City of Tacurong Was Once a Barangay of the Municipality of Buluan of the Then Empire Province of Cotabato
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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The place, which later became the city of Tacurong was once a barangay of the municipality of Buluan of the then empire province of Cotabato. The place was originally called “Pamasang”, after a creek that flows from south to north of the area. In the 1940s, the place became the way station of the 19-C Survey Team due to is strategic location and suitability for the purposes of the survey team. During those years, the place also became a stopover point for travelers and the Oblate missionaries on their way to the different points of Cotabato Province. The name “Pamasang” was changed to “Talakudong”, the maguindanao term for head covering which was worn by most of the early settlers and people in the area. How the place came to be associated with head covering cannot be ascertained. Eventually, the name was later shortened / changed to Tacurong. It can only be deduced that the present name Tacurong must have originated from the word “Talakudong”. Tacurong was separated from its mother town of Buluan and was created a municipality by Executive Order Number 462 signed by the late President Elpidio Quirino on August 3, 1951. The city is composed of mostly Ilonggo settlers from the province of Iloilo. Tacurong then had an estimated area of 40,000 hectares comprising 14 barangays. When Tantangan, a barangay of Tacurong was created into a municipality in 1961, the southern portions of Tacurong were separated. The area was further reduced when Pres. Quirino was created into a municipality on Nov. 22, 1973 taking with it some of the eastern portions. Tacurong now has a total land area of 15,340 hectares, the smallest in land area among the 12 municipalities that compose the new province of Sultan Kudarat, created on Nov. 22, 1973 by Presidential Decree No. 341. Although Isulan became the provincial capital, Tacurong remained as the premier town. After 49 years of existence as a municipality, Tacurong became the first component city of the Province of Sultan Kudarat through the effort, of Hon. Angelo O. Montilla, the Congressman of the Lone District of Sultan Kudarat by virtue of House Bill No. 6497 duly approved and signed by His Excellency President Joseph 1 E. Estrada through Republic Act 8805 “An Act Converting the Municipality of Tacurong into a Component City of the Province of Sultan Kudarat to be known as the “City of Tacurong” on August 16, 2000 and duly confirmed by the “Tacurongnons” on a plebiscite held on September 18, 2000. Tacurong is located at the center of Central Mindanao. It is 92 kms. from Gen. Santos City, 96 kms. from Cotabato City and 178 kms. from Davao City. It is situated at the crossroads of the Davao-Gen. Santos-Cotabato highways, and is the population, financial, commercial, education, and rest and recreation center of the area. It services the needs of 15 neighboring municipalities. People from these areas go to Tacurong to sell their products, purchase their needs, pursue education, avail of medical and health services, and seek recreation. As an important hub of the Mindanao transport grid, Tacurong is visited by numerous passengers and transients on their way to the cities of Davao, Cotabato, Gen. Santos and even Cagayan De Oro. Politically, Tacurong has been served by eleven elected and appointed mayors from its creation in 1951 to the present who represented various sectors. Ricardo Soriano and Serafin Limbungan were farmers; Quirino Mercado, a lawyer; Jose Escribano, a military man; Jose P. Barroquillo, a medical practitioner; Benjamin Eliseo, a contractor and a businessman; Fernando O. Bayquin, a government employee (DILG); Teodoro Subido, a dental practitioner; Angelo O. Montilla, a farm manager; Geronimo P. Arzagon, an educator; and the present mayor, Lino O. Montilla, an electrical engineer. GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION AND POLITICAL SUBDIVISION The city of Tacurong is located at the geographical coordinates 6 degrees 41 minutes and 42.583 seconds latitude, 124 degrees, 40 minutes and 29.818 seconds longitude. It is bounded by the municipalities of Lambayong, to the north; Isulan to the west; Pres. Quirino to the east; and by Tantangan of South Cotabato Province to the south. 