Homonhon

Homonhon

Homonhon Location within the Philippines
Geography
Coordinates	10°45′20″N 125°44′21″E / 10.75556°N 125.73917°ECoordinates: 10°45′20″N 125°44′21″E / 10.75556°N 125.73917°E
Adjacent bodies of water	Leyte Gulf Philippine Sea
Administration
Philippines
Region	Eastern Visayas
Province	Eastern Samar
Municipality	Guiuan

Homonhon Island is an island in the province of Eastern Samar, Philippines, on the east side of Leyte Gulf. The 20-kilometre (12 mi) long island is part of the municipality of Guiuan.

Montoconan, an islet just off the northwest corner of Homonhon, is also part of the approximately 7,500 islands comprising the Philippine Archipelago.

History

During the first circumnavigation of the globe, Ferdinand Magellan's three surviving vessels passed the Marianas, but did not land,^[1] even though he was out of food after crossing the Pacific Ocean. Yet he landed on the island of Homonhon on March 16, 1521, where his crew managed to gather some food^[2] despite Homonhon being uninhabited at that time. However, he was detected by the boats of Rajah Culambu of Limasawa, who guided him to Cebu, on April 7.^[3] Thus Rajah Calambu was an ally of the Datu of Cebu.

References

1. W.D. Brownlee (Master Mariner), 1974. The First Ships Around the World ISBN 0-8225-1204-1, p.44.
2. Richard Humble, The Voyage of Magellan, Franklin Watts [1988] ISBN 0-531-10638-1 p.20.
3. Laurence Bergreen, Over the Edge of the World : Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe HarperCollins Publishers [2003] ISBN 0-06-621173-5