilla, who moved in Mindanao in 1967, the current city assessor of

Tacurong and a native of Passi, Iloilo described:

“Ginhagad ako sang manghod ko na makadto diri…Nauna na siya sa Tacurong kay damu amon paryente diri. Ari na mga katyahan ko, mga kapaduhaan ko...Nakdto man ko

diri kay me ara ko nga tyahon nga konsehal nga nagsulat sa akon na makadto sa Mindanao kay me ara nga trabaho nga ipahatag sa akon…Amo na ginpasulod nya ako sa

kapulisan.”

(“I was invited by my elder brother to go here…He went first here in Tacurong because we did a lot of family relatives here. Mt aunties and second cousins are

here…I also went here because my aunt, who was a councilor, wrote a letter to me that I should go to Mindanao because there is a job being offered to me. Then she helped me get in

to the police.”)

According to the City Health Office, Tacurong has no recorded epidemic of

malaria and whatsoever diseases that was common in other places in Mindanao.

Being so as the dominant ethno-linguistic group in terms of population, the

Ilonggos brought their language and culture in Tacurong at the same time, living

harmoniously with other ethno-linguistic groups such as the Ilocanos and Cebuanos and the

native Maguindanaoans, therefore creating a sort of hybrid culture in Tacurong with Ilonggo

culture dominating the other ethno-linguistic cultures.

50 Gonzales, Mary. The Ilonggo Kinship Sysrtem. Iloilo: Language, Culture and People. Iloilo City: University of the Philippines.

1980.

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ANG PAGMAPA SANG MGA ISTORYA: MAPPING THE

ORAL AND HISTORICAL NARRATIVES OF THE

ILONGGO MIGRANTS

Sébastien Caquard of Concordia University in his article, “Cartography I: Mapping

narrative cartography” mentioned the growth of interest between maps and narratives. The

article added that it has indicated the “importance of spatiality in the arts and the social

sciences.”51

Citing references, Caquard cited that cartographers have traditionally based their works

on oral histories and literatures.52

The case of the migration of Ilonggos based on their oral narratives brought us on how

they once moved through the plains and marshes of Cotabato. Their stories were full of

references on how the rivers look like, their experiences in entering unknown communities, how

transportation nodes were, and how their relationship to their surroundings created a new

community and culture. The lucid details of their stories and spaces, even in their advanced age,

may indicate the significance of the pangayaw’s travels to their new environment, and has

helped the researcher map their journey’s route with more detail.

The Crude, Traditional Method of Mapping the Route

During the initial research of this study back in 2000s, the researcher’s tools in mapping

the narrative of the pangayaw were just simple maps from Microsoft Encarta and some maps

produced locally by the local government units. From there, the method is to create a rough

draft of where the locals passed by based on information the maps provided. Though macro-

51 Caquard, Sebastien. Cartography I: Mapping narrative cartography. Progress in Human Geography. Sage Publications: 2011.

52 Ibid.

Page | 38

perspective, it was detailed enough to indicate the natural features such as Liguasan Marsh, Rio

Grande de Mindanao, and Lake Buluan.

The researcher used varying line sizes depicting how a particular route was used based

on the similarities of the respondents’ narratives. In this case, most of them passed by the

Cotabato City-Rio Grande de Mindanao route, to which it were indicated with a thick line. Other

lines less frequently mentioned were given a thinner line of route.

The map of the study back then wasn’t really of that “at international standards” with

geographical information system (GIS), but rather used what was available base map and have

placed layers of information. To be rather frank, the researcher back then did not have any idea

of what GIS was.

Another particular challenge in mapping the historic routes of the migrants was and still

is security and isolation. Some of the place names mentioned in the study and the oral narratives

such as Datu Piang, Peidu Pulangi, Liguasan Marsh, and others are inaccessible to “norma

public transportation.” These areas are “red alert zones” wherein the presence of armed conflict

between the government troops, Moro rebels, and sometimes familial skirmishes called ridu

happen.

The shifting pattern of Liguasan Marsh and the river is an added challenge for mapping

accurately the routes that were used.

However, with the advent of newer technology, the researcher can create a more accurate

map of movements over the course of the timeline.