2 The city of Tacurong is presently composed of 20 barangays most of which are agricultural-based, namely: 1. Baras - 756 Has. 11. New Lagao - 941 Has 2. Buenaflor - 520 Has. 12. New Passi - 1,560 Has. 3. Calean - 483 Has. 13. Poblacion - 257 Has. 4. Demetrio Ledesma - 347 Has. 14. Rajah Muda - 1,310 Has. 5. E. J. C. Montilla - 2,220 Has. 15. San Antonio - 300 Has. 6. Griño - 640 Has. 16. San Emmanuel - 734 Has. 7. Kalandagan - 2,553 Has. 17. San Pablo - 339 Has. 8. Lancheta - 511 Has. 18. San Rafael - 194 Has. 9. New Carmen - 289 Has. 19. Tina - 514 Has. 10. New Isabela - 295 Has. 20. Upper Katungal - 577 Has. Barangay Poblacion is the seat of the city government and center of most of the economic, cultural and political activities of the city. Although most of the barangays are agricultural-based, some barangays those that are adjacent to Barangay Poblacion are already becoming commercial, residential and industrial centers. DEMOGRAPHY: POPULATION, SIZE, GROWTH and TREND As of 2006 Socio Economic Profile Survey on population, the city of Tacurong has a total population of 82,465, This indicates an addition of 6,140 persons to the household population enumerated by the census in 2000 which was 76,325. This puts the geometric growth rate of the population between 2000 and at 1.39 percent annually. Barangay Poblacion, being the urban center is the most populated area with 15,409 residents followed by Barangay New Isabela with 10, 182 residents while Barangay San Rafael represents the least populated area with 912 persons or 1.05 percent of the total population. 3 Of the eleven municipalities and a city in the province of Sultan Kudarat, the city of Tacurong is the largest in terms of population size comprising 13.4 percent of the total population of the province while comprising only 2.65% of the total land area of the province. Several factors contributed to the large population of the city of Tacurong. First, its being the center of finance, trade and commerce, and rest and recreation in the Central Mindanao area, the city play host to the large number of people who come to do their business and presents livelihood opportunities for the jobless. Second, the presence of basic services and facilities attracts the people from other municipalities to reside in the city; and third, the stability of peace and order situation of the city. URBAN- RURAL DISTRIBUTION The urban dwellers from Poblacion 18.89 percent or 15,409 residents of the total population while the rural population is placed at 81.11 percent or 67,056 residents. POPULATION DENSITY The city of Tacurong has a population density of 537.58 persons per square kilometer. AGE – SEX DISTRIBUTION Based on Socio Economic Profile Survey, male population comprised 50.37 percent of the total population or 41,551 residents while female population comprised 49.63 percent or 40,914 of the total population. Basing on the age structure, the city’s population is predominantly young. The 41,093 or 49.83 percent belongs to 0-24 age level which has the largest share; 28,352 or 34.38 percent represents 25-49 bracket; and 50 years and above age bracket which has the lowest share of 15.79 percent or 13,020 of the total population. 4 Table 1 Population and Household by Barangay as June 2006 Barangay Household Population Number of Household Male Female Both Sex Baras 1610 1456 3066 637 Buenaflor 2216 2297 4513 1013 Calean 893 850 1743 386 D'Ledesma 747 705 1452 307 E.J.C. Montilla 2138 2069 4207 1038 Griño 2770 2528 5298 1106 Kalandagan 1012 973 1985 400 Lancheta 553 508 1061 212 New Carmen 1544 1404 2948 660 New Isabela 4933 5249 10182 2081 New Lagao 1095 1081 2176 456 New Passi 1297 1183 2480 489 Poblacion 7516 7893 15409 3470 Rajah Muda 1720 1568 3288 685 San Antonio 669 638 1307 292 San Emmanuel 2041 1979 4020 877 San Pablo 5046 4958 10004 2055 San Rafael 485 427 912 208 Tina 1680 1700 3380 479 Upper Katungal 1586 1448 3034 649 Tacurong City 41551 40914 82465 17,500 Source: SEP as June 2006 Table 2 HISTORICAL GROWTH OF POPULATION 1960 – 1990, 1995 – 2000-20067 Actual Average Growth Year Increase/Decrease Population Rate 1960 15,051 1970 29,796 14,745 7.06% 1975 37,255 7,459 4.56% 1980 45,908 8,853 4.26% 1990 58,785 12,877 2.50% 1995 69,822 11,037 3.28% 2000 76,424 6,602 1.93% 2007 82,546 6,122 1.08% Source: National Statistics Office 5 Population by Age & Sex 80&above 260 274 75 to 79 386 447 70 to 74 608 658 782 906 65 to 69 1069 60 to 64 1114 1472 55 to 59 1483 1803 50 to 54 1758 2169 45 to 49 2223 2438 40 to 44 2444 Male 35 to 39 2890 2929 30 to 34 3236 3066 Female 25 to 29 3583 3374 3784 20 to 24 3826 15 to 19 4465 4375 10 to 14 4149 4242 5 to 9 4383 4148 1 to 4 3165 2839 Under 1 841 876 -5000 -4000 -3000 -2000 -1000 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 MOTHER TONGUE/ETHNICITY Ilonggo is the mother tongue of 12,524 households or 71.57 percent of the total population. About 2,820 households or 16.11 percent are Ilocanos while the remaining 12.32 percent of the population are distributed to as follows: Cebuano (4.31%), Maguindanao (6.46%) and others (1.55%).