Sunday, June 24, 2012

Could Masihan be Maysia?

A place they call 'Masihan" in Gasan.

This beach area in Gasan is called Masihan. It offers a great view of the three islands known collectively as Tres Reyes. These islands are said to be the 17th and 19th century hideout of Moro pirates before staging an attack on the poblacion.


Masihan in barangay Pangi is, so far, the nearest clue to physically identifying a place known as "Maysia", one of two places where the townspeople of Gasan, as written, decided to move after the destruction of the poblacion by the Moros in 1764. 


The present poblacion of Gasan in the background as viewed from Masihan.

Tracing places that don't ring a bell could be a painstaking business involving the search for more clues from the landscape itself, from the make of old structures in the area, from ruins, if any, from documentary evidences and from oral history. With luck, those things could lead to even more interesting, new discoveries.