Malabang, officially the Municipality of Malabang (
Maranao
The Maranao people (Maranao: mәranaw Filipino: ''Maranaw''), also spelled Meranao, Maranaw, and Mëranaw, is the term used by the Philippine government to refer to the southern indigenous people who are the "people of the lake", a predomin ...
: ''Inged a Malabang''; tl, Bayan ng Malabang), is a 3rd 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 ...
of
Lanao del Sur
Lanao del Sur ( tl, Timog Lanao; Maranao and ilp, Pagabagatan Ranao), officially the Province of Lanao del Sur, is a province in the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The capital is the city of ...
,
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 49,088 people. The town is one of the two former capitals of the
Sultanate of Maguindanao
The Sultanate of Maguindanao ( Maguindanaon: ''Kasultanan nu Magindanaw''; Old Maguindanaon: كاسولتانن نو ماڬينداناو; Jawi: کسلطانن ماڬيندناو; Iranun: ''Kesultanan a Magindanao''; ms, Kesultanan Magindana ...
from 1515 until the Spanish conquered the land in 1888, and later became the capital of one of the states of the Confederation of Sultanates in Lanao in 1640.
Etymology
Malabang comes from the
Maranao
The Maranao people (Maranao: mәranaw Filipino: ''Maranaw''), also spelled Meranao, Maranaw, and Mëranaw, is the term used by the Philippine government to refer to the southern indigenous people who are the "people of the lake", a predomin ...
word "''mala''", which means big, and "''bang''" or "''adhan''" in Arabic, which is a call to prayer. An Arab missionary named Sharif Kabunsuan arrived at the Sultanate of Tubok around the 14th century
CE to Islamize the people in mainland Mindanao. Upon docking in the shore of Tubok, which is known today as barangay Tambara, the Arab missionary cried out the
call to prayer
A call to prayer is a summons for participants of a faith to attend a group worship or to begin a required set of prayers. The call is one of the earliest forms of telecommunication, communicating to people across great distances. All religions ...
with his loud voice: the first ''adhan'', or "bang", in Lanao. The villagers heard this and called it a "big adhan", or in the local language, "''mala a bang''", referring to the coming of Islam to the island. Islam spread through mainland Mindanao soon thereafter. Being marked as the historical foundation of the religion of Islam by inhabitants of central and northern Mindanao, the town was given the name Malabang.
History
Malabang, in
Lanao del Sur
Lanao del Sur ( tl, Timog Lanao; Maranao and ilp, Pagabagatan Ranao), officially the Province of Lanao del Sur, is a province in the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The capital is the city of ...
, is considered the oldest settlement in mainland
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 ...
.
The Sultanate of T'bok was an established kingdom in present-day Malabang long before the Philippines became a country. The people of Malabang are mostly Maranaos, a tribe indigenous to southern Mindanao; Philippine history books often identify these people as the Iranun tribe. (Iranun is another indigenous tribe of southern Mindanao.) The misconception arose because Iranuns live in some of the barangays in the southern part of Malabang, comprising what is now Balabagan. In March 1969, Executive Order 386, signed by President
Carlos P. Garcia
Carlos Polestico Garcia (November 4, 1896 – June 14, 1971) was a Filipino teacher, poet, orator, lawyer, public official, political economist, guerrilla and Commonwealth military leader who was the eighth president of the Philippines. A l ...
, reconstituted the southern part of Malabang as the Municipality of Balabagan. Thus, Iranuns are now residents of Balabagan rather than Malabang.
Malabang played a significant part in the early battles against invaders of the Philippines. During the
Spanish conquest
The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predece ...
, Malabang became the headquarters of
Muhammad Kudarat
Muhammad Dipatuan Kudarat (1581–1671) was the 7th Sultan of Maguindanao from 1619 to 1671. During his reign, he successfully fought off Spanish invasions and halted the spread of Catholicism on the island of Mindanao, much like the other Musl ...
, a great warrior and Sultan of Maguindanao. He used to spend time recuperating in Malabang throughout the period when he was fighting to defend Maguindanao against invasion. He later retired to Malabang when he fell ill. He eventually died and was buried there. In May 1977, Presidential Decree 1135 of President
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...
created the Municipality of Picong (formerly Sultan Gumander) out of the north-western portion of Malabang, where Sultan Kudarat's grave was located.
During the Second World War, when
the Japanese invaded the Philippines, the Japanese military built a large camp in Malabang, including a network of tunnels around it. It was considered a major camp of the Japanese forces. In 1942, the
Philippine Supreme Court
The Supreme Court ( fil, Kataas-taasang Hukuman; colloquially referred to as the ''Korte Suprema'' lso used in formal writing is the highest court in the Philippines. The Supreme Court was established by the Second Philippine Commission on Ju ...
Chief Justice
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 ...
was brought to this camp, after he was captured in
Cebu
Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 ...
while fleeing from Japanese forces. Chief Justice Abad Santos was executed in the camp for refusing to cooperate with the Japanese, and was buried in barangay Curahab. The place where the camp is situated and where Mr. Santos was executed was later on named Camp Jose Abad Santos (Camp JAS).
