started of the fourth. Two of the walls connected the bastions were under completion.

But the slowness of the construction and the cost entailed began to worry the Central Government under later governors. One of the suggestion to cut costs was to reduce the size of the proposed fort and transform it from a rectangular to a triagular structure. This was vetoed by the government engineers in Manila who were commissioned to study the proposal, as it would entail demolishing some of the construction already built. Also, experienced had shown that triangular forts were not satisfactory. (Incidentally, an example of a triangular fort is Fort San Pedro in Cebu.)

It is not clear just when the fort was finally completed. It must have taken more than 12 years to build. By the time it was finished, however, the Jesuit missionaries who had proposed and supervised the construction were no longer on hand to enjoy the fruits of their labors. In 1768 all the Jesuits were expelled from the Islands by order of the King of Spain.

The Completed Fort

Eventually, after many fits and starts, the entire fort was completed, and it has stood many vicissitudes for two and a half centuries until the present day. It survived the Philippine American War at the turn of the 20th century, the Japanese invasion and occupation in the 1940's, and (with one major damage) the great earthquake of 1955.

The fort is built at the entrance of Pangil Bay at the point where the sea makes a 90 degree angle to form the Misamis harbor. The water is deep at this turning point. The fort is constructed upon an elevated platform which must have taken a long time to fill up and to level. The fort itself is a rectangular structure, with the four walls (cortinas) made of well-cut stones glued together with cement or mortar, facing North, South, East, West. The walls are battlemented, and thick enough for soldiers to walk maneuver at the top.

At each of the four corners is a massive bastion for artillery, and these bastions are also battlemented.

In the interior quadrangle thus made by the walls, was the powder room (casamata) made of wood. And at the sides against the walls were the soldier’s quarters built of light materials.

Names

The plans for the fort made by Fathers Ducos and Paver included the naming of the fort and of the four bastions and became the official names. The names reflect the devotions that Spanish Jesuits promoted at the time. The four bastions were names as follows:

The Northwest bastion, facing the town was named “Baluarte de San Fernando” after King Ferdinand of Castille who led the Christian armies in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212).

The Northwest bastion, facing the sea, was “Baluarte de San Josep”, named after Saint Joseph, the foster father of Jesus and husband of Blessed Virgin Mary, after whom Father Jose Ducos himself was named at baptism.

The Southwest bastion, facing the town, was “Baluarte de Santiago” named after the Apostle Saint James, Patron of Spain.

The Southwest bastion, facing both the sea and the harbor, the most exposed bastion to any enemy attack from the sea, was named after St. Ignatius, founder of the Jesuit Order, himself a veteran of the Battle of Pamplona (1521). It was called “Baluarte de San Ignacio.”