( Note: Relative to the need for proper understanding on and appreciation of this said Fort., this Chapter One zeroes-in and focuses on the entire article entitled "THE FORT AT MISAMIS (NOW, OZAMIZ CITY)". Written between February to March 2001 mainly for the whole thrust on this Position Paper, the author of this said work is no other than Fr. Miguel A. Bernad, S.J., Ph. D., a well-known figure, both local and international, not only as a priest but, above all, as a professor, publisher-editor, writer / columnist and historian. ) [ cf., Appendix 1; plus 1-A & 1-B]

The year 1754 was a bitter year for the people of the coastal towns and villages of northern Mindanao, the Visayas and southern Luzon. That year were greatly intensified: the pirates would come, sometimes as many as 2,000 in number, and would burn the houses and the crops in the fields, and they would try to catch as many of the inhabitants as possible and carry them off to be sold as slaves in the slave markets of Sulu and Maguidanao.

The "Triunfo" Armada

In an effort to control the raids and catch the raiders before they got to the coastal settlements, the Central Government under Governor Pedro Manuel de Arandia created an armada to patrol the Mindanao Sea, and placed it under the command of a Spanish Jesuit missionary with the title of Captain General. The man chosen was Father Josep Ducos, S.J., who had led the people of Iligan in a successful defense of their town against a Muslim raid. At the head of the armada was his flagship, a gallery named "Triunfo". The armada had several encounters with pirates, including one sea battle in which Father Ducos lost one eye.

The Fort is Proposed

When the campaign was over, Father Ducos proposed to the Central Government the construction of a fort at Misamis, which was a strategic location commanding the entrance into Panguil Bay. This would form part of the network of fortifications in Mindanao, the other forts being at Iligan, Cagayan, Tandag and Zamboanga.

Government Arandia's government accepted the suggestion and entrusted the planning and the construction of the fort to Fathers Ducos and Paver. The plans of course, and the project itself, including the costs, had to be approved by the Madrid Government, and this approval was granted by the Council of the Indies on 2 September 1755.

Pangil Bay

In the meantime Father Ducos constructed a provisional fort made of wood. And he and his assistant, Father Juan Nepomuceno Paver, S.J., explored Pangil Bay and drew up a map of the Bay. Among other things, the rivers were indicated that emptied into the Bay as well as swamps that lined the shores at certain places.

This map was submitted by Governor Arandia in 1755. ( A copy of this map is published together with my article on "Father Ducos and the Muslim Wars, 1752-1759", Philippine Studies 16 (1968) 690-728. The map is on p.715.)

The Fort is Constructed

The construction of the stone fort began in 1756. But the progress was slow, owing to lack of funds. When funds were low, contribution would be suspended, to be resumed when additional funds were available.

Four years after the start of construction (1760) three of the bastions of the stone fort were already completed and work had -