Page | 39

ANG KATAPUSAN? CONCLUSION OF THE STUDY?

Migrations among human beings persisted through generations since ancient times. The

theory that made the human beings dominate the entire planet was to replenish the scarcity by

moving to another location in search for resources in order to survive. It was and still is an art of

survival.

Ernest Ravenstein described internal migration as rural to urban. A trend which is

prevalent among countries involved in the Industrial Revolution in the late 19th Century.

Brought about prospects of better wages in the industrial centers of Britain, the workers moved

from the rural north all the way to coal-producing and industrial centers of south Britain.

Although this is also applicable to agrarian countries with centralized primate cities (old cities,

usually capitals of nations) in which industry and commerce is concentrated like the migration

stream that and is still happening between the rural countryside towards Manila, this simply

does not fit in the picture frame of the Mindanao scenario as it was rural to rural and dominated

not by industry-seeking workers, but agrarian solutions to tenancy and uplifting the family from

pigadong pangabuhi or hardships of life.

Mindanao became the center of attention, since it was and still largely untapped and

seems to be a solution from the burgeoning agrarian problem and overcrowding in Luzon and

the Visayas. It was also another option that leads to put the once feared Moroland to the

Philippine map.

The traditional push and pull theory describes that the movement of the people was

because of the place of origin does have a reason of pushing the people away and the place of

destination had a policy of attracting the people. The old port city of Iloilo and the rest of the

province experienced a not so fast and good recovery from the damages of the war. Moreover,

factionalism between labor groups, peace and order situation, massive unemployment or

Page | 40

surplus of graduates, trade restrictions and dirty politics made things even worse for the

“Queen” and left decayed. The farmers had it enough of tenancy in Iloilo or even small plot of

land to which they were not contended since they thought that it would not uplift them in

poverty or improve their standard of living. Now, because of the highly publicized “Land of

Promise” which was Mindanao, people then had a reason to move out of Iloilo. For the young

educators whose demand was high in Cotabato, it seemed as this was the obvious choice since

employment to other countries was still a luxury or in its infancy.

Now, having asked what was the big deal about “The Land of Promise” or in Filipino as

“Lupang Pina/Pangako”, it became the moniker that Mindanao carried out as a banner to

attract settlers to move down south. This government propaganda became so strong after World

War II that there was a very heavy influx of Christian Filipinos to Mindanao that forever

changed the social, political, economic and demographic dominance of the island. This was an

attraction of policy made by the colonists which was later used by the Philippine Government

made to attract settlers in the frontier zones of Mindanao, specifically south-central and western

Mindanao in which the population was still small. The once dominant Moros and Lumads were

marginalized by the overwhelming reaction of the migrants to the said propaganda and Ilonggos

were one of them. Having a package that would promise them better agrarian livelihood, job

opportunities and an opportunity of owning land, this propaganda was proven effective. As

according to Simmkins and Wernstedt, only 10 percent of the total migrant population was

involved directly by the government resettlement programs. Before World War II, Pelzer

recorded that almost 70% of the pre-war settlements in Cotabato were Visayans, and so was

Northern Mindanao.

There was a chain migration in which goes something like this: A pioneer went to

Mindanao and started his life in Mindanao, now through the power of long-distance

communication such as postal mail or telegram, he tells his or her relatives that life was much

Page | 41

better in Mindanao than in Panay or Negros. Since most of the farmers aspire to have their own

land, having heard of 6 to 24 hectares of agricultural lands being given for free seemed

promising for a better life for his family. Security-wise, the Ilonggos were having second

thoughts on going to Mindanao because of the distance and the “potential of confronting with

the long-feared Moros. This was one of the reasons why there were only a trickling number of

migrants going to Cotabato before the War. Despite uncertainty not only of what lies beyond the

mountains of Zamboanga and Northern Mindanao, regarding their fates in land acquisition or

possible Moro interaction, they still went on. If there was so much pessimism that occurred in

Koronadal Valley settlements in southern Cotabato, then the tendency of the government’s

policy of attraction, even with the “Land of Promise” moniker, then the heavy influx of Christian

migrants in the 1950’s all the way towards the 1970’s would not occur.

