Short answers, pulled from the story.
Tubâ is a naturally fermented palm wine that was first recorded by the Italian navigator Antonio Pigafetta in the year 1521. Pigafetta mistakenly believed the liquid to be a distilled spirit, but it was actually a pre-colonial beverage consumed by the people of the Philippines.
Filipino farmers introduced distinctive stills known as kawà to Mexico around 1569, which were adopted by indigenous peoples to distill other alcoholic drinks. This technology led to the development of mezcal and sotol, and the fermented juice of these drinks is still called tuba today.
Regional variations include bahal, which is orange to brown due to extracts from mangrove bark, and kinutil, which is mixed with raw egg yolks and chocolate. Tuhak is made from the sap of the kaong palm in the Caraga region, while tunggang is produced by the Manobo, Mandaya, and Mamanwa people from fishtail palm sap.
Tubâ was introduced to Guam by Filipino assistants of the Spanish missionary Diego Luis de San Vitores in 1668. Production was severely restricted after the United States acquired the island in 1899, leading to a ban on aguajente that lasted 40 years and taxes levied in 1939.
Filipino workers settled in the Torres Strait Islands in the mid-19th century and introduced the method of producing tubâ to the native Islanders. Despite government prohibitions from 1837 to the 1960s, the tradition of producing steamed tuba remained and is still an important part of Torres Strait Islander culture today.