In 1945, United States and Philippine Commonwealth forces, working with Maranao
guerillas
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactic ...
, occupied Malabang after a siege. During the
Siege of Malabang, the guerillas used weapons like the Maranao
kris
The kris, or ''keris'' in the Indonesian language, is an asymmetrical dagger with distinctive blade-patterning achieved through alternating laminations of iron and nickelous iron (''pamor''). Of Javanese origin, the kris is famous for its disti ...
,
barong and
kampilan
The kampilan ( Baybayin: ) also known as talong is a type of single-edged sword, traditionally used by various ethnic groups in the Philippine archipelago. It has a distinct profile, with the tapered blade being much broader and thinner at the p ...
to fight the Japanese forces. The victorious American and Philippine Commonwealth troops, together with their Maranao guerrilla allies, eventually defeated the Japanese Imperial forces. When the built of the general headquarters and military camp base of the
Philippine Commonwealth Army
The Philippine Army was established on December 21, 1935, as the Army of the Philippines, with a general headquarters in Manila, and units and formations based throughout the provinces of the Philippines.
The Philippine Army was initially org ...
and
Philippine Constabulary
The Philippine Constabulary (PC; tl, Hukbóng Pamayapà ng Pilipinas, ''HPP''; es, Policía de Filipinas, ''PF'') was a gendarmerie-type police force of the Philippines from 1901 to 1991, and the predecessor to the Philippine National Po ...
was station's active in Malabang from 1945 to 1946 during and ended of World War II.
Malabang as a municipality was founded on March 1, 1893. The locals of the town celebrate the founding day, the ''Araw ng Malabang'' every March 1 annually.
Geography
Malabang is one of thirty-nine municipalities comprising the province of
Lanao del Sur
Lanao del Sur ( tl, Timog Lanao; Maranao and ilp, Pagabagatan Ranao), officially the Province of Lanao del Sur, is a province in the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The capital is the city of ...
in northern
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 ...
. It lies on the south-west part of the province and belongs to the second district. It has 37
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 ...
s with a total land area of 37,789.28 km
2. The distance from Marawi City to Malabang is 71 kilometers. Malabang is bounded on the north by the municipality of
Calanogas; on the north-west by the municipality of
Picong (Sultan Gumander); on the east by the municipality of
Marogong; and on the south by the municipality of
Balabagan
Balabagan, officially the Municipality of Balabagan (Maranao and Iranun: ''Inged a Balabagan''; tl, Bayan ng Balabagan), is a 4th class municipality in the province of Lanao del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...
. To the west of Malabang is
Illana Bay
Illana Bay, also known as the Iranun Bay, is a large bay of the Moro Gulf, off the southwestern coast of Mindanao island in the Philippines.
Illana Bay and Moro Gulf form part of the Celebes Sea.
See also
*Sibuguey Bay
Sibuguey Bay is a larg ...
.
It is under the administrative supervision of the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao ( tl, Rehiyong Awtonomo ng Muslim Mindanao; ar, الحكم الذاتي الاقليمي لمسلمي مندناو ''Al-ḥukm adh-dhātī al-'iqlīmī li-muslimī Mindanāu''; abbreviated as ARMM) was ...
(ARMM) since November 1989, pursuant to R.A. No. 6734 dated June 8, 1989, known as the "Organic Act of ARM
M".
The municipality is a level plain in its central to southern portion. A slope in the north is bounded by the Municipality of Calanogas. There is also a slope in eastern Malabang.
Barangays
Malabang is politically subdivided into 37
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 ...
s.
Climate
Demographics
Languages
The languages spoken in Malabang vary by location and by barangay. Maranao is however the prominent language in Malabang, as the native speakers are the original inhabitants of Malabang.
Cebuano is spoken in some barangays with significant Cebuano Visayan immigrant populations who are mostly Catholic Christians. Along with English, Cebuano is used in Catholic masses and religious services as Malabang is part of the
Prelature of Marawi, subject to the
Archdiocese of Ozamiz
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ozamis is a metropolitan archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the province of Misamis Occidental, southern Philippines. The archdiocese cathedral is the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception i ...
.
Some descendants of Chinese settlers in China Town (
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 ...
) speak Mandarin and to some degree, Hokkien.
English is also a commonly spoken language due to American settlers in Matalin and European missionaries, and is also the medium of instruction and working language of the municipal government. Arabic is used in madrassas and spoken by qualified local and visiting ustadz (Islamic scholar) and imams. Settlers from the Maguindanao, Samal and Tausūg ethnic groups in barangay Bunkhouse still use their tribal tongues.
Although there are no settlers from the
Tagalog region in Lanao del Sur,
Tagalog is still used in schools, being the national language of the Philippines through its national register
Filipino
Filipino may refer to:
* Something from or related to the Philippines
** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines.
** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
. It is also the alternative language of the Maranao townsfolk when conversing with Visayans, since not all of them know how to speak Cebuano.
