This page shows mainly brief notes about Cagayan de Oro history. Click here to see the full article by Dr. Antonio J. Montalvan II.

A persistent romantic tale points to the word "kagayhaan" as the origin of "cagayan", but this narrative is not historical.

Some websites claim that the earliest discovered human bone in Cagayan de Oro is dated 1,600 BC. The correct figure is 350 AD.

An ancient settlement of Cagayan de Oro is the open site in Huluga. Several newspaper reporters incorrectly use the phrase "Huluga Caves" to refer to this place. TheWikipedia entry on Huluga Caves is also inaccurate.

This misconception seems to be the result of the popular depiction of early humans as cave dwellers. Although there is truth to this portrayal in many findings worldwide, fossils and artifacts in Huluga caves indicate that the caves were used for burial. The aforementioned human bone dated 350 AD was found in a Huluga cave.

Indications of prolonged human habitation were found in the Huluga open site on a hill, now referred to by the Heritage Conservation Advocates (HCA) as Obsidian Hill, which has been damaged by the city government. Huluga, therefore, is an archaeological area composed of two parts -- the caves and the hill. To refer to Huluga as a settlement site, writers should use any of these phrases: Huluga open site or Huluga settlement site. See primer on Huluga.

There are other sites in Cagayan de Oro where artifacts and fossils have been found. More studies are needed for these areas and Huluga.

In 2004, a team from the University of the Philippines-Archaeological Studies Program (UP-ASP) made a misleading report about Huluga, calling it a "camp-like" area. The team, which ignored a midden in Huluga and several artifacts and fossils found by the HCA, was paid P450,000 by former mayor Vicente Y. Emano, the same person who had destroyed a huge portion of this heritage site. The webmaster has several articles about the ASP report. Two among them:

• Trash Archaeology
• A Habitation, But Unlikely A Habitation

In 2009, a gravesite containing 52 male and female human individuals of varied ages were discovered in Huluga. Nine Sung and Sawangkhalok bowls from this site are on display in the Museum of Three Cultures of Capitol University. Angel Bautista of the National Museum said this finding further establishes Huluga as a settlement site.

Some government officials are interested in promoting historical events and objects from the Spanish, American, and Japanese occupation but consistently ignore important precolonial places and people. Mayor Constantino Jaraula, for instance, campaigned for the construction of a monument for Gen. Douglas MacArthur, and Senator Aquilino Pimentel (a native of Cagayan de Oro) recently objected to the sale of a historical building in Japan, but they have no program to protect archaeological sites in Cagayan de Oro.

The authority on Cagayan de Oro history is Dr. Antonio J. Montalvan II, curator of the Museum of Three Cultures of Capitol University. His article on the Cagayan de Oro history is in the website about Cagayan de Oro heritage. Excerpt: