Siquijor is the smallest province in the Visayas — an island of 343 square kilometres sitting in the Bohol Sea between Cebu, Bohol, and Negros Oriental. For centuries it carried a reputation for sorcery and mystery that kept many Filipinos from visiting. That reputation has since become its selling point.
SiquijorCapital
343 km²Area
6Municipalities
VisayasIsland Group
The island glows at night. Fireflies — millions of them — inhabit the molave trees of Mount Bandilaan, the forested peak at the island's centre. This phenomenon is probably the factual origin of Siquijor's historical name: Isla del Fuego — Island of Fire — given by Spanish sailors who saw the light from the sea.
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Isla del FuegoSpanish sailors named the island Isla del Fuego — Island of Fire — when they first saw the bioluminescent glow of its firefly-filled forests from the sea. The name 'Siquijor' comes from the Visayan word for the molave tree, whose old-growth stands on Mount Bandilaan host the firefly population.
The Spanish and the Sorcery Reputation
Siquijor's reputation for dark magic developed during the Spanish colonial period. The island's relative isolation, its firefly forests, and the practice of traditional healing using local plants and rituals gave it an atmosphere that colonisers and neighbouring islanders found unsettling. The Spanish Augustinian missionaries who worked the island never fully displaced the indigenous spiritual practices.
1571Spanish Arrive at Siquijor
Spanish colonial forces arrived at Siquijor as part of the broader pacification of the Visayas in the 1570s. The island was assigned to Augustinian missionaries, and a series of stone churches were built in the municipal centres. The Lazi Church — completed in the 18th century — is the largest convent in Asia.
1971Siquijor Becomes a Province
For most of the colonial and post-colonial period, Siquijor was administered as part of Negros Oriental. It became a separate province in 1971 — one of the last to achieve independent provincial status in the Visayas.
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Mananabal — The HealerSiquijor's traditional healers are called mananabal. They practice a form of herbal medicine using locally gathered plants, combined with ritual incantations. During Holy Week — particularly Black Saturday — mananabal from across Siquijor gather at Bandilaan mountain to collect and prepare their medicines for the coming year. The gathering has been documented and is partly open to observation.
Siquijor's culture is defined by the tension between its reputation and its reality. The island is quiet, Catholic, agricultural — fishing and coconut farming sustain most families. The healers and their practices are real, but they exist within an ordinary community life that has nothing mysterious about it.
The Mananabal Tradition
Traditional healing on Siquijor uses locally gathered medicinal plants prepared according to formulas passed within families. The practices draw from both indigenous Visayan healing tradition and from knowledge accumulated over centuries of isolation. The healers treat conditions that range from skin ailments to what they describe as spirit-caused illness. They do not advertise — knowledge of a specific healer passes by word of mouth.
Lazi Convent and Church
The San Isidro Labrador Church and Convent in Lazi — built by the Augustinians in the 18th century — is one of the most significant colonial heritage structures in the Visayas. The convent is claimed to be the largest convent in Asia. Its thick coral stone walls, massive interior courtyard, and views over the sea make it the island's most visited landmark.
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Holy Week on SiquijorBlack Saturday is the most active day for Siquijor's traditional healing culture. The Bandilaan mountain gathering of healers is the year's most significant event. The island also holds standard Catholic Holy Week processions in all municipal centres. Both happen simultaneously, which is probably the most Siquijor thing about Siquijor.
Siquijor's cuisine is Cebuano in foundation — the everyday food of the central Visayas, adapted to what the small island's fields and sea provide. Freshwater fish from the island's springs, saltwater fish from the Bohol Sea, coconut in all its forms, and root crops from the interior.
Buwad (Dried Fish)
The standard preserved protein of Siquijor: small fish — danggit, tunsoy, and others — salted and sun-dried on racks along the coastal barangays. Eaten with rice and vinegar, or fried to a crisp and eaten as a side dish. The quality of Siquijor buwad is local knowledge — certain barangays produce better dried fish than others, and residents know which.
