About surigao del sur

Surigao del Sur, officially the Province of Surigao del Sur, is a province in the Philippines located in the Caraga region in Mindanao. Its capital is Tandag City. Surigao del Sur is situated at the eastern coast of Mindanao and faces the Philippine Sea to the east. It is approximately 300 kilometers in length and 50 kilometers at its widest stretch. It is bounded on the Northwest by the Province of Surigao del Norte; on the Southeast by Davao Oriental; on the East by the Pacific Ocean; and on the West and Southwest by the provinces of Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur. The Diwata Mountain Range lines the northwestern boundaries of the province from the rest of Mindanao.

There are two hypotheses on the original meaning of "Surigao" among linguists, depending on the original root word. If the root word was taken to be sulig ("sprout" or "spring up"), then Surigao may have derived from suligao ("spring water"), likely referring to the Surigao River (known as "Suligaw" in Mandaya) that empties at the northern tip of the island of Mindanao. Early historical accounts record the name of the river as Suligao, Surigao, or Zurigan.

Another possibility is that it is derived from Visayan surogao or suyogao, meaning "water current". From suyog (also sulog or surog), "current"; cf. Sinulog, Sulu, and Tausug (Suluk).

History

In precolonial times, the region of Surigao was inhabited by the Visayan Surigaonon people in the coastal areas, as well as Lumad groups in the interiors like the Mandaya, Mansaka, Mamanwa and Manobo.

During the Spanish Occupation in 1860, six military districts were created in Mindanao, with Surigao and Agusan forming the "East District". In 1870, the district was renamed to "Distrito de Surigao".

In 1901, Distrito de Surigao became chartered province. Agusan became an independent province in 1907 during the American era, when it was separated from Surigao.

Surigao del Sur was created as the 56th Philippine province on June 19, 1960, through Republic Act 2786, separated from its mother province, Surigao, on September 18, 1960.

At the time of its inception, it was classified as 4th Class province with an annual income of over ₱300,000.00. Seven years later, because of rapid increase of revenue collection particularly from the logging ventures, it has been reclassified as Ist Class B and in 1980 as Ist Class A with an estimated annual income of around ₱13,000,000. It has been reclassified as 2nd Class with a revenue adding up to ₱315,888,300.63.

Recaredo B. Castillo was the appointed first governor and subsequently elected governor while Vicente L. Pimentel was the first elected congressman.

The province was formed with 13 municipalities. Six more were added, raising the number to 19 with Tandag as the capital. Two of its municipalities have been elevated to cities; the first was Bislig City.

In 2007, Tandag was granted cityhood but it was nullified via a controversial decision by the Supreme Court a year later. In 2009, Tandag got back its city status after the court reversed its own ruling on December 22, 2009.

House Bill No. 2336 of the 19th Congress seeks to separate the southern part of the province to be formed as the new Province of Surigao Oriental.