Besao Mountain Province

The Mountain Fortress  (A History of Besao, Mountain Province) In the heart of the Cordillera Central mountain range, where clouds cling to terraced mountainsides and the land rises in dramatic escarpments toward the sky, lies Besao, a municipality whose history stretches back into the mists of time. This is a story of a people who chose to make their home in one of the most challenging terrains in the Philippine archipelago, who carved their civilization into the living rock of mountains, and who have defended their way of life through centuries of upheaval, conquest, and change. The First Footsteps - Settlement in the Clouds Long before Spanish galleons appeared on distant horizons, long before the concept of "Philippines" existed in any mind, the ancestors of the Kankanaey people were already climbing into the mountains. Oral traditions passed down through countless generations speak of migrations from the lowlands, of people fleeing conflicts or seeking new la...