In 1945 when Catanduanes separated from Albay as an independent province, there were about 100,000 Catandunganons. At present, we are now some 261,169 strong (2024 statistics), the figures almost having tripled after some 81 years. Even so, that is still comparatively small, just one tenth of the entire Bicol, the smallest population of the six provinces. What else, Catandunganons are just about as many as the biggest barangay in the Philippines, which is Bgy. 176 in Bagong Silang, Caloocan City.
In many ways we are still a barangay; our governor is just a barangay captain.
So it is worth asking: how were things as regards population in the past, through the centuries?
The earliest mention of population of Catanduanes was made in 1582 by the Spanish chronicler Miguel de Loarca. In his “Relations of the Philippine Islands” he said that there were 4,000 Catandunganons which were divided among four encomiendas. An encomienda is an area of land together with its natives, given to the original participants in the colonization of the Philippines by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi. The encomendero exercised stewardship over the territory, like a feudal lord, with powers including the collection of tributes and exploitation of resources, as a reward for their participation in the conquest.
But we must not imagine that these encomenderos lived like little kings in their dominions. Most certainly, it was tough. For one thing the natives were dispersed, with a density of 30 per square kilometer of rugged mountainous terrain. For another, they lived subsistence lives, hardly able to produce surplus that the encomendero can extract. And finally, the early Catandunganons had a reputation of being fierce fighters (pirates that did so much harm, according to one account). Think of how in 1576, Spaniards who survived a shipwreck met violent death in the hands of the folk of Batalay who were suspicious of their motives.
The next written account that indicated population size of the island was made in late 18th century. In 1792, the Bishop of Nueva Caceres, Msgr. Domingo Collantes made a pastoral visit to Catanduanes (information on this taken from a facebook post by Jose Denis in 2025). It was the second to be done by a bishop. An earlier attempt about a decade before by Msgr. Juan Antonio de Orbigo was aborted; he had to hurry back to Naga after getting sick due a chocolate drink laced with poison. But Collantes faced formidable challenges considering the isolation of the island from mainland Bicol and the rugged terrain. He was able to visit all the churches under the two parishes (one north based in Viga and the other in the south based in Virac). In the process he circled the island, probably the first to do the 360 journey. But it took him about a month to complete. The journey was relatively well-chronicled. Aside from the patently religious concerns, his accounts took note of socio-economic and geographic features of the various places he visited.
Particularly, the bishop made a good note of population figures. Census was of central importance to the colonial enterprise: they needed to keep tab of the number of taxpayers and the souls that they had saved and converted to the one true faith. In all, Bishop Collantes was able to take account of 6,114 souls. The north district had 3,868 covering Viga and the visitas of Payo, Tambongon, Bagamanoc, Pandan and Caramoran. South district for its part indicated 2,246 that covered aside from Virac the visitas of Calolbong, Codon, Cabugao, Bato and Baras (San Miguel was yet part of Bato, while Gigmoto was divided between Viga and Baras). It is interesting to note that at this time, Viga was considered the ecclesiastical (and arguably the political) center of the island. It must be noted that Catanduanes had a north-to-south pattern of development under the Spanish regime. Virac in 1792 was still trying to rebuild after the 1754 devastation from Moro raids.
It can be observed that the Collantes data (6,114) is not quite far from calculations two centuries before in 1582 (4,000). This can only be attributed to the limitations of accurate calculations during those times. The 4,000 figures at the pioneering decades of the Spanish occupation may be an over estimate. The one by Collantes, on the other hand, may have not covered a good number of natives who might have remained in the mountains outside of the oversight of the priests who at that time was merely a total of four, two each for Viga and Virac.
In just over 50 years, the population appeared to have doubled. The historian Norman Owen in his book “Bikol Blend” made calculations that Catanduanes had a population of some 13,000 in 1845. However, due to two consecutive strong typhoons, the crops failed such that there was food crisis that ensued. He surmised that it was quite serious it led to a decrease of population in the 1946 records of up to 2,000. The implication is that there was famine leading to deaths of some 15% of the people.
