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| Huluga Chronology |
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| vis-à-vis Scientific Study, Preservation and Tragedy | |
| By Lourd Ostique Administrative Officer, Museo de Oro, Xavier University August 13, 2003 | |
| 1962 | |
| Fr. Francis Madigan published his article, "The Early History of Cagayan de Oro" in The Philippine Studies.
Annotation: “The location of Himologan is no longer known. It was probably abandoned a few decades after the founding of Cagayan town. It would undoubtedly be rich in archaeological material if it could be rediscovered. It was almost certainly on the east side of the Cagayan River and not more than 10 kilometers from the river’s mouth. The Recollects used to walk down to say Mass on the shore of a small river near the sea. Possibly the peninsula on which it perched no longer exists or has been greatly modified by the river. For civic motives Xavier University offers a standing reward of P100.00 for the discovery of the site.” (Madigan, 1962) |
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| 1970 | |
| Mr. Pedrito Bacarro brought the existence of Huluga caves to the attention of Fr. Francisco Demetrio, S.J., then curator of the Xavier University Folklife Museum and Archives, who in turn reported this immediately to the National Museum, Manila. | |
| October 26 – November 17, 1970 | |
| An investigating team was organized composed of Mr. Israel Cabanilla, Archaeologist from the National Museum, assisted by Mr. Ruperto Santiago, Assistant Curator of the Xavier Folklife Museum and Archives and by Mr. Jun Gomez, President of the Xavier Folklife Archaeological Society to investigate Huluga discovery, excavate the area and to salvage whatever artifacts available. Cabanilla reported: “Huluga Caves is about eight kilometers south of Cagayan de Oro City. In order to reach it one had to take either one or two routes: go south following the highway in the direction of the airport. Make a left turn on the ranch and saw mill of Congressman Oloy Roa and from there cross the river… Another route to Huluga Caves would be to follow the eastern bank of Cagayan River from Cagayan de Oro City. It takes about two hours to hike by narrow trails… A good deal of artifacts, have been recovered and are on display in the Xavier Museum … “My general impression of the areas that we surveyed and explored, in the vicinity of Huluga (caves) but on a higher elevation, is that these sites are very interesting, exciting and encouraging. The presence of so much obsidians, rocks of various types, all of which are known to be the raw sources of tools for early man was very encouraging. Surface finds of obsidian flake tools, local pottery, sherds of Sung or Ming Dynasty pointed to a tentative conclusion that this area was used for a long, long time continuously.” [From the Report of Mr. Israel Cabanilla, National Museum Archaeologist, to the Asia Foundation, November, 1970] |
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