Jose Abad Santos, officially the Municipality of Jose Abad Santos ( ceb, Lungsod sa Jose Abad Santos; tl, Bayan ng Jose Abad Santos), is a 1st class

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Davao Occidental Davao Occidental ( Cebuano: ''Kasadpang Dabaw''; Filipino: ''Kanlurang Davao''), officially the Province of Davao Occidental, is a province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital is the municipality of Malita. To ...

, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 73,381 people.

History

The Municipality of Jose Abad Santos was formerly a part of

Malita Malita, officially the Municipality of Malita ( ceb, Lungsod sa Malita; fil, Bayan ng Malita), is a 1st class municipality and capital of the province of Davao Occidental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 118,1 ...

town. Barrios Batulaki (5,181) and Caburan (6,197) seceded and established as a separate town on August 1, 1948, and was originally named "Trinidad". The barrio of Caburan became its ''

poblacion ''Poblacion'' (literally "town" or "settlement" in Spanish language in the Philippines, Spanish; ) is the common term used for the administrative center, central, downtown, old town or central business district area of a Philippines, Philippi ...

'' or town center. In 1954, the municipality was renamed by Republic Act no. 1206, in honor of

José Abad Santos José Abad Santos y Basco (, ; February 19, 1886 – May 1, 1942) was the fifth chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He briefly served as the acting president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and acting commander-in-chie ...

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines The chief justice of the Philippines ( fil, Punong Mahistrado ng Pilipinas) presides over the Supreme Court of the Philippines and is the highest judicial officer of the government of the Philippines. As of April 5, 2021, the position is curr ...

, who was executed by the Japanese invading forces during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. On January 1, 2021, Barangay Caburan experienced a nearby earthquake. Two days later, Jose Abad Santos became the apex of a diarrhea outbreak.

Geography

It is the southernmost municipality on the mainland of

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

island. The coastal town is the second largest municipality in Davao Occidental after

Barangays

Jose Abad Santos is politically subdivided into 26

barangay A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...

Climate

Demographics

Economy

Vast natural resources can be found, such as the wide stretch of

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

s of the municipality.

Milkfish The milkfish (''Chanos chanos'') is the sole living species in the family Chanidae. However, there are at least five extinct genera from the Cretaceous. The repeating scientific name (tautonym) is from Greek ( ‘mouth’). The species has many ...

and

tilapia Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically most ...

breeding, as well as

copra Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from copr ...

production, are the primary source of income for its people. The long stretch of beaches with brown, black and white sands, together with abundant

marine life Marine life, sea life, or ocean life is the plants, animals and other organisms that live in the salt water of seas or oceans, or the brackish water of coastal estuaries. At a fundamental level, marine life affects the nature of the planet. M ...

offshore are the primary natural attractions of Jose Abad Santos.

Government

Municipal officials 2013-2016: * Mayor: James Y. Joyce * Vice Mayor: Jason John A. Joyce * Councilors: ** Frank William Galias ** Maricelle Medel ** Roger Castro ** Louie Tayong ** Maximo Guardados, Jr. ** Joaquin Atay, Sr. ** Dave Dullano ** Jonathan Chua

Transportation

The municipality can be reached by

public utility vehicle Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

s plying from

Davao City Davao City, officially the City of Davao ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Dabaw; ), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the largest city in the Philippines in terms of lan ...

and

Digos Digos, officially the City of Digos ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Digos; fil, Lungsod ng Digos), is a 2nd class component city and capital of the province of Davao del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 188,376 people. ...

via the

Pan-Philippine Highway The Pan-Philippine Highway, also known as the Maharlika Highway ( tl, Daang Maharlika; ceb, Dalang Halangdon), is a network of roads, expressways, bridges, and ferry services that connect the islands of Luzon, Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao in t ...

. Past the town of

Sulop Sulop, officially the Municipality of Sulop ( ceb, Lungsod sa Sulop; tl, Bayan ng Sulop), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Davao del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 35,151 people. History The ...

is the junction with Davao del Sur Provincial Highway. Turning east at the junction, head south on the provincial highway to the town of

. And to the said municipality, ''habal-habal'' or passenger motorcycles ply to the adjacent town Don Marcelino.

Road condition

The road condition of the town is poor. Its road network is mostly unpaved, traversing through high-sloped hilly coastal and mountain roads with the danger of falling rocks from above. Most of the river crossings have no bridges, so drivers traversing the town have to consider if their vehicle is capable of crossing a shallow river. During rainy weather, travelers have to wait for the water level to subside before the river could become accessible again. A trip to the town is considered as either adventurous or dangerous by those who intend to visit depending on their experience, though part of the road heading to Don Marcelino town to the north is paved, made with concrete cement.

Controversy

On August 20, 2013, former provincial representative Marc Douglas Cagas IV complained about the

DPWH The Department of Public Works and Highways ( fil, Kagawaran ng mga Pagawain at Lansangang Bayan}), abbreviated as DPWH, is the Executive departments of the Philippines, executive department of the Philippine government solely vested with the ...

's complacency about the project involving the improving of roads going to the municipality. He attributed the complacency to the pork barrel scandal that was already happening in the country's politics since several days before the said complaint due to overspending of their budget for the said project.

References

External links

Jose Abad Santos Profile at the DTI Cities and Municipalities Competitive Index
* Philippine Standard Geographic Code
Philippine Census Information

Local Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control Municipalities of Davao Occidental