Almost a century after the bishop’s attempt, another Spaniard made a circling of the island in the 1880s, in the person of Juan Alvarez Guerra. He was a wanderlust who reached Catanduanes as part of his exploration of Albay. Like the bishop, he made the 360 tour that brought him to all the towns. Making only short stops, it took him about a week to complete. His chronicles which he published in a book “Viajes por Filipinas, De Manila a Albay” made account mostly of the physical environment, plus demography. He reported a population of 21, 587 for Catanduanes, which is almost a doubling of the 1845 figures and over a three-fold increase from a century before. If the numbers are reliable, it looked like population in Catanduanes took a sluggish rise for the first two hundred years of the Spanish regime but spiked within the last century, like having doubled after about every fifty years.
Such a trend is reflective of the socio-economic conditions of Catanduanes through three hundred years under the Spanish mandate. In the first two centuries, attended by utter difficulties (isolation, rugged terrain, economic blight, the Moro menace), population grew slowly; it was not exactly time for human flourishing. The last century, however, proved different. At the onset of the 19th century, the Moro raids had ceased and the Philippines opened to world trade ushering in economic development. In Catanduanes, this has specific significance courtesy of the abaca bonanza that peaked towards the end of the century. When the Revolution happened in 1896, Catanduanes was having the best of times while the rest of the country was in an agitation for radical change. This state of things would be reflected in the population figures registered during the first decade of the American regime. In the 1908 annual report submitted by then Lieutenant Governor Felipe O. Usero wrote that there were 40,000 Catandunganons which means the population practically doubled in just about 30 years (1880s-1908). Usero also noted that in 1908, prices of abaca had started to decline from the highest levels it reached at the break of the 20th century.
But there was an interesting caveat re Usero’s reporting on Catanduanes population in 1908. He mentioned of some 7,000 migrants from mainland Albay who came to settle in Catanduanes. Surely, it did not come in one exodus of biblical proportion, but would have arrived in waves through time. Apparently, they came in within the last decade or so, attracted by better economic prospects and pushed out by the instability of the Philippine-American War playing out in Albay. Either way, it was evidence of the favorable conditions in Catanduanes through the combined effect of economic premiums and peace. These migrants settled along coastal villages on the south and western flank of the island. In Virac, they would be families with surnames beginning with letter B (Bonete, Broñola, Brun, etc.) who originated from Tabaco.
Another interesting detail in the Usero report was the note on the presence of foreigners, aside from the very few remnant Spaniards and handful of American operatives. There were two Japanese who engaged in the sale of baraquillos, but more significantly the 120 Chinese nationals who were making fortunes as second-liner businessmen engaged in abaca and copra trade, but controlled much of the buy-and-sell of consumer goods. The first-line business enterprises were the so-called “Big Three” mainland-based outfits that had taken advantage of the abaca boom and dominated the economy. Even back then, the Chinese in Catanduanes had already been target of negative estimation. Usero cited them as a cause of the economic woes of the people, particularly the decreasing buying prices of abaca and the high prices of consumer goods. Sounds familiar?
While we argue that the steep upsurge of population towards the turn of the 20th century indicated economic progress in Catanduanes, it did not mean that the people were living quality life. Daily grind in the island remained tedious. Due to remoteness, governance dispensed from Albay hardly translated into adequate services in the most basic aspects such as transportation, health and education. Somehow, that started to change when Catanduanes was upgraded as a subprovince in 1905. It bestowed some autonomy in governance and access to bigger share of resources. It facilitated implementation of programs for development. It provided incentive for the locals, particularly the native elite, to take more active role in the enterprise of community building.
Then in 1945, the push for self-governance took full fruition when Catanduanes became an independent province by virtue of Commonwealth Act 687. At that time, there were about 100,000 Catandunganons. Eight decades later, the number had ballooned two and a half times, taking on a rate of increase never seen before. Taking our line of arguing here, that would look like independent province-hood made for further flourishing as a people. Would it seem that the Catandungnons did a good job governing themselves and providing for their well-being?
A meaningful and jubilant 81st Foundation Anniversary Catandunganons!