Mindanao is dominantly Cebuano

The Philippine Senate was created by virtue of the Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916 more known as the Jones Law after its author, Congressman William Atkinson Jones of the state of Virginia. The country was divided into 12 senatorial districts composed of provinces, with each district electing two senators. The 11th Senatorial District was composed of the provinces of Bohol, Surigao, and Misamis.

The first to be elected representing the senatorial district was Jose A. Clarin. He was the son of Don Aniceto Velez Clarin (first civilian governor of Bohol) of Parian, Cebu, who married a Butalid of Bohol. Senator Jose Clarin was a lawyer and was elected congressman representing the old 2nd District of Bohol from 1907 to 1916. He was a frequent visitor to Cebu and represented Cebuano businessmen as legal counsel. In his honor a municipality in Misamis Occidental, which he helped to regain its town status after it was reverted into a barrio, is named after him, thus the rebirth of a town called Clarin.

The dominance of Senator Clarin in politics encouraged Bol-anons to migrate to Mindanao as businessmen, traders, and farmers. Landowners in Mindanao are dominantly from Visayas mostly Bol-anons, Ilonggos, and Leyteños. But these Visayans trace their roots to Cebu as Lapu-Lapu and his men scattered to Western and Eastern Visayas to train and organize its inhabitants on how to defend themselves when another foreign intruder like Magellan (Magallanes) would invade their islands. Haring Tupas also pursued General Legaspi after attacking Fort San Pedro on September 1, 1569. The men of Lapu-Lapu spread their blood by siring children, so did Haring Tupas, in fact one of the first senators representing the 7th Senatorial District, Jose Altavas (the political mentor of Manuel Roxas) traces his roots to Haring Tupas.

Another Cebuano congressman who transferred to Bohol to run for the 11th Senatorial District was Troadio Galicano, a revolutionary general and lawyer from Carcar, Cebu. The younger brother of Senator Galicano by the name of Jose Galicano served Carcar as municipal councilor and is the lyricist of the song, “Sa Kabukiran” with Marcial Velez as composer.

Misamis is nautically adjacent to Bohol, in fact even today there are trips from Jagna, Bohol, to Camiguin which used to be a sub-province of Misamis Oriental. Originally, Misamis used to be one province. It was in 1929 when it was divided into two, the Oriental (Cagayan de Oro City as capital) and Occidental (Oroquieta City as capital).

The creation of the Department of Mindanao and Sulu in 1914 and the appointment of the Cebuano Municipal President of Argao, Antonio Minoza, as deputy governor ushered the migration of the town people of Argao and its neighboring towns to Mindanao. The dominant family names in politics and business in Mindanao trace their roots to Cebu. Ug mabuhi ang bantugan nga Bisaya.