Baganga, Philippines

History

The Mandaya tribes hosted festive receptions for early Spanish explorers and received correspondingly glowing descriptions from those whose accounts made it back to Spain.

The Villalobos Expedition arrived in the eastern coast of Davao on February 2, 1543. Villalobos called the bay in Baganga a "beautiful bay" and named it Malaga, after a province in Spain. The crew treated those with scurvy, buried the dead, and did repairs in the bay, but found Baganga unsuitable for settlement, and continued their expedition.

Under Spanish rule, Baganga was organized as part of the Encomienda de Bislig together with Cateel, Caraga and Hina-tuan of Surigao under Sargent Mayor Juan Camacho dela Peña. It was a Christian village under the Diocese of Cebu. In 1894, Baganga, together with other settlements, had its first Spanish priest, Fr. Gilbert, a Jesuit.

A failed uprising occurred in Baganga in September 1898, during the Philippine independence revolution. In the Philippine–American War, an occupation army was ordered to go to Davao and Mati under Hunter Liggett, and was welcomed by both towns. Liggett arrived in Baganga on December 22, 1899. Liggett did not station any troops in Baganga as he found the town satisfactory.

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