Conquest and Reduction of Bislig

In the year 1597, the Spaniards penetrated the Province of Caraga "with great zeal, but they could remain in there because of the ferocity of the natives, and for the other casualties, which make those province less habitable. However, the natives are subdued by the conquistador when Governor Juan de Silva declared war against those natives in 1609.

By 1613, Bislig was conquered and reduced by Captain Juan Mendez Porras and accompanied, for the common consolation of the soldiers, by Father Fray Lorenzo de San Facundo and Fray Father Diego Santa Ana, together with the villages of Cateel and Baganga. The natives at first seemed hostile to the Spaniards but with friendly persuasion the "Cross and Sword" triumphed.

In the "Confirmacciones de Encomiends, 1616-1700" stated that in 1619, the District of Bislig and Cateel was given to Alferez Juan de Las Mariñas as his encomienda (land grant arrangement), where the encomendero could "tax the areas they settle - that they assumed the responsibility for the natives, but in practice it was outrageously abusive." The natives were "treated worse than slaves," some dying "under the lash." the natives were compelled to pay a certain amount in taxes in goods or gold and to require certain labor services to rendered by the inhabitants.

Some in 1655, Bislig became encomienda of Sergeant Juan Camacho dela Peña and it has two parish priest and has three hundred tribute payers with the following station: Hinatuan, Cateel, and Banganga.

Bislig: its Origin

Bislig derived its name from the word “bizlin”, a kind of gold, “which is worth two pesos a tael. The weight of a tael is one and one-eight ounces” in the 16th century, which the natives used for trade and barter. Prior to the coming of Spaniards, this terminology was understood in Luzon and in Mindanao. In the report of the Administrator of Royal Properties Andres Mirandaola dated September 8, 1573 sent to King Phillip of Spain that “much gold found in the island of Mindanao, District of Butuan, Surigao …” It is believed that this kind of gold found in the rolling hills and mountains of the southernmost portion of Bislig and Agusan Province.

However historical records state that the name has been variously spelled by the Spanish chroniclers. Conquistador Miguel de Loarca, in his extreme exploratory survey trip of the archipelago, first mentioned and spelled it Beslin in his historical accounts “Relacion de los Yslas Filipinas” in 1582, as well as in the Confirmaciones de Encomienda (1616- 1700) which Bislig was under the encomienda of Alferez Juan delas Marianas in 1619. In the “Historia general de los religiosos descalzos del orden de San Agustin” of Fray Andres de San Nicolas in 1664 spelled it Bislin and also in the “Historia general… del Orden de San Agustin” of Fray Luis de Jesus in 1681. A Franciscan writer, Fray Juan de San Francisco de San Antonio spelled it Baslig in his “Cronicas” in 1738. Other Spanish chroniclers spelled it Bislic and Bisliq. [Blair & Robertsons: Phil. Island 1493-1898]

In the first detailed map of the Philippines in 1749, published in “Historia de la Provincia de Philipinas” by a Jesuit, Father Pedro Murillo Velarde spelled it Bislig, as did in the “Historia General …” of Fray Pedro San Francisco de Assis in 1768 and in the “Mapa dela Provincia de Caraga” by Francisco Alegre in 1751. A complete statistical data of District of Caraga compiled in 1750 spelled as Bislig, and also in the document titled “Provincia de San Nicolas de Tolentino de Agustinos descalzos dela Congregacion de España y Indias” in 1879.

From the time on, it is known and spelled as Bislig, hence, Bislig become the standard spelling up to the present that this place has metamorphose to become one of the charter cities of the Philippines – Bislig City .