Folk legend has it that the place-name "Basilan" may have been derived from different sources. One of which points to it having been named after Datu Bantilan, a Tausug Chieftain who was exiled by his brother, the Sultan of Sulu, after a family squabble.

He found himself on the northernmost island of the Sulu Archipelago, which until then was called Taguima, after the Tagihamas (descended from the Orang Dyaks and ancestors of the modern-day Yakans who are the acknowledged natives of the place), and established his base at the island's southwestern shores facing Sulu - an area called Maluso to this day. Even then, the native Yakans preferred to stay farther inland, away from the coasts which were periodically harried by Tausug pirates and slave-traders. The biggest Yakan coastal settlement was located on the northeastern shores of Basilan, in Lamitan, and away from the usual routes of pirate raiders on their way to Zamboanga from Sulu.

The Royal Court of Sulu recorded Datu Bantilan's settlement, eventually a vassal kingdom of Sulu, as "Bantilan", this eventually evolved to "Basilan".

Another account has it that early Tausug pioneers on the island, mostly warriors and slave-traders from Sulu, came to Taguima to purchase high-quality iron ores which were brought back to Sulu and turned into swords and blades crafted by local smiths. This burgeoning trade in iron ore eventually made the island "the place to go for 'basih'", with 'basih' being the Tausug word for iron. Roughly translated therefore, "'Basih'-lan" means: "the iron trail" or "the iron way".

Demographics

As the Tausug Sultanate grew in power, the native population of the island withdrew farther and farther inland, until most of the coastal communities which dotted the island's southern, western and northwestern shores were primarily inhabited by Tausugs and their vassal tribes, the Samals and Bajaus (Tau-Laut). The only exception was the relatively prosperous Yakan community of Lamitan.

The withdrawal of the Yakans inland was hastened even more so when the Spanish established advance bases on the island's northwestern coast, bringing in Christianized 'indios' from nearby Zamboanga, and as far as the Visayas and even Luzon. By then, even the Yakan communities of Lamitan were completely overrun.

By the eve of the Commonwealth era in the Philippines, local census estimates showed that a majority of the people of Basilan were Christian migrants, mostly plantation workers recruited from allover Mindanao and the Visayas, and Tausug traders, as well as Samal and Bajau fisherfolk. Only around 5,000 Yakans were counted in the census. Until then, most Yakans preferred not to inter-act directly with their lowland neighbors.

Currently, Basilan inhabitants include Christians and Muslims from a number of tribal groups such as the Yakans., Tausugs, Chavacanos, Bisaya, Samal Bangingis, and to a much lesser extent by Ilonggos, Ilocanos, and Maranaos

Current census statistics show the following breakdown in demographics (2000 Census):

• Yakan (137,545 or 41.36%)
• Tausug/Samal/Bajau (116,187 or 34.93%)
• Chavacano/Bisaya/Cebuano/Hiligaynon/Ilonggo/Ilocano/Ibanag (71,344 or 21.45%)
• Others/Tagalog/Maranao/Maguindanao/Bikolano (6,353 or 1.90%)

Population Growth

Basilan is the fastest growing area in the Philippines in terms of population growth, and is probably one of the fastest in the world!

Comparative census results from 2000 and 2007, a period of only 7 years showed an actual increase of 164,857, from 331,646 (2000) to 496,503 (2007) or an increase of 49.7% in the last 7 years alone, an average increase of 7.1% annually.

In the City/Municipality level the increases are widely disparate, with relatively peaceful Isabela City growing at an almost glacial (if compared with its neighbors) 20.47% (2.92% per annum; 73,032 in 2000, to 87,985 in 2007) to newly created Akbar Municipality, scene of many of the latest gun-battles between government troops and Moro separatist/extremist groups, which grew by an unbelievable 101.42% in the last seven years (14.48% per annum; 10,581 in 2000 to 21,312 in 2007).

Apart from Akbar municipality itself, the Akbar-controlled municipalities of Ungkaya Pukan grew by 89.74%, Muhammad Ajul by 79.72%, Lantawan (incl. Hji. Muhtamad) by 79.25%, Tipo-Tipo by 76.57%, Al-Barka by 63.86%, Maluso by 55.13%, and Tuburan by 52.03%.

Opposition bailiwicks Lamitan City grew by 39.80%, Sumisip (incl. Tabuan Lasa) by 38.85%, and Isabela City (under Akbar control in 2007 only) by 20.47%.

The average aggregate annual population increase in the 7-year period for the nine (9) municipalities and two (2) cities that comprise Basilan is a mind-boggling 9.12%. The average annual population growth rate of the rest of the Philippines is 2.3%.

These figures are verifiable from the National Statistics and Coordination Board and National Statistics Office of the Philippines.