10 minPrep
20 minCook
4Serves
Ingredients
- 2 cups, stripped from stemsMalunggay (moringa) leaves
- 2 mediumEggplant, sliced
- 200gSquash, cubed
- 100gSitaw (string beans), cut
- 2 tbspDried fish or bagoong for flavouring
- 4 clovesGarlic, crushed
- 4 cupsWater
Method
- Sauté garlic briefly in oil. Add water and bring to a boil.
- Add squash and eggplant. Cook 8 minutes until nearly tender.
- Add string beans. Cook 3 minutes.
- Season with bagoong or crumbled dried fish.
- Add malunggay leaves last. Remove from heat immediately — the leaves need only the residual heat.
Cook's noteUtan Bisaya is a principle more than a recipe — use whatever garden vegetables are available. The dried fish or bagoong provides all the seasoning needed. Do not add salt separately. The malunggay must go in last to preserve its colour and nutrients.
Cebuano is the language of Siquijor, spoken across all six municipalities. The island's long separation from Negros Oriental and its position in the middle of the Bohol Sea mean that the Cebuano of Siquijor carries some distinct vocabulary and intonation — Siquijodnon Cebuano, as it is informally called.
The Language of Healing
The traditional healers of Siquijor use a ritual language in their incantations — a form of Cebuano mixed with archaic words and formulas that are passed within healing lineages and not generally understood by the wider community. This specialised language represents one of the few surviving examples of a ritual register in Visayan healing practice.
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Oral TransmissionThe formulas and plant knowledge of Siquijor's mananabal are transmitted orally, from healer to chosen apprentice, often within the same family. There is no written manual of Siquijor healing practice. Documentation efforts by the Department of Health and cultural agencies have produced partial records, but the fullest knowledge remains in the memory of the healers themselves.
Siquijor is reached by fast ferry from Dumaguete (35 minutes), from Tagbilaran in Bohol (2 hours), or from Cebu (overnight). Once on the island, circumnavigation by motorcycle or bicycle is the standard way to see it — the island is small enough to circuit in a single day.
35 min (fast ferry)From Dumaguete
Overnight ferryFrom Cebu
~70 kmCircuit distance
Mar–MayBest season
Mount Bandilaan
The forested peak at the island's centre — home to the firefly colonies that gave Siquijor its Spanish name. The National Park at the summit has walking trails and a meditation centre. Come at dusk to see the fireflies before full darkness. The view of the island's coastline from the ridgeline at sunset is worth the drive up.
Cambugahay Falls
A series of three tiered falls in the interior of the island, with natural swimming pools of clear turquoise water. Rope swings, shallow pools, and a short hike through bamboo forest to reach the upper tiers. The water is cold and clean. One of the more genuinely pleasant swimming spots in the Visayas.
Lazi Church and Convent
The San Isidro Labrador Church and the adjacent convent — the largest in Asia — sit at the centre of Lazi town, built from coral stone in the 18th century. The convent interior is not always accessible but the church and grounds are open. The old acacia tree in the churchyard is said to be several centuries old.
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Renting a MotorbikeRent a motorbike in Siquijor town (capital) for the day. The island circuit — clockwise or counterclockwise — takes four to five hours with stops. The road is mostly flat and well-paved. Petrol is available in the main towns. The island is small enough that getting lost is not a serious risk.
The Island That Glows
In the 16th century, Spanish sailors passing through the Bohol Sea at night saw an island glowing in the darkness. They named it Isla del Fuego — Island of Fire. The glow was fireflies in the molave forests of Mount Bandilaan: millions of them, producing a bioluminescent light visible from the water on a clear night. The Spanish did not know this. They put the island on their maps with a name that promised mystery, and the mystery followed Siquijor for four hundred years.
The reputation for sorcery served a function. Neighbouring islanders approached Siquijor differently because of it — with a mix of fear and need. People came to be healed when conventional medicine had failed them. The healers of Siquijor — the mananabal — were sought out precisely because they were understood to know things that ordinary people did not. The reputation was not entirely false. The plant knowledge of the Siquijor healers is real. The rituals are real. Whether the power they invoke is what the healers say it is — that is a question the island has never answered for anyone, and probably never intends to.