Ampatuan (), officially the Municipality of Ampatuan (

Maguindanaon Maguindanaon (, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ), or Magindanawn is an Austronesian language spoken by Maguindanao people, Maguindanaon people who form majority of the population of eponymous provinces of Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur in t ...

: ''Inged nu Ampatuan'';

Iranun The Iranun are an Austronesian ethnic group native to southwestern Mindanao, Philippines. They are ethnically and culturally closely related to the Maranao, and Maguindanaon, all three groups being denoted as speaking Danao languages and giv ...

: ''Inged a Ampatuan''; ), is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

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

Maguindanao del Sur Maguindanao del Sur, officially the Province of Maguindanao del Sur (, Jawi Alphabet, Jawi:دايرت نو سلاتان مڬیندانو, ), is a landlocked Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro reg ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 28,941 people.

History

Ampatuan was created out of 23

barrios Barrios is a Spanish surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Agustín Barrios (1885–1944), Paraguayan guitarist and composer *Ángel Barrios (1882–1964), Spanish guitarist and composer *Arturo Barrios (born 1962), Mexican athlete *B ...

Datu Piang Piang Tan (; 1846–1933) a Maguindanaon- Chinese ruler, popularly known as Datu Piang, is often referred to as the ''Grand Old Man of Cotabato.'' He was one of the most powerful rulers in Maguindanao from the end of Spanish rule to th ...

on 21 June 1959 by

Republic Act No A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a state in which political power rests with the public (people), typically through their representatives—in contrast to a monarchy. Although a ...

. 2509. On 22 November 1973, the municipality of Esperanza was carved out of its territory and was made part of the province of

Sultan Kudarat Sultan Kudarat, officially the Province of Sultan Kudarat (; Maguindanao language, Maguindanaon: ''Dairat nu Sultan Kudarat'', Jawi Alphabet, Jawi: دايرت نو سولتان كودرت; ; Ilocano language, Ilocano: ''Probinsia ti Sultan Ku ...

, while Ampatuan itself was made part of

Maguindanao Maguindanao (; Maguindanaon: ''Dairat nu Magindanaw''; Iranun: ''Perobinsia a Magindanao''; ) was a province of the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). From 2014 to 2022, its provincial capital ...

, when the old

Cotabato Cotabato, formerly and still commonly referred to as North Cotabato and officially the Province of Cotabato, is a landlocked Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Soccsksargen Regions of the Philippines, regi ...

was divided into three provinces on the same date. It further lost territory, when its electorate ratified on 3 January 2004, the separation of ten of its

barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...

s to form the municipality of Datu Abdullah Sangki. The town was the site of the

Maguindanao Massacre The Maguindanao massacre (also known as the Ampatuan massacre, named after the town where mass graves of victims were found) occurred on the morning of November 23, 2009, in the town of Ampatuan in Maguindanao, Philippines (now located in Ma ...

on 23 November 2009. The victims were about to file a certificate of candidacy for

Esmael Mangudadatu Esmael Gaguil Mangudadatu (; born August 15, 1968) is a Filipino politician who is the representative of Maguindanao del Sur's lone district, having been elected in 2025. He previously served as the representative of the then-undivided Magui ...

, vice mayor of Buluan town for the province's gubernatorial election. Mangudadatu was challenging

Andal Ampatuan Jr. Andal Uy Ampatuan Jr. (born August 15, 1976) is a Filipino convicted mass murderer and former politician. He is one of the main perpetrators of the Maguindanao massacre along with his father, brothers, and nephews. At the time of the massacre, ...

(son of the incumbent Maguindanao governor Datu

Andal Ampatuan Sr. Andal Ampatuan Sr. (1940/1941 – July 17, 2015) was a Filipino politician who was the main suspect in the Maguindanao massacre. He was the patriarch of the Ampatuan political family in Maguindanao province, on the island of Mindanao in the Phil ...

, the mayor of Datu Unsay, and accused of leading the massacre) in the election.

Geography

Barangays

Ampatuan is politically subdivided into 11

s. Each barangay consists of

purok A ''purok'' () is an informal division within a barangay in the Philippines. While not officially considered a local government unit (LGU), a ''purok'' often serves as a unit for delivering services and administration within a barangay. ''Pur ...

s while some have

sitios A ''sitio'' (Spanish language, Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own bar ...

. * Dicalongan (

Poblacion ''Poblacion'' (from Spanish '' población'', meaning "population"), sometimes abbreviated as Pob., is a term used in the Philippines to refer to the administrative center, downtown, old town, or commercial area of a city or municipality. It ...

) * Kakal * Kamasi * Kapinpilan * Kauran * Malatimon * Matagabong * Saniag * Tomicor * Tubak * Salman

Climate

Demographics

Economy

Poverty Incidence of

References

External links

Ampatuan Profile at the DTI Cities and Municipalities Competitive Index
*

Philippine Standard Geographic Code The Philippine Standard Geographic Code (PSGC) is a systematic classification and coding for geographic areas in the Philippines. It classifies areas based on the country's four levels of administrative divisions: regions, provinces, municipalities ...

Philippine Census Information

Local Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control Municipalities of Maguindanao del Sur