Geography

Basilan is one of a system of 7,107 islands that make up the Philippine archipelago. Regionally, Basilan is part of the Sulu Archipelago between the Philippine island of Mindanao and Borneo which includes about 400 islands. The island chain is one of two partial land bridges to Borneo and is an important migration route for birds. Basilan Strait, about 17 nautical miles at its narrowest point, separates Basilan Island from the mainland of Mindanao and the port city of Zamboanga.

The main island of Basilan is joined by the Pilas group of Islands (now Hji. Muhtamad Municipality) west of the island, and the Bubuan and Tapiantana group of Islands (now Tabuan Lasa Municipality) in the south.

Political Units

Basilan is subdivided into eleven municipalities and two cities.

Isabela City, (pop. 87, 985) located on the northern shore of Basilan Island facing Zamboanga City, is a component city and capital of the province. Isabela City votes for provincial officials, shares its tax revenues with the province, and continues to be under the jurisdiction of Basilan for the administration of provincially-devolved services and functions. But for the administration of regional services, the city is part of the Zamboanga Peninsula Region despite the rest of Basilan being under the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Basilan used to be part of Western Mindanao (the former name of Zamboanga Peninsula), but in a recent plebiscite the residents of some parts of Basilan opted to join ARMM, with the exception of Isabela City (and Lamitan). Called Pasangen by natives, it hosts the Basilan Provincial Capitol and much of the Municipal Offices of its neighboring war-torn municipalities.

Lamitan (pop. 82,075) likewise became a City in 2006, although it remains within the ARMM. It is located on the northeastern coast of Basilan, where most of Basilan's plains are situated. The only remaining opposition stronghold against the Akbar dynasty, Lamitan is experiencing a renewed economic vigor that continues to power the rest of the province's otherwise lackluster growth.

The other five (5) Municipalities are: Maluso (pop. 48,175), located on the island's southwest, this area is facing the bigger island of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi further south, its busiest trading port is located at Port Holland and Maluso Townsite; Lantawan (pop. 28,978)is located on the island's westernmost area, and is mostly an agricultural area for copra and rubber production, its biggest population concentration is located at Tairan, and has no major port; Sumisip (pop. 58,423) is the biggest municipality in terms of land area, and hosts what used to be the biggest rubber plantation (Sime Darby) in the Philippines; Tuburan (pop. 26,498) is located on a peninsula on the extreme eastern part of the island, one of the least developed municipalities and severely devastated by the decades-old armed conflicts plaguing the island; Tipo-Tipo (pop. 26,548), the last among the original municipalities created by Presidential Decree, courtesy of President Ferdinand Marcos, is located on the island's southeast coast, also mostly undeveloped and witness to much of the running gun-battles on the island.

The latest six (6) municipalities are creations of the regional legislature of the ARMM, to wit: Akbar (pop. 21,312), separated from Tuburan municipality, named after a political strongman, the late Congressman Wahab Akbar; Hji. Muhammad Ajul (pop. 26,132), also from Tuburan, named after the first mayor of Tuburan; and, Al-Barka (pop. 26,229) and Ungkaya Pukan (pop. 30,472) municipalities which were separated from Tipo-Tipo, the latter having been named after the grandfather of its present mayor! In 2008, the municipalities of Hji. Muhtamad (pop. 20,292), named after the father of late Cong. Wahab Akbar and separated from Lantawan, and Tabuan Lasa (pop. 13,384), separated from Sumisip, were similarly created.

All six (6) new municipalities were created without the consent of the Philippine Congress. (Recent Supreme Court rulings nullified the creation of Shariff Kabungsuan Province, created by the same ARMM Regional Assembly, reverting it to the 1st District of Maguindanao Province)

Political Scene

Basilan's strange politics has been dictated by its economics. Whereas only 25% of the island's residents originate from Christian tribes in the Visayas and Luzon, this group owns 70% of the island's arable agricultural land (private ownership or cooperatives as farmer beneficiaries). The Yakan tribe comprising 45% of the island's population has full control of local governments outside of Isabela and Lamitan cities. The Tausugs, Samals and Bajaus, forming 30% of the population, control nearly 90% of the island's rich aquatic harvest. While the minuscule Chinese segment of the population controls nearly 100% of all commodity trading and commerce activities, especially in the bigger cities.

This volatile mix of different ethnic and religious groups have defined political realignments in the island for most of its history. The Christian tribes, traditionally allied with the Tausugs, controlled Basilan politics until the 1980s, when the Yakans, aided by their almost absolute control of the hinterlands and the disappearance of the multi-national plantations, scored upset victories in electoral contests starting in 1988.

Of late, a strengthening Yakan-Tausug alliance, brought about by the arrival of the Tableegh, fundamentalist Islam preachers schooled by extremist Middle-Eastern clerics in Syria, Afghanistan and Egypt, has forged a more or less solid Muslim front which has succeeded in thwarting Christian economic and political interests on the island.

This political combine has since seen some in-fighting from two of the most formidable power blocks to have formed since the 2004 general elections. Both blocks went head-to-head in the 2007 local elections.

