25Cartas de los PP. de la Compañía de Jesús, 9: 337-338, 1891.
26Posáka means in Malay, and in nearly all known Mindanáo dialects, an "inheritance" so that in the usage attributed to these Lóaks it would appear that there may be some idea of an hereditary chieftainship. The word in Bagóbo, however, means something beloved, etc., so that the reported Lóak posáka or chief might be so called because of his being beloved by his people.
27He states that lóak is probably from lóog, "to flee," "to take to the mountains." In several dialects of eastern Mindanáo laag, lag, means, "to get lost," while lágui is a very common word for "run" or "run away."
Another writer, Father Pablo Pastells28 makes mention of these Lóak as being wild Tagakaólos who are more degraded than the Mamánuas. He designates the mountains of Hagimitan on the peninsula of San Agustin as their habitat. I am inclined to think that the authority for this statement was also a Jesuit missionary.
28Ibid., 8: 343, 1887.
THE CONQUISTAS OR RECENTLY CHRISTIANIZED PEOPLES
The work of Christianizing the pagans of eastern Mindanáo was taken up in earnest in 1877 by the Jesuit missionaries and carried on up to the time of the revolution in 1898. During that time some 50,000 souls were led to adopt Christianity. These included Mandáyas, Manóbos, Debabáons, Mansákas, Mañgguáñgans, and Mamánuas, and members of the other tribes that live in eastern Mindanáo. For the present, however, we will refer to the conquistas of the Manóbo, Mandáya, Mamánua, Mañgguáñgan, Mansáka, and Debabáon tribes.