Camiguin
Camiguin is an island province of the Philippines in the southern part of the country and is located in the Bohol Sea .
geography
The island is 10 kilometers north of Mindanao , the southernmost island in the Philippines. From the north coast of Camiguin one can see the silhouette of the north-western island of Bohol , 54 kilometers away .
Camiguin's widest dimensions are 33 and 14 kilometers. The island runs around a 64.2 kilometer long ring road, which, with the exception of a 240 m long asphalt section, is concreted throughout. The construction of the road was supported by the Spanish government with 600 million pesos (around 10 million euros in 2005).
The island is populated by about 88,500 Camigueños on an area of 238.6 km². The island name is derived from the native word Kamagong, which is used to refer to a tree that belongs to the ebony family. Almost 10% of the area of Camiguins are under nature protection and form the 22.27 km² large protected area Timpoong and Hibok-hibok Natural Monument .
Administrative division
The province of Camiguin is part of Region 10 (Northern Mindanao) , is the second smallest province in the Philippines after Batanes and is divided into five municipalities ( English Municipalities , Filipino : Bayan ):
The capital city of Mambajao (pronounced Mambachau ) houses a little over 40% of the total population of Camiguins and is also the largest municipality in the province in terms of area. The old name is a corruption and comes from the habit of earlier sailing ship crews to have breakfast (pamahaw, pronounced "pamahau") at this point before returning to the islands of Mindanao or Bohol.
Language and population
The original inhabitants were Manobos from the Surigao area on the northeastern tip of Mindanao. A few residents around Sagay and Guinsiliban still speak the old tribal language Kinamiguing, but mainly Cebuano and Hiligaynon are spoken mixed with English.
In 1598 the first foreign Spanish settlers settled in Guinsiliban. These have now mixed with the local population.
Today Camiguin has around 88,500 inhabitants (2015 census). The island's population growth averaged 1.34% per year from 1990 to 2010, making it one of the lowest rates in the country.
history
Old Spanish documents say that Ferdinand Magellan landed on the island in 1521 and Miguel Lopez de Legaspi in 1565 . The first larger Spanish settlement emerged from 1679 in the northwest of the island under the name Katagman , from which the name of the city of Catarman, which is today further south, was derived later. The place was on the site of today's Barangays Bonbon, but was completely destroyed in 1871 when Mount Vulcan erupted. From that time only the remains of the thick stone walls of the old Spanish church Guiob and the ruins of the separately standing bell tower are left. The nearby cemetery of Catarman Viejo , the old Catarman, sank into the sea during earth movements in the course of the volcanic eruption and is known today as the sunken cemetery of Camiguin.
Mambajao, today's capital of the province, was named a city in 1855. At the beginning of the 20th century, the place developed into the most frequented port in Northern Mindanao and thus gained regional importance.
During the Spanish-American War , Camiguin was occupied by American troops in 1901. Later during the Second World War an occupation by the imperial Japanese army followed, which destroyed large parts of Mambajao. After the turmoil of war ended, the country gained independence on July 4, 1946 with the establishment of the Republic of the Philippines. The island was initially part of the Misamis Oriental Province until Camiguin became an independent province in 1968 with Mambajao as its capital.
At the beginning of the 1950s there were already about 69,000 inhabitants in Camiguin. After the massive eruption of the Mt. Hibok-Hibok volcano on December 4, 1951, an emigration from the island began, which finally reduced the population to around 34,000. Only shortly before the turn of the century was the previous population reached and finally exceeded.
Volcanoes
In an observatory of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) the activities of the seven islands volcanoes Mount Vulcan (last eruption in 1871), Mount Guinsiliban, Mount Tres Marias, Mount Uhay, Mount Mambajao (1,240 are in 396 meters above sea level, near the capital, Meters), the highest of all Mount Timpoong at 1580 meters, but above all the last active one, Mount Hibok-Hibok (1332 meters), whose main crater is about 5 kilometers away. Its name is onomatopoeic and has to do with the noise that a boiling lava makes : "hi ... bok, hi ... bok ..." . In addition to the registration of data from the seismological network, monitoring includes changes in gas and steam leaks, temperature changes, and qualitative and quantitative chemical analyzes of lakes and hot springs.
The Hibok-Hibok had its strongest known active phase since records began from September 1948 to 1953. The small eruption in 1948 did not cause any damage, but sulfur mining in the crater was stopped. In 1949, 79 people died in a landslide that is believed to have been triggered by a more violent eruption. On the morning of December 4, 1951, the volcano erupted unexpectedly again, lava flowed down the slope and triggered landslides. Above all, a pyroclastic current at 800 ° C that shot towards Mambajao claimed numerous lives. The information on the number of fatalities fluctuates greatly: In December 1951, the Philippine President Elpidio Quirino named 206 dead and around 800 missing, who were presumably dead. According to the Camiguin Province government, 3,000 people died. According to scientific research, the number of deaths was 68. The eruptions devastated almost 19 km² of land. Many fled the island, whose population halved and only almost returned to its old level in 1995. A picture collection in the measuring station with newspaper clippings gives an idea of the disaster of that time. The small exhibition also contains some models of volcanic mechanisms.
