Sarangani, officially the Province of Sarangani ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sarangani; hil, Kapuoran sang Sarangani; Maguindanaon: ''Dairat nu Sarangani'', Jawi: دايرت نو سارڠني; fil, Lalawigan ng Sarangani), is a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

in the Philippines located in the

Soccsksargen Soccsksargen (officially stylized in all caps; ), formerly known as Central Mindanao, is an administrative region of the Philippines, designated as Region XII. Located in south-central Mindanao, its name is an acronym that stands for the region ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

. Its capital is

Alabel Alabel, officially the Municipality of Alabel ( Cebuano: Lungsod sa Alabel; Filipino: Bayan ng Alabel; Maguindanao: Inged nu Alabil), is a 1st class municipality and capital of the province of Sarangani, Philippines. According to the 2020 census ...

. With a coastline along the

Sarangani Bay Sarangani Bay is a bay located on the southern tip of Mindanao in the Philippines. It opens up to the Celebes Sea on the Pacific Ocean. General Santos City General Santos, officially the City of General Santos,; hil, Dakbanwa sang Heneral S ...

and

Celebes Sea The Celebes Sea, (; ms, Laut Sulawesi, id, Laut Sulawesi, fil, Dagat Selebes) or Sulawesi Sea, of the western Pacific Ocean is bordered on the north by the Sulu Archipelago and Sulu Sea and Mindanao Island of the Philippines, on the east by ...

, the province is at the southernmost tip of

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

island, and borders

South Cotabato South Cotabato ( hil, Bagatnan Cotabato; ceb, Habagatang Cotabato; Maguindanaon: ''Pagabagatan Kutawatu'', Jawi: ڤاڬابڬتن كوتاواتو; tl, Timog Cotabato), officially the Province of South Cotabato, is a province in the Philippine ...

and

Davao del Sur Davao del Sur ( ceb, Habagatang Dabaw; ), officially the Province of Davao del Sur, is a province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital is Digos City. Davao City is the largest city in terms of area and populati ...

to the north,

Davao Occidental Davao Occidental ( Cebuano: ''Kasadpang Dabaw''; Filipino: ''Kanlurang Davao''), officially the Province of Davao Occidental, is a province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital is the municipality of Malita. To ...

to the east, and the

to the south. Sarangani is part of the South Cotabato-Cotabato-Sultan Kudarat-Sarangani-General Santos () development cluster, and is linked by paved roads to the international airport and harbor of

General Santos General Santos, officially the City of General Santos,; hil, Dakbanwa sang Heneral Santos; Maguindanao: ''Ingud nu Heneral Santos''; Blaan: ''Banwe Dadiangas''; Tboli: ''Benwu Dadiangas''; Filipino: ''Lungsod ng Heneral Santos'' and abbre ...

. The province is divided into two sections, separated by the

and city of General Santos, and it used to be part of South Cotabato until it was made an independent province in 1992. The General Santos Metropolitan Area or Metro General Santos is a metropolitan area encompassing the highly urbanized city of

, The Regional Agro-Industrial Center of Alabel, the towns of Glan, Kiamba, Maasin, Maitum, Malapatan and Malungon and the formed out of neighboring provinces of

adding Metro General Santos adding

Lake Sebu Lake Sebu ( Tboli: ''Lanaw Sbù'', ; Hiligaynon: ''Linaw sg Sëbu'', ; Filipino: ''Lawa ng Sëbu'') is a natural lake located in the municipality of Lake Sebu, South Cotabato within the Alah Valley region. The Philippine government has recogni ...

Polomolok Polomolok, officially the Municipality of Polomolok ( hil, Banwa sang Polomolok; ceb, Lungsod sa Polomolok; tl, Bayan ng Polomolok; mdh, Inged nu Pulumuluk, Jawi: ايڠايد نو ڤولومولوق), is a 1st class municipality in the provin ...

T'Boli The Tboli people () are one of the indigenous peoples of South Cotabato in southern Mindanao. In the body of ethnographic and linguistic literature on Mindanao, their name is variously spelt Tboli, T'boli, Tböli, Tagabili, Tagabilil, Tagabulul ...

and Tupi.

