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

Agusan del Sur Agusan del Sur, officially the Province of Agusan del Sur (; Butuanon: ''Probinsya hong Agusan del Sur''; ), is a province in Caraga region, Mindanao, Philippines. Its capital is the municipality of Prosperidad. It is bordered on the northwest ...

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 39,708 people.

History

Veruela is considered the oldest town of upper Agusan del Sur. It is believed the name "Veruela" derives from the word "virus", as the area suffered from

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

and

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

in the late 18th century when Spanish missionaries encountered the indigenous Manobo tribes. The Manobo later moved to Manning, also known as Linongsuran, along 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 ...

. In 1916, an earthquake destroyed the settlement, forcing the survivors to evacuate and reorganize themselves into another place, now the

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 ...

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 ...

'' of the municipality. In the 18th century, Muslim tribes in Davao invaded the Manobos in Agusan, and the two sides fought. The first known leader of the Manobo was the ''

datu ''Datu'' is a title which denotes the rulers (variously described in historical accounts as chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs) of numerous Indigenous peoples throughout the Philippine archipelago. The title is still used today, though no ...

'' Eladio Manguyod, who drove the Muslims out after a hard-fought battle. During this period, the tribe converted to Christianity and adopted Saint John as their patron. Veruela became a municipality through Executive Order No. 147, which was proclaimed by President

Diosdado Macapagal Diosdado Pangan Macapagal Sr. (; September 28, 1910 – April 21, 1997) was a Filipino lawyer, poet and politician who served as the 9th President of the Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965, and the 5th Vice President of the Philippines, V ...

on March 31, 1965 during the term of Congressman Guillermo Sanchez, who once also served as mayor of the town. Since its formal creation as a municipality, Veruela has seen eight different administrations. The municipality of Veruela has a silent dispute with the nearby province of

Compostela Valley Davao de Oro, officially the Province of Davao de Oro (; ), is a 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 of the province of Davao del ...

regarding the boundary between the two in Barangay Del Monte.

Geography

Veruela is located at . According to the

Philippine Statistics Authority The Philippine Statistics Authority (; PSA) is the central statistical authority of the Philippine government that collects, compiles, analyzes, and publishes statistical information on economic, social, demographic, political affairs, and gene ...

, the municipality has a land area of constituting of the total area of Agusan del Sur.

Climate

Barangays

Veruela is politically subdivided into 20

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 ...

Demographics

In the 2020 census, Veruela had a population of 39,708. The population density was .

Economy

References

External links

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 ...

{{Authority control Municipalities of Agusan del Sur Political divisions established by Philippine executive order