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Migrations and the Settlement of Mindanao

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2011

Frederick L. Wernstedt  and
Paul D. Simkins
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Extract

One of the more serious obstacles to economic progress and human betterment in many of the less developed countries is the dense settlement of the present cultivated land, coupled with a rapidly increasing population. In much of southern and eastern Asia where most of the good land has been occupied by relatively dense agricultural populations for centuries and where rapidly declining mortality has sharply increased the rate of population growth, heavy land pressure is both chronic and acute. A rapidly increasing population is particularly characteristic of the Philippines where crude birth rates have remained more or less stable at about 50 per thousand since 1900 and where death rates have dropped progressively and are now about 20 per thousand. The present rate of natural increase, approximately three per cent per year, is not only higher than in most Asian countries, but is also higher than in most countries of the world. If this rate of population growth continues unabated, and the evidence suggests that it is more likely to accelerate rather than diminish in the near future, the population of the Philippines will double well before the end of the present century.

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Articles
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The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , November 1965 , pp. 83 - 103
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1965

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References

1 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, “Population Growth and Manpower in the Philippines,” Population Studies No. 32, 1960, pp. 2–3Google Scholar.

2 Ibid., p. 10.

3 The amount of arable land which exists on Mindanao is uncertain. Total arable land estimates range from 10,868,000 acres (46.5% of the total area) from the Bureau of Forestry in 1954 to 13,979,000 acres (59.8% of the total area) used by the National Economic Council in 1957.

4 Republic of the Philippines, Department of Commerce and Industry, Bureau of the Census and Statistics, 1948 Census of the Philippines, Population Classified by Province, by City, Municipality, and Municipal District, and by Barrio, Manila, 1951 and Census of the Philippines: 1960, Population and Housing, I, Report by Province—Abra to Zamboanga del Sur, Manila, 1962.

5 As late as 1964 the authors observed large numbers of migrants arriving at ports in southern Mindanao and considerable new settlement along the highway construction in Zamboanga del Sur, Davao, and Agusan.

6 Huke, Robert E., “Mindanao … Pioneer Frontier?” The Philippine Geographical Journal, VII (1963), pp. 74–83Google Scholar.

7 The term “Moro” was used by the Spanish to describe the Islamized Filipinos. The term had its origin in the corruption of “Moor” which was used to refer to the Moslems in Spain and North Africa. The Filipino Moslems do not differ in their ethnic origins from the Christian Filipinos.

8 Phelan, John L., The Hispanization of the Philippines: Spanish Aims and Filipino Responses, 1563–1700, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1959, pp. 137–38Google Scholar.

9 Ibid., pp. 169–175.

10 United States Bureau of the Census, Census of the Philippine Islands, 1903, I, Geography, History, and Population, Washington, 1905, p. 452.

11 1903 Census, op. cit., Vol. II. Certain dialects are indigenous to specific regions of the Philippines. The presence of large numbers of persons on Mindanao who report a mother-tongue not indigenous to the Island is indicative of a strong migration. These data, however, cannot be used to determine the magnitude of migration. The persistent migration of large numbers of central Visayans to many sections of Mindanao has meant that Cebuano has become the mother-tongue of most of the residents.

12 Pelzer, Karl J., Pioneer Settlement in the Asiatic Tropics: Studies in Land Utilization and Agricultural Colonization in Southeast Asia, Special Publication No. 29, American Geographical Society, New York, 1945, pp. 105–106Google Scholar.

13 Kolb, Albert, “Die japananische Ackerbaukolonie in Davao, Philippinen,” Koloniale Rundschau, 29 (1939). PP. 209–218Google Scholar.

14 The six projects in Cotabato were located at Pikit, Silik, Peidu Pulangi, Pagalungan, Glan and Talitay. The remaining Mindanao project was at Momungan, Lanao.

15 Pelzer, op. cit., p. 132.

16 Pelzer, loc. cit.

17 United Nations, op. cit., p. 3.

18 “International Migrations in the Far East During Recent Times—The Countries of Immigration,” Population Bulletin of the United Nations, No. 2 (1952) pp. 44–45Google Scholar.

19 The possibility for large error in the estimates of net migration obviously is great. All misstatement in census enumerations and any interprovincial variations in vital rates will distort the figures given for net migration. Concepcion points out (Fertility Differences Among Married Women in the Philippines, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Chicago, 1963)Google Scholar that there arc no substantial fertility differences among socio-economic groups or between urban and rural-dwelling women, excluding Manila. Since these conclusions are based upon a nationwide sample of 6,500 households it appears unlikely that there are major interprovincial differences in fertility rates. Moreover, child-women ratios calculated from the 1939 and i960 censuses, show only minor interprovincial differences. Indeed, the ratios for Mindanao provinces are generally below those of the nation. Thus, the errors introduced by the assumption of uniform vital rates would apparently tend to understate the contribution of net migration to Mindanao's population. On the other hand, the natural increase is calculated for the 1948 population and all children born to migrants after their arrival in Mindanao are included in the statement of net migration.

