VISAYAS

Up to now the history of the Visayas before the arrival of the Spanish remains a mystery. The first known mention of the Visayas in history is in the 12th century, when the region is thought to have been ruled by the empire of Srivijaya.
Visayans were thought to have kept close diplomatic relations with the various Javanese and Malay kingdoms since the locals of Cebu were able to converse with Enrique of Malacca using Malay when Ferdinand Magellan arrived in 1521.
After Magellan's expedition, the Spanish became interested with the archipelago and sent Ruy López de Villalobos and Miguel López de Legazpi in 1543 and 1565, respectively, to explore and colonize the islands.

At first, the Visayans accepted this colonization and many began converting to Christianity and started to accept the Santo Niño as their patron. However, the situation soon turned sour and revolutions such as those of Francisco Dagohoy began to emerge.
The Spanish weren't the only problems of the Visayans. Moros are thought to have invaded various Visayan islands during this era.
During the Philippine Revolution, Visayans were active participants. The island of Negros itself initiated their own revolution.

After Philippine independence, Visayans continued to participate in Philippine politics with the presidents coming from the Visayas. The Spanish arrival in the 16th century saw the breaking up of these kingdoms and the establishment of the Philippines with its capital Cebu, which was moved to Manila following the defeat of the local Rajah Sulayman in 1570.

Administratively, Visayas is divided into 3 regions, namely Western Visayas, Central Visayas and Eastern Visayas. Each region is headed by a Regional Director which is elected from a pool of governors from the different provinces in each region.

However, it is made up of 16 provinces. The Visayas comprises 16 provinces, each headed by a Governor. A governor is elected by popular vote and can serve at the maximum of three terms of three years each.

As for representation in the Philippine Congress, the Visayas is represented by 44 Congressmen elected the same way as the Governors.

There are legends, which are compiled in the book Maragtas, which tell the story of ten chiefs (Datus) who escaped from the tyranny of Datu Makatunaw from Borneo to the islands of Panay. The chiefs and followers are believed to be the ancestors of the Visayan people. The arrival is celebrated in the Festivals of the Ati-Atihan in Kalibo, Aklan and Binirayan in San Jose, Antique. While these are stories, they are believed by some to be based on actual facts and events which were compiled into a 1907 book by Pedro Alcantara Monteclaro. This belief has been debunked, however, by Philippine historian William Scott. Panay also boasts as its oldest and longest epic, the Hinilawod.

On the other hand, it is being theorized that what started the Visayan population are the Malays which migrated from Borneo, crossed over to Sulu archipelago to Mindanao island. From here, the Malay migrants crossed to the Visayas while other Malays have crossed to Palawan through Sabah. This explains the similarities of the Warays, the Ilonggos and some of the Cebuanos. Other Malay migrants have crossed from Samar island to the Bicol region in Luzon. The migrants that has passed through Palawan may have migrated to what is presently Manila. The word Luzon, may have probably came from the word "Lusong" meaning to wade in the waters or seas, and attack the enemies. The word "lusob" may have evolve from this word.

Around this time that the Malay migrants where moving north from Mindanao, to Visayas and Manila, the Chinese merchants which were trading with the Sulu Sultanate and Borneo passed by Luzon island and may have settled the island. This explains the features of the Ilocanos, Pangasinenses and Pampangueños.

However, as the two civilizations were conducting trade, so goes intermarriages between these two peoples. During this century, the Europeans such as the Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch where exploring conquest in Southeast Asia. The Portuguese were conquering Indonesia while the Spaniards conquered the Philippines, establishing fortresses in parts of the Philippine archipelago. In Luzon, they established ports in Vigan, Manila, Puerto Galera, Northern Palawan and Legaspi. They established trading posts in Cebu, Bohol, Negros and Panay in the Visayas islands. They also established fortress in Zamboanga in Mindanao. The Europeans had intermarriages with the local people, thus a mixture of races helped created the Filipino people.

The peoples so-called natives such as the Aetas and the Mangyans which have similar features that of African race, may have been African slaves brought by the Europeans on their voyage to Asia. It is theorized that some African slaves may have escaped from captivity and went into hiding in the jungles of the islands. This explains their nature of habitat and way of life, living in the mountains of the Philippines. To evade recapture by the Europeans, the stayed long in these jungles such as the Sierra Madre mountain ranges and the mountains of Mindoro and Palawan. Since these slaves brought in were used to hunting, they survived in the jungles.