The Provincial Government of Lanao del Norte has been exerting its best effort to uplift the quality of life of the people in the rural and urban areas in the province through the promotion of Integrated Agriculture and Economics Tourism Development Programs. The primary goal of the development plans is to create conditions that will facilitate and accelerate economic word of the province. One of the conditions identified is to promote tourism industry that would act as catalyst for the development of trade and other economic interactions between outlying municipalities in the province and its neighboring provinces as well.
LOCATION AREA & TOPOGRAPHIC FEATURES
LOCATION
The province of Lanao del Norte is located in the Northern Mindanao Area along the North western Coast. Ten of its 22 Municipalities are bounded by three known fishing grounds, namely: Iligan Bay, Panguil Bay and Illana Bay. The province is bounded on the North by Iligan Bay and the province of Misamis Occidental on the East. On the South is the province of Lanao del Sur. Panguil Bay borders at the west and the boundary of Zamboanga del Sur. Further south, the tip of the Province as administratively under Region XII.
The total land area of the province is 355,636 hectares. Area in square kilometers 3,556.36 with a population of 387,324 and a population density of 109.00 per square kilometers.
Lanao del Norte has an irregular topography. About 44% of its land area is plain, the widest portion of which is known as Kapatagan Valley. Almost all of its southern extremities are mountains. From there towards the coasts in the North the land gently slopes. Low plains are extensive in the municipalities of Baroy, Lala, Kapatagan, Salvador, Sapad and SND (Karomatan). The municipalities comprise the Kapatagan Valley area which is the rice and corn granary of the province. Narrow plateaus characterize the municipalities of Balo-i, Magsaysay and Tangkal.
RIVERS
Across the Kapatagan Valley, the Maranding River with its source in the highland flows and empties at Panguil Bay. The river is vital to the agricultural development of the valley especially if it is fully tapped for irrigation and drainage. Liangan River and Maigo River are short which empty into Iligan Bay. Quidalos-Butadon River is another important source of irrigation for the Kapatagan Valley.
The Agus River cuts across the northeastern part of the province that provides electricity for Mindanao from its series of hydroelectric power stations.
COMPOSITION
The province is comprised of 22 municipalities namely: Bacolod, Balo-i, Baroy, Kapatagan, Kauswagan, Lala, Linamon, Magsaysay, Maigo, Matungao, Munai, Nunungan, Pantao Ragat, Pantar, Poona Piagapo, Salvador, Sapad, Sultan Naga Dimaporo (Karomatan), Tagoloan, Tangkal and Tubod. It has 462 barangays. The municipality of Tubod is the capital town of the province.
CLIMATE
The province of Lanao del Norte is outside the typhoon belt and has non-seasonal climate. Rainfalls occur throughout the year. The heaviest precipitation occurs from May to December with an average of 7 inches per month, while the lesser precipitation is from January to April with an average of 3 inches per month. The average yearly rainfall is 60 inches and the average temperature is 80 degrees on the Fahrenheit scale.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF LANAO DEL NORTE
The term Lanao is derived from a Maranao word “Ranao” meaning a body of water. “Maranao” means lake dweller. They are the natives of the place occupying the land around Lake Lanao, which is situated at the central part of Lanao del Sur. Lanao, applies to the entire area before its division. When it was divided into two provinces, the southern portion became Lanao del Sur and the northern part became Lanao del Norte.
The Maranaos is a tribe of Malay-Arabic descent. They settled in the area long before the advent of the Spaniards in the Philippines. They possess their own culture and civilization which makes them quite unique. Their language, customs, traditions, religion, social system, costumes, music, and other features are factors that make Lanao peculiar and distinct from other Philippine provinces.
Dansalan, Marawi City’s old name, was explored by the Spaniards as early as 1639. It is said that at that time, Marawi was already the citadel of Malayan-Arabic culture in Mindanao. Feeling the pulse of strong refusal among its inhabitants to adopt Christianity, the Spaniards abandoned the project of colonizing the area. Dansalan, physically speaking, would have satisfactorily qualified to become a town or municipality during the time of said exploration based on the Spanish Policy of “Ecclesiastical Administration” except for one factor - - religion.
Attempts were made later by foreigners to capture Lanao but fierce and fanatical resistance of the Maranaos to colonial rule made the planting of Christianity in Dansalan an unfulfilled desire.
A strong Spanish expedition to conquer the Maranaos was fielded in 1891 during the time of Governor General Valeriano Wayler, but this force was driven back to Iligan after failing to capture Dansalan. In 1895, Governor General Blanco sent a stronger force to take Marawi. Superior firepower forced the Dansalan defenders to leave the place. Here the conquerors established the garrison that remained until the outbreak of the Spanish – American War in 1898. Spain claimed this event as its victory but the verdict of history reveled that while the Spaniards were able to erect a garrison in Dansalan, they failed to conquer its people who stubbornly refused to adhere to the colonial yoke of Spain. Muslim religion and Maranao culture remained intact and untarnished up to these days.
On May 24, 1904, the American Colonial Government proclaimed Dansalan a Regular Municipality. The Philippines was still under the Commonwealth regime of the Americans when Dansalan was chartered into a city in 1904, but World War II delayed its inauguration to September 30, 1950 and renamed as Marawi City.
Historically, immigrants who came from the Christian provinces of Mindanao, Vizayas and Luzon tended to settle in the Northern part of Lanao while the Maranaos concentrated in the south. The latest survey shows that the Christian-Muslim ratio in the North is 60:40 in favor of the Christians and in the South, 95:5 in favor of the Maranaos.
