Mindanao holds a special position with regard to the origin of several of the Philippines largest languages. Cebuano (and all other members of the Bisayan group) as well as Tagalog can trace their origins to Mindanao. The Austronesian movement out of Formosa rushed from north to south in the Philippines, but it seems that prior to the exodus to Borneo and Sulawesi, several groups doubled back towards the north. Tagalog may have originated as far south as the area of linguistic convergence around Mt. Apo, Davao City (witness Tagalog masamaʔ and Bagobo Klata homoʔ ‘bad’ in support of PSP *samáʔ, replacing PMP *zaqat and PWMP *zaqət). Another important innovation that must have been made on Mindanao is the replacement of PAN *bahi ~ *babahi 'woman, female' by PSP *libun found in Palawano, Molbog, Subanen, Bagobo Klata, Tboli, Teduray, and Sarangani and Koronadal Blaan. [This etymology was treated under noise in the ACD.] While these cognates are found on southern Palawan, there can be little doubt that they originated from Mindanao.
  The island of Palawan has two major linguistic macrogroups: Kalamianic and Palawanic. The Kalamianic languages (Agutaynen, Karamianen, and Northern Tagbanwa) are comparatively important (along with Tboli) in that they preserve the distinction between PMP *q (with /k/) and glottal stop (with zero). The shift of PMP *R > l is also noteworthy in contrast with the prevalent <g> reflexes among their neighbors. Kalamianic was probably the first language on Palawan, although it is uncertain where their place of origin might have been. One curious innovation, PPH *tudul 'to give' (replacing PAN *bəRay) is shared with Bashiic and Kalamianic and thus far not noted anywhere else. It is therefore possible that they migrated from Luzon.
  The Palawanic languages (Aborlan, Batak, Central Tagbanwa, Palwano, and Molbog), on the other hand, can be shown to belong within the Greater Central Philippine macrogroup (see Blust 1991 which made the case more for Mongondow and Gorontalo) and it is demonstrable that their place of origin was Mindanao. Unfortunately only two of Blust's original 94 proposals proved to be cognate with any of the languages of Palawan. However, Zorc's Philippine Etymologies research has added quite a few Palawanic cognates with a growing corpus of several hundred PGCP innovations in the ZDS. This has been done through the collation of his field research (1970-71) available at http://sealang.net/archives/zorc, as well as an excellent SIL paperback dictionary of Aborlan Tagbanwa (1979).
  Here are eighteen Proto-Greater-Central-Philippine innovations shared with one or several of the Palawanic languages.

PGCP bəlhəg ‘blinded by cataracts’ [ZDS] | Waray, Cebuano búlhug, Tag bilíg
Aborlan bələg ‘blind’
Batak bələg ‘blind’
Brookes Point bələʔ ‘blind’ (with unexplained *g > ʔ)
PGCP *bətaŋ ‘put, place’ [v] [ZDS] | Kinaray-a bɨtáŋ, Akl, Hil, Mas, Ceb, Kamayo, Kagayanen butáŋ
Aborlan bətaŋ ‘property’
Palawano bʌtaŋ ‘put, place’
PGCP *bVrV-buku ‘ankle’ [ZDS] | Akl buɰubukó ‘ankle’, Waray bulubúku ‘wrist’ (probably under Cebuano influence since -l- appears instead of -r-)
Central Tagbanwa burubuko ‘ankle’
PGCP *dakulaʔ 'big, large' [ZDS] | Waray dakulaʔ (Wolff), Tausug, Kalagan dakulaʔ, Mamanwa, Maranao dakolaʔ
Aborlan dakulaʔ
Batak  dakulaʔ
Central Tagbanwa dakulay (with *ʔ > y, analogous to alternation with the kin term suffixes *-ʔ, *-ŋ, *-y)
PGCP *dəghan ‘chest’ [ZDS] | Kinaray-a dɨ́ghan, Akl, Hil, Ceb dúghan, Naga Bikol daghán
Aborlan dəʔgan (metathesis) ‘chest’
PBCP *dugsuʔ ‘stab’ [ZDS] | Butuanon, Tausug, Ata, Tigwa, Dibabawon dugsuʔ | Note Tag dugsóʔ ‘swordfish’
Palawano dugsuʔ ‘stab’
Tau’t Bato dugsuʔ ‘stab’
Molbog dugsuʔ ‘stab’
PGCP *haldək ‘fear; be afraid’ [ZDS] | Mamanwa, Binukid haldək, Akl hádlok, Kinaray-a hádlɨk | Asi’, Hil, Ceb, Masbate, Waray hádluk , Subanon m-əndək, Maranao k-alək, Mansaka ʔallək | Replaces PAN *takut [ACD]
Molbog oddok ‘afraid’
PGCP *hay [inversion_marker]  Zorc] Akl hay, Tag ay
Central Tagbanwa ay.
