Samal, officially the Island Garden City of Samal (IGaCOS; fil, Pulong Harding Lungsod ng Samal, ceb, Pulong Harding Dakbayan sa Samal) is a 4th class
component city
A city ( fil, lungsod/siyudad) is one of the units of local government in the Philippines. All Philippine cities are chartered cities ( fil, nakakartang lungsod), whose existence as corporate and administrative entities is governed by their own ...
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
Davao del Norte
Davao del Norte ( ceb, Amihanang Dabaw; tl, Hilagang Davao), officially the Province of Davao del Norte, is a province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital and largest city is Tagum. The province also includes ...
,
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 116,771 people.
It is made up of Samal Island and the smaller Talikud Island in the
Davao Gulf
Davao Gulf is a gulf situated in the southeastern portion of Mindanao in the Philippines. It has an area of or about 520,000 hectares. Davao Gulf cuts into the island of Mindanao from the Philippine Sea. It is surrounded by all five provinces in ...
, from the merger of former municipalities of Samal, Babak, and Kaputian.
Samal is a part of the
Metropolitan Davao area and is two kilometers away 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 ...
, the largest city and the primary economic center of Mindanao.
Etymology
The name Samal was derived from the
Sama-Bajau peoples
The Sama-Bajau include several Austronesian ethnic groups of Maritime Southeast Asia. The name collectively refers to related people who usually call themselves the Sama or Samah (formally A'a Sama, "Sama people"); or are known by the exonym ...
, the natives who were the first inhabitants of the island. The first
datu
''Datu'' is a title which denotes the rulers (variously described in historical accounts as chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs) of numerous indigenous peoples throughout the Philippine archipelago. The title is still used today, especial ...
in the island was Datu Taganiyug, a native of what is now Peñaplata, today the governance center of the city. In the past, the people of the island name a place about what was the said place known for. For example, the name ''Peñaplata'' is said to be derived from the word "piña" or pineapple because of the abundance of pineapple in the area; this, however, is
folk etymology
Folk etymology (also known as popular etymology, analogical reformation, reanalysis, morphological reanalysis or etymological reinterpretation) is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more famili ...
, for ''peñaplata'' literally means "rock of silver" in
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
. Tagpopongan is the first barangay in the island which name was from the word "tagpo" or meet. It was so called owing to the fact that this place was chosen by the datus as their meeting place. The word Samal was also known before because it was commonly used as surname by dat
History
Early Beginnings
The island was initially home to the Sama-Bajau peoples. Later on, Spain managed to conquer the island in the late 1840s when Nueva Vergara (Davao City today) was established.
World War 2
The
Pacific War
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...
, which happened 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 ...
, struck the island. Japanese fighter planes bombed the island. Japanese forces occupied the island and forced the people to work for four years until they were expelled by the Allied forces. After the war, infrastructure was built, such as
schools
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...
,
churches and stores in the area.
Official founding of the municipality
The time came on July 8, 1948, when the entire island itself becomes part of the newly created municipality of Samal; it was the official founding of the municipality. Five years later in 1953, the municipality of Babak was created from Samal, marking the political division of the island between the two municipalities. The island experienced further political division when the municipality of Kaputian was created from the island in 1966. During this period, the standard of living in these three municipalities became low and extremely rural.
Proposed province
In 1969, a proposal to create the sub-province of Samal was created by Republic Act No. 5999 and covered the area of the present-day city. The act was enacted without 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 ...
' approval. However, the sub-province was never inaugurated.
Cityhood
The city was created through Republic Act No. 8471 on January 30, 1998. This act paved the way for the dissolution and merger of the three former municipalities of Samal, Babak, and Kaputian into one local government unit by turning then into districts, now officially named as IGaCoS, the Island Garden City of Samal. The first city mayor was Rogelio P. Antalan, who later served for three consecutive terms from 1998 to 2007.
Hostage crisis
On September 22, 2015, Kjartan Sekkingstad, aged 55, from
Sotra
Sotra or Store Sotra is the name of a large island in Øygarden Municipality in Vestland county, Norway, located just west of the city of Bergen. It is part of a pair of islands called 'Sotra' and 'Litlesotra' ('small Sotra') that are part of a ...
, Norway, was
abducted by Abu Sayyaf Islamist guerrillas from a high-end tourist resort on Samal Island, along with two Canadian men,
John Ridsdel
John Bramwell Ridsdel (9 September 1947 – 25 April 2016) was an English-born Canadian businessman from Calgary, Alberta; kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf militants in the Philippines on 21 September 2015, and beheaded on 25 April 2016. He was 68 year ...
, aged 68, and
Robert Hall, aged 67, and a Filipina woman, Marites Flor, Hall's girlfriend. In April and June 2016, the Canadians were beheaded after ransoms were not paid, and in June 2016 Flor was released. On September 17, 2016, Sekkingstad was released on Jolo island, 600 miles south of Manila after captor Abu Sayyaf received $638,000 in ransom for his release. He was handed over to another rebel group, the
Moro National Liberation Front
The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF; ar, الجبهة الوطنية لتحرير مورو) is a political organization in the Philippines that was founded in 1972. It started as a splinter group of the Muslim Independence Movement. The M ...
