Cotabato

This article is about the Philippine province. For other uses, see Cotabato (disambiguation).

Cotabato Province
Province
Province of Cotabato
Flag Seal
Map of the Philippines with Cotabato highlighted
Country	Philippines
Region	SOCCSKSARGEN (Region XII)
Founded	May 8, 1967
Capital	Kidapawan City
Government
• Governor	Emmylou J. Taliño-Mendoza (Lakas-Kampi-CMD)
Area
• Total	9,008.90 km2 (3,478.36 sq mi)
• Rank	7th out of 80
Population  (2010)
• Total	1,498,294
• Rank	23rd out of 80
• Density	170/km2 (430/sq mi)
• Rank	57th out of 80
Divisions
• Independent cities	1
• Component cities	1
• Municipalities	17
• Barangays	543 including independent cities: 580
• Districts	3 legislative districts
Time zone	UTC+8 (PHT)
Spoken languages	Hiligaynon, Cebuano, Maguindanao, Chavacano, Tagalog, Manobo

Cotabato (also North Cotabato; Filipino:Hilagang Kotabato), is a landlocked province of the Philippines located in the SOCCSKSARGEN region in Mindanao. Its capital is Kidapawan City and borders Lanao del Sur and Bukidnon to the north, Davao del Norte and Davao City to the east, Davao del Sur and Sultan Kudarat to the southeast, and Maguindanao to the south and west.

Geography

The Province of North Cotabato lies on the eastern part of Region XII and is strategically located in the central part of Mindanao. It is bounded on the north by the provinces of Lanao del Sur and Bukidnon, on the east by Davao City and Davao del Norte, on the west by Maguindanao and on the southeast by Sultan Kudarat and Davao del Sur.

North Cotabato is strategically linked to the major "Arterial Road System" that traverses and connects the province to Davao City - SOCCSKSARGEN - Cotabato Corridor. The Cotabato via Kabacan - Maramag - Kibawe, Bukidnon Sayre Highway meanwhile serves as its link to the Cagayan de Oro-Iligan City Corridor.

North Cotabato, with an area of 656,590 hectares representing 45.06% of the whole regional area, stretches west from Mt. Apo, which separates it from Davao, to the Piapayungan Range on its boundary with Lanao. In the midst of these uplands is the basin of the Pulangi or Rio Grande de Mindanao, the second longest in the Philippines at 300 km, which rises in Bukidnon and flows south to Maguindanao and Illana Bay. The province’s fertile plains are traversed by tributaries of this great river.

Typhoons do not pass through North Cotabato and rainfall is evenly distributed throughout the year.

City and municipalities

Cotabato is subdivided into 17 municipalities and 2 cities.

City/Municipality		No. of Barangays	Area (km²)	Population (2010)	Pop. density (per km²)	District	Class Income
	Alamada	17	787.50	56,813	-	1st	1st(Mun.)
	Aleosan	19	244.5	35,746	-	1st	3rd(Mun.)
	Antipas	13	199.98	25,242	-	2nd	2nd(Mun.)
	Arakan	28	693.2156	43,554	-	2nd	1st(Mun.)
	Banisilan	20	577.20	39,914	-	3rd	2nd(Mun.)
	Carmen	28	1110.43	82,469	-	3rd	1st(Mun.)
	Cotabato City	37	179.55	271,786	-	Mag-1st	1st(City)
	Kabacan	24	448.09	81,282	-	3rd	1st(Mun.)
	Kidapawan City	40	340.07	125,447	-	2nd	1st(City)
	Libungan	20	191.57	45,295	-	1st	2nd(Mun.)
	Magpet	32	755.36	45,183	-	2nd	1st(Mun.)
	Makilala	38	343.5653	77,508	-	2nd	1st(Mun.)
	Matalam	34	476.00	74,034	-	3rd	1st(Mun.)
	Midsayap	57	394.75	134,170	-	1st	1st(Mun.)
	M'lang	37	411.91	87,749	-	3rd	1st(Mun.)
	Pigkawayan	40	340.11	59,975	-	1st	1st(Mun.)
	Pikit	42	604.61	113,014	-	1st	1st(Mun.)
	President Roxas	25	618.25	44,029	-	2nd	1st(Mun.)
	Tulunan	29	350.00	54,884	-	3rd	2nd(Mun.)

History

Early history

Cotabato derives its name from the Maguindanao kuta wato, meaning "stone fort", referring to the stone fort which served as the seat of the great Sultan Kudarat in what is now Cotabato City.

Islam was introduced in this part of the country in the later part of 15th century by Shariff Kabunsuan, a legendary Muslim missionary.

