RELIGION. Sr/ 
death in 1596 at the hands of Moros, near the mouth of the Rio Grande 
River, in the Coto Bato Valley, the expedition, under its new com- 
mander, General Juan Ronquillo, retired to Caldora Bay, 10 miles 
west of Zamboanga, and constructed a presidio, which was garrisoned 
by 100 Spanish soldiers. Here the Jesuit missionaries, including Father 
Juan del Campo, assisted by Brother Gaspar Gomez, began work among 
the Subanu and the Lutaos (Samales). 
In 1631 St. Francis Xavier began work among the Subanu near 
Dapitan. He was preceded in 1626 by Fathers Juan Lopez, Fabricio 
Sarsali, and Francisco de Otazo. In the year 1629 the missionary work 
in the Subanu country was placed in charge of the Bishop of Cebu, 
Fray Don Pedro de Arze. Missions were established by Father Pedro 
Gutierrez in 1631 and 1632 along the west coast of the peninsula, from 
Dapitan to Zamboanga. ‘The permanent mission of Dapitan was estab- 
lished in 1631 and Father Gutierrez was made the rector. 
The first Catholic priest to minister to the spiritual needs of the 
Subanu near Dapitan was Father Pasqual de Acuna in 1607. It is 
stated that he preached among these people with great success and bap- 
tized 200 of them. Missions were established by Fathers Lopez, Campo, 
and Gutierrez at Dipolog, Duhinog, Dicayo, Disakang,Sindangan, Mucas, 
Telinga, Quipit, Siocong, Sibuku, La Caldera, Malandi, Baldasan, and 
Bocot, all situated on the coast. Later, Fathers Francisco Combes, 
Francisco Paliola, Pedro Tellez, and Adolfo de Pedrosa labored among 
the Subanu. Father Paliola was killed by the islanders in 1648 and 
Father Campo on January 7, 1650, at the Mission of Siocong (now 
written Siukun). 
The early missionaries suffered many hardships in trying to con- 
vert the Subanu to Christianity. They applied themselves with great 
courage and fidelity to the difficult task and succeeded in liberating 
slaves, aiding the sick, diminishing barbarous practices, and bringing a 
few of the more tractable under the spiritual instruction of the church. 
Commendable effort was made to instruct the children in the art of 
reading and writing by using the publications of the church. Solemn 
Services were held for the dead, and the natives were taught to march 
in funeral processions and to carry with them candles, rice, and other 
Offerings, as suffrages by the faithful for the peace and safety of the 
souls of the departed. 
From 1596 to 1912 these missionary labors, both Catholic and 
Protestant, have penetrated from the coast but a few miles inland. 
The vast interior of the Subanu country has remained untouched by 
missionary effort. The writer in 1904 and 1905 traveled about 2,000 
miles on foot through this country and found at Sianib, about 10 miles 
inland on the Dipolog River, a partially constructed building of poles 
and grass, which the Subanu informed him had been built at the behest 
of the Catholic priests at Dipolog and Dapitan. These Subanu made 