The Akbar block (Liberal Party - Atienza Wing), led by the late Wahab Akbar, 3-term Governor and alleged Abu Sayyaf co-founder, together with his wives, and his nephews and nieces, all of whom have been rewarded with a mayoralty post in all the Municipalities as well as the biggest electoral prize - Isabela City, which is under his second wife Cherrylyn Santos-Akbar. His first wife is currently the Governor of Basilan, Jum Jainuddin-Akbar. Wahab Akbar himself, was elected Congressman.

The Salapuddin Block (Lakas-CMD/Kampi), led by Abdulgani 'Gerry' Salapuddin, 3-term Governor, 3-term Congressman and 2-term Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, with his allies Hajiman Hataman of Sumisip and his brother, Anak Mindanao (AMIN) Party-list Representative Mujiv Hataman, along with a mix of Tausug and Christian leaders. To them, the 2007 elections proved to be a debacle as they lost in nearly all fronts, save for Lamitan City.

Both political coalitions are allied with the Administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In November 13, 2007, a few months after having been elected Congressman, Wahab Akbar himself was killed by a bomb blast that exploded as he was about to leave the Philippine's Congress Building in Quezon City. Allegations behind the apparent assassination were leveled at Salapuddin and Hataman.

Economy

Agriculture is the main source of economic livelihood. Basilan's major products include coconut (primarily copra), rubber, coffee, black pepper, and palm oil. Other crops are palay, corn, cacao, cassava, black pepper and African palm oil. The island’s ocean waters produce grouper, tuna, squid, octopus, marlin and fishponds supply milkfish, prawns and shrimps. In addition, seaweed is cultivated along some coastal areas.

Local products also include intricately woven cloth and trinkets by members of the Yakan tribe. Yakans use fibers from plants such as pineapple for their crafts. The weavers traditionally used extracts from leaves, roots and barks to dye their fibers. However, contact with U.S. Peace Corp workers and Christian Filipinos has influenced Yakan textile art. One is influence is the introduction of chemical dyes. The museum of Lamitan displays the colorful and intricate designs of the traditional Yakan textiles and highlights of the traditional Yakan Festival called the Lami-lamihan.

Historically, Basilan's economy has seen wild upswings and downturns over the course of several centuries. Pre-hispanic Taguima had an economy based on basic subsistence agriculture, mostly root crops. Ancient Chinese texts point to the existence of a "Kingdom of Kumalarang" which presumably was located on the island's northwestern shore, and which traded occasionally with Chinese merchants plying the route to the Spice Islands of the Moluccas and Borneo farther south. Kumalarang was even recorded to have sent occasional tributes to the Chinese Emperor and his court, and even sent an embassy, headed no-less by its resident Datu all the way to the Chinese court in two instances.

By the arrival of the Spanish, other crops such as rice and corn were introduced and cultivated, primarily for the local consumption of the growing Christian settlements of Isabela and Lamitan. Trade with Zamboanga grew tremendously, as most of the needs of the settlers relied on regular shipments from the busy Zamboanga port.

American occupation brought about the single biggest change in the local economy. By around 1914, Dr. James W. Strong, a pioneering American plantation owner, cleared vast tracks of land on the island's northern plains (Isabela/Lamitan), and established what eventually came to be the Philippines' first-ever commercial rubber plantation - the American Rubber Co. This rubber plantation was eventually sold over to American multi-national B.F.Goodrich. This was followed by investments from British-Malaysian firm Sime Darby Corp., which opened their 4,000-hectare rubber plantation on the island southern slopes (Sumisip/Tipo-Tipo). The success of these large-scale cash crop plantations were emulated by a number of enterprising Filipinos and Spanish-mestizo families from Zamboanga, Negros and Luzon. Among these were Don Juan S. Alano, a Hispano-Chinese mestizo and native of Malolos, Bulacan, who opened the Philippine National Sugar Co. on Malamawi Island in 1921. This eventually became the Basilan Estates, Inc., the only wholly-owned Filipino plantation competing with American and British multi-nationals, it operated the Malamawi Island plantation which was converted to coconut/copra production, and opened a 3,000-hectare copra plantation on the island's western plains (Lantawan). American paper firm Weyerhaeuser Paper Co. and the American Lumber Co., opened large-scale logging concessions which operated in Basilan's extensive upland virgin forests. Menzi Corp., owned by Hispano-German Hans Menzi, also opened yet another extensive rubber plantation in the southern part of Isabela. This eventually expanded to black pepper and palm oil.

By the 1950s and throughout the 1960s, the Chartered City of Basilan was classified as a 1st-class City, and exported copra, coconut oil, rubber and lumber directly to America's Pacific coast ports in California by way of Guam and Hawaii. A substantial number of expatriate plantation managers, mostly Americans (such as Mr. Harry Stonehill), but also Swiss and Germans established exclusive gated-communities in Isabela and Lamitan.

