group is known simply as Tagbanwa, and they inhabit areas to the south of the central Tagbanwa area. These three groups are quite distinct from one another primarily because their languages are widely different and incomprehensible to the other groups. Secondly, unlike the southern group of shifting cultivators described by Robert B. Fox, the Calamian Tagbanwa are chiefly seminomadic fisherfolks.6 The name “Tagbanwa” is a generic one and means “from the place” or “original inhabitants of the place.” It is still used today by the indigenous or native population to distinguish themselves from the lumalayag (sailors) or “those who migrated to the area by sea” like the Cuyonon and other Hispanicized Filipinos such as Agutaynon, Cagayanen, and the Visayans. The methods used in the investigation are: 1) semi-structured interviews with key informants, such as community elders, leaders of the indigenous organizations, barangay captains and NGO field workers; 2) focus group discussions with barangay officials and leaders of the indigenous organizations; and 3) key informants’ verification of the case’s final form. Coron Island Coron Island has a special place not only in Tagbanwa history but also in the history of the municipality itself. In an interesting twist, the town took its name after this adjacent island and not the other way around. The name “Coron” is a Cuyonon word for a round-shaped, clay cooking pot, which is what the valley in Banwang Daan looks like when seen from the vantage point of the limestone cliffs, which surround the village on three sides. The town of Coron was so named because the town site was first established in Coron Island in the mid-1700’s as Peñon de Coron located in Banwang Daan (or in the Palawan Historical Data Papers Banwang Lague) which means “former site” in Hiligaynon. Area Profile Coron Island is host to two villages located in Barangays Cabugao and Banwang Daan, both of which are populated predominantly by Tagbanwa. Though the majority of Tagbanwa in this island congregate in the two settlements, not a few clans live apart in scattered beaches and coves around Coron Island and Delian Island. Three such areas are Alimpiu, Diknay, and Salamagi – all sitios of Barangay Cabugao. Salamagi is so named owing to the numerous salamagi (tamarind) trees planted in the place. It is a strip of beach in the west coast of Coron Island facing Bulalacao and Culion and has been home to the Manuel clan for several generations, that is, “simula pa sa panahon ng mga ninuno” (since the time of the ancestors). Five families from this clan have settled here permanently, and had cultivated crops along the beach such as coconuts, bananas and cassava. Close to Salamagi is the Tewa, a beach once, which is used as a burial area by the ancestors. There are many burial grounds in the beaches ringing Coron Island such as Lelebngan nye bukidnun, Magtatangaw, Indanan, Dinalak and Dima. In caves which have been relatively less disturbed by robbers, there are pieces of pottery, utensils, plates and other artifacts, as it was the custom of their ancestors to bury their dead with a few of the possessions they acquired in life. There has been some interest on the part 5