| General Note |
- General note - Building is a 1904 construction although there have been minor surface restorations and repair work of the original. Statue of President Ramon Magsaysay stands in front. Long before the Spanish explorations of the country. Cuyo was already a stronghold of the Chinese who visited Palawan (they called it Pa-lao-yu) for its fishes, trepang, seashells, and edible birds'' nests. Cuyo became widely known as the place abundant of "cuyo" shells and the name stuck to this day. As early as the period between 1209-1214, the province has been mentioned in Chinese narratives. Between those years, the collector of customs of Chinchow, Amoy district, published a geography from his personal investigations of the islands, and incidentally mentioned a group of islands, the curious names and descriptions of which resemble closely those of the Calamianes (the island-group to which Cuyo belongs), Busuanga and Palawan proper. It was the Chinese who taught the aborigines how to trade and barter their goods. The first settler was Chief Matu-od, a brave Malay from Madia-as (Panay) who landed his group at Tabunan, Suba on big bancas called sakayan and was converted to the Hindu culture of worship of the early Chinese. Then came the Mohammedan Malays under Datu Magbanua. This group landed in a cove at Tarebang, Pawa. During Datu Magbanua's reign, three Chinese mandarins, Pa, Li and An arrived at Malapadlapad, in a barrio now called Rizal. They introduced smithing, pottery, gold mining and other handicrafts. They discovered gold in Mt. Aguado. Later, Datu Magbanua expanded his settlement by sending his deputies to the neighboring islands - Chief Macanas to Calamian, Chief Cabailo to Agutaya and Chief Cabongon to Taytay. So great and well known was this settlement that the Chief of Irong-Irong (Iloilo) paid a courtesy call on him. When this chieftain returned, Datu Magbanua gave him a sack of red rice, popularly known as "cotchiam". It was during this period, 1622, that the Recollect Order resolved to send five religious in the island. The Spaniards called this place "the garden of nature". A chronicler of the order wrote ".... of the singular pleasantness and beauty that it enjoys, in which it is more fortunate than the other islands of that famous sea. It is six leguas in circuit, as are two others its near neighbors, which rival it in beauty. It abounds in rice and very savory fruits. The mountains are full of fragrant flowers, and shelter a great number of wild boars. There are many species of birds, and fowls are reared in considerable abundance". The Spaniards organized the northern part of "Paragua" (Spanish term for "umbrella", the island''s shape in the map), into a province known as Calamianes. Carlos Songcayaon was the first Captain Vassal of Cuyo in 1753. Based from the list of officials from that year, the political kingpins of Cuyo were the Ponce de Leon''s and the Fernandezes. In 1818, practically all of the present territory embraced by the province was known as the province of Calamianes, with its capital at Tay-tay. In 1858, however, Calamianes was divided into two provinces: Castilla and Asturias. Castilla comprised the Calamianes group and the adjacent islands together with the northern portion of the island, with its capital at Taytay. In 1873 the capital was transferred to Cuyo from Taytay with Don Leopoldo Sta. Cruz as the first governor in this town. The revolution of 1898 was not a popular uprising against the Spaniards. It was a battle between the rich and the poor, with the church as headquarters for the former while the municipal building was for the latter. A side result was the establishment of the Govierno de Revolucionario Dictatorial at Lucban by Icasiano Padon. Tax collections, registry of cattle, erection of schools and even the establishment of a church were in its program of government, which declared itself free and independent from that under General Aguinaldo. The last Spanish Governor of Palawan who held office at Cuyo was Luis Rodriguez (1899), At the end of the Spanish regime, the province was divided into three districts: Calamianes, Paragua and Balabac. After the cession of the Philippines to the U.S. in 1898, a military government was established in Palawan sometime in 1901 with Major John Brown as lieutenant governor. Clemente Fernandez was the first town presidente (1900-01) under the Americans. The present province was reorganized with the establishment of American civil government on June 23, 1902, under the name of Paragua, with capital at Cuyo. In 1903 Capt. John Elmick took over as governor of the province. Pursuant to Act. No. 1363 of the Philippine Commission the name of the province was changed from Paragua to Palawan and the capital transferred from Cuyo to Puerto Princesa. A year later, a fire razed the entire town of Cuyo to ashes. During the Japanese occupation Cuyo was never occupied. The proposed invasion of Cuyo by the Japanese was thwarted by Gov. Iñigo Peña with the help of Pedro Paje of Iwahig and Jose de los Reyes of Puerto Princesa. Had Cuyo been occupied, the guerillas would have been badly crippled because Cuyo was the springboard to Panay, the mother unit of the Palawan guerillas. Arms, supplies, ammunition and medicines from Panay would not have reached Palawan if Cuyo was in Japanese hand. One of these islands belonging to the Cuyo group afforded shelter to Gen. Douglas MacArthur and party in their spectacular dash to Mindanao in a tiny PT boat shortly before the fall of Bataan and Corregidor. When the country regained independence in 1946. Emilia Ponce de Leon became the first mayor. Cuyo Islands is a group of 45 islets with a total land area of 50 square miles. It is composed of 3 municipalities: Cuyo, Agutaya, a small island outside the mainland and which was separated from Cuyo during the latter part of the Spanish regime although it became a municipality in 1916, and Magsaysay, the former barrio of Lucbuan which became a municipality a few years ago. It lies south of Mindoro and between Northern Palawan and Panay. The biggest islands in this group is Cuyo with an area of 22 square miles and is about 9 miles long. The terrain is rugged, marked by a chain of small mountains. Cuyo has a variety of animal and plant life, with some of the numerous species not found in other parts of the country. Native Palaweños, Visayans, Moslems and Tagalogs comprise largely population of 28,401. In 1960, some 15,704 males and 12,697 females make up the total population, some 17.5 percent of the provincial population for the same period, more thickly populated than Puerto Princesa. It was projected that by 1970, the rate of increase will reach some 41.7 percent. Literacy rate for Cuyo is 59.7 percent. Around its islets are the rich fishing grounds in the entire province. It is estimated that of about P200 million worth of fish caught annually in Palawan, 50% comes from the waters around Cuyo Islands. Fish is plentiful throughout the year despite reports on illegal fishing practices. Cuyo has a few hectares of irrigable land planted to rice. Coconut is the most important crop produced, comprising 36.5 percent of the total value of agricultural production. Transportation facilities are cars, trucks, trailers and motorcycles. Cuyo has to depend heavily on water transportation primarily because it is composed of various islands and because of its limited highways system. There are sailings to and from Manila weekly. Languages spoken are Cuyuno, Palaweño, Tagalog, Pinalawan, and Panay-Hiligaynon. A private electric company serves the municipality. Mrs. Nieves Sandoval-Paras is the incumbent mayor.
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