The economic fortunes of the island took a severe nosedive when the Moro uprising of 1971, led by the maoist Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) originating from Sulu, infiltrated the plantations, burned down entire Christian communities and terrorized the bigger coastal settlements with raids and bombing-runs. This was compounded by the declaration of Martial Law by President Ferdinand Marcos in 1973, and the decree that effectively created Basilan Province, with its initial complement of 10 Municipalities (this was eventually reduced to seven).

By then, politics took center-stage, and the resurgent Yakan uplanders found themselves battling the Tausug lowlanders and their allies. The incessant Yakan-Tausug pocket battles throughout the 1980s culminated in the burning of Isabela City's downtown market in 1987, after several revenge killings gave Basilan its first-taste of infamy as the Philippines' "Wild, Wild West". By then, Basilan's economy, along with the rest of the Philippines', was limping along, barely surviving the aftermath of these struggles.

At the onset of the post-Marcos administration of Corazon Aquino, yet another blow was dealt on Basilan's economy. By 1988, Congress passed the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL) which inaugurated the land distribution program of the leftist-influenced national government. Also, the Organic Act for the creation of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) similarly passed into law.

The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) as it became operational, immediately covered Basilan's large multi-national plantations despite the plantation workers' misgivings and the landowners' objections. Almost immediately, the large multi-national corporations and all their investments were withdrawn from Basilan. Leaving these well-cultivated tracks of land in the hands of farmer beneficiaries who were converted to managers of large-scale corporate operations for the first time and in a farmers' cooperative format. They were ill-trained to do the job, and barely had enough left to adequately secure their newly acquired property, something that the multi-nationals had no problem with, as these had the means to hire professional managers and well-equipped security personnel.

Filling in the void left behind by the withdrawal of the multi-nationals and their security forces, by the early 1990s, disgruntled Yakan youths preached upon by returning mujahideen warriors from Afghanistan and schooled in Syria, Egypt and Pakistan, banded together to form the Al-Harakatul Al-Islamiyah, better known worldwide as the Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim extremist group advocating the delivery of Basilan into strict Islamic governance similar to Afghanistan's Taliban regime. Starting in earnest, this bandit group initiated test raids, kidnappings, ambushes and assassinations in some of the more vulnerable Christian communities inland, causing the dispersal of these communities and the total breakdown of the inland economy.

By 2001, a new law expanding the ARMM was passed, and a plebiscite was subsequently held. While Basilan's five (5) Muslim municipalities, i.e. Maluso, Sumisip, Lantawan, Tipo-Tipo, Tuburan opted to join the expanded ARMM, the residents of the Christian areas of Isabela City and Lamitan Municipality, chose not to join the same. Even then, only Isabela was not included in the expanded ARMM, having been granted Cityhood earlier in the same year. Lamitan joined the five other municipalities as Basilan was officially enrolled into membership with the expanded ARMM.

Widespread corruption in the ARMM, helped in no small measure by corruption in the Municipal and Provincial levels further eroded business confidence in the island. This, plus the surge of terrorist activities by the Abu Sayyaf and their Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) cohorts in the international terrorist network of Al-Qaeda, effectively forced Basilan's economy to retreat further.

The Basilan hostage crisis of 2001 raised questions about the economic future of Basilan. Operations by the militant Islamist extremist group Abu Sayyaf reduced prospects for investment and tourism. However, increased presence by the Philippine and U.S. military in the area and the death of the Abu Sayyaf leaders, Khadafi Abubakar Janjalani, in 2006 have been followed by investments by the United States through USAID. Investments reportedly have created 40 new infrastructure projects in the conflict areas of Mindanao as of 2007. Projects include the Basilan Tuburan Road Improvement Project and improvements to Lamitan and Maluso Ports.

Smaller barangay infrastructure projects intended to help boost economic growth are also under development. For instance, authorities are building farm-to-market roads, community and trade centers, water projects, and pedestrian bridges; according to USAID information.

A number of other ODA-funded Non-Governent Organizations (NGOs) and People's Organizations (POs) flooded Basilan starting 2002. These NGOs and POs provided much-needed capital infusion for local entrepreneurs to restart defunct or dying business enterprises. Likewise, improved training and government-funded support were extended to decade-old Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries' Cooperatives, effectively improving productivity levels and crop yields. Extensive farm management training in these "Coop" areas have likewise improved business efficiency in the cooperatives.

By 2003, Basilan has embarked on large-scale replanting programs covering some 50,000 hectares of privately-owned and/or cooperative-controlled lands, mainly for the rubber and cassava crop. Coconut plantations have been rehabilitated starting 2006, owing to the steep rise in copra prices of late. A comprehensive replanting and rehabilitation program is currently being implemented by the Philippine Coconut Authority and the Department of Agriculture for the resuscitation of the island's copra production industry, once the Philippine's second-largest copra exporter after Quezon province in Luzon.

