Leta-leta Cave, Langen Island, El Nido, Palawan was excavated in 1965 by Dr. Robert Fox. Leta-leta Cave is an important burial site belonging to the Late Neolithic Period where an-assemblage of stone and shell artifacts associated with sophisticated pottery and nephrite adzes and axes were recovered. Other materials include stone ornaments and shell beads.
Pottery during the New Stone Age, too, was quite unique. Each single piece did not have any copy and was very imaginative and beautiful. The Leta-Leta Cave in northern Palawan, for example, yielded at least two such pieces. One of this was a stem cup with the body shaped like an egg with a slender stem with a round flat base. A narrow lip was provided at the mouth of the vessel. Another was a double-gourd vessel, the mouth of which was formed after an open human mouth with the facial features. Chinese traders have been regularly visiting the area of El Nido for its famous edible nests long before the Spaniards conquered the archipelago, in fact El Nido is specifically mentioned in Chinese records as far back 1225 CE. Caho Ju-Kua, a member of the Chinese Royal Family, Trade Commissioner and Superintendent of Customs of the Port of Chuan How; wrote in his book “Chu Fan Chai” of the island of “Pa-Lao-yu” “Land of Beautiful Harbours”, a possible origin of the name Palawan. He described the island as having “Many lofty ridges and cliffs that rise as steep as the walls of a house”. The attraction of trade with the Chinese for Nido, good harbours, and the shelter provided by its cliffs and attracted settlers to the area from a very early period. The first settlers of the area were the Tagbanua, from whence El Nido’s first name of “Talindak” stemmed.
Some time in the 16th Century the Cuyonos tribe settled the from the Cuyo islands. According to the legend, the chief of the Cuyonos, Datu Magbanua, in an attempt to expand his influence, sent out 3 of his deputies to settle northern Palawan. Chief Cabongan settled the Taytay area, from whence the Cuyonos eventually settled El Nido.
The Spanish first settled in the present town of El Nido, and Oton (Mabini) in the 1880’s. The first Spanish families were Canovas, Vasquez, Rios and Rey. In 1896-1900 the Cabezas de Barangay were Luis and Mariano Castro. The centre of population at that time was Cabigsing, then known as Inventario. Chinese families moved into the area at the same time, first settling in Langeblangeban. The first Chinese settlers were named Lim Chin, Liao, Edsan
Ambao, Que-Ke, Lim Piao, Yu His, Pe Phan and Pe Khen. El Nido town became an independent Municipality in 1916. The first town census of 1918 showed El Nido having a population of 1,789. The population grew very gradually, with around 2,000 people living here until the period between 1980-1990, when the population doubled in size from 11,657 to 18,832. Today almost 27,000 people call El Nido their home. Fifty percent of the total populations are native Palaweños while the rest are Visayans, Bicolanos, Tagalogs and Ilocanos who have migrated to El Nido in search of better opportunities.