History

The earliest civilization in the province can be found in

Maitum, Sarangani Maitum, officially the Municipality of Maitum ( ceb, Lungsod sa Maitum; tl, Bayan ng Maitum; mdh, Inged nu Maitum, Jawi: ايڠايد نو ماءيتوم), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Sarangani, Philippines. According to the ...

, where the

Maitum Anthropomorphic Pottery The Maitum anthropomorphic burial jars are earthenware secondary burial vessels discovered in 1991 by the National Museum of the Philippines' archaeological team in Ayub Cave, Barangay Pinol, Maitum, Sarangani Province, Mindanao, Philippines. T ...

or Maitum Jars were found. The jars have been dated to approximately 5 BC to 370 AD, one of the oldest in the entire Southeast Asian region and the Philippines. The discovery testified to the long history of cultural exchanges in Sarangani and its people. The Sarangani was once part of

Sultanate of Maguindanao The Sultanate of Maguindanao ( Maguindanaon: ''Kasultanan nu Magindanaw''; Old Maguindanaon: كاسولتانن نو ماڬينداناو; Jawi: کسلطانن ماڬيندناو; Iranun: ''Kesultanan a Magindanao''; ms, Kesultanan Magindana ...

. The establishment of the Sultanate in the area cause of more Maguindanaon settlers arrival. After fall of the

as a great power in Mindanao, Datu Uto of Buayan expanded his domain towards Sarangani Bay. Sarangani would eventually be under the Sultanate of Buayan until the American era. The island of Sarangani (now part of Davao Occidental) was named by Spanish explorer

Ruy López de Villalobos Ruy López de Villalobos (; ca. 1500 – April 4, 1546) was a Spanish explorer who sailed the Pacific from Mexico to establish a permanent foothold for Spain in the East Indies, which was near the Line of Demarcation between Spain and Portugal a ...

in 1543 as ''Antonia'', in honor of

Antonio de Mendoza Antonio de Mendoza y Pacheco (, ; 1495 – 21 July 1552) was a Spanish colonial administrator who was the first Viceroy of New Spain, serving from 14 November 1535 to 25 November 1550, and the third Viceroy of Peru, from 23 September 1551 ...

y Pacheco who commissioned the Villalobos expedition to the Philippines. The early inhabitants who first inhabited Sarangani were the indigenous natives, called ''MunaTo'', a native term for "first people." balita.ph/2008, Man-made island resort now a Sarangani landmark
/ref> MaguindanaoMapMaximumExtent

In 1942, the Japanese troops occupied Southern Cotabato. In 1945, Filipino troops of the 6th, 10th, 101st and 102nd Infantry Division of the

Philippine Commonwealth Army The Philippine Army was established on December 21, 1935, as the Army of the Philippines, with a general headquarters in Manila, and units and formations based throughout the provinces of the Philippines. The Philippine Army was initially org ...

and 10th Constabulary Regiment of the

Philippine Constabulary The Philippine Constabulary (PC; tl, Hukbóng Pamayapà ng Pilipinas, ''HPP''; es, Policía de Filipinas, ''PF'') was a gendarmerie-type police force of the Philippines from 1901 to 1991, and the predecessor to the Philippine National Poli ...

entered in and liberated Southern Cotabato and fought against the Japanese Imperial Army forces during the Battle of Cotabato at the end of World War II under the Japanese Occupation. Before its inception in 1992, Sarangani was part of

as the Third District of South Cotabato. The province was created by ''

Republic Act This article contains a partial list of Philippine laws. Sources of Philippine laws ;Notes : *Customs may be considered as supplementary source of law, however, customs which are contrary to law, public order or public policy shall not be ...

No. 7228'' on March 16, 1992, penned by Congressman James L. Chiongbian. His wife, Priscilla L. Chiongbian, was the first Governor of Sarangani.

Geography

Sarangani covers a total area of occupying the southern tip of the

in central

. The province is bordered on the central-north by

, northeast by

, east by

, south by the

and

, and northwest by

Sultan Kudarat Sultan Kudarat, officially the Province of Sultan Kudarat ( hil, Kapuoran sang Sultan Kudarat; Maguindanaon: ''Dairat nu Sultan Kudarat'', Jawi: دايرت نو سلطان كودرت; ceb, Lalawigan sa Sultan Kudarat; tl, Lalawigan ng Sul ...