Basilan's business sector is represented by the Basilan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (BCCI), the only officially recognized Chamber by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (PCCI) Its President is businessman Efren New of Lamitan City, Chairman is Luis Biel Sr. of Isabela City. Basilan is likewise served by smaller business groups such as the Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. - Basilan Chapter (FCCCI-Basilan) whose members control nearly 80% of all trading and commerce and the GEM-USAID-created Autonomous Basilan Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ABICCI) composed of Muslim businessmen.

Education

The Island Province of Basilan has one (1) State College and five (5) private colleges. The Basilan State College is located in Isabela City and has an extension college in Lamitan City and Maluso.

Among the private higher education institutions in Isabela City, are the Claret College of Isabela formerly Fatima High School, established by the Jesuits as the premier institution for Catholic education. The Juan S. Alano Memorial School, Inc., offering Midwifery and other health-related courses since 1958, and affiliated with the Juan S. Alano Memorial Hospital, Inc., the first private health care institution in the province, was established as the first non-sectarian School of Midwifery in Western Mindanao. Its campus is located at Juan S. Alano Compound, Brgy. Doña Ramona T. Alano. It will soon be opening choice TESDA-accredited courses through a Technical Vocational Department. More recently, the pioneer computer school in Zamboanga Peninsula and the only computer college in Basilan - the Computer Technologies Institute (COMTECH) Inc. was established in 1997, located along N.S. Valderrosa Street.

The schools in Lamitan City are Mindanao Autonomous College and the Mariam School of Nursing.The Mariam School of Nursing was established in 2004 as part of its Chairwoman's educational outreach program and was named Mariam or Mother Mary - a unifying and guiding figure among the Christians and Muslims. An I.T.-based College of Nursing located in Flores Street corner Rizal Avenue, it envisions to be recognized as a leading center for nursing and allied health education in the province.

Basilan is served by two Schools Divisions by the Department of Education, one for Basilan and one for Isabela City, although both are headquartered in Isabela City. A number of public and private high schools likewise dot the Province. the premier secondary educational institution on the Island is the Basilan National High School located in Isabela City, followed by the Lamitan National High School in Lamitan City. The Claret High Schools of Isabela, Lamitan, Maluso and Tumahubong, and a number of Madaris provide private secondary instruction.

History

The island's early settlers were the Orang Dampuans originating from the islands of Eastern Indonesia, who were the ancestors of the native Yakans. They are variously called the Orang Dyaks or the Tagihamas. The Yakans, an inland pagan tribe, inhabited the Sulu Archipelago before the Muslims from Sumatra and Borneo gained control of the area in the 14th century..

Records of Pre-historic Philippines gleaned from the extensive archives of China's Imperial courts mentions a "Kingdom of Kumalarang" located in one of the southern islands of Ma-yi (the Chinese name for the Philippine archipelago), whose King sent regular tribute to the Chinese Emperor through Chinese traders who frequented the place in the 13th to 14th centuries. Local historians attribute this long lost kingdom to modern-day Kumalarang (now reduced to a Barangay) located along the northwestern coast of Basilan island.

The proselytization of Basilan started in earnest when Fr. Francisco Lado, a Jesuit, established the first Catholic mission in an area called "Pasangen" by the native Yakans. This coastal area, however, was predominantly populated even then by natives of the Tausug and Samal tribes.

Towards the second part of the 19th century, pirate raids from Sulu increasingly harassed the Spanish settlement in nearby Zamboanga, usually using the island of Basilan as a staging ground for some of their more successful forays. By this time, a flourishing kingdom of Yakans and Samals was established in the area of modern-day Lamitan City. Headed by a Datu (local tribal chieftain), the kingdom traded with Yakans who usually lived farther inland.

To check the inroads of both the increasingly bloody Tausug pirate raids and the growing influence of Lamitan's Yakan kingdom, as well as to thwart any further attempt by other European powers to colonize Basilan (the Dutch in 1747 and the French in 1844) the Spanish commandery in Zamboanga City sent over an expeditionary force tasked at establishing a Spanish settlement on Basilan island in 1845, both to serve as an early beacon and defensive perimeter against the pirate parties, and as a trading post for Spanish interests on the island.

The legendary Sultan Kudarat of Maguindanao likewise maintained a base in Lamitan until the Spaniards under the command of Governor General Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera crushed it in 1637. Jesuit missionaries from nearby Zamboanga arrived a few years later, but established themselves in the Tausug-Samal coastal settlement of Pasangen farther to the west of the rebellious Yakan Kingdom of Lamitan. They constructed the first wooden parish and palisade wall near the mouth of the Aguada River, and dedicated the Island to St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order. Back then the Feast Day of Basilan was July 31, after its first Patron Saint.

