Sketch of Location and Fortification of the Moros on the Summit of Mount Alanguilan, including the Cave above Cumaycay River, 1850

The document of the month is a non-textual record of a military campaign made in 1850. The illustration shows the location and fortification of the Moros on the summit of Mt. Alanguilan and the cave nearby. Included are drawings of establishments on the peak, a treetop observation post, locations of adversaries, and surroundings.

Stitched on the illustration is a patch with an inscription, “Al Valor en Alanguilan de Misamis en 7 Abril de 1850 (Valor at Alanguilan in Misamis on April 7, 1850).” It could imply that heroes emerged from the campaign made in Misamis at the time.

According to a geologist from the Lands Geological Survey Division of Mines and Geosciences Bureau, Mt. Alanguilan is now known as Mt. Kitanglad. Located in Bukidnon, it is an inactive volcano that is inside the Kitanglad mountain range. It is the fourth highest mountain in the Philippines with a height of 2,899 meters more or less.

Within the ancestral domain of several indigenous communities like the Bukidnons, Higaonons, and Talaandigs, the range was declared a natural park. Tourists and bird watchers frequent the park to appreciate and document the flora and fauna in place. The Philippine eagle has been periodically sighted over the ranges of Kitanglad.

The Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB), the agency that documents Philippine inland wetlands and caves came out with an atlas about these natural formations in 2016. The caves in the list are then classified either as tourist friendly sites to visit or as dangerous places not to stay in.

BMB is currently clueless on the cave included in the 1850 illustration. But, do not despair because new discoveries are periodically being encountered here and there. Also hope that someone from the Bukidnon local government units (LGUS) find the cave and share the story to all nature lovers and spelunkers alike.

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