Editors’ Note: This piece was originally posted as Part 1 of a 3-part series on the author’s FB page on 7 October 2025. It was subsequently published under his “Sisay Kita?” column in the Catanduanes Tribune, 8 October 2025 issue. This series coincides with the commemoration of the 80th founding anniversary of Catanduanes as a province on 26 October 2025. It is based on his recent study on Catanduanes during the first decade and a half under American rule, and on the Philippine Commission Reports, a set of thirteen volumes of documents pertaining to the conduct of the US colonial government in the Philippine Islands.
Before 1905, there was no Catanduanes, if by “Catanduanes” we mean a people with collective identity acting together to pursue a common aspiration for development. In short, there was yet no distinct political community then, which took shape only on April 19, 1905, when Catanduanes was made a subprovince upon the initiative of the American colonial government.
What was there before 1905 was merely a group of people marooned in an isolated island and somehow sharing a common way of life. Throughout the three centuries of Spanish control, Catanduanes was either a politico-military outpost or a part of Albay or Ambos Camarines provinces. In both cases, island-wide authority was exercised not by a local but by an outsider: a military Comandante in the former arrangement and a representative of the alcalde mayor (governor) of the mainland province involved in the latter. For example, Don Jose Lizaso, a Spanish mestizo from mainland Bikol, acted as representative of the governor of Albay in the 1800s. At the end of the Spanish rule in the island on September 18, 1898, Catanduanes was under a Spanish Comandante Don Emilio Apeztaquia.
Meanwhile, the municipalities were managed by gobernadorcillos (mayors) from the local petty elite, the principalia. When Aguinaldo established the revolutionary government in 1898, they organized local government units based practically on the Spanish system. When the Americans took possession of the island in January 24, 1900, an American military officer took charge of Catanduanes under a martial law regime by the new colonial masters.
Catanduanes under the Americans, 1900-1905
The military phase of the American regime lasted during the Philippine-American war waged in 1899-1901 between Aguinaldo’s revolutionary government and the invaders from across the Pacific. It ended with the capture of Aguinaldo on March 23, 1901. After pacification of most parts of the Philippines, the Americans launched their plan to shift to a civilian government through the Philippine Commission, a team that managed the affairs of the archipelago. In July 1901, William Howard Taft was installed as the first civilian American governor general.
Contrary to their initial promise to Aguinaldo that they will harbor no political interests in the Philippines, the Americans colonized the archipelago according to the policy of “Benevolent Assimilation” of then US president William McKinley. It was based on the assumption that the Filipinos were not yet ready for self-rule so that they needed “tutoring” into the democratic system of governance. And they may as well be “educated” into the American culture to eventually become fit to carry on in the American way by themselves. This whole scheme makes sense according to the overall pursuit of the US as an emerging world superpower. For that, presence in Asia will be favorable; hence their taking of the Philippines was none but an extension of the policy of establishing sphere of influence outside of US territory that started in late 19th century with South America.
In the very first Philippine Commission Report published in 1901, Catanduanes figured out in two aspects. First was a discussion as to which Bikol province, Albay or Camarines, would Catanduanes be subsumed as part of. Second was the establishment of schools under the public education program. For the latter, three American “Thomasite” teachers were dispatched to Catanduanes, one each in the municipality of Pandan, Bato and Virac. In the 1903 report, it appeared that Catanduanes was eventually given over to Albay. In his own annual report, the governor of Albay expressed concerns over the utter isolation of Catanduanes due to its insular geography. For such, he recommended: 1) the inclusion of Catanduanes in the cable telegraph network being established in the colony, and 2) the survey of Virac seaport in view of its importance to the abaca trade. In sum, the basic approach was to integrate Catanduanes into the colonial network for more efficiency in political control and the exploitation of its economic potentials.