. The MNLF was in peace talks with the government and had been working with authorities to secure Sekkingstad's release. It is not known who paid the ransom for Sekkingstad, but it was not the Norwegian government.
Geography
Samal is the only city in the country that encompasses two entire islands, hence its name as the Island Garden City. While pristine beaches dot the island's shores, hills dominate the middle portions of the island. Talikud Island is located southwest of the main island.
IGaCoS enjoys an evenly distributed rainfall throughout the year and a typhoon-free climate, which makes it ideal for agricultural production.
Climate
Barangays
Samal is politically subdivided into 46
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. In 1955, the sitios of Mambago, San Isidro, Santo Niño, San Antonio, San Agustin, Dangcaan, Balet, Tambo, Camudmud, and Cogon were converted into barrios of the now-defunct municipality of Babak.
Demographics
![Babakbaywalk](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Babakbaywalk.jpg)
Cebuano is the medium of language of the people of Samal Island, followed by Isama, Boholano and Tausug.
Economy
Agriculture
The city's economy depends greatly in its agricultural production. Copra, mango, corn, vegetables, citrus and fish are the major products of the island. Livestock production is also a major product with Davao City as the primary market. In addition, rice is also produced in the barangays of Libuak in Babak District and Aumbay in Peñaplata District.
Tourism
The city is the largest
resort city
A resort town, often called a resort city or resort destination, is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding ...
in the country. It has good beaches and houses many beach resorts. It has also numerous marine reefs and tranquil waters that lure the tourists to visit them, especially in Talikud Island. There are 34 registered resorts with a combined capacity of 1,000 rooms in the city. The most popular of these is the Pearl Farm Beach Resort, owned by Ms. Universe 1973 winner
Margarita Moran
Maria Margarita Roxas Moran-Floirendo (born 15 September 1953), professionally known as Margie Moran (), is a Filipino beauty queen, actress and peace advocate who was the president of Ballet Philippines and is the chairperson of the Cultural ...
. Because of these, the
Department of Tourism named it one of the best visiting islands in
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 ...
and currently one of the fastest growing tourist destinations in the country. Thus, tourism is the main source of income in the city. Biggest taxes are imposed to tourism and resort industry.
![Bigiw boats in Samal Island](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Bigiw_boats_in_Samal_Island.jpg)
There are three main festivals held annually in the city, namely:
*Kabasan Festival, coincides with the founding of Babak municipality every year in May, features bikini open contests, fireworks display, street-dancing and street parties, and
motocross
Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom.
History
Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...
events
*White Nights Festival, takes place every two days with Kaputian as the venue, celebrating the city's cultural and historical heritage; and
*Hugyaw Madayaw Festival, a spin-off of Davao's
Kadayawan Festival
The Kadayawan Festival is an annual festival in the city of Davao in the Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika k ...
which is also held annually in August, and also an attempt to preserve the diminishing Sama culture in the island.
Monfort Bat Sanctuary
Monfort Bat Sanctuary has been the house of a large colony of 2.3 million Rousette fruit bats since recorded history. They cover 75% of the ceilings and walls of their -long cave The sanctuary is located on Samal Island, about east of Davao Cit ...
, the world's largest fruit bat colony, is also located in the island.
Fishing
Fishing is also a growing business sector in this city, since the city was situated on the island, it cannot fully complement the demand for meat products imported from other parts of the country, especially in nearby
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 ...
. The city has no both container port and deep-water transport terminal, except for a barge wharf at Babak district, to deliver market products directly to the city, so the city government advocated building fishery complexes across the city to minimize the demand for market products imported to the city. Fish, pearls, and
edible crustaceans
Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can ...
such as shrimps, prawns, and crabs are the main aquatic consumable products in the city.
Government
The center of city governance is located at Barangay Peñaplata, Samal District, situated at the west central coast of the island. The city has three districts: Babak, Samal and Kaputian. These districts used to serve as separate towns until the 1998 city merger.
Transportation
Barge/ferry service or passenger boats from the
Sasa Wharf & Santa Ana Wharf in Davao City serves the island city. The modes of transportation on the island are motorcycles, tricycles or trikes, and bus and private car services offered by resorts.
Bus operators:
#Island City Express (operated by
Mindanao Star
Mindanao Star Bus Transport, Incorporated ''(formerly Weena Express, People's Transport Corporation)'' is a bus line under the umbrella of Yanson Group of Bus Companies (YGBC). It operates bus transport services from Davao City, to Soccsksargen R ...
) daily route to Kaputian, Babak, Peñaplata from Davao City (via Kinawitnon ferry port).
Sister cities
Local
*
Las Piñas
Las Piñas, officially the City of Las Piñas ( fil, Lungsod ng Las Piñas), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 606,293 people.
Las Piñas ...
, Philippines
See also
*
International Seaport of Davao
References
External links
Samal Profile at the DTI Cities and Municipalities Competitive Index*
Philippine Standard Geographic CodeLocal Governance Performance Management System*
Samal Island Guide
{{Authority control
Cities in Davao del Norte
Planned cities in the Philippines
Populated places established in 1948
1948 establishments in the Philippines
Island cities in the Philippines
Component cities in the Philippines