Maragusan, officially the Municipality of Maragusan (; ), 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 ...

Davao de Oro Davao de Oro, officially the Province of Davao de Oro (; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital is Nabunturan while Monkayo is the most populous. It used to be part ...

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 64,412 people.

History

The area in what is now Maragusan is a valley that in the past were inhabited solely by native

Mansaka The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous peoples in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad (Literally: "indigenous people"), the autonym officially ado ...

n people who made their living by engaging in

slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a form of shifting cultivation that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a Field (agriculture), field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody p ...

agricultural practices. They identified themselves as “Man-Agusan” which means those living on the banks of the

Agusan River The Agusan River is third longest river in the Philippines, located in the north-eastern part of Mindanao island, draining majority of the Caraga region and some parts of Davao de Oro. It is the country's third largest river (after the Cagayan ...

which had its source within the boundaries of the present municipality. The area which is now Maragusan was made part of the municipality of Doña Alicia which was created in May 28, 1953 by virtue of Executive Order No. 596 of Pres.

Elpidio Quirino Elpidio Rivera Quirino (; November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was a Philippine nationality law, Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 6th President of the Philippines from 1948 to 1953. A lawyer by profession, Quirino entered p ...

, which was renamed Mabini a year later. By the time the town was created with which the area became part of, the valley remained undiscovered by settlers until in 1955 a pilot and a rancher from Lake Leonard discovered it by accident while travelling off-course. This triggered the creation of an agricultural settlement located in the Aguakan Springs which is now the location of the town center. The name of the settlement gradually became "Maragusan" which is a corruption of the “Man-Agusan” which was how the Mansakan natives of the area referred to themselves. Maragusan eventually became a

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 ...

of Mabini of in 1962. But while it grew as an agricultural settlement located in a valley, it had no direct route to Mabini's town center or government facilities. Hence, as early as 1972, locals have been clamoring for the establishment of a municipality in the area. A proposal to name it "San Mariano" was made, named after

Mariano Marcos Mariano Marcos y Rubio (; April 21, 1897 – March 8, 1945) was a lawyer, educator, and politician from Batac, Ilocos Norte, Philippines. A Congressman from 1925 to 1931, he is best known for being the father of Ferdinand Marcos, who was the p ...

who is the father of Pres.

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...

who governed the Philippines during this time, to expedite its creation. Finally, on November 25, 1977, the municipality of San Mariano was created under Presidential Decree No. 1247 signed by Pres. Marcos himself, with the barangay of Maragusan made as seat of local government. After the ouster of Marcos in 1986, the municipality of San Mariano was officially renamed Maragusan in October 12, 1988.

Geography

Barangays

Maragusan is politically subdivided into 24

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 ...

. * Bagong Silang * Mapawa * Maragusan (

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 ...

) * New Albay * Tupaz * Bahi * Cambagang * Coronobe * Katipunan * Lahi * Langgawisan * Mabugnao * Magcagong * Mahayahay * Mauswagon * New Katipunan * New Manay * New Panay * Paloc * Pamintaran * Parasanon * Talian * Tandik * Tigbao

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Maragusan was 64,412 people, with a density of . It ranks 3rd most populated municipality in the first district of

.Republic Act No. 6678
Arellano Law Foundation, retrieved 2012

Economy

References

External links

Maragusan 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 ...

br>Philippine Census Information
{{Authority control Municipalities of Davao de Oro Establishments by Philippine presidential decree