In anticipation of an invasion from the Chinese pirate-warlord Koxinga, that was expected to devastate Manila, the Spanish authorities withdrew all stations in the south of the country to augment their forces holed up in Intramuros, temporarily freeing Zamboanga and Isabela from Spanish administration in 1663.

The Spanish eventually returned, and after having established lucrative trading agreements with the native kingdoms that dotted the area, nearby Zamboanga experienced a revival in its economy. The increasingly wealthy Spanish trading post in Zamboanga became an even more sought after prize for the Moro pirates of the era, so much so that the surrounding islands started to attract the attention of other foreign powers, and chief among these coveted islands was Basilan.

The Dutch attacked Basilan in 1747 but were repulsed by the natives, who had by then organized a minor, short-lived fiefdom under the Tausug Datu Bantilan. The French under Admiral Cécille then attempted to occupy the island which they called Taguime in 1844, but they, too, failed.

In 1845, Don Ramon Lobo, the Marine Chief of Zamboanga, accompanied Don Cayetano Suarez de Figueroa, District Governor of Zamboanga, to the coastal settlement of Pasangen. A wooden palisade to augment the one constructed by the enterprising Jesuits who built their own palisade nearer the shore, was initially erected on a high promontory facing the narrow channel that was protected by nearby Malamawi Island, and therefore was easily defensible from attacks and raids from the sea. By 1848, after the expulsion of the Jesuits from the entire Spanish Empire following the Carlist Wars on the contentious Spanish Succession, a stone fort, named: Fuerte de Isabela Segunda, was constructed on the same site, to protect the growing Christian settler-colony which flourished around the small wooden church, re-dedicated since the expulsion of the Jesuits, to Sta. Isabel de Portugal. The community thus established was subsequently named in honor of Queen Isabella II of Spain after the Spanish Fort was dedicated to her. The military garrison thus established was initially placed under the direct command of the Fuerza dela Nuestra Senora del Pilar de Zaragosa (Fort Pilar) in Zamboanga. In 1863, Fort Isabela Segunda became the focal point of the 6th District of the Police-Military Government of Mindanao.

In 1879, the Spanish garrison built a "floating" Naval Hospital on shallows guarding the eastern entrance to the Isabela Channel.

Fort Isabela Segunda was used by invading Japanese forces during World War II as a military camp, as well as an ammunition dump and was thereafter blown up during liberation, together with the Naval Hospital. The Provincial Capitol now occupies the same site where the old Fort used to stand. Recent excavations yielded rusted cannon balls piled in underground cellars dug up during the Spanish era.

On the other side of Basilan's northern shore, Lamitan was derived from the phrase Lami-Lamihan which means a blend of Merry Making and Conference. The town was named by the first Spaniards from Isabela who explored this area. When the Spaniards arrived the Yakans were celebrating the native festival. The explorers inquired the name of the place, the Yakans thought they were inquiring about what the merry making about and explained it was the festival of Lami-Lamihan, the Spaniards misunderstood their answer, thereafter called the place Lamitan.

During the Spanish regime the advance of civilization was cultivated chiefly in the area of Isabela. A few adventurous colonists from Zamboanga had also settled at Lamitan, but the Lamitan area was mostly wild and uncivilized isolated from the military protection of Isabela by impenetrable jungles. The Christian settlers at Lamitan lived in constant dread of Moro Bandits.

The municipality of Lamitan was founded by Pedro Javier Cuevas popularly known as Datu Kalun. He was born in the town of Bacoor Cavite on June 9, 1846. He was committed into the San Ramon Penal Colony as a convict, but managed to escape and eventually found his way to Lamitan where he continued to hide from pursuing Spanish authorities. Here, he started a family, having married one of the local Yakan Chieftains' daughters. With his advanced knowledge of Spanish armaments and military tactics of the day, he commanded a group of Yakan warriors, by then converted to Christianity, as well as some Chavacano conscripts from nearby Zamboanga, and proceeded to subjugate the remaining Yakan tribal leaders in the area by force of arms.

After having consolidated his power over the once-flourishing Yakan enclave, Don Pedro Cuevas, sent emissaries to the Spanish authorities in Isabela and Zamboanga. He was eventually recognized by the Spanish authorities, having formalized his position as leader of the Lamitan District of Basilan island organized finally in 1886.

More Filipino settler families, such as the Cuevas-Flores-Pamaran-Antonio clan (progeny of the legendary Datu Kalun) in Lamitan and the Pardo, Barandino, Brown, Dans and Nuñal families of Isabela itself soon followed suit, establishing sizeable plantations, usually engaged in coconut/copra production.

Early in the American period, American plantation owners cleared vast expanses of Basilan's virgin forest land and established what was to be Basilan's primary economic activity - plantation agriculture, mainly rubber and copra. American Dr. James W. Strong, the Father of the Philippine Rubber Industry, inaugurated the first rubber plantation in the Philippines (inauguration was attended by President Manuel L. Quezon no-less) in Baluno, a plaque and shrine to this pioneering individual may be visited in the same Barangay to this day.