Economy
Agriculture and fishery are the major resources of Malabang. They are also widely known for coconut production. Warehouses of coconut can be found along the major highways of Malabang.
Mills
Mills is the plural form of mill, but may also refer to:
As a name
*Mills (surname), a common family name of English or Gaelic origin
* Mills (given name)
*Mills, a fictional British secret agent in a trilogy by writer Manning O'Brine
Places Unit ...
in barangay Matalin produce
cassava
''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively ...
flour. Other agricultural products produced in Malabang include corn, vegetables and rice. Malabang also plays a major role in
fishery
Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...
production. They are known for ''puzan'' (a preserved fish product) and ''bakas'' (smoked dried fish). Malabang is central to commerce and trade activity in the coastal area of Lanao del Sur.
Government
The municipality has a mayor, the head of the municipality of Malabang, a municipal vice mayor, and eight municipal councilors. The municipality also has one
Sangguniang Kabataan
Sangguniang Kabataan (abbreviated as SK; ) is a council meant to represent the youth in each barangay in the Philippines. It was put "on hold", but not quite abolished, prior to the 2013 barangay elections. In January 2016, the Sangguniang ...
(youth council) representative and one ABC representative from the
Punong Barangay (barangay captains).
Infrastructure
Transportation
;Land Transport: Malabang is quite sufficient when it comes to land transportation to the nearby municipalities. Tricycles are the most-commonly-used transportation around the town. Usually, in the elevated part of Malabang, public transportation such as town ace and multi-cab are used. There are also public utility vans and
jeepney
Jeepneys (), sometimes called jeeps (), are minibus-like public utility vehicles, serving as the most popular means of public transportation in the Philippines. They are known for their crowded seating and kitsch decorations, which have become ...
s available to nearby cities and municipalities.
;Air Transport:
Malabang Airport is the small airport of Malabang in the province of
Lanao del Sur
Lanao del Sur ( tl, Timog Lanao; Maranao and ilp, Pagabagatan Ranao), officially the Province of Lanao del Sur, is a province in the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The capital is the city of ...
. It has
IATA code
IATA codes are abbreviations that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) publishes to facilitate air travel. They are typically 1, 2, 3, or 4 character combinations (referred to as unigrams, digrams, trigrams, or tetragrams, respecti ...
MLP, GPS Code RPMM, an elevation of 27 feet (8 meters), latitude 7.6172 and longitude 124.059. This airport is classified as a secondary airport, or a minor commercial airport, by the
Philippine Air Transportation Office. Its runway is 4,265 feet (1,300 meters) long. Malabang Airport is the only airport in the province. As of 2015, no airlines serve this airport.
;Sea Transport: Malabang has only a small seaport. Daily coastal launches connect Malabang with
Cotabato City
Cotabato City, officially the City of Cotabato ( Maguindanaon: ''Kuta nu Kutawatu'', Jawi:
كوتا نو كوتاواتو; Iranun: ''Bandar a Kotawato'', بندر ا كوتاواتو; fil, Lungsod ng Cotabato), is a third class independent co ...
,
Maguindanao
Maguindanao (, Maguindanao language, Maguindanaon: ''Prubinsya nu Magindanaw''; Iranun language, Iranun'': Perobinsia a Magindanao''; tl, Lalawigan ng Maguindanao) was a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the ...
. Privately owned boats and rental boats are available for sea travel.
Medical Services
Dr. Serapio B. Montañer Memorial District Hospital or known to many as Mabul Hospital is the public hospital in Malabang, and is listed as a secondary hospital in the province. There are also several municipal private clinics in Malabang.
Telecommunications
The
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
provides fixed line services. Wireless mobile communications services are provided by
Smart Communications
Smart Communications Inc., commonly referred to as Smart (and officially stylized/ self-styled as SMART), is a wholly owned wireless communications and digital services subsidiary of PLDT Inc., a telecommunications and digital services provid ...
and
Globe Telecommunications
Globe Telecom, Inc., commonly shortened as Globe, is a major provider of telecommunications services in the Philippines. The company operates the largest mobile network in the Philippines and one of the largest fixed-line and broadband networks ...
.
Education
Although listed as 4th class municipality, all levels of education are attainable in Malabang, a center of learning in the coastal area of Lanao del Sur. Multiple colleges are present, including the community branch of
Mindanao State University
Mindanao State University, commonly referred to as MSU Main, is a regional state, coeducational, research higher education institution in the city of Marawi, Philippines. Founded in 1961, it is the flagship and the largest campus of the Mindana ...
. Arabic studies are also offered at all levels. Other notable secondary school in Malabang is
Our Lady of Peace High School, a Catholic school and Malabang National High School
References
External links
Malabang Profile at the DTI Cities and Municipalities Competitive IndexLocal Governance Performance Management SystemPhilippine Census Information*
Philippine Standard Geographic Code
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
{{Authority control
1907 establishments in the Philippines
Municipalities of Lanao del Sur
Populated places established in 1907