Kinship was important in securing the “capital” for starting up their lives in Mindanao. A

new and possibly hostile environment like Mindanao would seem scary for the pangayaw since

he or she has no one who knew. In case the relatives were still unknown by the pangayaw, their

tendency was to settle within their kasimanwa’s reach or building up “little colonies of their

original hometowns in Panay or Negros”. This became a common trend in Cotabato where all

“new Visayan communities” emerged. Some named from the places that remind of their origin

(such as Aleosan in North Cotabato where majority of the people came from the three towns in

Iloilo that is made of Alimodian, Leon and San Miguel) and some communities took up either

the old native names of the places or corrupt name places like Tacurong from Talakudong. But

what was remarkable in Cotabato was use of “New” in communities or villages in which a certain

community of ethno-linguistic groups who hailed from the same towns, cities or villages in their

homeland. This was a common practice to Ilonggos who had named communities such as New

Dumangas (in Kiamba, Sarangani), New Antique, New Barbosa, New Bugasong, New

Page | 42

Calivo/Kalibo, New Culasi, New Janiuay, New Panay, New Pandan, New Passi or New Iloilo.

This is also not a monopoly of the Ilonggos since other ethno-linguistic groups do it so also.

The migratory pattern can be described in such macro point of view because of similar

trends that also happened in the post-war Cotabato and not just only of Tacurong. Same

adventures like taking up the lancha or being stuck in deep mud or traversing trails, where the

images that were seen by these pangayaw. Mindanao was not yet ready for the faint-hearted

since it was not only the land that was to be a hindrance, but also of the fear of the native

population that the pangayaw overcame, and diseases in which malaria was prevalent in other

areas of Mindanao. Such scenes were reminiscent to those old cowboy movies in which the

“pioneers” moved to the west side of America.

As mentioned earlier, Tacurong was only one of the many municipalities that emerged

from a certain Muslim-dominated town in Cotabato. Having formed a new colony, Ilonggos

(dominant group) created a culture reminiscent of their own hometown yet hybrid with other

ethno-linguistic groups, giving it a distinct culture which we might describe as the cosmopolitan

Mindanao. There is a mix of cultures which was synthesized with a dominant culture (in this

case, the Ilonggos), especially in language. The trend in Tacurong was that because of the

dominance of the Ilonggo pangayaw in almost all aspects of life (may it be in agriculture,

education or politics), the minority (Ilocanos, etc.) and the marginalized (Maguindanao

Muslims) acculturate with the Ilonggo majority.

To assess the lives of the pangayaw of Tacurong during the given timeframe, most of the

respondents do not have second thoughts of going back to Iloilo since they say that Tacurong

brings aplenty for them despite the initial hardships that they experienced before. When it

comes to quality of life for a person, it was relative. Although, most of the respondents thought

that it’s much better in Tacurong or Mindanao, some people went back to Iloilo which might

Page | 43

have been brought by discouraging scenarios such as land conflicts with the natives that was

being settled in a sacrifice of lives or seemingly hard life of the infant Tacurong or the fear of the

Muslims that weakened some pangayaw.

Mapping the oral narratives of the pangayaw gives us a glimpse on how Mindanao’s socio-

economic and geographical spaces have changed dramatically upon their arrival. It has given us

one perspective on the adventurism that the people took in pursuing their goals for a more

prosperous life. This simple method of mapping the narratives may also give us a clear picture in

understanding the complicated and at times turbulent relationships of the Kristyano Filipino

migrants vis-à-vis with the Moros, and the Lumad of Mindanao.

Migration to Mindanao was once one of the least researched topics in the Visayan studies

since it still continues on to this very day of typing. There are so many things that happened

later in the 1970’s that forever changed the destiny of Mindanao. It seemed to be one of the most

major human movements in Philippine history. Movement was primarily economic but it we can

all conclude that man’s nature to be insatiable is manifested with it.

The study of mapping the oral narratives of the people in Mindanao does not stop here, or

even on this. The researcher intentionally gave an open-ended question as this study is open for

development, of newer perspective, and has also suggested on to counter-map the migratory

patterns with how much of the original peoples were displaced in the ensuing migration. The

researcher hopes that this would be one of the “launch pads” in understanding the plight of the

island for so long has been misunderstood.

Page | 44

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