Christianity was introduced in 1596, but the Spaniards were unable to penetrate into the region until the second half of the 19th century. The district of Cotabato was formed in 1860. What is presently Cotabato remained outside the area of Spanish activities.

American occupation

The coming of the Americans ushered in the creation of the Moro Province on July 15, 1903 through Act No. 787 of the Philippine Commission. Cotabato, covering what are presently the provinces of Cotabato, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato and Sarangani, became a district of the huge Moro province. During the American period, large companies were established in Cotabato to exploit the vast timber resources of the region. By the 1930s settlers from Luzon and Visayas established homesteads in Cotabato.

World War II

In December 1941, Japanese planes bombed and invaded in Cotabato. In 1942 Cotabato was occupied by the Japanese Imperial forces. The establishment of the military general headquarters of the Philippine Commonwealth Army was active on 1942 to 1946 and the Philippine Constabulary 10th Infantry Regiment was active again on 1944 to 1946 and military stationed on Cotabato. Moro guerrilla fighters invaded around the province of Cotabato and help them of all local force of the Philippine Commonwealth Army and pre-war Philippine Constabulary 10th Infantry Regiments by fought against the Imperial Japanese Army until 1944, the Moro guerrillas was retreating Japanese troops before liberated. In 1945, Cotabato was recaptured from the Japanese Imperial forces by the combined Filipino and American troops together with the recognized Moro guerrilla units. The guerrillas used the traditional Moro Kampilan, Barong and Kris swords. Also see Battle of Maguindanao.

Division

The pace of settlement accelerated in the 1950s and 1960s. The former province of North Cotabato was once the largest in the Philippines. In 1966, South Cotabato was created as a separate province. On November 22, 1973, by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 341, what remained of the old Cotabato was further divided into the provinces of North Cotabato, Maguindanao, and Sultan Kudarat. North Cotabato was later renamed Cotabato through Batas Pambansa Blg. 660 approved on December 19, 1983.

North Cotabato is presently composed of the capital city of Kidapawan, 17 municipalities, and 544 barangays. The province has two congressional districts.

Demographics

North Cotabato genesis is a melting pot of people. The first Visayan settlers reached the town of Pikit in 1913, and since then, Christian migrants have moved and lived in Cotabato, cohabitating the province with the local indigenous groups. 71% of Cotabato’s population are migrants from Luzon and the Visayas, while the remaining 18% belong to the indigenous communities Manobo, T'boli, and Maguindanao. The major languages spoken are Hiligaynon (43%), Cebuano (31%), Maguindanao (16%), and Ilocano (10%).

The main religions are mostly Roman Catholicism with small amounts of Muslims.

Based on the National Statistics Office, Cotabato has an overall population of 918,992 (2000 Official Census). The average population growth rate is 1.36%, which is under the national average of 2.12%.

Assets and resources

North Cotabato is considered as Mindanao’s food basket. It is a major producer of cereals, tropical fruits, vegetables, sugarcane, coconut, coffee, freshwater fish and livestock.

It is also one of the country’s leading producers of raw and semi-processed rubber and industrial trees, with markets in Asia and Europe.

Among its major natural assets are Mt. Apo, the country’s highest peak at 10,311 feet above sea level, the Pulangi River which is a major contributor to Mindanao’s irrigation system and hydro-electric energy, and the vast Liguasan Marsh which not only supplies a bounty of freshwater fish and organic fertilizer but considered as a possible source as well of natural gas.

North Cotabato has a skilled and easily trainable labor force of 260,000, which includes highly-competent professionals in agriculture, sciences, engineering, and business among others.

Power utility in the province comes from two energy sources - the NAPOCOR Agus Grid in Iligan transmitted through its Tacurong Substations and the Mindanao 1 Geothermal Power Plant at the foot of Mt. Apo in Ilomavis, Kidapawan City which produces 97 megawatts of electricity. Power distribution is handled by two electric cooperatives, the Maguindanao Electric Cooperative, Inc. (MAGELCO) and Cotabato Electric Cooperative, Inc. (COTELCO). The former serves the western part of the province while the later, the eastern and southern part.

The province has a 4, 131.32 km road network connecting the major centers to each other and the outlying barangays, and communication linkage through NDD-IDD, fax, cellular phone and the internet is available.

Political

President Benigno Aquino III signed the law dividing to new 3 legislative district of Cotabato on September 14, 2012. The representative shall continue to serve until next national election.

Elected Provincial Officials

House of Representatives

1. 1st District- Rep. Susing Sacdalan
2. 2nd District- Rep. Nancy Catamco

• Governor: Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza
• Vice Governor: Dodong Ipong

External links

• Province of Cotabato
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• 2007 Philippine Census Information