Father Combes25 is the authority for the statement that Butuán was the origin of "the rulers and nobility of all the islands of Jolo and Basilan." The following is the extract:
25Ibid., 40: 126.
But the rulers and nobility of all the islands of Jolo and Basilan recognize as the place of their origin the village of Butuán (which, although it is located in this island, is within the pale of the Bisáyan Nation) on the northern side, in sight of the Bóol, and but a few leagues away from Leyte and from Bóol, islands which are in the same stage of civilization. Therefore, that village can glory at having given kings and nobility to these nations.26
26San Francisco in his Cronicas (see Blair and Robertson, 40: 312) says: "They [the Butuáns] are the origin of the best blood and nobility of the Basílans and Joloans, for the king of Jolo even confessed that he was a Butuán." It is surprising to note the dialectical similarity between Súlu and the variety of Bisáya spoken in the Agúsan Valley. Words that are not found in any other Bisáya dialect, are common to these two dialects. It is therefore probable that formerly there was intercourse between the two peoples.
Speaking of the native peoples and their customs San Antonio27 in 1744 says that "Some of the Manóbos in the mountains of Karága (who are heathen and without number, although some are Christians, a people civilized and well inclined to work, who have fixed habitations and excellent houses) pay tribute."
27Ibid., 40: 298,
We learn from the same authority that one of the missionaries obtained wonderful results in the conversion of Manóbos in Línao. He was unable to specify the number but says that it increased greatly, for up to that time there were only 3,000 converts in the whole district of Butuán. My authority seems to believe that there were two classes of people around Línao, the one whom he distinctly calls Manóbos--"tractable, docile, and quite reasonable," living in villages in human society in a very well ordered civilization--and the other, an inferior people leading a brutish life. It is reasonable to suppose that the people whom San Antonio refers to as Manóbos are the ancestors of the present Bisáyas of Veruéla, Bunáwan, and Talakógon, who have traditions as to the pagan condition of their ancestors.
Concepcion28 gives a detailed record of the Moro raids in Mindanáo. "Butuán was laid waste and some 200 captives seized; the little military post at Línao, up the river, alone escaped." The tradition of the fight between the Moros and the people of Línao still exists among the Bisáyas of the Agúsan Valley. A statue of the Virgin is still preserved in Veruéla that is said to have been struck by a ball from a Moro lantaka (small cannon). It is believed that this unseemly accident aroused the anger of the Virgin herself, who promptly turned the tide of battle against the Moros. The only tradition regarding this invasion that I found extant among the Manóbos is the legend of the tailed men, and of their own flight.
28Ibid., 48: 163.