Camiguin Province, Philippines Genealogy

Asia Philippines  Camiguin Province

Guide to  ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Camiguin Province, Philippines

History
The name Camiguin is derived from the native word “Kamagong”, a species of the ebony tree.

explorers Ferdinand Magellan and Miguel Lopez de Legaspi landed in Camiguin in 1521 and 1565, respectively. The first Spanish settlement was established in 1598 in what is now Guinsiliban. Guinsiliban which comes from the old Kinamiguin word “Ginsil-ipan” which means “to look out for pirates from a watchtower” has an old Spanish watchtower where the Camiguinons kept watch for Moro pirates.

The first major Spanish settlement established in 1679 was called Katagman or Katadman (known as Catarman). The settlement grew and prospered but was destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vulcan in 1871. The former location is what is now Barangay Bonbon of Catarman

Sagay, located south of Catarman, was formally established as a town in 1848. The word Sagay is derived from the name of poisonous fruit tree that grow in the area. Mambajao became a town in 1855. The name was coined from the Visayan terms “mamahaw”, meaning to usher breakfast, and “bajao”, which is leftover boiled rice. In the early 1900s, Mambajao prospered to become the busiest port in Northern Mindanao. Mahinog was established as a municipality in 1860. The name Mahinog comes from a Visaya word meaning “to ripen” or “to become ripe”. Although Guinsiliban was the oldest settlement in the island, it was only in 1950 when it became a municipality. Mahinog was formerly governed by Mambajao while Guinsiliban was formally governed from Sagay.

In 1901, in the middle of the Philippine-American War, American soldiers landed in Camiguin to assume political control over the island. A group of Camiguinons, armed with bolos and spears, led by Valero Camaro, fought them in a short battle in Catarman. Valero Camaro was killed by a bullet on the forehead and became one of the Camiguin patriots of the early independence movement.

On June 18, 1942, the Japanese Imperial Army landed in Camiguin and set up a government in Mambajao. They gutted central Mambajao in reprisal to guerrilla activities in the area. The remains of some of these buildings still exist today.

On July 4, 1946, the Philippines gained independence from the US. Camiguin was then part of Misamis Oriental. In 1958, it became a sub-province and was made into a separate province on June 18, 1966, and formally inaugurated in 1968.

Cemeteries

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Family History Library

 * FHL Camiguin Province Results


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 * Philippines Genealogy


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Philppine Statistics

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Researching Filipino Ancestors

 * Philippines, Civil Registration, Spanish Period (FamilySearch Historical Records)


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 * [Philippines, Civil Registration (Archives Division) (FamilySearch Historical Records)]


 * Philippines Births and Baptisms (FamilySearch Historical Records)


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 * Philippines Church Records


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 * National Archives Government Website


 * Catalog of Filipino Names


 * Civil Registration


 * Parish Registers - Family History before 1837


 * BYU Education Research Phillippines


 * Philippines, Civil Registration (Archives Division), 1902-1945


 * Filipino Ancestors


 * Obits Philippines freepages


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 * Surnames, etc


 * Resources for genealogy in the Philippines


 * PHILIPPINES-L Archives


 * Philippines » Birth, Marriage, Death


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 * Bona's Philippine Genealogy Site


 * Philippine Army and Guerrilla Records

Vital Statistics

 * Vital Statistics Special Release