The Legend of Tres Reyes Islands

egend has been told for generation about how Mt. Malindig in Buenavista and the three islands off the coast of Gasan came to be.

There was a beautiful but wicked queen-enchantress named Maria Malindig who lived in the island kingdom of Marinduque. She hated men but at the same time was very jealous of beautiful women in the island that she ordered them killed.

One day after a furious storm, which the royal subjects believed to be the gods' punishment against the wicked queen, three majestic ships docked ashore. There came three mighty kings who originated from the Empire of Mu. The eldest was named King Laki, he second was named King

progress of the race. Several hours later, the first ship appeared from thehorizon belonging to King Laki, then followed by the ship of King Man-nga. The ship of King Pangikog was lagging behind. The turn of events infuriated the queen as she could not bear the thought of marrying the old King. In her rage, she forgot that

Fortunately, the phenomena only lasted a short time and miraculously nobody was hurt among the subjects. When everything cleared up, the people were astonished to see a beautiful mountain where the palace once stood.

she had a magic wand; instead, she cursed the gods from heaven and destroyed their icons. The incident aroused the wrath of the gods and in their anger, they made the earth tremble. Giant waves rosefrom the sea and the sun turned dark. The people, who were caught unprepared, began to panic and ran to wherever they thought were safe places.

Worried about the fate of the three kings, they turned their attention towards the west and Lo and Behold!, there appeared three islands, formed like capsized boats still in their position racing towards the shore. They never saw the queen and the three kings again after that fateful day.

As expected they name the mountain Mt. Malindig and to this day the wrath of

the queen can still happen because Mt. Malindig is a passive volcano. Stories about enchantress and spirits are synonymous to the mountain itself. The three islands were named after the three kings in order of their position from the race; the biggest island

named Laki, the middle named Man-nga and the last, Pangikog. The names were changed during the Spanish era maybe because the Spaniards could not

announced that she chose King Pangikog. Not happy with her decision, the other kings protested telling the queen about the existence of a law that called for all the kings involved to a contest of prowess and skill. The queen was not happy about the law but she finally gave way and allowed them to race. She was going to marry whoever sailed the fastest ship.

On the day of the race, the people lined up along the coast eagerly anticipating the winner of the race. Maria Malindig and her royal entourage watched the race from the palace's tower that allowed them to have a better view on the

Upon seeing the ravishing queen, they became speechless. It took sometime before King Laki was able to tell her of their intention to win her hand. The queen was silently overjoyed upon hearing their proposal. She asked the royalties to give her time to know them more and to contemplate whom she will choose. When she emerged from her thoughts, she gleefully

Man-nga and the youngest and most handsome was called King Pangikog.
They requested to see the court of Maria Malindig bearing with them precious gifts and treasures.