Many thanks to our good friend, Ryan Buaron, in Manila, for pointing us towards this bit of trivia:
"In 1687, a crew of English freebooters headed by William Dampier came with a crew of Hollanders and named the islands in honor of their country's monarchs. Itbayat was named "Orange Isle" in honor of William of Orange, and Batan was named "Grafton Isle". Sabtang Isle was named "Monmouth Isle" after the Duke of Monmouth. Capt. Dampier stayed for less than three months, and did not claim the islands for the British crown." Source of info.
This part of the Philippines is so beautiful, and different, we've given it its own page on our website. They say the countryside is very much like Ireland or parts of Scotland. Being at the very far north of the country, the temperatures are a little cooler.