The success of what was soon to be the B. F. Goodrich rubber concession in the northern part of Isabela City, enticed other multi-national firms, such as the British-Malaysian Sime Darby and the Hispano-German Hans Menzi Corporation to open rubber plantations in the City's southern areas. The first Filipino-owned plantation was established on Malamawi Island by Don Juan S. Alano, originally of Malolos, Bulacan, who served as Representative of the entire Moro Province (Mindanao) during the Commonwealth Era (1936-1942), and the first Congressman of Zamboanga Province (now comprising Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga City and Basilan) in the Republic's first Congress (1946-1949). He authored the Charter of both the Cities of Basilan and Zamboanga.

When the town of Zamboanga became a chartered city in 1936, it included Basilan. In 1942 Japanese soldiers landed in Basilan and occupied it until 1945, when American and Filipino troops and local Moro guerrillas were finally able to liberate the island from the Japanese. On July 1, 1948, by virtue of a bill filed by then congressman Juan S. Alano, Basilan itself became a separate city. The city was converted into a province on December 27, 1973 after incessant rebel fighting forced President Ferdinand E. Marcos to issue a Presidential Decree to the effect. Initially, 10 municipalities were created, and these were: Isabela, Lamitan, Maluso, Lantawan, Sumisip, Tipo-Tipo, Tuburan, Pilas, Tapiantana, and Malamawi. This was eventually reduced to seven municipalities, with the three outlying island-municipalities being merged with their nearest neighbor.

In the early part of the 1990s, the widespread confusion brought about by the implementation of CARP which severely affected Basilan's traditional plantation agriculture economy, was beset by the establishment of the Al-Harakatul Al-Islamiyah, better known as the bandit group Abu Sayyaf, founded by Yakan firebrand Abdurajak Janjalani and a preacher-classmate from Syria and Afghanistan, Wahab Akbar.

This band of brigands stormed Ipil town of present Zamboanga Sibugay Province and planted a bomb on American Library ship M/V Doulos, docked in Zamboanga's port. They then engineered a series of arguably successful kidnap-for-ransom operations which reached its fever point in 2000 and 2001, when high profile hostages from Malaysia's resort island of Sipadan and then tourists from a Palawan resort were kidnapped and brought to Basilan and Sulu.

This prompted the government, assisted by a hawkish post-9/11 America, to inaugurate the Balikatan 02-1 in 2002, wherein a contingent of about 3,000 US troops were deployed in Basilan to offer training and technical assistance to the Philippine Armed Forces, as well as humanitarian services to the general populace.

This led to an avalanche of NGOs and ODA-funded projects which transformed Basilan from the Philippines' "Wild, Wild West" to a showcase for US/foreign-assisted efforts in former terrorist hotbeds, dubbed the "Basilan Model". ODA-funded initiatives from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, EU, UK, Belgium, Japan, Germany and Spain complemented the larger US presence in the area.

Recent developments brought about by the inclusion of Basilan into the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao(ARMM)increased the number of Basilan's Municipalities to eleven (11), namely the original: Maluso, Lantawan, Sumisip, Tipo-Tipo, Tuburan, and the ARMM-created Al-Barka, Akbar, Muhammad Ajul, Ungkaya Pukan, Hdji. Muhtamad and Tabuan Lasa, municipalities with an average of only 10 Barangays each and populations that increduously grew by an average 100% over the period of only seven years.

Case in point is the eponymous Akbar Municipality (named after the late Congressman Wahab Akbar, during his lifetime), which used to have a population of only 10,581 in 9 barangays in 2000, to 21,312 in 2007, or an actual population increase of 101.42%.

Results from the recent 2007 Local Elections had the COMELEC declaring former Governor Wahab Akbar, an acknowledged Yakan leader, as Congressman of the Lone District of Basilan, a position he served until November 14, 2007 when he was killed by a bomb blast at the Philippine Congress grounds. His first wife, Jum Jainuddin-Akbar was proclaimed Governor, and his second wife, Cherrylyn Santos-Akbar, was proclaimed Mayor of Isabela City. Allegations of massive, systematic and comprehensive electoral fraud, vote-buying and voter intimidation were leveled at the Akbar dynasty. Akbar's nephews and nieces also won the chief posts in almost all municipalities. The only exception being Lamitan, having elected a descendant of the feisty Datu Kalun - Roderick C. Furigay, defeating Akbars third wife in the 2007 elections by a landslide.

Former MNLF Commander and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Abdulgani 'Gerry' Salapuddin, along with Akbar foes Hajiman Hataman and his brother, Party-list Representative Mujiv Hataman have been implicated in the bombing incident which killed their political nemesis.

Political divisions

Administratively part of Zamboanga Peninsula region.

