Salt and Sovereignty

Surigao’s Hidden Wealth

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Salt and Sovereignty – Surigao’s Hidden Wealth

18 August 2025 Feature | Surigao Historical Society | Local History

Before gold and galleons, there was salt.

Along Surigao’s coasts, generations of families turned seawater into treasure—boiling brine in earthen jars, hauling loads across rivers and hills.

This was the white gold of the islands, sustaining trade, ritual, and livelihood long before formal markets and foreign ships arrived.

Salt: The First Wealth of the Shore

Long before Surigao saw the glint of gold or heard the toll of church bells, its coasts yielded a quieter but indispensable treasure—salt. Not merely a seasoning, salt was survival. It preserved food, treated wounds, and stood at the heart of early barter systems across the islands.

Cantiasay, Bayagnan, and Hikdop—islands within today’s Surigao City jurisdiction—emerged as vital salt-making centers. These coastal communities practiced a centuries-old tradition: boiling seawater in earthen jars over open flames, letting the brine crystalize into pure salt. This labor-intensive craft produced more than sustenance—it fueled an inland trade network that carried salt deep into the hills of Agusan and beyond.

Trade by Paddle and Pack

Salt-makers didn’t simply wait for buyers. They loaded their wares into boats and paddled across bays and up riverways. From ports like Punta Bilar, salt caravans moved upriver by banca, then continued by foot—salt strapped to the backs of porters or loaded onto carts pulled by carabao.

The inland towns—Agusan, Cabadbaran, Jabonga, Mainit—relied heavily on this coastal commodity. In return, salt-makers received rice, vegetables, root crops, firewood, and other inland produce. Barter, not cash, was the currency of this coastal-highland relationship. Salt was not only economy—it was diplomacy.

The Salt Kitchen: Tools of Tradition

The process was painstaking and precise:

Saltwater was collected at low tide and stored in clay jars or wooden basins.
It was then boiled in rows of large earthen pots over steady fires fed by driftwood.
As the water evaporated, white salt crystals formed, collected, dried, and packed in woven containers or coconut shells.

The process could take days for a single batch, and families often worked together—women tending the pots, children collecting wood, and men paddling the trade routes.

Salt-making was not just a livelihood; it was a way of life, passed through generations.

Imported Salt and the Disruption of a Tradition

This self-sustaining industry thrived until American and Japanese periods, when large-scale salt from China and Japan flooded the Philippine market. Imported salt, cheaper and mass-produced, undercut local production. Salt-making declined. Younger generations left the salt kitchens. The once-busy island salt ports grew silent.

The tradition was nearly lost—an echo of precolonial industry drowned in the waves of global commerce.

Salt as Sovereignty

To understand Surigao’s salt is to understand its early assertion of independence—economically and culturally. This white mineral represented self-reliance, trade cooperation, and the ingenuity of communities that survived by mastering the resources of sea and land.

Today, salt-making survives only in memory—or in the few elders who still recall the taste of home-boiled salt or the rhythm of boats setting out at dawn.

Five Questions to Spark Your Curiosity

How did Surigao’s coastal communities transform seawater into salt—and why was it so valuable?
What role did salt play in precolonial trade and local economies across Mindanao?
How did Surigaonons transport salt from remote coastal islands to inland towns—and what does that say about their trade networks?
Why did salt-making decline under American and Japanese rule—and what did that mean for local industry?
Can reviving Surigao’s salt-making traditions restore lost cultural practices and economic independence today?

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