Marinduque

Description

Lenten Mecca Of Southern Tagalog Known as the smallest province in the Southern Tagalog region, Marinduque has the shape of a human heart floating on a clear blue sea. The island province is characterized by undulating hills, picturesque valleys, sheer seaside cliffs, interspersed with patches of flatland on different parts of the island. The soil is fertile but marked in certain spots by large stony areas, making wide continuous farming difficult. Deposits of iron, copper, and lead are found and mined in the province.

During the yearly Lenten season, a myriad of tourists, from the ardent devotee to a mere observer, flock to Marinduque to witness the very popular Moriones Festival. A biblical character in the person of the Roman centurion, Longinus, comes alive as the towns of Boac, Mogpog, and Gasan celebrate Moriones. It is a religious festival, which links the story of Longinus with Christ’s Passion and Death. It is celebrated during the observance of Holy Week, or the week before Easter, which also happens to be in the middle of the Philippine summer.

Geography

The heart-shaped island of Marinduque rests on the Sibuyan Sea and is located south of Manila between the Bondoc Peninsula at the southeastern portion of Luzon and Mindoro Island. It is bounded on the north-northeast by Quezon, south by the island of Romblon, west-southwest by Oriental Mindoro, and west by Batangas. The island province has an aggregate land area of 95,920 hectares, including four major islets and eight minor ones.

Political Subdivisions

Marinduque consists of the municipalities of Boac, Buenavista, Gasan, Mogpog, Sta. Cruz, and Torrijos.

Population

The population of the province totals about 217,000, as of the May 1, 2000 National Statistic Survey.

Languages/Dialects

The Marinduqueños speak a unique blend of Tagalog and Visayan dialects, with traces of Bicolano. The working population can read and speak Filipino and English.

Climate

Marinduque has two pronounced seasons: dry form December to May, and wet from June to October. The average monthly rainfall is highest in October, and lowest in April.

Economy

Marinduque is an agricultural province, primarily growing rice and coconuts. It is also a place for handicrafts that is now being exported to different parts of the world. Fishing is also an important part of the economy. Mining was once an important player in the economy until a mining accident (the Marcopper Mining Disaster) occurred, bringing the industry to a standstill on the island and causing countless amounts of damage to the people and the island.

The provincial government has just recently sued Marcopper's parent company, Placer Dome, for $100 million in damages. Placer Dome was purchased in 2006 by Barrick Gold, who has now been joined in the lawsuit. Tourism also plays a major role in the economy especially during the lenten season. Whilst not a major source of economy for the island, it has shown great growth. Legend has it that the island of Marinduque was formed as a consequence of a tragic love affair between two people: Marina and Garduke.

Marina's father, a local chieftain, did not approve of this affair and ordered the beheading of Garduke. Before this could be done, the couple sailed out to sea and drowned themselves, forming the island now called Marinduque. Another version of the story told in Buenavista, Marina is fairy who lives in the Malindig Mountain. The suitor is a Duke. They got married and the island was named after them, Marina and the Duke. Other versions of the legend also claim that the island was named "Malindik", named after Marinduque's highest mountain, Mt. Malindig. When Spanish conquistadors arrived in the Philippines, they found the name hard to pronounce, which led to the renaming of the island as "Marinduc" and later the current "Marinduque" when spelled in its French from (e.g. Antique for Hantik, Cavite for Kawit).

During the Spanish and early American occupations, Marinduque was part of the province of Balayan (now Batangas) in the 16th century, Mindoro in the 17th century, and had a brief period as an independent province in 1901, when the Americans arrived. During the Philippine-American War, Marinduque was the first island to have American concentration camps.

Marinduque is the site of the Battle of Pulang Lupa, where Filipino soldiers under Colonel Maximo Abad, defeated a larger better trained force of Americans. In 1902, 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, the province became part of the province of Tayabas (now Quezon). On February 21, 1920, Act 2280 was passed by the Philippine Congress, reestablishing Marinduque as a separate province.