Fuga Island is an island and

barangay A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...

located north of

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

and is part of the Babuyan Islands, which is the second-northernmost island group of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Barangay Fuga Island is one of the 42 barangays under the jurisdiction of the municipality of

Aparri Aparri ( ilo, Ili ti Aparri; tl, Bayan ng Aparri), officially the Municipality of Aparri, is a 1st class municipality in the province of , Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 68,839 people. It sits at the mouth of ...

in the province of

Cagayan Cagayan ( ), officially the Province of Cagayan ( ilo, Probinsia ti Cagayan; ibg, Provinsiya na Cagayan; itv, Provinsiya ya Cagayan; fil, Lalawigan ng Cagayan), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the C ...

Geography

Fuga has an area of and a population of 2,015 people. The principal settlement is Naguilian (Musa) village on the southern coast. The highest peak is Mount Nanguringan in the northeast, with an elevation of . Along with the neighbouring islets of

Barit Barit (historically Bari) is a small, wooded, privately owned island in northern Cagayan, Philippines. It is under the jurisdiction of Barangay Fuga Island in the municipality of Aparri. Location and geography Barit Island is north of Luzon Is ...

() and Mabaag, it constitutes one of 42

s of the municipality of Aparri, Cagayan. It is the only one of the Babuyan Islands under the jurisdiction of a mainland municipality, whereas all other islands form the municipality of Calayan.

History

Presently, Fuga Island is owned by Fuga Island Holdings. It was formerly owned by the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

under the ''

encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...

'' system during the Spanish Period eventually returned to the Filipinos after the signing of

1898 Treaty of Paris The Treaty of Peace between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain, commonly known as the Treaty of Paris of 1898 ( fil, Kasunduan sa Paris ng 1898; es, Tratado de París de 1898), was a treaty signed by Spain and the United Stat ...

. The first land title was issued in 1908 under Original Certificate Title number two, and the

Insular Government of the Philippine Islands The Insular Government of the Philippine IslandsThis form of the name appeared in the titles of U.S. Supreme Court cases, but was otherwise rarely used. See Costas v. Insular Government of the Philippine Islands, 221 U.S. 623, 1911. The Admini ...

designated the island and surrounding ports an economic zone as part of the Cagayan Special Economic Zone (CEZA) and Freeport under '' Republic Act No. 7922''.

Archaeology

From January 31, 1978 to February 22, 1978, Bryan E. Snow and Richard Shutler, Jr. conducted an archaeological excavation on Fuga Moro Island. Only earthenware, pottery, porcelains, and stoneware were found during the excavation.

Military presence

On August 7, 2020, the Northern Luzon Command established a Marine detachment on the island. It also plans to build a defense facilities on the island, which will include a sheltered pier, a naval station, and a littoral monitoring on 20-hectare detachment.

References

{{reflist

External links

Fuga Island
at

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