Davao de Oro

Davao de Oro, the 78th province in the country, was created out of Davao del Norte Province by virtue of Republic Act No. 8470, signed by President Fidel V. Ramos on January 30, 1998. The new province was officially named Compostela Valley.[4] On March 7 of the same year, the law was ratified through a plebiscite conducted in the twenty-two (22) municipalities of the mother province.

The movement to create a new province by dividing Davao del Norte started in the 1980s during the time of Congressman Lorenzo S. Sarmiento Sr., himself the author of RA No. 6430. However, this was not realized until his death in the late 1980s. His son, Rogelio M. Sarmiento, who became his successor in Congress, pushed for the passage of the bill creating the province.

Upon consultation with the governor of Davao del Norte, Prospero S. Amatong, the province's other two legislators, 3rd District Congressman Rodolfo P. Del Rosario and 2nd District Congressman Baltazar A. Sator, and other provincial and municipal officials, it was decided that the addition of four municipalities, namely Maco, Mabini, Pantukan, and Laak to the proposed province would be the most ideal and equitable configuration as this would make both provinces on an almost equal footing in terms of area, population, and development opportunities. It was also decided that Nabunturan would be the capital town because of its more central location.

The name originally proposed for the province was Davao del Norte, the former name, or so it was thought, of the mother province. However, the House of Representatives’ Reference and Research Bureau, which conducted the research and legal work on the creation of the province, found out that the mother province continues to be officially referred to as Davao del Norte in most official documents including the 1987 Philippine Constitution despite the passage of RA No. 6430 on June 17, 1972, renaming it as Davao Province. Tedious technical and legal issues needed to be resolved before the name could be adopted. The proposal was thus shelved and the name finally agreed upon was Compostela Valley, referring to the great fertile plain in the heartland of the province.

The origin of the province’s inhabitants came from the ethnic tribes of the Mansaka, Mandaya, Manobo, Mangguangan, Dibabawon, Aeta, Kamayo, Davaweño and Kalagan. Similar to the history of other Mindanao provinces, most of the present populations of the province are descendants of migrants who came from Luzon and Visayas islands during the pre-war and post war eras, among the Luzon migrants were Tagalogs from Bataan (thus, the town New Bataan) & Ilocanos from North Central Luzon. The bigger wave of immigrants came during the time of President Ramon Magsaysay wherein the policy of attraction adopted by the national government was to offer parcels of land to tenant-farmers. Although a virtual melting pot, the Visayans (mostly Cebuano-speaking) are the dominant group in Davao de Oro.

Upon its establishment, Davao de Oro was ruled by a succession of three governors during the first four months of its existence. The first governor of the province was Prospero S. Amatong, the three-term governor (1986-1998) of the then undivided province of Davao del Norte, who held the position only for a day. As the law creating the new province allowed incumbent elected officials of Davao del Norte the option to serve the remainder of their term in Compostela Valley, Amatong took this option and assumed the governorship of the then-Compostela Valley on March 26, 1998. The following day, he resigned and filed his candidacy for the congressional seat of the 2nd district of the new province. The governorship was turned over to Luz M. Sarmiento, by virtue of a presidential appointment. Sarmiento, the wife of then Congressman Lorenzo S. Sarmiento Sr. served the province from March 27, 1998, to June 30, 1998. She was succeeded by Jose R. Caballero.

Jose R. Caballero, a practicing lawyer and former vice governor of then undivided Davao Del Norte (1988-1992) was the first elected governor of Compostela Valley.

Arturo T. "Chiongkee" Uy is the fourth governor of Compostela Valley. He first served the province as member of the 3rd Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Compostela Valley (2004-2007) before he was elected as governor in the May 2007 national and local elections. He was reelected unopposed during the May 2010 national and local elections.

In 1955, the barrio (barangay) of New Sabonga was transferred to the municipality of Compostela from the municipality of Asuncion.[5]

On June 23, 1957, then President Carlos P. Garcia signed Republic Act No. 2038[6] which separated Compostela from Nabunturan. The first Mayor appointed by President Carlos P. Garcia was then Mayor Pio P. Galenzoga, one of the pioneer settlers.

In the same year the sitios of Kao, Magkagong, Margosan, Matilo, Magangit, Cabacungan, Tigbatinao and Camanlangan were constituted into a barrio known as Santo Niño.[7]

At the time, Compostela was an incongruous mixture of wooden-roofed houses concentrated along the Agusan River which was properly known as "dungguanan" (embarkation). This area later became its center of trade and commerce or Poblacion.

Davao de Oro covers a total area of 4,479.77 square kilometres (1,729.65 sq mi)[8] occupying the northeastern section of the Davao Region. The province borders Davao del Norte to the west, Agusan del Sur to the north, and Davao Oriental to the east. To the southwest lies Davao Gulf.

Administrative divisions

Davao de Oro is divided into 2 districts comprising 11 municipalities.