Famous Basilan Personalities

HISTORY & POLITICS

• Datu Bantilan - Tausug Chieftain, establishing the first kingdom on the island which, some say, was eventually named after him.
• Datu Kalun (Don Pedro Cuevas) - Cavite-native, who married a Yakan princess, and subjugated Lamitan
• Don Juan S. Alano - Bulacan-native, Commonwealth Assemblyman of the Moro Province of Mindanao (1936-1946), 1st Congressman of the Province of Zamboanga (1946-1949), authored the Chartered City of Basilan, became the Grand Master of the Freemasons in the Philippines in 1961
• Don Narciso S. Valderroza - Bulacan-native, 1st Mayor of Basilan City (1948), also the 1st Mayor of Zamboanga (1936), Davao (1938) and Baguio (1946) Cities
• Mayor Leroy S. Brown - the longest-serving Mayor of Basilan City (1950-1975), presided over the rise of Basilan City into 1st Class status during his term
• Justice Regino Hermosisima - Supreme Court Justice, presided over the controversial Aquino-Galman Double Murder Case as a Judge at the Manila RTC.
• Hon. Ulbert Ulama Tugung - a Tausug leader, eventually became the 1st Regional Governor of the defunct Lupong Tagapagpaganap ng Pook (LTP), special administrative arm for the Muslim Provinces
• Hon. Asan Camlian - the first Muslim Governor of Basilan, appointed by Pres. Ferdinand Marcos, and subsequently won his seat under Marcos' KBL
• Hon. Alvin G. Dans - variously a Provincial Governor, Congressman, Undersecretary of the DILG, and Philippine Postmaster General
• Hon. Candu I. Muarip - the first Yakan politician to be elected to high office, he was appointed Prime Minister for a month during the short-lived Revolutionary Government of Corazon Aquino, he has since been elected Congressman, and is now a Provincial Board Member
• '''Hon. Perfecto "Toto" Antonio, Jr. - 3 term Provincial Board Member, a descendant of the Legendary Datu Kalun, a National Board Director for the Family Planning Organization of the Philippines for several years, last Christian to be elected in a Provincial office(2004)
• Hon. Gerry A. Salapuddin - a former MNLF Commander, schooled in Sorbonne University in Paris, France, became three-term Governor, then three-term Congressman, in the last two of whose 3-term run in Congress he was elected Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives
• Hon. Wahab M. Akbar - erstwhile political kingpin and dynast, 3-term Governor, elected Congressman in 2007, killed by a bomb blast at the Philippine Congress in November 2007.
• Hon. Roseller Barinaga - long-term Mayor of Dipolog City and 3-term Congressman of the 2nd District of Zamboanga del Norte, of Cebuano parents, an alumna of the Basilan City High School, Class of 1955
• Hon. Romeo Jalosjos - Mayor of Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte, born in Latuan, Isabela City
• Hon. Cynthia Jalosjos-Carreon - Congresswoman of the 1st District of Zamboanga del Norte, born in Latuan, Isabela City
• Hon. Cesar Jalosjos - Congressman of the 3rd District of Zamboanga del Norte, born in Latuan, Isabela City
• Hon. Ma. Theresa M. Alano - Assistant Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)
• Hon. Athena Dans - Commissioner, Bureau of Customs (BOC)
• Hon. Roberto Reynera - Chief, Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG)

ENTERTAINMENT

• John Estrada - from Dona Ramona Alano Brgy., Isabela City, starred in a number of full-length Feature Films as well as Television comedy and drama series with ABS-CBN Network. Married Janice "Flor de Luna/Sis" De Belen, with whom he had several children. Estranged and whose current flame is Miss Earth 2006 Priscilla Meirelles of Brazil
• Kaye Abad - daughter of Basilan Vice Governor Al-Rasheed Sakkalahul, starred in a number of films and teen drama series with ABS-CBN Network
• Sammy Lagmay - from La Piedad, Isabela City, a regular comedian side-kick antagonist in a number of comedy series aired at ABS-CBN, GMA and ABC
• Josephine Estrada - original "Marilyn Monroe" bombshell of Philippine cinema in the 1960s and 1970s, an aunt of John Estrada, now residing in the USA
• Cecile Licad - world-renowned concert pianist, lived in Basilan as a child in the 1950s, with his father Dr. Licad helping to establish the Basilan Hospital, the first private hospital on the island (now the Juan S. Alano Memorial Hospital)
• Alain Echem - from Lamitan, lead vocalist of the band Frio
• Jennifer Violet Alano - won 1st Runner-up in the Miss Globe 1989 pageant held in London, UK
• Ma. Celeste Alano Pineda - lead role as Rafiki in "Lion King" Stage Musical both in Hong Kong Disneyland and in Disneys' London Production.

See also

• 2007 Batasang Pambansa bombing
• Wahab Akbar Governor of Basilan (1998 to 2007)
• Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao

Notes

External links

• Official website of the provincial government of Basilan
• www.abs-cbnnews.com, Fire guts Lamitan City hall in Basilan