Chapter IV
The Journey
From Loay, Bohol to Daisog, Misamis Occidental
1870 · From Loay, Bohol to Daisog, Misamis Occidental
A dark, moonless night
According to oral tradition, it was a dark, moonless night, after delayed preparations, when the group silently slipped out of Loay in their pilang — a sailboat designed to catch devil fish (Salanga) — heavily loaded with provisions, personal belongings, supplies, religious objects and fishing gears.
Approximate route — locations to be confirmed
Open journey →The route is shown as an approximation until the family's actual locations and coordinates are recorded.
Guiding their course southwards
Drifted apart from the rest of the Boholano travellers, they took a separate course, and made their trip a sentimental journey to an unknown destination. But prayers and high hope kept them from harm amidst the cryptic darkness of the night.
Guided only by the silvery stars and favorable sea winds, Toribio steered his pilang southwards — skirting the coast of Cebu island, then proceeding to the tortuous waters of Siquijor, to the choppy waters of the Mindanao Sea — until, by the dawn of May 3, 1870, they sighted the tiny island of Kapayas, about one kilometer east from the mainland.
Farther above, they saw the faint outline of Mount Malindang rising majestically above the misty province of Misamis Occidental.
If the Faith is widespread in Mindanao today, it is largely due under God first, to the missionaries and second, to the large migration from Bohol and Cebu.
Mount Malindang
Approximate location Misamis OccidentalThe highest mountain in the province, whose faint outline the migrants first glimpsed above the mist as they approached the Mindanao Sea. The Daisog River gets its source from its foot.