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.[3] 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. 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.

New, as it is, Davao de Oro has achieved a distinction of sorts with the 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 provided for in the law creating the new province, "incumbent elected officials (of Davao del Norte) are given 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.

Luz M. Sarmiento, 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. Among his first acts as governor is the forging of a genuine unity among political leaders and among all sectors in the province in order to have synergy in crafting the province’s development and the delivery of public services. He is now serving the province in his second term of office as governor as he ran for the post 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.[4]

On June 23, 1957, then President Carlos P. Garcia signed Republic Act No. 2038[5] 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.[6]

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 the 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] (2015)[2] (2010)[9] km2 sq mi /km2 /sq mi Compostela 1 Aug 1948 1st 11.9% 87,474 81,934 1.25% 287.00 110.81 300 780 16 7°40′06″N 126°05′03″E Laak 1979 2nd 10.0% 73,874 70,856 0.80% 768.00 296.53 96 250 40 7°49′04″N 125°47′22″E Mabini 1953 2nd 5.6% 41,102 36,807 2.12% 400.00 154.44 100 260 11 7°18′30″N 125°51′12″E Maco 17 Jun 1967 2nd 11.0% 81,277 72,235 2.27% 342.23 132.14 240 620 37 7°21′45″N 125°51′28″E Maragusan 1988 1st 8.3% 60,842 55,503 1.76% 394.27 152.23 150 390 24 7°19′01″N 126°07′33″E Mawab 1958 2nd 5.0% 37,065 35,698 0.72% 136.10 52.55 270 700 11 7°30′27″N 125°55′15″E Monkayo 14 Sep 1954 1st 12.9% 94,908 94,827 0.02% 609.61 235.37 160 410 21 7°49′57″N 126°03′23″E Montevista 18 Jun 1966 1st 5.9% 43,706 39,602 1.90% 225.00 86.87 190 490 20 7°42′11″N 125°59′18″E Nabunturan † 23 Jul 1957 2nd 11.2% 82,234 73,196 2.24% 231.30 89.31 360 930 28 7°36′08″N 125°58′07″E New Bataan 18 Jun 1968 1st 6.5% 47,726 47,470 0.10% 553.15 213.57 86 220 16 7°32′54″N 126°08′16″E Pantukan 13 Nov 1936 2nd 11.7% 85,899 79,067 1.59% 533.11 205.83 160 410 13 7°07′53″N 125°53′50″E Total 736,107 687,195 1.32% 4,479.77 1,729.65 160 410 237 (see GeoGroup box) ^ Coordinates mark the town center, and are sortable by latitude.

The population of Davao de Oro in the 2015 census was 736,107 people,[2] with a density of 160 inhabitants per square kilometre or 410 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.[13] That year, its provincial government posted a record high of ₱18.75 billion worth of assets, the largest in whole Mindanao.[14] 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,[15] 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.

Governor of Davao de Oro Punong Lalawigan ng Davao de Oro (in Tagalog)
Seal of the Province of Davao de Oro
Incumbent Jayvee Tyron L. Uy since June 30, 2016
Style	The Provincial Governor
Residence	Provincial Capitol Complex, Nabunturan
Term length	3 years and 3 terms
Inaugural holder	Prospero S. Amatong
Formation	March 8, 1998
Website	Official Website of the Province of Davao de Oro

The Governor of Davao de Oro is the local chief executive of the Philippine province of Davao de Oro.

• 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