Alabat, Philippines

History

The first inhabitants of the town were the indigenous Inagta Alabat people who are Negritos, the earliest settlers in the Philippines. The indigenous people spoke the Inagta Alabat language, one of the most endangered languages in the world.

During the Spanish colonial period, Alabat was inhabited by the family of Caparros because of its safe landing shore and overflowing natural resources. Other immigrants from Gumaca came pouring in upon hearing the suitability of this place from human habitation. They named the place "Camagong". Perhaps this name was taken from trees (Diospyros blancoi) which bore edible fruits called Camagong or Mabulo which grow abundantly in Camagong Mountain, the highest mountain in Alabat Island.

It was said that Rev. Father Jesus, in charge of the parish of Gumaca possessed a telescope. Almost every time he looked through his telescope to see whether Moro Vintas were coming. He reached out a focus on the sandy shore of Ilangin, the present sitio of the barrio of Gordon. It came to his mind that an Ermita should be built in that place. So he summoned the leaders of the settlers to congregate and encouraged them to settle at Ilangin in order to make a visita and build an Ermita in the year 1882.

From the History section of Alabat, Quezon on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.