Marinduque

The island was called Malindig in Tagalog and Malindog in Visayan languages. It was likely a constituent of the Kingdom of Luzon, due to the immediate Spanish claims to the island after the fall of Manila in May 1570.

It is possible that there were nobility who ruled Malindig since there are principalia or princely figures in Marinduque during Spanish rule.

From the Visayan name Malindog, Marinduque became the name of the island in Castilian.

In 1571, Governor-General Miguel López de Legaspi had entrusted (encomienda) Marinduque to Fr. Pedro de Herrera, the first Augustinian priest who introduced Christianity to Marinduqueños.

Marinduque was part of the province of Balayan (now Batangas) in the 16th century, and of Mindoro from the 17th to 19th century.

Antoine-Alfred Marche, a French naturalist, carried out an archaeological investigation in Marinduque from April to July 1881. An abundant yield of urns, vases, gold ornaments, skulls, and other ornaments were found. He brought these to France in 40 crates. Part of it is said to be housed at the Musée de l'Homme ("museum of man") in France. The finds also included an image of wooden polytheistic religious statues (anito) which at the time were already called pastores by Marinduqueños.

One of the artifacts found by Marche also found its way to the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. (Catalogue No. A127996-0, Department of Anthropology, NMNH, Smithsonian Institution). Fragile jarlets that were found were said to have travelled from China to Marinduque. Buried in a cave for centuries and excavated in the late 19th century, these were brought to Paris and one was then brought at the Smithsonian Institution museum.

Marinduque, governed through the province of Mindoro, was a constituent of the first Philippine Republic from January 1899 to April 1901 under Pres. Emilio Aguinaldo.

During the Philippine–American War, Marinduque was the first province where American invaders established concentration camps.[5] In the Battle of Pulang Lupa, under the direction of Colonel Maximo Abad, 250 Filipino soldiers defeated 54 American infantrymen.

Col. Abad after capturing the Americans later surrendered on 15 April 1901, upon orders from Pres. Aguinaldo and due to the capture of Gov. Martin Lardizabal and two other officials who were held hostage by the Americans in Fort Santiago.[6]^: 535

On 23 June 1902, by virtue of Act No. 423, the US-Philippine Commission annexed the islands of Mindoro (now two separate provinces) and Lubang (now part of Occidental Mindoro) to the province. Four months later, on the 10th of November, Marinduque was annexed to the province of Tayabas (now Quezon) by virtue of an Act No. 499.

On 21 February 1920, Act No. 2280 was passed by the Philippine Congress, reestablishing Marinduque as a separate province.[7]

According to Henry Otley Beyer, an American anthropologist, while many other accidental discoveries and finds have been recorded from time to time and European and Filipino scientists had casually explored a few burial caves and sites, no systematic work had been done anywhere else prior to these explorations. After Marche, the next important archaeological work was undertaken by Dr. Carl Gunthe in the Visayas Island Group in 1922.

In November 1935, Marinduque became a province of the Commonwealth of the Philippines under Pres. Manuel Quezon. The Philippine Commonwealth Army was stationed in the province; the general headquarters was active from 1935 to 1942.

In 1942, during the Second World War, Japanese Imperial forces landed in Marinduque.

In October 1943, Marinduque became a province of the Second Philippine Republic under Pres. Jose Laurel. The sovereign, however, was the Japanese emperor.

In 1945, combined American and Filipino troops liberated the province from Japanese forces, returning the province to the Commonwealth of the Philippines under Pres. Sergio Osmeña. In addition to the return of the Philippine Commonwealth Army, the Philippine Constabulary was also stationed in the province. These were active from 1945 to 1946.

Archaeological findings that help inform Marinduque's history are exhibited at the Marinduque Museum in Poblacion at Boac and in foreign museums. The artifacts are to be analysed to aid the historiography of the island and the province.

Marinduque has a Type III climate, having rainfall more or less evenly distributed throughout the year with no clear boundary between dry and wet seasons. The annual mean, maximum, and minimum temperatures were calculated at 27.0 °C (80.6 °F), 32.9 °C (91.2 °F) and 22.3 °C (72.1 °F) respectively. Humidity average is 78% year-round with an average annual rainfall totaling 2,034.6 mm (80.1 inches).[11]

Marinduque comprises 6 municipalities, further subdivided into 218 barangays. A double legislative districts encompasses all towns.[8]

Political map of Marinduque

Boac

The capital of the province. The most populous town in the province Boac remains the center of industry, culture, economy, and education. Most government and private offices are in the municipality of Boac. It also borders all five municipalities. Mogpog to the North, Santa Cruz to the Northeast, Torrijos to the East, Buenavista to the South, and Gasan to the Southwest. Boac is named after the Tagalog word, biak, which means divided, due to the Boac River dividing the town in the geographic north and south.