Sarangani is divided into two (eastern and western) sections, separated by the

and

in the middle. The western portion comprises the towns of Maitum, Kiamba, and Maasim, and is bounded on the north by

and on the northwest by

. The eastern section consists of

, Glan, Malapatan, and Malungon.

Administrative divisions

Sarangani comprises seven

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

. A single legislative district encompasses all towns. Ph fil sarangani

Demographics

The population of Sarangani in the 2020 census was 558,946 people, with a density of .

Religion

Christianity is the majority religion in the province with a total of 79% (48%

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and 31%

evangelicals Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual experi ...

). Other religious minorities are

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

(9%) and Iglesia ni Cristo (2%). The remainder is usually divided among other Christian churches.

Economy

Coconut, corn, rice, banana, mango, durian, rubber, and sugarcane are major crops now being planted by the inhabitants. The province has plantations (mango, banana, pineapple, asparagus), cattle ranches, and commercial fishponds that have been operating in the area, some of which having existed as far back as 40 years. Electricity comes from the

National Power Corporation The National Power Corporation ( fil, Pambansang Korporasyon sa Elektrisidad, also known as Napocor, NPC or National Power), is a Philippine government-owned and controlled corporation that is mandated to provide electricity to all rural areas of ...

, and augmented by a 50 MW power plant in Alabel, the province's capital. Water is provided for by sustainable spring development projects.

Government

Provincial Capitol, Sarangani Province, Philippines

Elected Officials * Rep. Steve Chiongbian Solon *Gov. Rogelio D. Pacquiao * Vice Gov. Elmer T. de Peralta Elected Officials * Rep. Rogelio D. Pacquiao * Gov. Steve Chiongbian Solon * Vice Gov. Elmer T. de Peralta Elected Officials * Rep. Rogelio D. Pacquiao * Gov. Steve Chiongbian Solon * Vice Gov. Elmer T. de Peralta Elected Officials * Rep. Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao * Gov. Steve Chiongbian Solon * Vice Gov. Jinkee J. Pacquiao Elected Officials * Rep. Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao * Gov. Miguel Rene Angelo Dominguez * Vice Gov. Steve Chiongbian Solon Elected Officials * Rep. Erwin Chiongbian * Gov. Miguel Angelo Dominguez * Vice Gov. Steve Chiongbian Solon Elected Officials * Rep. Erwin Chiongbian * Gov. Miguel Angelo Dominguez * Vice Gov. Bridget Chiongbian-Huang Elected Officials * Rep. Erwin Chiongbian * Gov. Miguel Escobar * Vice Gov. Felipe Constantino Elected Officials * Rep. Juan Domino* * Gov. Priscilla Chiongbian * Vice Gov. Miguel Escobar Elected Officials * Rep. James Chiongbian(as Lone District of Sarangani) * Gov. Priscilla Chiongbian * Vice Gov. Miguel Escobar Elected Officials * Rep. James Chiongbian (as Third District of South Cotabato) * Gov. Priscilla Chiongbian * Vice Gov. Miguel Escobar Note * *-Rep.Juan Domino was Disqualified due to a lack of Residency

Tourism

Sarangani celebrates its foundation anniversary every November, named as ''MunaTo Festival''. Sarangani has ancient

burial jars Jar burials are human burials where the corpse is placed into a large earthenware and then is interred. Jar burials are a repeated pattern at a site or within an archaeological culture. When an anomalous burial is found in which a corpse or c ...

, discovered by archaeologists from the

National Museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...

in ''Ayub Cave'' in Maitum, in 1991 and in 2008, and at ''Sagel Cave'' in Maitum (now declared by

National Historical Institute The National Historical Commission of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Komisyong Pangkasaysayan ng Pilipinas, abbreviated NHCP) is a government agency of the Philippines. Its mission is "the promotion of Philippine history and cultural heritag ...

as a national historical site). Amid

's armed conflicts, artifacts found thereat prove settlements of pre-historic civilization in Maitum.

References

External links

* *
Official Website of the Provincial Government of Sarangani

Local Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control Provinces of the Philippines States and territories established in 1992 1992 establishments in the Philippines