Within the first three years of the American regime, three ports have been opened in Catanduanes, namely those in Pandan, Bato and Virac. As for the telegraph line, funds were immediately authorized such that work had been done forthwith to lay the cable across the sea through the facility of the cable ship Burnshire. From Malinao in Albay, the line crossed the Maqueda Channel to Calolbon and on to Virac, totaling some 58 miles of cable. The coming of the telegraph to Catanduanes was feted with a three-day celebration from June 30 to July 2, 1904. Surely, the occasion implied hugely to the idyllic life of the Catandunganons. It was such a novelty that represented a rare attention afforded their obscure island by the national colonial dispensation. One can only imagine the extravagant festivities the Catandunganons had put up with as can be gleaned from the written invitation distributed far and wide containing the following:
“All Catanduanes invites you to assist in the merrymaking at Virac in commemoration of our release from isolation with the outside world. The much-desired telegraph cable is now a reality. Its completion is to be celebrated on June 30 and July 1 and 2. Come and enjoy with us!”
But that wasn’t quite enough. Catanduanes still remained marginal in the priorities of the provincial administration. With a population of about 35,000, Catanduanes comprised about 18% of Albay province and generated one-sixth of the revenues. However, it was getting only a fraction of its use. It was not afforded the appropriate attention it deserved. By the governor’s own account, this was largely due to the difficulty of travel to the island. For most of the year, it can be reached only by a steamer from Legaspi; the treacherous monsoon was inhospitable to smaller vessels. To illustrate, mail can get through a complete run with the necessary reply in a span of up to three months. Inspections of municipalities by provincial agents for various reasons were always last to be done, if at all. Services were slow and tedious to come from the mainland. For example, vaccination trips were typically delayed.
Catanduanes as subprovince
In view of the challenges as regards extending the arm of governance to Catanduanes from the mainland, the granting of subprovincial status had been contemplated by the colonial authorities as early as 1903. On April 19, 1905, the Philippine Commission finally enacted Act No. 1331 creating the island of Catanduanes as a separate subprovince but still operating under Albay. As such, it was to be governed by a lieutenant governor to be appointed by the governor general, with 70% of the revenues to be retained in Catanduanes for its purposes. In short, a local government unit covering the entire island will exercise some autonomy with corresponding resources to use.
There was some interesting side story to this. The notice from Manila was received in Albay only on April 25. Soon, the governor with his team traveled to Catanduanes on the coast guard cutter “Rover” for the regular inspection and presumably to facilitate the transition. Unfortunately, a strong typhoon caught up with the boat on April 28 (quite out of season; climate change in 1905?) that blew it off on the Panganiban harbor. Luckily, the passengers were able to stagger to safety but the boat had to be rescued and towed to Manila for repairs. The team went on with its inspection tour and was able to see first-hand the extent of devastation on the northern towns. Some 2,000 houses were destroyed, including government buildings and churches, a few injured and some 200,000 pesos worth of crops were swept away. They, too, saw and were impressed by the resilience of the people who were able to rebuild their lives on their own initiative and industry.
Corollary with the grant of subprovince-hood, the authorities wanted to streamline the nine towns into just a few, for more efficient “lean and mean” management. The original nine towns – Virac, Calolbon, Bato, Viga, Payo, Bagamanoc, Pandan and Caramoran and Baras – were collapsed into just five: Virac, Bato, Calolbon, Viga and Pandan. Surely, it was met with resentment by the folk who had developed attachment to their traditional town of affiliation. But logistics of administration was of basic concern. According to the governor’s report, the people were peaceful and cooperative, but they had not much resources to go by. The “jails were empty” and so were the municipal treasuries. In fact, salaries of civil servants were chronically delayed, some reported to have not received pay for up to two years.
In the 1906 Commission report, mention of a lieutenant governor of Catanduanes had been made, but without giving a name. In the annual report of the War Department covering the year 1907, a listing of appointments indicated that Eustaquio Joson resigned as lieutenant governor on July 6, 1907, followed by an entry on the appointment of Felipe O. Usero to the position on July 31 of the same year. This belies currently existing lists of lieutenant governors of Catanduanes (such as those appearing in official list provided by the provincial government). Usero who used to be known as the first lieutenant governor, was actually second only to Joson. This aspect of Catanduanes history is yet to be determined with accuracy.