Republic Act No. 2228 divided Lanao in to two (2) provinces giving birth to Lanao del Norte which was inaugurated on July 4, 1959 making Iligan City as the capital. The late Honorable Salvador T. Lluch was the first Governor. The second was Honorable Mohammad Ali Dimaporo, from January 1960 to September 1965 when Governor Dimaporo ran and won the congressional seat of the province. By operation of the law of succession, the Honorable Vice Governor Arsenio A. Quibranza became the third Provincial Chief Executive. By mandate of his people, Governor Quibranza was elected Governor in 1967 and almost unanimously was re-elected in 1971 and again in 1980.
Resolution No. 805 series of 1977 of our Sangguniang Panlalawigan, was transformed into Parliamentary Bill No. 586 sponsored by then, Assemblyman Abdullah D. Dimaporo, which was finally realized when President Ferdinand E. Marcos signed PB 568 into Batas Pambansa 181 sanctioning the official transfer of the seat of the Provincial Government from Iligan City to the municipality of Tubod, the Capital Town of the province.
In October 1984, inaugural ceremonies were held to celebrate the occasion of the transfer of the Provincial Capitol from Poblacion, Tubod to the Don Mariano Marcos Government Center (now Governor Arsenio A. Quibranza Provincial Government Center) at Pigcarangan, Tubod, Lanao del Norte.
By virtue of the power and impact of the People’s Power Revolution at Edsa, Manila on February 25, 1986, local government all over the Philippines changed the political atmosphere overnight.
Lanao del Norte became one among the many provinces affected by the sudden changes brought by the “Snap Election” on February 1986. Local heads of offices and employees particularly those holding political positions were destabilized but with the installation of President Corazon Aquino as president, OIC Atty. Francisco L. Abalos became the appointed governor of the province on March 3, 1986. On February 2, 1988, Atty. Abalos was elected as governor of the province.
In the Synchronized National Election of May 11, 1992, the wheel of leadership in the province changed hands when Congressman Abdullah D. Dimaporo was elected Provincial Governor. Considering his vast experience as a legislator in tandem to his qualification as an economist, the people of Lanao del Norte expected much from his governance.
With this foundation, the administration of Governor Abdullah D. Dimaporo embarked on a comprehensive planning both in short and long term basis. It was the priority during the first year of his administration. It was taken as the most important groundwork to set a direction for development in the province.
In the 1998 national and local elections, Imelda Quibranza-Dimaporo, wife of Governor Abdullah. D. Dimaporo was elected as Provincial Governor. It was evident that the province was reaping the benefits of continuity of plans, programs and projects from the previous leadership to the new one. Despite the outbreak of the conflict of the MILF and the GRP in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte last March 2000, joint efforts of the couple has brought back stability of peace in Lanao del Norte.
With her re-election last May 15, 2001, the Honorable Imelda Quibranza-Dimaporo, was able to bring the province into the limelight with full media coverage, through the hosting of the First Mindanao Friendship Games at the Mindanao Civic Center in Tubod, Lanao del Norte last November 11-15, 2001. Participants came from all over Mindanao representing the various LGUs in the island with the presence of none other done Her Excellency Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
This efforts of the Honorable Governor is just a prelude tin promoting Lanao del Norte as the Land of Beauty and Bounty.
How to Get There
There are no direct flights to Tubod, Lanao del Norte’s capital town, however flights service the Maila route from Cagayan de Oro City, which is three hours away. Tubod Port offers two sea trips a week to paseengers to Ozamiz City whioe it would take an hour and a half trip to ILigan City via public bus or van.
by Air by Sea
from Manila frm Cebu
Mla-Cagayan de Oro Cebu-Tubod
(CDO-Tubod-3hrs bus ride) (2x a week)
Mla-Dipolog Cebu-Ozamiz
(Dipolog-Tubod 2.5 hrs (5x a week)
bus ride)
Lanao Del Norte - Land Of Beauty And Bounty
Brief Description
The Provincial Government of Lanao del Norte, “Land of Beauty and Bounty,” has been exerting its best effort to uplift the quality of life of the people in the rural and urban areas in the province through the promotion of Integrated Agriculture and Economics Tourism Development Programs. The primary goal of the development plans is to create conditions that will facilitate and accelerate economic word of the province. One of the conditions identified is to promote the tourism industry that would act as a catalyst for the development of trade and other economic interactions between outlying municipalities in the province and its neighboring provinces as well.
Geography
The province of Lanao del Norte is located in the Northern Mindanao Area along the North western Coast. Three known fishing grounds bound ten of its 22 Municipalities, namely: Iligan Bay, Panguil Bay, and Illana Bay. The province is bounded on the North by Iligan Bay and the province of Misamis Occidental on the East, on the South is the province of Lanao del Sur. Panguil Bay borders at the west and the boundary of Zamboanga del Sur, further south, the tip of the Province as administratively under Region XII. The total land area of the province is 355,636 hectares.
Political Subdivisions
The province is comprised of 22 municipalities, namely: Bacolod, Balo-i, Baroy, Kapatagan, Kauswagan, Lala, Linamon, Magsaysay, Maigo, Matungao, Munai, Nunungan, Pantao Ragat, Pantar, Poona Piagapo, Salvador, Sapad, Sultan Naga Dimaporo (Karomatan), Tagoloan, Tangkal, and Tubod. It has 462 barangays. The municipality of Tubod is the capital town of the province. It has 2 Districts, (1st) Iligan City to the Municipality of Baroy and (2nd ) from Municipality of Balo-I to Sapad.
Population
Has a population of 387,324 with a population density of 109.00 per square kilometers.
Language / Dialect
The Christian-Muslim ratio is 60:40 in favor of the Christians. Cebuano, English & Filipino are widely spoken among Christians, and Maranao for Muslim.
Climate
Lanao del Norte is outside the typhoon belt and has a non-seasonal climate with an average yearly rainfall of 60 inches. The average temperature is 80 degrees on the Fahrenheit scale.
Contact