Casiguran

Casiguran lies on the Pacific coast of eastern Luzon, where the Sierra Madre rises behind the shore. Dumagat-Agta communities inhabited its rivers and forests before Spanish missionaries arrived. In 1609 Franciscans established a mission here and at neighbouring Baler, gathering people into settlements for conversion. Shortages of missionaries led the Augustinians and Recollects to take responsibility for the district in 1658; the Franciscans returned in 1703. The mountains made communication with the plains to the west difficult.