In the 1908 Philippine Commission documents, a full annual report by the lieutenant governor of Catanduanes appeared, submitted by Felipe O. Usero. It is a very interesting report. Reading through it, we get an intimate glimpse of Catanduanes during the first decade of the 20th century on the important socio-political and economic aspects. It provides a lot of insights as to our present situation in this 21st century. This matter will be tackled in the next two parts of this series.
Implications of subprovincehood
Meanwhile, back to the original premise of this article, that the grant of subprovince status marked the formation of Catanduanes as a distinct political community. Heretofore, Catanduanes was just a collection of municipalities that were directly governed from the mainland and with very little sense of unity. For one thing, even if they were in the same island, they were in relative isolation from each other since roads did not connect them for easy transport. It was a far cry from the current 360-degree circumferential accessibility. In the late 19th century, the Spanish adventurer Juan Alvarez Guerra took an entire week to do the 360 on difficult trails through the mountains. In the first decade of the 20th century, it was not much different. In the Historical Data Papers for Virac, it was reported that Eustaquio Joson who served as a lieutenant governor of the island professed as his goal to “unite Catanduanes into one compact whole.” He had in mind not so much an abstract sort of solidarity but a most practical one: his target was the building of roads connecting the towns. Going by the account of the Commission reports, the Virac-to-Bato road was still being built but at a slow pace, while that of Virac to Calolbon needed extensive upgrade to make it worthy for vehicular transport. The road from Pandan to Caramoran was being dreamed of. Going around was mostly on foot or horse-back on narrow trails.
In relative isolation with each other, the municipalities – or their mandated leadership – acted on their own, dealing directly with the authorities of Albay, who in turn had difficulty reaching out to them. With subprovincehood, the local petty elite of Catandunes were compelled to put their acts together. If anything, it occasioned a competition among their ranks as the top subprovincial positions were up for grabs. Thus was born the Catanduanes political community; for the first time an island-wide mandate was for the taking by locals and for the locals.
Going by the list of some nine lieutenant governors of Catanduanes in the course of the American period, it indicates an alternating grab between the north and the south divides of the island. The south included names such as Eustaquio Joson, Gabriel Torrecampo and Remigio Socito while the north had Felipe Usero, Felipe Almojuela and Francisco Perfecto. It was likely not a scheme of mutual accommodation, but of a rotating competition. These intramurals can be demonstrated in a case filed before the Supreme Court in 1924, in “People of the Philippine Islands vs. Eustaquio Joson, et al.” The defendants (Joson and Florencio Tacorda, both of Virac) were accused of violations of election laws during the 1922 local elections. Purportedly they had written on leaflets and posters the following: “Señores Electores: Guiromdoma nindo an magna casaquitan na tinitios ta. Barato an bandala huli que Vera: mahal an bagas huli qui Pedro Martinez.” It had allegedly attributed wrongly a directive of the Bureau of Agriculture to the deeds of the complainants (Jose Vera and Pedro Martinez, stalwarts from the north). The insinuation was that the defendants were trying to influence the voters against the complainants who were reelectionists.
Notwithstanding such dynamics, the thing was that an imagination of a Catandungnanon island-wide political entity was shaping, at least in the aspirations of the local elite. It was just one more step away from eventual independent provincehood. In due time it would seep into the popular imagination of the Catandunganons-at-large towards a collective pride and identity. This process, I have argued elsewhere, was significantly boosted during the Second World War where the Catandunganons, single-handedly by their own valor and courage, liberated their island from the grip of the Japanese in February 8, 1945. Still high with the euphoria of victory, they managed to secure independent provincehood just some eight months after, on October 26, 1945, now known as the Foundation Day of Catanduanes.
The header image features a stunning view of the Pacific Ocean from Binticayan, Baras, Catanduanes (credit: Frank Lopez, When in Manila blogpost, 2012)
About the author
RAMON FELIPE SARMIENTO, PhD is Associate Professor V at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences in CatSU. He was co-convenor of the 9th PASCHR International Conference held early this year. He is also an active cultural worker advocating Catandunganon heritage. He studied at the Catanduanes State College, Asian Social Institute and the University of the Philippines in Diliman.