Masbate

Masbate lies among the islands between southern Luzon and the Visayas. Its bays and channels connect the island to routes through the wider Philippine archipelago, while its hills contain gold deposits worked before Spanish rule. Gold served for ornaments and trade, attracting the attention of outsiders who came to the island.

Spanish expeditions reached Masbate in the 1560s and found gold mining already under way. Attempts to intensify the workings later proved costly, and by the end of the seventeenth century a Recollect account reported that the mines no longer paid their expenses. Augustinian missionaries from Cebu were followed by Recollects in 1688. The island's coastal settlements remained exposed to raiding, a recurring concern for the communities scattered around its shores.