Sulop, Davao del Sur

Sulop is about 17 kilometres (11 mi) from Digos City, the seat of the provincial government of Davao del Sur. The municipality is located halfway between two major growth centers of Mindanao, namely, Davao City of Region XI and General Santos City of Region XII.

In the early part of the 19th century, a wave of immigrants from the Visayas Region, mostly from Cebu, came to Sulop which was still a barangays under the Municipality of Padada, Davao del Sur. Settlers from Leyte, Iloilo and Bohol also arrived during the century. They acquired lands from the natives known as Tagacaolo, B’laans and Bagobos who were the early inhabitants of the place.

The name Sulop was derived from its natives which means swampy place surrounded by second growth forest and habitat of wild pigs. Settlers, then converted the place into settlement sites and production areas of agricultural crops.

By virtue of Executive Order No. 295 issued on April 24, 1958, President Carlos P. Garcia converted barangays Sulop and its adjacent barangays into an independent Municipality of Sulop of the Province of Davao del Sur. The development of the municipality underwent eight changes of political leadership up to the present Administration.

President Carlos P Garcia appointed Nestorio Comabig as the first mayor of the Municipality of Sulop. Mayor Nestorio Comabig’s achievement was the assignment of residential lots to interested parties consistent to the town site development plan. However, Mayor Nestorio Comabig resigned from office after six years he assumed the office.

The then Vice Mayor Antonio Go Pace assumed the vacated mayorship position and facilitated the construction of the first municipality’s Town Hall.

Entering the Municipality of Sulop

Vice Mayor Sebastian Mondejar, Sr. succeeded the mayorship of Antonio Go Pace when the latter died and the former facilitated the coming of Cocoa Investors, Incorporated (CII), a multi-million peso corporation engaged in cacao beans production;

Vice Mayor Perfecto O. Sagarino Sr. succeeded as mayor when Mayor Sebastian Mondejar Sr. was killed in an ambush on December 3, 1982, during the height of insurgency. Mayor Perfecto Sagarino Sr.'s greatest achievement was the construction of Sulop Public Market Buildings. He relinquished his position after the EDSA Revolution (People Power Revolution) in 1986;

Atty. Leopoldo C. Diones, Jr. was then installed as OIC-Mayor who retained his position by winning the 1987 and 1992 elections.

Atty. Jose Jimmy S. Sagarino, son of former mayor Perfecto O. Sagarino emerged the winner in the mayoralty race in 1995 and stayed on for 3 terms. The construction of the new Municipal Government Center of Sulop was made during his incumbency.

On June 30, 2004, local leadership was then steered by Mayor Restituto Ornales. In his quest to sustain the obtaining momentum of development, he placed agricultural productivity as the center piece of his development thrust and initiated the construction of Labon – Clib Steel Bridge.

The latest change in leadership took place on June 30, 2007, when the newly elect-mayor assumed post at 12:00 noon which marked the returned of undefeated 3-termer Mayor Jose Jimmy S. Sagarino who in his new term celebrated the Golden Founding Anniversary of the Municipality of Sulop.

The Southern Philippines Agri-business and Marine and Aquatic School of Technology (SPAMAST) has a Sulop Extension.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sulop, Davao del Sur.

• Sulop Profile at PhilAtlas.com
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Philippine Census Information
• Local Governance Performance Management System