Gasan

The Cultural Nerve Center of the province. Dubbed as one of the cleanest and greenest municipalities in the Philippines, Gasan's land area covers a forest reserve in the eastern part. It is also the gateway to the island of Mindoro. Handicrafts and the famous Kalutang boasts from the town of Gasan. It was named after gasang-gasang, a local term for corals found in the municipality.

Buenavista

The smallest of the six municipalities. It was once part of the municipality of Gasan known as Sabang. It was named such because of the "good view" of the Tablas Strait and offshore islands.

Torrijos

Named after three purported origins; 1) from Gen. Torrijos, 2) from torrillos, referring to the cows which pastured in its vast plains, and 3) from torre y hijos, referring to the watchtower men guarding the parish. Torrijos is deemed to be the summer capital of the Province and known for locally-grown strawberries.

Santa Cruz

The largest of all the six municipalities in terms of land area and the second most populous town after Boac . It is considered as a secondary municipality after Boac (since it is the capital). Together with Boac, it is also a first-class municipality with established industries and commercial routines.

Mogpog

The Primary Gateway of the Province through the Balanacan Port. It is the original home of the Moriones Lenten Rites and Kangga Festiva. Mogpog was named after the Tagalog word, mag-aapog or kiln makers abundant in the municipality.

Marinduque is resided by various religious groups, with Catholics making up the greatest proportion with 70%. The Iglesia Filipina Independiente has 25% of the population and the rest belongs to the different denominations such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Iglesia ni Cristo, and various Mainline Protestant denominations which include Assemblies of God, Baptists, JIL, Methodists, Presbyterian, Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA), and the non-denominational Evangelical churches also known as Born-Again Christians. Muslims, Anitists, animists, and atheists are also present in the province.

The version of Tagalog spoken in Marinduque, known as the Marinduque Tagalog, has been described as "the root from which modern national forms of speech have sprung," where remnants of archaic Tagalog could be found, spoken in a lilting manner by its inhabitants. If this linguistic theory is accurate, Marinduque's Tagalog has contributed significantly to the development of the official Philippine national language.[16]

To this day, Marinduqueños speak an old variation of the Tagalog language that is very close to the way Tagalog was spoken before the Spanish colonization. According to language experts , the Tagalog dialects of Marinduque are the most divergent, especially the Eastern Marinduque dialect, perhaps due to the relative isolation from the Tagalogs of Luzon and also perhaps due to the influence of the Visayan and Bikol migrants.[17] Many educated Marinduqueños speak version of Tagalog during Spanish colonial era and with English terms, closer to modern Filipino or standard Tagalog, because of mass media and modern versions of Tagalog Bible, and retaining Visayan and Bikol influence.

Linguist Rosa Soberano's 1980 The Dialects of Marinduque Tagalog goes into great depth concerning the dialects spoken there. The following is a verb chart which outlines the conjugation of the Eastern Marinduque dialect of Tagalog:

Linguist Christopher Sundita observed that some of the affixes in Marinduque Tagalog, particularly "a-" and "ina-," are affixes used in Asi (Bantoanon), a Visaya language spoken in Romblon, just south of Marinduque. Marinduque Tagalog, like the Tagalog spoken over two centuries ago, had an additional verb category, the imperative, which was used for commands and requests (e.g., Matulog ka na - Go to sleep). Even then, the imperative and the infinitive were used side by side in expressing commands; but in standard Tagalog, apparently the infinitive became used exclusively. And in the Eastern Marinduque dialect, the imperative affixes are very much alive.[18]

The Moriones Festival is an annual festival, locally known as "Moryonan", celebrated in Marinduque from March to April. In Santa Cruz, Gasan, Boac, and Mogpog, a parade of people dressed as "Moryons" can be seen on the main road connecting the towns of the island. Boac and Santa Cruz, the biggest towns in the province, shows a reenactment in the evening of the actual event when Longinus, a blind soldier, punctures Jesus with his spear and blood droplets from the wound restores Longinus's sight.

Marinduque is home to the kalutang, a musical instrument made of two pieces of wood that produce different note ranges depending on its size. A band of 10 to 12 can create music with this instrument.[26] In 2011, the kalutang instrument was cited by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts as one of the intangible cultural heritage of the Philippines under the traditional craftsmanship category that the government may nominate in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.[27]