20 A number of reports have suggested that the 1948 census enumeration for Misamis Oriental was inflated. However, Madigan states (The Farmer Said No, Study Series No. 14, Community Development Research Council, University of the Philippines, Quezon City, 1962, p. 82) that there can be no doubt that the increase in the Misamis Oriental provincial population was large and the in-migration heavy.

21 International Cooperation Administration, Malaria Eradication Unit, “The Current Status of the Malaria Eradication Program in the Philippines,” A Special Report to the Secretary of Health, Republic of the Philippines, Manila, May, 1961, p. 74Google Scholar.

22 Although the data-collecting efforts of the Philippine government have expanded greatly since the War, estimation of the components of population change is still handicapped by the incompleteness of vital registrations. Hence, the method of estimating net migration for the prewar period is also employed for the postwar years. See footnote 19 for the assumptions and limitations of this method.

23 Determination of the detailed patterns of growth is complicated by the subdivision of many older political units to form new municipalities. Ninety new municipalities were created between 1948–1960. The 196 municipalities shown on Figure 3 are either municipalities whose boundaries remained unchanged or new municipalities whose boundaries could be identified and made comparable to 1948 political subdivisions.

24 The provinces of Lanao del Sur, Surigao, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental and Zamboanga del Norte are designated as settled provinces. The frontier provinces include Agusan, Bukidnon, Cotabato,. Davao, Lanao del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur.

25 Personal communication from Mr. Romeo C. Castanada, Fiscal Planning Officer, National Resettlement and Rehabilitation Administration, Quezon City, May, 1963.

26 Vandermeer, Canute and Agaloos, Bernardo C., “Twentieth Century Settlement of Mindanao,” Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters, 47 (1962), pp. 337–348Google Scholar.

27 Republic of the Philippines, Department of Health, Philippine Morbidity and Mortality: Selected Notifiable Diseases, by Province and City; Number and Rate (per 100,000 population), 1958.

28 Malaria-Eradication Unit, op. cit., pp. 81–82.

29 Republic of the Philippines, joint P.I.-U.S. Economic Development Program, Office of Foreign Aid Coordination, National Economic Council, Manila, 1958.

30 In a current migration survey being conducted by the authors in six municipalities of southern Davao, 85 households from a total of 1,200 households interviewed indicated a previous residence in Cotabato province. Only five of these 85 households reported the cause of their migration as a fear of Moslems.

31 Franche, P. R., “The Problem of Underemployment in the Philippines,” The Philippine Statistician, 8 (1959), pp. 176–184Google Scholar. The definition for underemployment is a work week of less than 40 hours and a desire on the part of the worker for additional work. Recent issues of the Philippine Statistical Survey of Households show that the figures have remained remarkably stable.

32 Republic of the Philippines, Department of Commerce and Industry, Bureau of the Census and Statistics, Census of the Philippines, 1960, II (Appendix); Migration Statistics, Manila, 1963, 11 p.

33 The Philippine published census data do not contain information on place of residence of individuals at a time prior to census enumeration. The 1960 census was the first in which the information on place of birth was published. While these data yield no knowledge of the date of move nor of trends in the origin and magnitude of population shifts, they do provide a useful summary of the survivors of all migrants to and within Mindanao. The deficiencies of such data are somewhat minimized for Mindanao since the greater part of the migrant survivors must have arrived since World War II. This assumption is supported by comparison of the number of persons resident in Mindanao in 1960, but not born there (1,241,566), with the estimated number of net migrants to Mindanao between 1948 and 1960, together with the children born to them after their arrival (1,250,000).

84 There is still a positive net migration balance for the settled provinces widi respect to interisland migration. The loss of some 253,000 persons from the settled to the frontier provinces was partially compensated by a gain of 130,000 persons who had migrated to the settled provinces from elsewhere in the Philippines.

35 Pelzer, op. cit., p. 253.

36 The poblacion is the administrative center of a municipality or city. It is the urbanized portion of the municipality.

37 On the other hand, there is little evidence to suggest that the population of Lanao del Sur has been changed by Moslem migration. Approximately 94 percent of the persons now living in the province were born there, whereas only seven percent of the persons born in Lanao del Sur are now residing outside the province.

38 Republic of the Philippines, Department of Commerce and Industry, Bureau of the Census and Statistics, Census of the Philippines: 1948, II, Report by Province for Census of Agriculture, Manila, 1953 and Census of the Philippines: 1960, Agriculture, I, Report by Province, Manila, 1963–1964.

39 For additional estimates, see Huke, op. cit.

40 The large increase of population in die Digos-Padada Lowland south of Davao City is indicative of die capabilities inherent in this type of area. During die 1948–1960 census interval the population of this 400-square-mile Digos-Padada Lowland increased from about 35,000 to nearly 186,000 persons. North of Davao land of similar potential has been opened by the NARRA settlement at Santo Tomas.

41 United Nations, Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East, Multiple Purpose River Basin Development, Part 2A, Water Resources Development in Ceylon, China: Taiwan, Japan and the Philip-pines, Flood Control Series #8, New York, 1955, pp. 119–120.Google Scholar