PGCP *hilamun ‘weed’ [ZDS] | Kinaray-a, Hil hilamún ‘grass’, Ceb hilamún ‘weeds’, Naga Bikol, Tag hilamón, WBM hilamun ‘to weed’
Molbog ilamun ‘grass’
PGCP *ʔísəg ‘anger’ [ZDS] | Hanunoo ʔísug, Surigaonon naŋ-ísug, Waray nag-isúg ‘be angry’ | Note: Hanunoo ʔirisgán ‘violence’, Tag ʔísig’will power’ | Contrasts with PSP *ʔísəg ‘brave’
Aborlan ʔisəg
Central Tagbanwa itɨg
PGCP *ʔiyán ‘that’ [deic-2-nom] [ZDS] Tag ʔiyán, WBM, Sarangani Manobo ʔiyan < PWMP *ian ‘that, there (probably 2p) [ACD]
Aborlan ʔiyan
Batak ʔiyán
PGCP *kahápun ‘yesterday’ [ZDS] | Akl, Tag kahápon, Bulalakawnon, Hil, Masbate, Surigaonon kahápun | Replaces PAN-F *siRa, PMP *ka-Rabiʔi ‘last night, yesterday’, *ñəRab, PWMP *niRab
Central Tagbanwa kaapon
Palawano kʌgapun [shimmer *k~*g]
Molbog kaʔpun
PGCP *layaʔ ‘dry, withered’ [ZDS] | Hil, Waray layáʔ ‘withered’, Aklanon ɰayáʔ ‘dry out’, Siocon Subanen glayaʔ ‘old coconut’ | Note Chavacano layaʔ ‘old coconut’
Aborlan layaʔ ‘ripe or old coconut’
PGCP *luʔyah [ZDS] | Hil, Ceb, Waray, Kamayo lúyʔa, Asi’ yudʔah, Akl ɰúyʔah (metathesis), Tausug luʔuyah- (epenthesis) | Cf: PMP *laqia 'ginger' [ACD]~ PGCP *luqia [NOTE in ACD]
Batak luʔya
Aborlan luʔya
Central Tagbanwa luʔya
PGCP *rigaʔ ‘red’ [ZDS] | WBM mərigaʔ, Ilianen mɨrihaʔ, Binukid ligaʔ, Maranao, Magindanaonon, Iranon marigaʔ
Molbog rigaʔ
PGCP *tagnaʔ ‘advance; foresee’ [ZDS] | Tausug tagnaʔ ‘begin’, Mansaka tagnaʔ ‘first, original’ Sarangani Manobo tagnaʔ ‘to advance’, WBM tagnaʔ ‘prophesy, foresee’
Molbog tagnaʔ ‘begin’ [v]
PGCP *ʔugbus ‘sprout, tender leaf’ [ZDS] | Akl ʔúgbos ‘young leaves’, Hil, Waray ʔúgbus ‘shoot, sprout’, Naga Bikol ʔugbós ‘bud, shoot’
Central Tagbanwa ugbot ‘leaf’
PGCP *ʔúrag ‘sex-drive; oversexed’ [ZDS] | Naga, Hanunoo ʔúrag 'oversexed, "hot", Akl ʔuɰágan ‘horny’
Aborlan ʔurag ‘semen, sperm’ | 
Central Tagbanwa ʔurag “honeymoon” [gloss given]
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