13 kilometers west of Mambajao, in the northwest of the island, Mount Vulcan, a lava dome , drops steeply into the sea. There are a number of souvenir shops on the Ringstrasse, because this is where a way of the cross begins with 14 stations (white stone statuettes) up to the volcano , which was rebuilt with the eruption in 1871. The annual Easter procession (Panaad), 64 kilometers around the island, comes to an end here. A little further south are the Gui ob church ruins of the place then known as Cotta Bato, now known as Kotabato. It was destroyed by devastating earthquakes in the great eruption of Mt. Vulcan Daan in 1871, in which almost the entire 200 year old Spanish settlement was wiped out. The reports on the number of people killed are contradictory: on the one hand, a considerable number of victims is named, on the other hand, the residents - warned by previous earthquakes - are said to have fled, so that very few people died.
The nearby cemetery sank up to 6 meters deep in the sea during the accompanying earthquake; when the water is particularly low, tombstones should still be visible. In 1982 a cross was erected off the coast to mark the spot. You can get to the platform with boats hanging on ropes. In the second week of May each year there is a sea procession, during which the Camingueños scatter flowers on the sea and float candles for their buried ancestors and in memory of the many victims.
Events and sights
- The San Juan sa Hibok-Hibok celebration takes place on June 24th in honor of John the Baptist. Attractions are the water sports competitions and the Miss Hibok-Hibokan election.
- Many simple but worth seeing village festivals are celebrated especially in May.
- The Lanzones Festival, a kind of harvest festival, takes place in October .
- In addition to the volcanoes, which can be climbed with a guide, mountain bike tours through the interior of the island, diving and snorkeling, a visit to the many hot and cold springs and waterfalls are interesting for tourists.
- White Island is a few hundred meters off the northeast coast of Camiguin . This tiny island consists only of white sand and is completely free of vegetation.
- In the northwest of the island you can find the ruins of the old Spanish Guiob Church and not far from it the "sunken cemetery" of Camiguin.
tourism
The island is still little known for tourists. There are enough accommodations at different levels. For several years now, Camiguin has also become an insider tip for divers. Due to the poor transport connections, this branch of the economy is still very weak. For this reason, you can still dive in small groups undisturbed and encounter a great diversity of species such as the rare " black coral ". There are several resorts on the island , most of which also have a diving center attached. Very nice spots are "Old Volcano", "White Island" and the nearby underwater reserve "Mantigue Island".
traffic
Camiguin can be reached by sea and by plane. There are scheduled flights from Manila and Cebu City. Camiguin has three seaports in Balbagon, Benoni and Guinsiliban. The port of Benoni in the southeast is the most frequented. From here there are around ten ferry departures a day to Balingoan , which is the shortest connection between the mainland and Camiguin. There is also a daily fast ferry from Benoni to Cagayan de Oro and a catamaran to Jagna in Bohol three times a week . Other ferries connect Benoni with Cagayan de Oro and Guinsiliban with Balingoan and Balbagon with Jagna and Cebu City . There is a small regional airport to the northwest of Mambajao. The nearest major airports are in Butuan and Cagayan de Oro, and the international airports in Cebu City and Davao City .
Public transport on Camiguin takes place mainly with minibuses and tricycles . The minibuses, mostly multicabs , can be rented for individual trips with a driver, but also run on fixed routes, for example between Mambajao and Catarman. In addition, minibuses regularly run on the ring road around the island. These differ in "westbound" (west bound) and "eastbound" (east bound) vehicles.
economy
The islanders live mainly from fishing and agriculture. Rice and coconut cultivation play a role here, as does the Lanzone fruit . Lanzones (local name buahan, Lansium domesticum ) are small, spherical, light brown fruits that grow in clusters and carry seeds enclosed in segments in their transparent pulp. Due to their special aroma and strong sweetness, they are an export hit throughout the Philippines. Every year there is a four-day harvest thanksgiving celebration in the third week of October with the Lanzones Festival.
National and, for some years now, international tourism is playing an increasingly important role.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Department of Works and Highways: Camiguin ( Memento of the original dated August 6, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed on August 5, 2017
- ↑ a b Data from the 2015 census , accessed on August 5, 2017
- ↑ POPCOM (Commission on Population - an agency belonging to the national economic and development authority of the Philippines): Profil Camiguins ( Memento of the original from August 5, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed on August 5, 2017
- ↑ camiguin.gov.ph: Province ( Memento of the original from May 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed June 27, 2010
- ↑ a b c d e f camiguin.gov.ph: History ( Memento of the original from July 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed February 20, 2013).
- ^ Population and growth rates of the Philippen (PDF), accessed on August 5, 2017
- ↑ www.tourism.gov.ph: Camiguin (English), accessed on August 5, 2017
- ↑ volcanolive (English), accessed on May 20, 2012
- ↑ Philippines Disasters' Heavy Toll. In: The West Australian , December 17, 1951.
- ^ Entry in The Significant Volcanic Eruption Database of NOAA (accessed February 20, 2013).
- ^ Entry in The Significant Volcanic Eruption Database of NOAA (accessed on February 21, 2013).
- ↑ Ferry timetable Balingoan - Benoni (English), accessed on August 5, 2017
- ↑ Lanzones Festival 2017 (English), accessed on August 5, 2017
Coordinates: 9 ° 10 ' N , 124 ° 43' E