Political map of Davao de Oro

 †  Provincial capital

Municipality Creation District[8] Population ±% p.a. Area[8] Density Barangay Coordinates[A] (2020)[2] (2015)[9] km2 sq mi /km2 /sq mi Compostela August 1, 1948 1st 11.7% 89,884 87,474 +0.52% 287.00 110.81 310 800 16 7°40′06″N 126°05′03″E Laak April 4, 1979 2nd 10.4% 79,744 73,874 +1.47% 768.00 296.53 100 260 40 7°49′04″N 125°47′22″E Mabini May 28, 1953 2nd 5.7% 43,552 41,102 +1.11% 400.00 154.44 110 280 11 7°18′30″N 125°51′12″E Maco June 17, 1967 2nd 10.8% 83,237 81,277 +0.45% 342.23 132.14 240 620 37 7°21′45″N 125°51′28″E Maragusan November 25, 1977 1st 8.4% 64,412 60,842 +1.09% 394.27 152.23 160 410 24 7°19′01″N 126°07′33″E Mawab August 14, 1959 2nd 5.2% 39,631 37,065 +1.28% 136.10 52.55 290 750 11 7°30′27″N 125°55′15″E Monkayo September 14, 1954 1st 12.2% 93,937 94,908 −0.20% 609.61 235.37 150 390 21 7°49′57″N 126°03′23″E Montevista June 18, 1966 1st 6.1% 46,558 43,706 +1.21% 225.00 86.87 210 540 20 7°42′11″N 125°59′18″E Nabunturan † July 23, 1957 2nd 11.0% 84,340 82,234 +0.48% 231.30 89.31 360 930 28 7°36′08″N 125°58′07″E New Bataan June 18, 1968 1st 6.7% 51,466 47,726 +1.45% 553.15 213.57 93 240 16 7°32′54″N 126°08′16″E Pantukan November 13, 1936 2nd 11.8% 90,786 85,899 +1.06% 533.11 205.83 170 440 13 7°07′53″N 125°53′50″E Total 767,547 736,107 +0.80% 4,479.77 1,729.65 170 440 237 (see GeoGroup box) ^ Coordinates mark the town center, and are sortable by latitude.

The population of Davao de Oro in the 2020 census was 767,547 people,[2] with a density of 170 inhabitants per square kilometre or 440 inhabitants per square mile.

The majority of the inhabitants are migrants from Cebu, Samar, Bohol and other Visayan provinces. The cultural minorities in the province include the Kalagan, Mansaka, Mandaya, Dibabawon, Mangguangan and Manobo groups such as the Atta, Talaingod, Langilan, and Matigsalug Manobo.

Arnold Bajo is the most successful defender of the poor minorities, especially the Mandayas. He died in a battle while defending the poor. According to legends, 40 days after his death, his bodily spirit was infused into the statue of Ara-Araba, the local tribe's god of harvest. From then on, he was worshipped as a god by the members of the Mandaya tribe.

Davao de Oro was billed as the second richest province in the Philippines by the Commission on Audit by year 2017.[21] That year, its provincial government posted a record high of ₱18.75 billion worth of assets, the largest in whole Mindanao.[22] As of 2019, with an increase of ₱20.099 billion worth of assets, it remains the richest province in Mindanao.[23] The economic drive which brought the province to this status was caused by numerous business establishments, banana plantations, and vast gold and silver mines across the province, further augmented with its up-to-date transportation infrastructure.

The province possesses one of the largest gold deposits in the Philippines, with 10 out of its 11 towns having one or more gold mines,[24] the largest of which is at Mt. Diwalwal in the town of Monkayo. The town of Nabunturan, the provincial capital, is also home to the biggest gold ring in the Philippines, "The Solidarity Ring."

The main sources of livelihood in the province are agricultural products such as rice, coconut, cacao, coffee, papaya, mango, pineapple, durian and banana. Some residents in the province have fishponds and culture their own fish like tilapia and milkfish.

Davao de Oro is headed by its governor as the chief executive. The vice governor is the presiding officer of the Davao de Oro Provincial Board, the province's legislature. Each municipality elects its own mayor, and a vice mayor presiding its Sangguniang Bayan.

The province is represented by two representatives in the House of Representatives of the Philippines, each coming from a congressional district.

The province's Regional Trial Court meets in Nabunturan. It has one branch under the Eleventh Judicial Region.

• Governor: Justice Dorothy Gonzaga (Reporma)
• Vice governor: Jayvee Tyron Uy (Hugpong ng Pagbabago)
• Board members:
  • First district:
    • Kol Herv Zamora-Apsay (Hugpong ng Pagbabago)
    • Atty Dyud Lopoz (Hugpong ng Pagbabago)
    • Willy Ang (Hugpong ng Pagbabago)
    • Renato Basañes (Hugpong ng Pagbabago)
    • Eutropio Jayectin (Hugpong ng Pagbabago)
  • Second district:
    • Rowena Gonzaga (PDP-Laban)
    • Kristine Caballero-Rañon (Hugpong ng Pagbabago)
    • Vivencia Secuya (Hugpong ng Pagbabago)
    • Raul Caballero (Hugpong ng Pagbabago)
    • Bebot Arancon (IND)
  • Ex officio members:
    • Raul Timogtimog
    • Jammaila Budac (Hugpong ng Pagbabago)
    • Charlemagne Bautista
  • Sectoral member:
    • Albert Camana

• Media related to Davao de Oro at Wikimedia Commons
• Geographic data related to Davao de Oro at OpenStreetMap
• The Official Website of the Provincial Government of Davao de Oro, Philippines
• It's More Fun in the Philippines - Compostela Valley